Five forties and two fifties for bailiff who works in France

Dave Smedley was celebrating this week after taking one of the biggest hauls of day-ticket carp in history.

The 48-year-old, who works as a bailiff at French venue Dream Lakes, came back to home shores to spend a week on Meadow Lake, at Holme Fen Fishery in Cambridgeshire, and marked his return by taking a staggering hit of fish that included mirrors weighing 40lb 2oz, 40lb 15oz,
44lb 4oz, 47lb 14oz, 48lb 12oz, 53lb 8oz and 54lb 14oz.

All seven of the huge fish, plus a brace of twenties and thirties, came from a 12ft-deep area at 110 yards range, and fell to Mainline Salty Squid wafter boilies presented over a bed of new Mainline boilies that Dave was field testing for the company.

The secret to Dave’s haul was to keep things simple and to try to avoid making much disturbance – as he explained.

“There were quite a few marker and spod rods being used by the other anglers on the lake, and I’ve always found that at this time of the year, when the fish are less active, they won’t put up with that sort of disturbance. 

“The bailiff had told me about a clean area out in front of the swim I was fishing, so I simply attached a bare lead to my spod rod, cast it out, and it went down with a crack. ‘That’ll do for starters’ I thought, and I never moved my three rods from the spot all week!”

Dave kicked things off with a 35lb 8oz fish, with his next three carp out being the 48, the 53 and the 54. He caught regularly over the next few days, and capped the haul off with a 44-pounder on the last morning of his stay.

“All the fish scrapped like mad – I couldn’t believe how hard they fought. I was totally blown away by the session. What an amazing venue!” he added.

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.

Britain's biggest carp denied official record

Britain’s largest carp will not be ratified as an official record because it is a “cultivated fish”.

That is the ruling of the British Record Fish Committee after the mirror known as Big Rig was caught at 69lb 3oz by Tom Doherty at the Avenue in Shropshire.

“It’s a very uneducated decision”

— Rob Hales, Avenue boss

The committee decided the fish had been “grown under an artificial feeding regime close to a weight close to or exceeding the existing species record”. It has subsequently been caught at 71lb 4oz and that weight will not take the record either.

Avenue boss Rob Hales told Angling Times this morning it is a “very uneducated decision”.

He said: “It’s very predictable and I’m not at all surprised. I think that they (BRFC) don’t fully understand the carp-fishing/fishery/growing-fish business. It’s a very uneducated decision. All big carp in this country and elsewhere only get to those weights because they eat high-protein boilies.

“I gather they (BRFC) say it wouldn’t have reached this weight in the natural environment – but the fish is a fish, not a robot.”

BRFC chairman Mike Heylin told Angling Times the fish may still be able to break the record in future.

He said: “I don’t think it’s ruled out forever. If it came out at 85lb and had put on a significant weight in the fishery itself – assuming the fishery isn’t being regularly fed huge amounts of bait – I don’t see why we would be necessarily excluding it forever.”

Rob Hales said: “That’s very interesting. I actually think Big Rig will make 85lb, so it’s a challenge I’m willing to accept. I feed my fish to stop them getting hungry, you can’t force food down their throats.

“In my opinion, whilst it was a predictable decision, I think they’re only delaying the inevitable.”

Mike Heylin confirmed the carp record still exists and would not be split into cultivated and un-cultivated lists. He added: “I’m happy with the outcome, happy we did all we could to look at all the evidence to see if it could be accepted under our terms of reference.

“It’s an awesome piece of fishing, Tom must be over the moon to catch it – I know I would be.”

Battling flu... and a near-60

A morning he will never, ever forget is how TJ Elliott described catching this giant 59lb 12oz mirror – despite coming down with flu during his session.

The fish, known as Single Scale, came during a midweek trip to a large southern club water. Having found a likely looking spot a few weeks earlier, TJ continued to fish the same swim each week and baited heavily with CC Moore Live System boilies each time.

“It soon became clear that my spots were getting cleaner and cleaner,” he said.

On this occasion, TJ got in the swim on Wednesday morning but after baiting up his illness kicked in. 

“At around 4pm I had only managed to put one of the rods out to the spots and then decided to have a little sleep as my flu continued to progress.”

After eventually getting his other two rods out before nightfall, TJ returned to bed but was woken at 4.30am to a single beep “followed by my clutch going into absolute overdrive”.

“The fight was very straightforward, just 15 minutes of very heavy lunges and slow plodding. 

“When she came up for the net, I knew it was her! I scooped the net under what can only be described as a baby whale and as she passed over the cord I let out a massive ‘YES!’. It was definitely a morning I will never, ever forget.”

TJ fished snowman rigs with Live System and CC Moore Dairy Supreme boilies on fluorocarbon D rigs.

51lb mirror banked on only bite of trip

Liam cradles his 51lb mirror, which fell to a pop-up.

Liam McGoldrick had only one bite during a weekend session on Wellington Country Park – but he wasn’t complaining when it resulted in a superb 51lb mirror. 

Arriving at the venue in the dark, the 32-year-old baited up and cast out. The following morning he noticed fish feeding further down the bank, but rather than recast and risk spooking them, Liam left his baits in position in the hope that the fish would move out of the area and towards his swim.

That proved to be a wise move by the senior contracts manager from Kent. 

He said: “The bite came at around 10pm and it was just a single bleep, followed by the line pinging out of the clip. 

“I was on the rod straight away, and the fight was immense – the fish was extremely angry and did not want to give up!”

Liam used a Mainline Cell pop-up over a spread of bottom baits and presented it on a Ronnie rig made using a size 4 Gardner Tackle Mugga hook and a safety lead clip system from the same company. 

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.”

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!”

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’!”

Three forties get Jon buzzing!

Jon Taylor had a swarm of wasps to thank for his capture of three huge mirrors weighing 42lb, 42lb 6oz and 45lb 6oz.

Arriving at one of the Essex Carp Syndicate’s portfolio of waters, the 42-year-old found numbers of fish showing in front of a swim that was already taken. Seeing that the adjacent plot was free, he thought that his luck was in – but he soon changed his mind.

Jon explained: “There was a wasp nest in the swim, and some poor chap had suffered multiple stings over the weekend. As soon as I wandered in there I was chased off by a swarm!”

Forced into a rethink, Jon knew that the wind was due to swing round, so he decided to move to a swim that would be on the end of it. Just 10 hours later he was celebrating his best-ever session.

“I got the rods out and sprayed a couple of kilos of boilies over them. The wind then swung round into my face and the fish were instantly on it. A speedy take resulted in one of the lake’s big girls – the Scattered Lin – at 42lb 6oz, followed by a big-framed mirror called Boris at 42lb.

“I could see the spots fizzing up and shortly after recasting I was away again. This was the biggest of the lot – a fish called Brick Top – weighing 45lb 6oz,” he added. 

Ten-fish for a 311lb haul from Horton’s Kingsmead One

Making time to look for fish before setting up is rarely time wasted, as James Butcher proved when he took a mammoth haul of 10 big carp during an action-packed session.

The Finchley, East London rod banked six twenties, three thirties and a cracking 44lb 2oz mirror from RK Leisure’s Horton 30-acre Kingsmead One lake in Berkshire. He targeted an area where, on arrival, he’d found a number of fish lying up in the weed.

He said: “I chose a swim called The Bream, which was the closest one to where the fish were holding up in the weedbed under the bridge at the eastern end of the lake. I then put approximately 4kg of boilies out to try to intercept them as they moved in and out of the area.”

After kicking things off with a 34lb 4oz common on his first day, shortly after first light the following morning James banked a 37lb 14oz mirror known as the Mug Sutton. 

The action then continued steadily from that point on, with a further six twenties and a 32lb 2oz common, before on the last day of the session, the cherry on the cake arrived in the form of a big mirror known as Moony weighing in at 44lb 2oz.

“The weather was very warm and overcast, and when the wind got up a little I tended to get a bite or two,” said James. 

“However, I had nothing at all during the hours of darkness – I think the fish moved out of the weedbed as the sun set late in the evening, before moving back into the area at dawn.

“After each fish I put around a kilo of bait out, and the more I put out, the more runs I had. I lost a couple of fish due to hook-pulls in the weed, but there’s no way I’m complaining – I was buzzing after a session like that!” 

Emotional personal best carp weighs 53lb 8oz

Craig McEvoy’s storming 2016 has continued with an emotional session at the Avenue.

Back in May, the Black Country carper landed five forties and three thirties in the same session at Acton Burnell, but his lastest trip to an RH Fisheries venue produced a new UK personal best.

In 48 hours at the Shropshire syndicate water, Craig caught a 53lb 8oz mirror plus three others of 35lb 8oz, 32lb 4oz and 27lb before packing up to go to a family funeral.

“I had to pack up for midday on the final morning as I had my uncle’s funeral to attend,” said Craig. “I had three fish on the final morning, which included the fifty that I caught in the final hour of the session.

“It sure was an emotional day.”

Craig fed a total of 4kg of Mainline Cell boilies and fished matching hookbaits on size 8 Korda Kurv Shank hooks tied to 15lb Korda IQ2 fluorocarbon.

Lucky peg 13 brings Welsh forty

Welsh day-ticket water has produced its first 40-pounder in more than two years.

The 40lb 1oz mirror was caught by Shropshire angler Nick Burrage on only his second visit to White Springs, near Swansea.

Fishing with friend Mick Stacey on the Specimen Lake, Nick settled into swim 13, the only peg available when he made the booking a month earlier.

“It was very warm and sunny as we set up, but I like to get my rods out first to make use of every minute on the bank,” said Nick. 

“Within two hours of the rods being out, the one over on the nearby island let out a beep, and with the line lifting in the rings slightly I felt it and drew it back a foot at a time. Without being able to feel the lead at any point, I lifted the rod and was left reeling in lots of slack – until I reached the fish that was swimming towards me!

“By the time I was bent into the fish, it had powered through two of Mike’s lines and we quickly took the bail-arms off to stop the fish using the tight lines like a disgorger to unhook itself. 

“A close-in battle with rolls and boils at my feet continued for
10 minutes, showing her power and fitness. Then, soon enough, she popped up and after one last roll she found my net. 

“The guy came round from next door to see and the scales swung round to 40lb 1oz. We all checked and checked again. The capture became a talking point around the lake and on the internet – I suppose not everyone will be happy about a Shropshire lad catching this fish!

“The lake owner came down, and he’s a great guy. He was telling me about the restocking, so it’s well worth a visit if you’re in that neck of the woods.”

Second 50lb carp of 2016

A best man is there to support the groom through his big day – and that’s just what Phil Horton did as his mate Carl Sharp banked his second fifty of 2016.

Carl had booked Meadows Lake at Holme Fen in Cambridgeshire for a week-long stag do with a group of friends and hooked into this 52lb 7oz mirror five minutes after Phil arrived in his swim. 

“He wasn’t supposed to get there until later that evening,” said West Midlander Carl, “but he managed to leave work early and I met him at the gate just as I was coming back from the shops.

“I was in the Party Point swim, so I told him to double up in there with me. I’d just cast my first rod back out and was wrapping up the second one when I got the bite.”

The Willenhall Angling Direct shop manager, who gets married in Greece later this year, also managed a 46lb 7oz mirror on the penultimate morning of the week-long session.

After a slow start, Carl’s fifty arrived on the fourth day after resting one of his spots.

“There’s a small clear channel at 70 yards down the centre of the lake, which I baited and fished over to begin with, but on the second day I saw fish showing at range and put all three rods on single hookbaits at about 130 yards,” said Carl, who banked a 54lb Rosemere mirror in April.

After keeping his rods at range, the 32-year-old added a bit more bait to the shorter spot but did not fish there until just before his bite. 

He said: “I put a single hookbait on the spot after coming back from having a shower and popping to the shops, and it was away before I could get the second rod in.”

Best man Phil was rewarded for bringing a dose of good luck by catching his own forty, at 43lb 12oz, the next day. 

Fellow stag-party member Lee Rolfe also caught a personal best of 45lb 2oz.

“It’s just off the scale,” said Carl of the average size of fish. “You can go to France and still have to wade through twenties, so for us to have four fish over 40lb is incredible.”

41lb 9oz Holme Fen mirror carp before GCSEs kick in

Schoolboy Oli Cooper used his last summer holiday before starting GCSEs to knuckle down and find a new personal best.

Having searched for a suitable venue, the 15-year-old settled on Meadows Lake at Holme Fen in Cambridgeshire, and was rewarded for his hard work with a 41lb 9oz mirror.

The teenager told Angling Times: “I had six weeks off so I decided I should do something special before I needed to start working really hard for my GCSEs.”

Pouncing on a cancellation at the booking-only venue, Oli arrived midweek for a 48-hour stay and despite coming last in the draw for swims managed to secure Party Point, the peg he wanted.

After finding a couple of spots in the weed, Oli baited heavily with pellets, crushed boilies, corn and whole boilies. 

“I wasn’t feeling too confident,” he said. “I had only seen one good fish jump which, although it was on my spot, was much earlier on in the day, and I hadn’t had any liners or anything in hours.

“The lake hadn’t produced a fish that week so I knew it would be hard, but I ate my dinner, set my alarm for just before light and went to sleep.”

After waking to thick mist, Oli got out of his bivvy at 6am as visibility improved.

“After watching the slick off my spots for an hour-and-a-half I sat on the grass verge thinking ‘if I get a bite now, how will I get to my rods?’. And, as I was thinking that, I had a single bleep – it screamed off and straight away I knew I was into a very good fish.”

The fish ploughed through a succession of weedbeds, but eventually Oli led it into the margins and, though a crowd had gathered, he opted to net it himself. He said: “The shoulders on her were the thickest I have ever seen!”

The following morning Oli banked a 26lb mirror to round off a memorable session.

Island hotspot brings Greg a day-ticket best

Casting tight to an island at a popular day-ticket venue gave Greg Wildon a new personal best in the shape of this turbo-charged mirror.

The 39lb 6oz mirror came during a 72-hour session at Kent’s Elphicks Fishery, which included a double, a 26lb 4oz common and an 11lb catfish. 

“I’d seen a lot of big fish by the edge of the island,” said the Colchester, Essex, angler, “so I managed to get a bait about 2ft from the edge of the island. After about an hour, the fish took off at an amazing speed.

“Eventually, after a brilliant fight, it made it to the net – a truly magnificent specimen.” 

Greg, who regularly catapulted boilies over his spot at 40 yards, added: “This was a new personal best and it certainly made my day.”

46lb Ashmead carp falls to guest

A guest session on Ashmead gave Spencer Wright one of the venue’s most resilient residents.

The 46lb 4oz mirror, known as Moonscale, was attacked by an otter as a much younger fish, but has since gone from strength to strength.

Spencer, from the Isle of Wight, said: “I was fortunate enough to be asked to join some friends on a weekend social to this very special lake. 

“I was lucky enough to have fished it a couple of years back as a guest, so I knew what a testing lake it could be.”

Plotting up in the New North swim at the Somerset venue and finding a hole in the weed, the 43-year-old had to wait until the Sunday of the weekend session for a fish to enter his water.

He said: “I estimated it to be a mid-twenty from its position low down In the water. It cruised about around the weedbeds for an hour or so, before I noticed it swirling just to the left of the spot I’d found the previous day.

“Fifteen minutes later, while attempting to take a photo of a young grebe catching rudd, my rod bent over as my Neville screeched and line was ripped from a tight clutch.”

Although the fish swam straight into a weedbed, Spencer applied pressure and walked backwards up the bank, guiding the fish into his net just two minutes after getting the bite. 

He added: “The scales settled at 46lb 4oz. I was completely blown away by what was happening. I stood in the water holding her, totally in awe of the special fish and the history it had and all the anglers who had caught it over the years. For those couple of minutes, it was my time.”

53lb 4lb mirror carp practically rips the rod from the rest

David Crouch didn’t let a hit-and-run driver ruin his fishing. He dusted off his van and went on to bank this 53lb 4oz mirror.

The day before his weekend session at Grenville Lake, a vehicle caused £3,000 of damage to his fishing transport, but with the van still driveable, David wouldn’t be beaten.

“It’s a day I will never forget, I have to say,” he recalled after catching the big mirror from the Cambridgeshire venue.

Arriving to find only six other anglers occupying the 72-acre lake, David had a good look around with the aid of his bicycle and settled on peg 12 after seeing a fish at long range.

Having found a clear spot next to a weedbed 80 yards out, David baited with 20 Spombs of CC Moore Odyssey XXX boilies and managed a 21lb 4oz mirror on one of his 12mm Northern Special hookbaits at 3am.

“Nothing happened until about 8.30am, when I was watching the water and seeing a lot of fish showing at about 150 yards out. 

“The next thing the rod I had recast in the night was ripping off, nearly being dragged from the rest. I pulled into this and felt a big weight. I could tell straightaway that this fish was altogether different from the other.”

A fraught battle, which saw David get into the water in his waders, eventually came to an end after 10 minutes.

“I could see this was indeed a good fish,” he said. “Once I was happy I lifted the net out, and oh my god, this was a special fish, it felt very heavy! On to the mat and peeling back the net, a huge mirror carp lay in front of me. I was gobsmacked –this was massive!”

David beckoned two passing members to help weigh and photograph the fish. 

“It was an immense male carp,” he said. “A real brute of a fish, and we all stood in awe of him.”