Cold relief arrives with a 46-pounder

Wading into the water in just his pants gave John Claridge a heavy cold, but the perfect tonic in the shape of this 46lb 3oz mirror.

After forgetting his waders during an earlier prebaiting visit to the Sand and Gravel syndicate in the Cotswolds, the 43-year-old was forced to brave the chilly water in his underwear.

But all John’s discomfort was soon forgotten when he banked the mirror known as Look at the Length at an all-time top weight.

The Swindon rod, who manages Tackle Den in South Cerney, said: “I was nursing man-flu – probably something to do with having to prebait in my pants in cold water up to my thighs as I’d forgotten my chesties – but I got the rods out relatively easily as I’d already put on hookbaits and clipped the lines up to the precise distance. Full of cold, I turned the alarms up a notch and hit the sack early.”

At dawn the next day John received a positive bite after a
few subtle liners and pulled into a big fish.

“As the carp neared the bank,” he said, “the carbon throbbed under my hand and I knew what I was attached to was a lot heavier that anything I had caught so far this season. A back then popped to the surface and, quickly adjusting the net position, I stepped forward and engulfed my prize.

“The depth of the beast was immense and I summoned all my strength to heave him safely up to the awaiting mat. A very special carp from a special lake.”

Two big roach from tiny river

Specimen fish often occupy the smallest waterways, as proved when Mike Townsend banked this impressive pair of roach.

The fish – weighing 2lb 2oz and 1lb 6oz – were caught on the float when the specialist from Doncaster, South Yorks, fished a tiny local river.

They were backed up by 40 roach over 1lb and all were all taken on a 2lb mainline, a 0.08mm hooklink and a size 20 hook baited with a single caster.

Syndicate rod adds 44lb 8oz common to impressive tally

Jamie Peacock completed a quartet of target fish within six months with the capture of this 44lb 8oz common.

The fish, known as the Cut Tail Common, follows on from the capture of Clarissa at 53lb 4oz and the Long Common at 38lb in Jamie’s first full year on Deepings One in Lincolnshire.

The Peterborough angler said: “This year was my first full year on Deepings One, having only joined last summer.  

“I’ve managed to land a few nice fish, including Clarissa at 53lb 4oz on my birthday weekend in April, which was a great present! A couple of weeks later I had Black Scar at 48lb 12oz.

“In August I had the Long Common, slightly down in weight at 38lb. This fish had to be one of the hardest-fighting I have ever caught and it went mental for about 15 minutes.  

“After picking up these fish fairly quickly I thought the Cut Tail Common would take me a long time to catch, so when I had it at the weekend I could not believe it – I was blown away.”

Jamie added: “I turned up on Friday at around 3.30pm and saw the swim I wanted was free. I chose the swim because I had been regularly catching from it for the last month. 

“There are two islands to fish to and they gave me shelter from the easterly wind which was blowing all weekend, so I was convinced there would be a few fish gathered in the area. 

“I got the rods out on the spots at around 80 yards and Spombed out about a kilo of Nash Key Cray boilies on each one.

“The next morning at around 8.30am I had a single bleep and noticed the line was moving. The fish was kiting but not taking any line off the spool, so I hit into it and started to bring it back, but it didn’t really do much until I had it under the tip, when it gave a few powerful runs. 

“At first I thought it was a small fish, as it was shaking its head, but when I saw it boil up on the surface I knew it was a good one.”

Huge perch highlight of a wonder week

This 4lb 6oz 8dr perch topped an amazing week for Nigel Kennard.

His new best from the River Lea in Hertfordshire topped a list of fish, including a 6lb 5oz chub and an 11lb barbel from the idyllic Hampshire Avon, plus another pb – a 3lb 11oz 8dr crucian.

“I began on the Avon, where the big chub was backed up with three five-pounders, all on boilies,” Nigel said. “I then drove to a lake in Surrey where I beat my crucian pb on the first day.”

Adding six others over 3lb, he then turned his attentions to the River Lea perch where stripeys of 2lb 8oz and 2lb 1oz backed up his four-pounder, all caught on a link leger rig baited with a lobworm.

Neil’s 300-hour barbel payoff

After nearly 300 hours without a fish, Neil Wayte struck gold with this 17lb 4oz Thames barbel. 

The big-river specialist fished 14 consecutive weekends on his favourite stretch of the waterway before his perseverance paid off and the specimen took his single 18mm Pandemic boilie hookbait. 

“The take was an absolute flyer,” Neil told Angling Times.

“It ran upstream for 40 yards and under some nearside bushes, but thankfully I pulled it free and into the net. It was the fattest barbel I’ve ever seen!”

Margin magic for a venue best carp

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!”

Chidgey snaps up a pike best

Personal bests have tumbled in another incredible week’s pike fishing at Chew Valley Lake.

Julian Chidgey was delighted when he boated a huge 34lb 14oz pike thanks to the use of an underwater camera that he attached to his rig during a prior visit to the Somerset venue.

“I used a Waterwolf camera and I saw pike investigating and picking up my bait without giving me any indication at all,” said the local angling consultant.

“So this time I scaled down my hooks and baits to give a more delicate presentation and it worked a treat.”

A 2lb Thames roach milestone

This is Martin Salter’s first-ever 2lb roach from the River Thames.

The National Campaigns Coordinator for the Angling Trust fished a stretch of the tidal Thames at Chiswick, West London, and used a groundbait feeder with worm and maggot on a size 12 hook.

He started picking up a few bream before the roach put in an appearance. Then, after switching to a lighter feeder and three red maggots on a size 14 hook, he began to connect more easily with the tentative bites and took a pair of specimen redfins topped by his first Thames two-pounder. 

“I’ve been lucky enough to have caught 2lb-plus roach from eight different rivers, but never one from my beloved River Thames,” he said.

49lb Mike’s Pet from day-ticket lake soon to go syndicate

Alex Woodcook realised a long-held ambition to catch one of the biggest carp in the historic Wraysbury North Lake when he slipped his net under this stunning 49lb mirror.

Alex landed the fish, which is known as Mike’s Pet, on the second morning of a two-day session at the famous fishery in Berkshire.

It was a timely capture too, because Alex had been hoping to catch one of the day-ticket lake’s biggest residents before the venue switches to syndicate status in April 2017.

He told Angling Times: “Conditions couldn’t have been more perfect, with a band of low pressure making its way over the lake. I thought to myself ‘this has to be the time!’ 

“The swim I was in, called Springate’s Point, covers a lot of water in front of an island, and running along the front of this are a number of coves created by the overhanging trees. 

“Some of these were clearer and deeper than the rest, and I figured that these were areas that had been fed on recently.”

To begin with Alex went easy on the bait, introducing around 10 Spombs of groundbait, pellets and chopped boilies. 

Over the top of this he cast a rig comprising a 5ins hooklink and a size 4 hook carrying two half sections of wafter boilies mounted blow-back style and tipped with plastic red corn. 

After receiving a bite on the first evening that ended in a hook-pull, his fortunes took a turn for the better as the second day of the trip dawned.

Alex said: “I had three bleeps on one of the rods that was locked-up to the island, struck, and found myself connected to what was clearly a powerful fish. It kited away towards open water, staying deep, and I knew it was a good fish, but it was only when I got it into the margins I realised just how big it was. 

“When I finally slipped it over the net cord and saw its huge shoulders, I knew that I had at last achieved what I’d set out to do – catch a Wraysbury chunk! 

Britain’s first 70lb carp banked

This is the picture of the UK’s first 70lb carp.

The record-breaking specimen, known as Big Rig, tipped the scales at 71lb 4oz and was caught by Robby Harrison from The Avenue Fishery in Shropshire.

It’s the same fish that recently beat the current British best of 68lb 10oz at a weight of 69lb 3oz, meaning that it’s put on 2lb 1oz since it was caught by Tom Doherty just over six weeks ago.

It’s Robby’s first year on the syndicate and he made carp fishing history when he smashed his own personal best that stood at 41lb with Big Rig that took a balanced 16mm Mainline Hybrid boilie.

“This is like the angling version of winning the lottery,” said Robby, from Liverpool.

“One of my fellow anglers helped me net the fish, but he nudged it with the frame twice and it powered off on both occasions.” 

“I told him to sink the net, but neither of us knew which fish it was so it was the sheer depth of its body that was colliding with the net.

“I didn’t have a head torch, so I didn’t see it straight away, but when I did I was blown away…I’ve never seen anything like it.

It’s a specimen that has been hand-reared by Avenue owner and boss of RH Fisheries Rob Hales, whose intentions of growing record-breaking fish have caused controversy within the sport.

But Robby agrees with others who believe that what Rob does is provide ‘ordinary’ anglers with the chance of catching the carp of their dreams without going abroad.

“I’m just a normal angler who wants to catch the biggest fish that I can,” Robby added. 

“I don’t care what people say because I’ve caught a fish that filled me with emotions and excitement that made me feel like a boy again. Anyone who’s got a problem with that has to remember that it’s just fishing at the end of the day.”

Switch of swim leads to mirror carp ‘Scar’

James Butcher has continued his memorable autumn on Kingsmead One lake by banking the big mirror known as ‘The Scar’ at 47lb 10oz.

Just a few weeks after making a bumper ten-fish haul from the Berkshire venue, the East London rod again got among the bigger mirrors in the 30-acre lake on the second night of a four-day session.

Once again, keen observation played a key role in the capture.

“On the first night I fished a swim where the fish had been showing when I arrived, but by the morning they had done the off. I saw a few shows in another part of the lake, so moved my kit round and, as I knew the spots, I flicked the rods out and put out 10 baits around each,” said James.

“After three hours I decided to give it some bait, introducing 1.5kg over each rod to get the fish grazing. As it got dark the fish began to show again, and I sat up listening. Eventually I crashed out, only to be woken by liners on my right hand rod. The tip soon pulled down but when I struck, there was nothing there,” he added.

“I recast a little shorter and got back into the bag and the next thing I knew the right hand rod pulled up tight and I was playing a really heavy carp. It beat me up big time for about 15 minutes or so before I could net it. On the scales it went 47lb 10oz. Happy days!”

‘Dave’ at 55lb tops mega haul from day-ticket fishery

A last minute-decision to switch lakes paid off in handsome style for Steve Wright after he went on to bank four stunning big carp, topped by a 55lb mirror.

After making the journey from his Hinckley, Leicestershire home to Bluebell Lakes in Northants, the 63-year old was intending to fish the venue’s Sandmartin Lake. However, this changed after a quick chat with the owner of Bluebell Lakes, Tony Bridgefoot. 

Steve said: “He told me that there weren’t many anglers on Swan Lake. I didn’t really fancy it as there had been no carp out in the previous nine days, but a mate who was fishing over there convinced me to give it a try for the night. I dropped into a peg halfway down one bank, in the hope of catching them as they moved up and down the lake.”

With just two tench to show for his efforts over the next 24 hours, Steve was beginning to question his choice of lake, before a bite out of the blue signalled a major change in fortunes.

“I was thinking of moving and I’d already reeled one rod when one of the others screamed off. The fish made it into a weedbed but soon came out into open water, and I felt the rod tip bump so I knew it was still on,” said Steve.

“When I got the fish around 20 yards from the bank it surfaced and I recognised it as one known as Dave. On the bank it tipped the scales at 55lb on the nose.”

At 4am the next morning Steve’s session then got even better when he landed a 40lb 4oz mirror, followed by a 32lb 4oz common an hour later and a 39lb mirror later that same evening. The first of the trio was a new ‘forty’ for the lake, so Steve was allowed to give it a name… which he promptly did, calling the big mirror ‘Stevie’!”

39 barbel ‘doubles’!

Six friends enjoyed a barbel fishing trip to remember last week, landing an astonishing 39 double-figure fish topped by a 14lb 1oz specimen.

The amazing haul was made by pals Gary Whelan, John Mott, Shaun Swift, Glen Drummond, Phil Marsden and Dean Stewart during a two-day visit to the renowned Collingham stretch of the River Trent.  

The lads, who are backed by GW Rig Solutions, used 5oz-6oz leads or swimfeeders, 2ft-long braided hooklengths and Dave Mallin pungent squid boilies on the hook.

They also banked numerous fish under 10lb during the action-packed session, but it was John who bagged the biggest of the entire trip on the second day.

Roach tops mixed bag

There are few more enjoyable methods of catching fish than by trotting a stick float down a river, as Adam Fisher did to bank this fine roach last week.

A day trip to the River Itchen proved fruitful for the Angling Dreams boss, who caught bream, chub and sea trout as well as the immaculate 1lb 10oz roach. 

“I knew it was a good fish so until I got it to the surface, my heart was in my mouth. Once it was finally in the net I wasso relieved,” said Adam, from Herefordshire. 

He took the roach on a single red maggot, mounted on a size 18 Drennan Carp Maggot hook attached to 3lb line.

River Wye barbel record smashed

The long-standing River Wye barbel record has been smashed with the capture of a superb fish weighing 15lb 4oz.

Leonard Skyrme banked the historic specimen – which beats the river record of 14lb 9oz that’s stood for 13 years – when he fished a stretch near Symonds Yat.

As well as landing the biggest ever barbel landed from the in-form waterway, the 40-year-old from South Wales went on to complete the biggest ever brace of Wye barbel after slipping his net under a second huge barbel weighing 13lb 2oz later in the same session.

“The biggest of the two gave me one the most savage bites I’ve ever experienced – if I hadn’t been right by the rod it would have been in the water,” said Leonard.

“I thought I’d set a new record for the stretch I was fishing, but when I found out that the current river record is 14lb 9oz I was gobsmacked. It hasn’t sunk in.”

Leonard, who has only recently returned to coarse fishing after spending many years targeting game fish, used a cage feeder packed with pellets alongside a 14mm halibut pellet hookbait hair-rigged to a size 10 hook. He also laid down a bed of hempseed before casting out. 

“Before this incredible session my barbel personal best stood at 11lb 6oz, so to beat it twice from the Wye is something very special,” Leonard continued.

“The other anglers on the stretch couldn’t believe what had happened either. It was just one of those sessions that I don’t think I’m going to repeat!” 

The capture was witnessed by two fellow anglers and the barbel was weighed on two different sets of scales.

Not too late for bream!

The capture of one of the biggest bream of the year, along with many other huge fish, proves that it’s not too late to smash your personal best.

Temperatures might be dropping, but specialist Steve Stones banked a 17lb 6oz slab, his biggest-ever, on his only bite during a 48-hour session at a large Midlands stillwater.

The 45-year-old freelance journalist and Korum consultant from Stamford, Lincs, beat his previous personal best for the species by just over 2lb.

Fishing at 50yds, Steve did the damage using a double imitation corn hookbait, fished over particles, pellets, 10mm boilies, dead maggots and groundbait.

“Line bites started at 1.30am, with the bobbins on both rods rising right to the top before falling back down again, repeatedly, for 30 minutes,” said Steve. 

“It was driving me crazy, but after 30-odd nights on the water this year with just two bream and a carp to show for my efforts I didn’t want to risk striking a liner as there were clearly a few fish out there feeding on the spot.

“Finally, at 2am, one of the bobbins rose to the top and stayed there, and when the freespool on the reel clicked a couple of times,  I picked up the rod and lifted into a heavy, plodding weight which came to the net like a typical big bream. Looking into the mesh, I could see that it was in a different league to any bream I’d ever had before. It was ridiculously fat!

“I was beginning to think I’d missed my chance for the year, but this just shows there’s still time to catch a big one,” he added.

Mike Townsend proved that you don’t have be out all night to catch big bream when a couple of short day sessions produced 15 slabs topped by a 13lb 10oz fish from a Yorkshire water. A feeder containing chopped worm fished alongside a lobworm tail nicked on to a size 16 hook was the successful combination for Mike.

All his fish were beaten with a simple set-up made from 8lb line, a 5lb fluorocarbon hooklink and a size 16 hook.

Adopting the same tactics as Mike was Mark Doherty, who landed fish weighing 13lb 5oz,
12lb 10oz, 11lb 15oz and 10lb 12oz.

The Worcester Angling Centre-backed angler also added a 9lb fish to his tally during a session to remember on a Wiltshire stillwater.

The Swindon-based rod fished with his dad, Malcolm, who also netted a 10lb 12oz slab during the same session. 

All their fish were taken using a Method feeder topped with pellets and boilies. 

Laying down a big carpet of feed soon whipped the bream into a frenzy for Matthew Tann, who finished a recent session with a fine personal-best fish weighing 12lb 10oz.

Arriving at the venue close to his Hampshire home at first light, the Drennan-backed angler quickly put down a big bed of hemp, oats, casters and other particles to try to prompt a reaction from the lake’s resident bream.

A Method feeder baited with a double pop-up corn hookbait was dropped over the top of his loosefeed and the shoals responded almost instantly. As well as the big one, Matthew also banked specimens weighing 8lb 8oz, 9lb 3oz and 9lb 12oz.

Freelined bait lures 1lb dace

A quick change of tactics to prevent a finicky shoal of silverfish being spooked worked a treat for Robin Woolnough when he fooled this 1lb dace from a River Thames tributary.

The professional angling artist started the session on the stick float but noticed that the commotion of the rig landing in the water was forcing the fish to back away.

To solve the problem, Robin decided to freeline his maggot hookbait with just a No8 shot on the line for casting weight – and the move gained an almost instant response from the specimen dace.

Spanish cat fiesta

This huge 238lb catfish was the highlight of a trip to Spain’s River Ebro enjoyed by fishing-mad friends from Cumbria.

It’s the biggest wels cat ever landed by the popular Monster Catfishing Tours, based in Mequinenza, and the giant sets a new personal best for lucky captor Andrew McCabe.

He battled with the mighty moggie for almost an hour after it took three legered 25mm halibut pellets. The rest of the group got in on the action too, landing many cats over the 100lb mark.

To find out more about Monster Catfishing Tours visit: www.monstercatfishing.co.uk or find them on Facebook.

‘Little-and-often’ baiting for 47lb 4oz Yateley common

A slow autumn campaign burst into life for Martin Gardener as he landed three Yateley fish, including this new personal best.

The 47lb 4oz common, known as Murray, came from the famous Hampshire complex’s North Lake.

Martin also managed mirrors of 33lb 14oz and 19lb 8oz in the same evening of his 48-hour session.

The 51-year-old from Flackwell Heath in Buckinghamshire fished just 20 yards out in a small bay and baited little and often.

He said: “After a very slow September on the North Lake I had three fish on Tuesday evening, including a recapture of Murray, but this time at a best-ever autumn weight of 47lb 4oz!

“She gave an epic scrap at close range in a snaggy bay with the line caught round a tree. As she came back round I could see from the white tail tip that I was almost certainly connected to a new personal best, and fortunately the carp gods were with me – the line and the tree parted company with no problem.”

Two fish for 75lb-plus on test bait

A new test boilie due for release next year provided Ian Hirst with two fish for more than 75lb and a new personal best.

Fishing at Grenville Lake in Cambridgeshire, the Bait-Tech sales and brand manager spotted fish at long range and baited heavily to tempt a 41lb 3oz mirror and another of 36lb shortly afterwards.

He said: “After seeing fish show at distance I started the session at long range and introduced 5kg of the new boilie in 15mm and 18mm sizes. It’s currently under test and due for release early in 2017.”

He added: “Conditions looked bang on as a new southerly wind had kicked up. 

“The 41lb 3oz mirror came a few hours after introducing the bait and the 36lb mirror followed after I had topped up the swim later the same day with another 5kg of the freezer boilie.

“The 41lb 3oz fish is my new UK personal best.”