Record crucian carp! - Will it be claimed?

MOST anglers pit their wits against perch, pike or chub in December but not Matthew Wright, who fished through freezing 30mph winds and heavy downpours to slip his net under a potential new British record crucian at 4lb 11oz.

Matthew Wright’s potential new British record crucian carp

The fine specimen was the larger of two 4lb-plus fish taken by the 37-year-old during an overnight stay on a Surrey stillwater – where the terrible conditions at one point left him questioning his sanity… and clinging to his bivvy!

Reassurance that he’d made the right decision targeting the quintessential summer species finally came at 11.30pm, when a positive run resulted in a 4lb 4oz stunner that smashed his 3lb 9oz PB.

This 4lb 4oz crucian also found its way to Matthew’s net

But before he even had chance to bask in the glory of his achievement, an even larger fish tore off with his hookbait.

“At first I thought it was a carp, but then I felt the tell-tale nodding on the rod-tip, and when the fish surfaced in the beam of my headtorch I caught sight of the flank of a gigantic crucian,” Matthew said.

“As I guided it in, I just kept saying ‘oh my God, don’t fall off’, and I was shaking like mad when it finally went over the net cord – the size of the fish was just ridiculous.”

Matthew weighed the crucian three times on his Reuben Heaton digital scales in the presence of three other anglers, each time registering a weight of 4lb 11oz.

Despite making the Angling Trust aware of his catch, Matthew – who works as a fishery bailiff – remains unsure about whether he will yet submit a claim to the British Record Fish Committee, and said he was just happy knowing he’d caught a potential record.

He added:

“A lot of the credit goes to my missus, who finally gave me permission to go fishing after a couple of months of helping to look after our newborn baby!

“For 30 years I’ve targeted crucians and have caught them in -3°C before, but I never ever expected to break my personal best twice in a single December session.”

Both Matthew’s crucians fell to Method feeders and double fake caster hookbaits fished over a bed of hemp and mixed 3mm pellets at 30 yards range.