Charity auction winner beats the freeze with Alan Blair

This trio of winter carp is proof that one good deed deserves another.

Matthew Howard donated “a huge amount of money” to charity to win a 24-hour session with Nash’s Alan Blair and their day together turned into an ice-dodging adventure.

The pair fished lakes, a canal and a tidal river in that time – with only the running water escaping the freeze up!

Alan told Angling Times: “It was a mega adventure and a great result for freezing conditions.”

Matthew was with Alan after donating to Lucy’s Bowl in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the 24-hour Essex adventure began at a stillwater.

Said Alan: “What with it being winter and freezing cold, rather than sit it out on one water I took him on a bit of an adventure – to keep us warm! – that saw us fishing a gravel pit, canal and tidal river!

“Matt’s first fish was a lovely common from Chigboro Fisheries just before the entire lake froze over!”

The duo then moved to a canal, but that also froze up, so they headed for running water and Matt was rewarded with two fish at once.

“The brace was actually a double take from the tidal river as both the lakes and canal froze up,” said Alan. “I think Matt was surprised enough when the first rod went, but to have a second take literally as the first fish went in the net was epic!

“We then looked at another tidal river but the tide was all wrong now and there was too much saltwater backed up. We finally looked at a park lake but that was completely frozen solid.”

Matt fished Nash Citruz pop-ups on chods and multi rigs made with Nash Chod Twister hooks.

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.”

‘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’!”

‘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.”

Day session treat brings son 45lb 5oz reservoir common

Day-ticket carp don’t get much bigger or better-looking than this stunning 45lb 5oz common landed by Michael Monk.

The 32-year-old was targeting his local Walthamstow No.3 Reservoir for a 12-hour session with his father when he landed the new pb from his only bite of the day.

It marked a welcome upturn in fortunes for Michael, who was made redundant recently.

He said: “My dad very kindly treated me to a day session up the ’Stow… and what a treat it was! This massive common is one of the two biggest carp in the lake, the other being a 45lb-plus mirror, which I would dearly love to catch.  

“I count myself extremely lucky to have caught this amazing creature and to be able to share it all with my dad. It was amazing to be able to fish next to one another all day – and to see him slip the net under this lump will always be a great memory for me.”

Michael used the simplest of tactics to tempt the mighty common from the 12-acre venue. His standard bottom bait rig comprised a 10ins Nash Armourlink hooklink, a size 6 Nash Fang X hook and a 16mm boilie on a long hair. 

“I spread 1kg of Sticky Baits Manilla boilies over two rods, spaced a rod length apart, at 60 yards range close to an island. I kept the boilies going in all day, catapulting a small handful over each rod every 20 minutes or so.

“Carp fishing is my passion, so to have caught this whacking 45-pounder is a dream come true, especially as it’s from my home town!” concluded Michael. 

45lb 12oz Box Common comes quietly on social session

The Box Common, one of the most sought-after day-ticket carp in the country, has been banked at 45lb 12oz.

Luke Thornett caught the fish during a three-night session at St John’s, on the Linear Fisheries complex in Oxfordshire.

The 30-year-old from Oxford also snared two 20lb mirrors during his session in the Point swim at the popular gravel pit.

He told Angling Times: “When I arrived it was flat calm and the fish were fizzing like mad – there were pinprick bubbles all over so I knew the fish were there.”

The electrician fished to a gravel bar just 30 yards out and baited with boilies and hemp.

He said: “On the first night the bar was covered with floating weed that had been cut by the weed-cutting boat and had anchored on the bar. But by the second night the wind had picked up and cleared it.”

The Box Common appeared at 6.30am on Luke’s final day. He said. “It was an absolute one-toner, but when I hit into it it just kited straight into the weed, which wasn’t attached to anything, so it covered its eyes and the fish just came straight in.

“When I got it in the net I expected it to be a little pasty, but when I pulled the weed away I knew it was a big common.

“I don’t usually fish these sorts of waters – I prefer low-stock pits where I can be left alone – so it’s mad that I only went down for a social and had this one!”

‘Unknown’ mirror is the perfect tonic to lost big fish

Lewis Read continued his remarkable autumn run by banking this 49lb 4oz mirror from Wellington Country Park this week.

The impressive fish, which is bizarrely called the The Unknown, fell to a pop-up boilie presented over 1.5kg of freebies at 120 yards range and helped Gardner Tackle employee Lewis to forget about the loss of a big fish earlier in the day.

“To be honest, it was a really lucky cast. I was aiming to get my rig close to the overhanging branches of a tree on the end of an island, but it landed right under it – perfect!

“Once hooked, the fish gave a good, solid fight and I was blown away to nab another one of the lake’s big mirrors,” said Lewis. 

“It was the perfect tonic following the devastating loss of a big fish on Saturday morning after it kited into a snag.”

Just a day later Lewis then rounded off the weekend in fine style by banking a chunky 30lb 8oz common carp from Pit 4 at Frimley in Surrey. 

He said: “I was chuffed to bits with this one because I’ve been putting in a fair amount of effort at the venue in between my trips to Wellington Country Park.” 

Captor’s five-year-old witnesses a 41lb 8oz common

A week of overnight sessions for James Winters was crowned by a very special moment with his daughter.

This 41lb 8oz common was the pick of a string of fish, and was witnessed by five-year-old Hattie.

In a hectic week that saw James fish four separate overnighters at the Carp Society’s Farriers Lake in Gloucestershire, he banked two doubles, three twenties to 29lb and a 36lb common, plus the forty.

It was the final session of the week that produced the biggest fish. Said James: “I was due to go on holiday on the Thursday so on the Tuesday I decided on one last quick overnighter. This time, though, I took my five-year-old daughter Hattie along. 

“We arrived at the lake at around 5pm and I knew getting back in the peg I was in before would be unlikely. It can be busy, especially if it’s done a few fish.

“Unsurprisingly, the peg was taken so we went just around the corner so I could get fairly close to the area I’d fished at the weekend.

“It was building up to a full moon and there were a few fish about, so I gave them a bit more bait than usual – around half-a-kilo of Sticky Manilla boilies per rod.”

After a fitful night’s sleep interrupted by tench and line bites, James eventually got a carp bite as dawn broke.

“It wasn’t much of a fight,” he said. “It did pick up my other line but within a few minutes it was in the net. 

“With no sleep I was absolutely hanging, and Hattie had slept through the lot, but to have to wake her to share the moment of catching a forty made it all very special indeed.”

50lb Wellington common best of three in 121lb total

Lewis Read has banked his second 50lb-plus common in a month as a midweek overnighter produced three fish for more than 121lb.

Fishing Berkshire’s Wellington Country Park, the Gardner employee caught the Chinese Common at exactly 50lb, a 44lb ghostie and a 27lb 8oz mirror – all before packing up and heading to work.

Having lost a “blooming behemoth of a fish” on the morning of another midweek overnighter, Lewis returned to the same spot after work the same day.

He said: “I checked the area I had fished and there were a few fish about, so I wrapped up for the same spots that I had baited the previous night and got the three rods in tight to the far margin, with just one chuck needed on each rod.

“I restricted baiting to 30 boilies per rod as I had put a fair bit in the night before and, thanks to minimal casting, I had a quick bite on the long rod that turned out to be a chunk of a 44lb ghostie.

“Luckily, some very excitable campers were walking past and they oooed and aaaahed as I held the fish up and ‘dad’ did a great job with the camera!

“A few hours later the short rod lit up, pulling the bobbin up tight – and I was on the locked-up rod walking back up the slope behind the swim and leading the fish away from the far-bank snags.

“I had a bit of a brutal battle with this one – it did the dirty and went round a bush to my left, but gentle teasing eventually drew her round and then she did a couple of hugely powerful runs across the bay. Good old 15lb GT-HD mainline did its job and it turned out to be the Chinese Common at exactly 50lb! Oh my days, that’ll do!”

Lewis added: “Just as I started packing up I lost a fish on the same rod – and as I reeled in the right-hander the middle rod pulled up tight and I cajoled a lovely 27lb 8oz mirror to the waiting net. 

“It was a bit of a hectic work night by Welly standards, but then again everywhere seems to be fishing well with the cooler longer nights that have become so noticeable all of a sudden.”

Horton forties fall at distance and in margins

Island Lake on the historic Horton complex provided Dan Leney with two of its prized residents to very different tactics.

“I had two forties in two weeks – what a buzz!” said Dan, who banked a 45lb 12oz mirror at long range, then a 40lb 6oz mirror in the margins.

The first and bigger of the fish came during a three-day session. “I had been prepping some spots from the boat at 120 yards,” said Dan. “The fish were on clearings of silt amid huge weedbeds.” 

“The rod ripped off at 1pm on day two and I latched into the huge-framed Two Tone mirror, which came in at 45lb 12oz.
I had three bites that day, taking another 25lb common and losing one in the weed.

“I returned two weeks later but this time I chose to fish just 10 yards from the bank in much, much shallower water. The sun was beating down and the temperatures were far warmer, so I targeted the 5ft area. 

“On the first morning I managed two takes, one from a 23lb mirror and another from the huge 40lb 6oz mirror.”

58lb 2oz Wood Carving Common out after year’s absence

It’s a well-worn saying in angling that effort equals reward, but this addition to Adam Matthews’ photo album is proof of just that.

The Wood Carving Common, an incredibly long fish of 58lb 2oz, had not been caught for almost a year at Kevin Nash’s Copse Lake until the Kent angler put in a Herculean shift to avoid a blank.

Taking advantage of the venue’s new open-access policy, Adam booked a five-day session and initially opted to fish the neighbouring Church Lake before switching to the Copse on day three.

“All week I’d been lapping it every so often and leaving some small areas of bait where I thought they might feed,” said the YouTube tech blogger.

“However, they all remained untouched so it was now going to be a stalking effort – trying to find one and catch it on the move.”

Adam found one fish, estimated at 45lb, and tried to tempt it with freelined maggots and bread to no avail. The following day the same fish did oblige but it tore off through some lilies and snapped the line.

“It was a real low after so much hard work,” said the 38-year-old, “I’d probably made over 200 casts of the freelined bait. I went and sulked.” 

Having regained his composure, Adam, who estimates he walked around the lake 200 times, opted for a different approach and presented a maggot rig on a clay spot close to an island.

“Thirty minutes later the receiver went off and I ran around the lake and picked up the rod, only to see that the fish was weeded up no more than 15ft in front of me. I could see it. As a lover of the common carp over the mirror I knew immediately that it was the one I wanted the most. 

“After a small fight getting it out of the weed my friend Neil came running round, leapt into the water and netted it. My heart was absolutely thumping like never before and the adrenaline was flowing. 

“It came up just shy of 60lb, and while everyone seemed slightly disappointed it didn’t hit the magical 60 I sat there just staring at this whale of a fish, so long that it didn’t even fully fit in the 1m 20cm monster cradle that sits in every swim. 

“This was the catch of a lifetime. Being in such a special place just made it even better.”

Rub the carp god for luck!

A granite carp god weighing 3.5 tonnes has already smiled on one angler after taking up residence at a popular venue.

The imposing statue, modelled on the famous Easter Island heads, was levered into position with help from bricklayer Carl Baxter, who then got his rods out and banked two fish for 87lb, including a 50lb 6oz common.

The 8ft-tall good-luck charm was placed on the dam wall at Fryerning Fisheries’ Main Lake in Essex by owner Chris Knowles, who believes anglers shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.

“As anglers we are always praying to the carp god,” he told Angling Times, “and if we don’t, we’re in trouble!”

Chris said the head, which cost £3,500 and took three months to create, reflects his outlook on fishing and life.

He said: “A mate of mine designed it and I got him to put a couple of scars in the back which anglers can rub for good luck as they go past.

“I honestly believe that if you go fishing with a positive attitude, then nine times out of 10 you will do well. I’d been in this game for 33 years when I dug the lake and this is just one of those silly things you do. It’s a bit of fun – I think people take life too seriously sometimes.”  

One of the carp god’s first duties was to look on as Carl Baxter, who had helped position the statue, caught Mommon at 50lb 6oz and then an elusive and old mirror known as Riddler at 36lb 12oz.

The 42-year-old from Ipswich in Suffolk said: “It’s my second UK fifty and a fish I dearly wanted after fishing the venue for 18 years. I fed heavily every night, only fishing the spot at night after resting it. 

“87lb of fish in two casts – wow!”

Over the course of his 72-hour session, Carl fed 8kg of Activ8 in mixed sizes with a throwing stick and fished matching pop-ups on chod rigs to a silt patch next to a lilybed on the far-bank margins 100 yards away. 

“It’s my first time using Mainline for several years after using other baits, and forgotten favourite Activ8 did me proud,” added Carl, who is also known by the nickname Bertie.

Venue boss Chris told Angling Times another lump of granite is waiting to be chiselled into a skull which may be placed on neighbouring Valley Lakes.

Extreme fishing gets its reward with 47lb 12oz common carp

It was a bit of an epic Saturday morning” is how Dan Taylor described the extreme lengths he went to to land this giant 47lb 12oz common.

The 28-year-old came up with an ingenious plan to hook the fish just a foot from the bank in an unpopular swim containing a “savage gravel ledge” that severely hampers line lay.

But that was just half the battle at the Kent syndicate, as the fish surged through five weedbeds and led him a merry dance in a boat before eventually succumbing.

“It’s an unpopular swim that no-one fishes because it basically contains a cliff face and a savage gravel ledge,” said the tree surgeon. “But I’d seen this big common in the area a week before and decided to prebait.

“I had to give it a bit of thought to be able to fish the swim, but in the end I put a second buzzer bar on a storm pole and draped the slack line over it to avoid the ledge.

“Having prebaited, I placed just a single hookbait on a really short hooklink and a big lead in the edge. At 5am I woke and hadn’t had anything and I was just making the first tea of the day when I received the take.

“The lake is about 90 per cent weed at the moment and the fish powered through it all, hit the surface and just ground to a halt.”

The Ashford angler took to a boat and patiently kept the fish moving through a succession of weedbeds before it “absolutely powered off around the lake”.

Eventually, though, Dan won the battle and was able to admire a fish that had not been caught this year. “It was last caught at 52lb,” he said, “but it doesn’t matter about the weight – it’s a huge fish and must have been 4ft long.

“It took a bit of thought and process to catch it, which made it all the more rewarding.”

Personal-best common carp on his first visit

Matthew Lockett’s debut visit to his new target water resulted in a three-fish catch topped by this immaculate 40lb 12oz common.
Despite high air pressure and strong northerly winds, he picked up commons of 12lb 10oz and 20lb 2oz before connecting with the new personal best on day two.
Matthew targeted the southern venue with CC Moore Live System boilies, and caught the forty on an Acid Pear pop-up cast to showing fish.