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After 15 months of trying I finally caught my 1st White Cottage carp. Beautiful 27lb Mirror just as I was contemplating packing up and going home as the weather was so dire. To say I'm chuffed is an understatement!!!

Had this 36lb 08oz mirror earlier today, the biggest of 5 fish today. Gone quiet now though.

Rod was in for no longer than half an hour. 43lb

Had a couple of hours yesterday evening, freelining prawn a couple of feet from the bank. 2 perch and 3 carp landed.

I'll kick this one off. Seems like we have all had a rough time of it lately! After 5 blank nights over December I was out for a day session on Saturday and about 20mins after dropping a snowman hookbait a rod length off the dam wall I landed this mid double. I did absolutely ruin the pics, probably out of practice or due to the cold. Not that it matters really.

If anyone wants to get behind a military charity, can I suggest SSAFA? After the breakdown of my marriage due to PTSD, and having approached a GP for help and being told that I would have to go on a 6-12 month waiting list for initial assessment (a timeframe doubled by the GP then "forgetting" to do the referral - 6 months waiting for an appt that was not gonna arrive) I was found by my parents and brought back to Sussex. They asked H4H for help twice but I was never seen by them. In desperation, (as I was a total mess, been hospitalised twice with pancreatitis due to self medicating with Stella and vodka - been tee total since 2016 - and having had my father find me removing my tow rope form the boot of my car - ideal noose after all) they contacted SSAFA or the soldiers sailors air force association. They spoke to a SSAFA rep who interviewed me the following day, (he was ex parachute regt) he immediately realised I was a danger to myself and referred me to a clinical psychologist privately of which they paid the fees, the day after the referral was sent, (a sunday) the rep collected me from my parents house and drove me to see the psychologist at her own home. I was formally diagnosed with severe untreated PTSD and referred for immediate treatment. I started counselling on the Tuesday. It took a while, but I got there. I even returned to the ambulance service, something I couldn't have done prior to SSAFA's intervention. On the last day of my treatment, the counsellor told me that it was "the first day of the new life" I left, drove to Wales to collect my boys, returned to Sussex and took my boys to a local holiday park 15mins from my house (nothing too taxing - got an awesome carp lake!!) walked into the restaurant and got chatting to a very attractive blonde girl, (terrified she would tell me to get lost - but as a test of confidence it was pretty scary!) After 3yrs and 3 months together the same blonde and I will be getting married next year... There is light at the end of the tunnel. Seeing my son catch his first fish, teaching my other son how to ride a bike, my youngest son catching a PB 28lb+ mirror... A thousand little things that I could have missed had SSAFA not stepped in, along with family friends children and my partner, I thought I was pretty strong, being a blood splattered war fighting medic, but my reluctance to ask for help nearly cost me everything. The fight in getting better was tough, but screw it, don't let the bad uns win! I mean, miss this? No way!

This is what fishing is all about for me. A neighbour had her grandson out for a visit. He is keen on fishing but never catches much. I offered to take him to a local lake to see if we could catch him his first carp. Mission successful.

I had a day session on my local club lake. I worked Monday night and went straight from work at 4am. I had three fish. 8lb,9lb and a new pb 14lb 8oz, well chuffed. Both side's. 😁😁😁

18.06 common I managed to stalk on stinky single after my last frustrating session at the syndicate

Had a couple of hours spare this afternoon some went down the lake for a bit with the rods. Literally 5 minutes after casting in the rig, over 3 spods of bait, the rod was off! I was just getting the second rod out the sleeve!!!! I used the same B5, black snail and B5 pellet mix again with the added liquid B5 food. Absolutely instant attraction to a bait that they must now be accepting as a good food source. Being the bailiff and only having a select few members on the lake, I know exactly what bait goes in and I'm the only one on essential. The weekly baiting I do, throughout the year including winter, is really paying off. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s the one and only me holding a carp looking all serious look,Mufty. Was a bit of a micky take on another group....... normal service was has resumed 😉😬

25 LB common or just a tad under 12 kilo as the Lithuanian fella who took the pic called it, That's the hardest i have worked for a fish in a long time, the weed on the lake was ridiculous that horrid candy floss stuff, just had the urge to fish a more difficult water than Swan. Had the marker rod out found a clearish area about 50 yards out, but there was still a carpet of floss on the bottom, it was a case of trying to get a rig to sit on it put one rod out didn't get a solid donk from the led but i left it. put the other rod out and got a lovely solid reading back from the lead, donk. I was happy, all day thursday came and went nothing, knew I needed to change something, so i peeled out a foot or two of line and clipped up, really didn't want to move it as was on a tiny patch of something hard, i'd say gravel. Brought it in changed the bait for a bigger popup and threaded two foam packing nuggets along the hook length like a stick and put one on the hook, now i just had to put the rod back where it was. cast out the lead fell through the water and donk, right on the spot and it was a very small spot. Settles in for the evening, nothing not even a bleep, got rudely awoken this morning at 7am by two guys stood behind my bivvy having a loud sweary moan about the amount of weed on the water. I settled back on the bed a tad gutted nothing had picked up my bait in the night, just nodding back off and the alarm and baitrunner just started a long loud run, my alarms were still on night time volume, old school Fox MX, modern alarms don't have a patch on the sound a old Fox makes love the tone of a Fox. After picking the rod up and switching the baitrunner off I felt what I knew was a good fish it stayed out the weed long enough for me to get a handle on things then it made it to a large patch of canadian weed I just managed to guid into what i knew was the end of the weed bed keeping it out of the middle of the mass of weed. It tried to stay there so i gave it a minuit see what it wanted to do, it wanted to get into the middle, it was do or cry time, applying as much pressure as I dare i slowly brought it in, it fought all the way to the bank picking up as much weed as possible, now the tricky part, netting it, to my surprise I managed to slip the net under the fish first time and leave the mass of weed on the outside of the net further up the line. Cleared the weed from my line and lifted the net out to the mat, hadn't the hook come out in the net, scary stuff. My best fish of the year. Sorry about the poor light in the picture, i blame the lithuanian lad, lol.

One of four so far today

First 20 of the year 10 mins after casting out...

46 .8 lb ... you can tell my arm is dead from using the stick all day , straining to lift it 😁

For me Carp fishing is being a part of nature, learning it, knowing it and respecting it so much so that it reveals it’s secrets to us. The pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. (last bit stolen from Dave Lane) But that is what it is. I love it, love being in nature, love seeing a lake go through the seasons. I just wrote a piece on this exact subject too... (I wasnt going to publish it yet but its below). I don't think I'd actually function in society if I didnt get my fishing time. It genuinely affects me! It's that much a part of my life. To be honest it is the one thing that has seen my through hard times, where you can just switch off from the world and focus on relaxing and enjoying where you are. anyway, my little bit about fishing the same place all year round, prompted by a friend asking me if I found it boring or not doing it. 365. There is something magical about spending 12 months on the same lake. Immersing yourself in to the grandeur of nature. Witnessing the life cycle of the lake. The magic of spring when the lifeless looking lake starts to show new signs of life. The snowdrops and first buds signalling the warmer weather is coming. Fish starting to appear from their winter slumber, returning to old haunts to soak up every last drop of the spring sun. Watching spring take grip and transition in to summer, rendering once fishable spots inaccessible, various species spawning and creating new life, the leaves growing and greening, a range of flowers showing off in various colours. Summer hits and the hot weather brings out the hatches, the air thick with bugs with evenings spent with the sky full of bats, dragonflys darting, young birds exploring their new homes and the fish doing their annual rituals to produce the next generation of our quarry. Then we get to my favourite time of the year. Autumn. Watching the green, lush vegetation turn to drastic hues of oranges and reds is incredible, then falling from the trees and becoming crunchy under foot. Stunning sunsets and cloud formations as weather systems chop and change. The fish at peak weights as they stock up for Winter with angler footfall becoming less and less until you are left with the very few souls who are invested so much that the bleakest of periods does not bother them. Plants have died off and morning frosts make the landscape sparkle. It may be cold, wet and muddy but the little melted patch on the bivvy from the steam of the kettle shows the commitment and hope of the few. The ice starts to thaw and the winter's sun becomes warmer and warmer until we arrive back where we started. In between all this there is the magical moment your alarm signals that you’ve tricked one of your quarry. Memories are forever ingrained in time, never fading from the memory of those lucky enough to be part these special moments. A year in the same place isn't boring. It's magical.

It's some 30 odd years since I started fishing, in fact it's probably closer to 40. I started catching sticklebacks down the local Brook, moved onto rod and reel and caught silvers, some 20 years later I moved into the magic world of carp fishing and the rest is history. Despite all of the negative tripe that goes on all over social media I still get that same feeling as I did as a kid. I love fishing and if I'm lucky, I'll get another 30 to 40 years out of this glorious sport

Had 3 in a 6 hour spell this morning. Still 6 days to go.

With pleasure chill.... My first 40. We're talking several years ago now. I'd joined this new syndicate knowing it held a couple of 40's after spending several years chasing 20s and 30s. Don't get me wrong, I was more than happy with what I'd been catching, but I knew if I wanted to catch what I consider to be a real monster that I needed to take a step up. It wasn't an easy water, big and full of weed, definitely the hardest I'd ever fished at the time, but it was exciting just knowing that carp of that size were swimming around somewhere in front of me. I'd actually seen one of the bigguns during a walk around the lake when I first went to scope the place out to decide if I wanted to join; I was up a tree checking out a group of fish milling about in front of an island, maybe 10 or 12 of them, when up popped this absolute beast of a mirror. It stuck out a mile and I knew it was the biggest fish I'd ever seen with my own eyes. Needless to say I joined the syndi on the spot after that. My first session with the rods was at the end of the April, I'd seen a few fish at the shallower end of the lake so set up as close as I could get. Had a plumb about and found it was weed city. Proper thick Canadian to just under the surface everywhere I could cast apart from the margins. I put rods on clearer margin spots to my left and to my right. The middle rod was cast to the clearest area I could find in front (which wasn't very clear at all lol). I blanked that weekend but continued to see fish in front of me over the heaviest weed. A simple plan was hatched - before I left I baited the margin spots heavily in an attempt to draw the fish out of the weed. Chucked a few baits on the open water spot too. Over the next three weeks I popped down every two or three days to top the spots up. The spots were getting clearer and I was pretty happy that I appeared to be on to something after just one session. Anyway, three weeks later I thought I'd have another pop. It was mid May now and I remember the conditions like it was yesterday. It was warm with a lovely south westerly blowing across the lake. My mate came with me this time and fished over the other side. Not wanting to mess about I went in with a bit of bait from the off. A couple of kilos on each of the margin spots and a kilo on the open water spot. Out go the rods and I was happy to sit it out. I saw signs of carp in front me almost immediately so confidence was high. The day draws on and it's now late afternoon. I was on the phone to my mate across the way, no action for either of us, he's coming round for a cuppa. I put the phone down and I'm watching him bring his rods in when I get a bleep on the middle rod. As I'm walking across to investigate it goes into meltdown. I hit it and pretty much immediately we're at a stalemate, it's completely weeded up and I'm cursing myself for not hitting it quicker. I did what I usually do in this situation, I apply pressure, not too much, just enough to hoop the rod, and just stand there - I can wait as long as you can mr carp! After a few minutes I sense movement of the line and feel the fronds of weed giving way, then all of a sudden it's on the move. I pump it back slowly, glad that it didn't end in disaster but still very aware that the battle isn't yet over. My mate shows up in the swim, muttering insults and something about being lucky. He gets on the net and scoops it up first time. PUKKA - It's a lovely mirror, black as your hat, and no tiddler either @ just under 27 lb. Not bad for a 1st fish I think to myself. We do some pics, put her back and have a cuppa. It's only when I see a carp top on the open water spot that I realise I'm yet to put the rod back out, which I swiftly do. Mate goes back to his swim and I'm left there relaxing with that 'I've just caught my first carp from a new water' grin on my face. I popped another kilo on the spot and sat back to enjoy the rest of the session. The sun goes down and it becomes clear that I'm defintiely on the carp. I'm seeing more and more fish top over the open water spot, it looks great out there. Problem is I aint seen nothing on my margin spots, nothing at all. I now have that dilemma that we've all faced at some point - do I ditch the margin spots which over the course of three weeks I've invested God knows how much moneys worth of bait on??? I sit it out for a bit wondering if the carp might be coming into the margins at night, but by 11 pm I know I have to act - I'm seeing loads of carp in front of me. In come the margin rods. The spot in front aint massive and I know i can't get them all on the clean so I tie on a couple of chods. Out they go, one either side of the middle rod, followed by a load more baits. I go to sleep. Wake up in the morning and I'm amazed I hadn't had another fish but it's looking like another lovely day and I have another night in front of me so it's not over yet. I do see the odd sign of fish in front (still nothing in the margins) so I'm happy to play the waiting game. I do re-cast the chods, just to hedge my bets presentation wise. The day passes quickly, as they always do when you're angling, and before I know it it's 4 pm. I'm staring across the lake when the alarm hails my attention - I remember the run clearly. Two beeps,a pause, two beeps, a pause, MELTDOWN! As soon as I hit it I know it's a biggun, it was like striking into a concrete block, solid, but not locked up in weed, as this concrete block was kiting ever so slowly to the left. I really couldn't do anything with it so just held on - it wasn't taking line, but at the same time it wouldn't let me take any. Further to the left it went until it was right over one of my margin spots and I was starting to worry if it was going to try to reach a snag situated a little further along the bank. It didn't, thank God, and it headed back out to open water. Over the course of the next 15 minutes it was a bit of a stalemate, no issues with weed (which was a God send) but it just didn't want to do anything. It wasn't actually pulling that hard, it just wanted to wallow about and not come any closer. Finally it started to tire and I was able to gain some line without feeling like I was going to snap the rod. It came in slowly, a yard at a time, and by this point I just knew it had a to be at least a 30. By the time it got 10 yards away it briefly broke the surface and I could see it was a mirror - result I thought, as all the real bigguns in here are mirrors. It still took another 5 minutes wallowing under the rod tip, using it's weight to avoid the surface, but eventually I manage to get it in range and at full stretch scooped it up. I put down the rod and the net. My arm was absolutely killing me, I hold up my hand, I'm shaking like a leaf. I struggle to roll a fag but manage it, have a couple of tokes and decide it's time to see what I've caught. I grab the net by the arms and lift gently....."Jesus Christ" I think to myself, "it's massive"! I know it's a PB but have no idea how big it is, I've not seen anything this size up close. My PB is 34+ but this looked bigger, my brain is a bit scrambled. You could have told me it was 35 or 45 at the time and I'd have believed you, I just had no idea. I called my mate and talked gibberish at him but he got the message that I'd caught something and was on his way round. 10 mis later and he shows up and I direct him to the net. He's as impressed as me and a barrage of swear words is followed by a hug and a handshake. He really helped me out here and took charge of the situation, sorting the mat, camera gear, scales etc.... while I wandered around the swim in a complete daze not knowing what I was doing. With everything sorted I've come to my senses and I break down the net for weighing. I go to lift it out of the drink and say without a moments hesitation to my mate "it's one of the 40's". It weighs a ton, miles heavier than anything I've caught before, it has to be a 40! I transfer it to the sling/mat, we hook it up on a bar and we lift it together. We let it settle on 41 lb 7 oz, and I'm over the moon as you can imagine. Totally blown away. It's massive, it's pretty, it's (at the time) a fish of a lifetime. We do some pics and I get the waders out and we do some returners/water shots. I let her go and she swims back strong. Speechless. I spend the rest of the session on a high, as you do, with a grin from ear to ear. Funny story - one of the other anglers (that I didn't know) did his best to ruin my special day by showing up and telling me that it was basically pure luck that I'd caught the biggun so quickly, that I hadn't earned it, and even suggested I'd taken that capture away from others who deserved it more. That really wound me up, I was floating on a cloud one minute then being told my greatest angling achievement to date was pure luck the next - so I proved him wrong by catching it again 3 months later at 42 lb 2 oz. BOOYA! Ian

This is what I found outside my bivvie this morning,

Recently we have had threads where personal insults are being thrown at other members. Can I remind everybody that this is a FAMILY site designed to encourage children and adults into fishing, and some of our members are as young as 12 years old. Some of our members are only children and they have as much right to use the boards as you do. The carp.com forum is there for discussions on where to fish and what tackle/baits to use to help ALL members. Any threads being used for personal insults will be DELETED.

Not a carpy pic but one of a stretch of the Wid that I fish.. lovely little pool

Still in the baby league compaired to the rest of you but a new pb for me today just shy off 11lb

After what can only be described as an emotional 2 wks it was great to be back on the bank for a gentle day session. Was over the moon to catch this pretty common even tho I felt I fished rubbish 😂😂😬

had another PB saturday morning 23lb 10 common

What a load of twaddle! I bought a cheap light aluminium £50 pod years ago, that only got uprated within the last two years, but because I could. A goalpost pod I could fish as pod or banksticks, with goalpost or central sticks. At times I only used the front bars with buzzers on. If you buy right you do NOT need to spend shed loads on gear. In other posts you compare Terry Hearn, when you can catch as much and as well as he does, then I might take your posts seriously. Until then I'l just keep an eye on what you post for approval.

Did a 24hr on my lymm water first light Friday to Saturday. It’s a busy complex but always good for a bite or two. Managed to squeeze on and with a few lads pulling off at dinner I had my eye on a spot that would be free come dinner. The morning was pretty uneventful as the fish was down the bottom end so all eyes was on the lads packing up. 6 hrs without a sniff seen me into a fish 5mins after my move when this decided to snaffle my maggot hookbait An hour later this fell to the same tactics It all went quiet after that,very quiet and after a good nights kip woke up to the sound of a few fish crashing A slow pack up seen me Nick the best fish of the session just as the sun started to get high

Well after a 12 hour journey it's all worth while , currently chilling out with a gin & tonic . Managed to land a fifty earlier today, so a great start to the week 😁 . It's tricky, out in front of me is thick lillies but there not high enough to see yet so finding the channels in them takes a bit of time . Had the fish from a spot 100 yards out in a channel between lillie beds .

March 7th 2018... I'd just set up the bivvy in Walker's Pitch (aka The Willows) looking up towards The Shallows and it teemed it down.... you can still see the snow on the ground in places, it was bl**dy freezing.... you can see a rainbow in the pic too, pretty much in the middle of the frame... not the best pic, but it's location was a bit special

At it for the first time in almost two weeks, and such a nice, mild, and sunny day to do so.

Safe to say lads ..... this is a session I won't be forgetting , someone was smiling down on me . All fish taken on 12 - 13ft Zigs at a 110 yards .

Have been back from our annual trip France (Moulin De Bley) for about a week and just had a chance sort the pics outs. So thought I would share a bit of a catch report on here with pics as my waters over here have strict publicity bans. My mate Justin and I have been going to Bley for about 16 years, so know what to expect. Over the years we have seen the lake turn from a prolific runs water, to a water where the fish have wised up big time but if luck is with you big hits are still possible. Over the years we have been every month from April to early October but this year we thought we would give the last week in October a bash for a change. We arrived at the lake around around midnight on Friday night, having been going for years the bedchairs were the last items of tackle to be loaded, so we could easily get to them to set up in the communal barn area for a few hours kip before the owner Tony turned up at around 8 in the morning. Tony turned up and woke us up, told us we were the only ones on the lake for the week and that the previous group had left late Friday evening so the lake was free whenever we wanted to get on there. When we first started going our kids were young so these French trips have always been more of a social than anything else as Justin lives in Dorset and me in the Colne Valley. Being as it is a social thing we decided to both fish swim 4 that is a large double at the deeper, far end of the lake. We always fish as a team when fishing a double, so we each had a rod to the normally prolific tree line, one each on a baited spot in open water and our third rods were fished to some willows on the far bank. The fishing was certainly not the easiest week we have had on there, the weather was very inconsistent, heavy rain for a couple of days, a couple of sunny days, a couple of overcast days and the odd frost at night. The fish seemed to come onto the feed for a few hours every couple of days, so we tended to catch 2 or 3 fish in quick succession then it would go quiet for 36-48 hours. So not the most prolific of the weeks but we still up ended up with a total of 16 carp between us, 8 each which included 2x50's, 5x40's, 9x30's and 1x20. I also had Barry the black sturgeon at 44lb, 3 times during the week. 53lb 5oz 43lb 10oz 43lb 1oz 42lb 15oz 39lb 15oz 37lb 9oz 35lb 4oz 29lb 5oz

Managed to sneak out for a night, last night and this 22lb on the nose ghosty graced my net.

had 6 to low 20s last weekend 30th to 1st so i guess that qualifies, sadly no photo's tho as i couldnt seem to be bothered using up all my half bags of boilies and a groundbait that i cobbled together it was a good result for the lake as its the hardest one on our club books, friday started off at lunchtime, had the rods in place early and spodded over them at regular intervals (one every half hour or so). had two in the net by dusk, three the next day and the biggest by far just as i packed up on sun, result

My condolences to yonny and emmcee, support to itsgrimupnorth.

This is the fish in question .... look at the Hoover on it ! Lol

O dear!

Don’t listen to Yonny I’m sure the soniks are a quality piece of kit.... can I have first refusal on the ak47’s?!🤣

a couple from Thursday night, i also managed to catch a 25...which is the same one i caught 2 weeks before( pic above) Was really on fire through the night i think i had 9 fish in total, i was the only one on the lake to catch. I decided from the off to go with particle and went with 8 spods, introducing more every couple of hours or 3 every time i caught a fish. All fish were from 11PM which has become normal over there. I got to sleep at about 5AM after i decided to leave 1 rod out and stop spodding because i was knackered! 28LB 20LB

Could do with a fish... any fish! 🤞

Had this mid double at 2am this morning.

Good old Liddy....

Apologies if I’ve posted this one before x

One from yesterday evening. Little goodbye gift from the park.

On the way to work this morning I saw two barn Owls. Two!!! If I can manage to spot 2 barn owls in a 45 minute drive then surely, SURELY, I can spot a carp this weekend staring at the water for 48 hours! I am determine to find them this weekend!

A few of the posts seem to be saying that if you go and fish these 'commercial venues' you're guaranteed 30 and 40lb fish. I would recommend these people go and try the 'over stocked puddles' and see how they fare! It still takes some hard work, skill, water craft, location, proper baiting to catch these fish not just turn up pay your £25 and have a 40lber waiting in the margins for you! (Just my opinion of course)

Hi peoples this is something that i found on the internet over the weekend , hope i'm not breaking any rules by c&p and reproducing it here. There is a lot more information available that i cant post because it is a sticky from another forum and is again C.Com rules . However if anyones interested , then PM me and i'll point you in the right direction , lots of good stuff from a lot of good Anglers past & present. Contrary to popular belief carp are not native to the United Kingdom or continental Europe either. They are an introduced species. Carp originated in central Asia from the Caspian Sea about 10,000 years ago. During the ending of the last ice age carp migrated into the Black sea area and colonised the Aral system and eastern Asia including China, thus giving some the impression that they originated in China and the Far East. 8,000 years ago carp began to be found in The Danube and quickly spread through that system to many rivers and lakes in continental Europe. The Romans were responsible for the introduction of carp into Italy and many other colonies from the Danube area. The United Kingdom was not included this initial expansion of the carps territory. Following the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Monastic life of the early Christians the carp became a domesticated food fish of the monks. Indeed during this period the first selective breeding took place to try and improve the carp’s growth rate. The actual date of the introduction of carp into the UK is in some doubt, The Complete Angler written by Izaak Walton in 1653 states “Hops and Turkies, Carps and Beer Came into England all in a year” Hops were introduced into England in approx 1428 but carp may have been introduced as early as the 1300’s the early writings are unclear and even the authorships are in dispute so we can only say that the carp was established in the UK by the end of the 1600’s All of the early introductions were fully scaled fish, some of these would have been true “wild” fish never selectively bred, though some would even at that early stage have been “King” type fish, bred for weight gain. So the claims for the status of some fish even today to be original wild carp are vexed with problems of identification. Fish with irregular scale patters or having no scales at all are natural mutations, they occur by genetic modification due to outside forces, notably natural radiation. So it was not unknown for carp to be produced either naturally or by selective breeding with different scale patterns, the deliberate breeding for these scale types started fairly early but not necessarily for any benefits in growth potential. This was a secondary aim, maybe to make the fish easier to clean for the table. Certainly by the late 1800’s mirror and leather carp had been introduced into UK waters. These fish however were still rare until the early 1920’s when mirror and leather carp were on offer by English fish farms for introduction into fishing waters. Some of the earliest of these were stocked into the River Thames, Great Ouze, Crystal Palace Boating Lake and many other waters. The notable importer and distributor of these fast growing king carp was Donald Leney of the Surrey Trout Farm, These fish imported from Holland originating in the Galicia region of Poland were sold to many angling clubs and introduced into many waters which latterly became famous for the size of the fish they produced. So begins the story of carp fishing as we know it, the pursuit of these fish and their offspring. The Waters There are thousands of carp waters now; however it has not always been so. At one time they were few and far between, and waters that produced carp over 30 lbs rarer still. Beechmere (Bradmere pool) in Devon was one of the early waters to grab the imagination of the fishing public. Largely brought to light in the writings of “BB” Denys Watkins-Pitchford. His descriptions of fishing the old copper mine and the battles with its residents in Confessions of a Carp Fisher were the essence of 1950’s carp fishing. I am fortunate to have fished Beechmere and it truly is a special place to fish. Never producing really big fish until it was stocked with some Mirrors in the 70’s it still held a reputation as a magical place. If you have not read Confessions then please get hold of a copy. Beechmere carp have the long lean shape of what many would call a “wild” carp. They have been fished for by many of the top names in early carp fishing history. Other waters of the same period include Hunstrete Lake in Somerset where Richard Walker played a “huge” carp for hours only to find a small cap had wrapped the line round its dorsal fin. Dagenham Lake London which produced many 20+ fish in the 1950’s and 60’s including some close to the then British Record. Woledale, Maurice Ingham’s home water. Mapperly Reservoir where Albert Buckley and others landed big fish on light tackle. And Cheshunt Reservoir the home of the previous record. The premier water of this era though must go to Redmire (Bernithan Pool), The lake at a little over 3 Acres is the result of the damming the small River Garron This produced a water with a deep centre channel and shallower margins particularly to the north at the opposite end to the Dam. The pool was rich in aquatic food and there was little to eat it apart from eels and a few old trout from the unsuccessful attempt to turn the water into a trout fishery. Following this attempt it was decided to introduce some carp in order to attempt to control the prolific weed growth. So some carp were placed on order by the owner Lt Col Barnardiston with the Surrey trout farm. These 50 1 to 2 year old fish of approx 5 to 8 inches inches in length were introduced in March 1934. These fish were of the Galician race of carp from Poland, they had the advantage of a long growing life frequently not ceasing to add inches until their 15th year. This meant long fish that could later fill out on the abundance of food at the lake. The situation was ideal for big fish. A water rich in food, with little competition from other species, undisturbed by angling pressure for nearly 20 years and stocked with some of the best carp ever bred. Little wonder then that as soon as the water was first fished the size of the fish astounded the lucky few who gained access. Bob Richards a Gloucester tobacconist was lucky enough to learn of the fish at Redmire through a friend Harold Boulton, Harold had fished the pool in1949 and had not caught any but seen large fish from the punt. Bob phoned the owners and obtained permission to fish, he did so in late September 1950 and though he caught nothing he did see a monster carp from the boat. Bob fished the pool through 1951 only once on the 10 or so occasions he fished did he get a bite, the fish broke him in the weed. His last trip was to be on October 3rd and prior he managed to get the bailiff’s son to bait a swim for him with egg sized pieces of bread. The day dawned mellow and warm, an “Indian summer” late into autumn. The swim was coloured by feeding fish and Bob eventually after loosing a number of fish, late in the day hooked and played a fish that smashed the record and broke the 30lb barrier for the first time, at 31.04 it held the record for a short time. This news awakened the interest of Dick Walker who wrote to the owners and gained permission to fish. History tells us that on the 15th of September 1952 he landed a 44lb common carp that was named Clarissa this again smashed the record to splinters and established Redmire forever in the imagination of carp anglers as the “Mecca” of places to fish for huge carp. Over the years from Walker onwards there have been stories of huge uncaught fish in Redmire, These mystery fish fuelled the legend of the place which still in the new century holds a special place in carp fishing history. Following Redmire is no easy thing, though many waters like Ashlea pool in Gloucestershire, Billing Aquadrome in Northants and newer waters like Savay, Wraysbury and Conningbrook have tried, none however have captured the atmosphere of Redmire or the mystery of its inhabitants, maybe it’s fitting that the 4ft long common was never caught though seen by too many to doubt it’s existence. t just adds another story to share of the uncaught monsters and the guessing game of the ultimate size of the Redmire Fish. The Fish It’s not known when anglers first turned their attention to carp as a sporting fish as against a fish cultured for food, the records are just not there to examine. However it’s safe to assume that anglers were fishing for carp in far earlier times than the records from the fishing Gazettes of the 1800’s suggest. The early literature talks about the carp being the “fearfullest of fishes “ written in 1653 so we can say that carp fishing had an early origin in the UK. Because of the lack of early records the weights that these rod caught carp attained is in doubt. The first true lists show fish of 20lb being caught in the 1800’s. Fish netted or found dead were reported as heavier than this the best a 29 lb fish found dead in March 1903 at Wytham Lake Bourne. The first notable fish recorded as being caught on rod and line is a 20 lb fish caught in 1890 from Diana pool Hampton court . Thought the first fish that caught people’s imagination was the 17 lb fish caught by Otto Overbeck in 1902 from the famous Croxby pond. Quickly followed by the Cheshunt fish of 20.03 (1916) John Andrews, However the first fish to really cause a stir was the 26 lb monster caught from Mapperly Reservoir by Albert Buckley on the 24th of July 1930. This fish caught on extremely light tackle took over an hour and a half to land, the publicity of this and Buckley’s other carp caught from Mapperley reinforced the general opinion that carp could only be caught on light lines and small hooks, no wonder they gained the reputation of being uncatchable, and even when you did hook one it was almost certain to be lost. Albert Buckley was lucky in that Mapperley is virtually snag free and this allowed him to fight the fish for long periods. Albert Buckley's record fish stood for many years, only closely challenged by fish from Dagenham Lake in the 1940's, the best of these being the 25.09 of George Draper in October 1947. It's fitting that the first recorded 30 lb fish came from Redmire ( Bernithan Pool). This fish which weighed 31lb 4 ounces and caught by Bob Richards on October the 3rd 1951 was a revelation at the time. Bob hooked no less than four fish only one of which was landed on his 6lb line. He moved swims and eventually returned to the Willow pitch to try again to land a big carp. Almost immediately his float slipped away into the coloured water as the carp moved away with the honey bread paste. This time all went well and he soon had the big carp rolling in front of him, far too large to fit in his landing net the fish was eventually gaffed in order to land it. Weighed on the Salter scales at the farm the weight was confirmed. This fish made headline news even in the national press and started the Redmire evolution of carp fishing in the 1950’s. After seeing and setting up this huge fish Richard Walkers interest in the previously unknown water was kindled, he gained permission to fish and landed the first 40+ carp ever taken. This fish possibly the most famous carp in the world weighed 44 lbs and was captured on the 13th of September 1952. This fish was landed alive and spent many years as an exhibit at London zoo’s aquarium. Dick also started the fashion in naming fish, calling this one “Clarissa”. The first 50 lb carp again came from Redmire in June 1980. This fish at 51.5 was well known and had been caught over the years at weights of 35 to 41 lbs. This time it was caught be Chris Yates on sweetcorn Another famous 50+ fish and probably the most caught above this weight was Mary the Wraysbury no1 fish that dominated the big fish lists of the mid 90’s. Caught no fewer than 25 times over 50 lbs and at a best weight of 56.06 in September 1998 by Kevin Cummins this fish became the “one” to catch in this period. Although anglers from Walker to Yates had seen fish described as over 60 lb at Redmire none were caught, though Jack Hilton describes loosing a near 4 foot long fish at the net, he actually had the fish across the arms of the landing net but it refused to fold into the mesh. The first 60+ fish was caught from Mid Kent Fisheries, Conningbrook Lakes, in October 2002, by Gary Bayes. This fish called Two Tone weighed 61 lbs and is a well known fish caught over the years. First recorded at 34 lbs in 1992 this fish still holds the British Record at 64.05 by John Pack in Jan 2004. Will there ever be a 70+ from the UK, My guess is yes. The weight of fish caught is steadily climbing as the quality and quantity of bait increases. What the eventual size will be is a guess but the world record at over 80 lbs has shown that carp can reach these sort of weights. Time will tell. just found this on another website hope its of some interest