Margin magic for a venue best carp
Mark Tucknott and his prized 41lb 2oz mirror.
The old saying that ‘the margins are the best feature on the lake’ rang true for Mark Tucknott, who landed a new personal best and venue record last week.
The 55-year-old from Romford, East London, was fishing at Long Lake in Reading when he banked the water’s first-ever forty in the shape of this 41lb 2oz mirror.
It came from a marginal stalking spot that Mark had kept topped up with bait since beginning his session at the 8.5-acre venue.
He said: “I spread a kilo of mixed 12mm, 16mm and 20mm boilies over a spot not far from the bank and kept a close eye on it. On the first day a number of fish visited it, but none of them dropped down to feed.
“I checked the spot the following morning and all the bait had gone, so I put in another five handfuls and placed my hookbait among them – a critically-balanced Manilla boilie made from a cut-down pop-up.”
Mark then endured an agonising couple of hours watching a succession of fish continuing to visit the area and feed on his spot, before eventually his buzzer screamed into life.
“After half-an-hour, two fish drifted in and took a bait each before moving off. Twenty minutes later another good fish came in and did the same,” Mark said.
“This continued for the next two hours, before an upper double-figure koi wolfed down most of the remaining bait.
“I introduced another two handfuls of 12mm boilies, and about an hour later I had a screaming take. A monumental battle followed before I slipped the net under the huge mirror known as Lead Head. It was an incredible session, and to bag the lake’s first forty was a huge bonus!”