Catch Reports

Lee Carpenter fills us in on his capture of an incredible under the radar upper 40 It was well into the third year on the low stock pit, but this year felt different to the previous two for Lee Carpenter. Being self employed lee was able to put work on the back burner for a little while in order to maximise his time on the bank and focus his efforts on fishing. Returning for his first night of the year at the back end of April, his efforts in keeping the bait going in in the weeks leading upto this point seemed to be starting to pay off when a big mirror gave its prescence away over the spot. Nothing further occurred during his session but upon leaving the lake again Lee despatched some more bait to the spot hoping that the fish he had seen earlier would keep visiting in his abscence… After dropping his daughter off at school, it was back home and the van was loaded in double time. On the way back to the lake Lee already knew exactly where he needed to be. With four consecutive nights at his disposal confidence was high. Lee proceeded to get a bed of B5 & Black Snail out over the spot followed by his rigs, a hinged stiff rig, tied up with a size 4 Duropoint Chod hook, baited with a B5 corkball. Lee has so much trust in these two: Size 4 Duropoint Chod & Essential B5 The weekend part of his session passed quietly, with little sign of anything to go on but come Monday morning thoughts of the inactivity over the previous few days quickly dissipated as one of the alarms signalled a take. Lifting into the fish a heavy and dogged battle ensued and it quickly became apparent that he was connected to a big fish, how big? -  As it drew closer to the waiting net lee’s inclinations were confirmed when its huge leathery flanks rolled over the cord revealing its true size. Blood, sweat and tears from over Fourty six nights of blanking over the previous three seasons were all quickly forgotten when this rarely caught mirror at 48lb smashed his P.B Having last been caught by one of lees mates some twenty three months previous, the huge mirror looked immaculate in the morning light. Speaking to us, Lee told us that he has to use gear that he has absolute confidence in, particularly so when chasing big rarely caught carp! After location the two most important things are a sharp and reliable hook and a good quality bait. If you’ve got the location right then then it follows that a good bait and trusty tackle will massively increase your chances of landing the carp of your dreams.  

Sometimes plans go awry but every cloud has a silver lining as James Barrett found on his recent visit to oxfordshires Linch Hill. With the carp starting to spawn one night into James Barretts weeklong session on Linch hill’s Stoneacres a change of plan was in order. Starting off on Willow James managed one mirror of 18.08 over two nights before another change of lake saw him moving onto Christchurch for the remainder of his trip. Having only fished the lake once before some five years previously he wasn’t sure what to expect – What transpired was an incredible few days of fishing, with six carp finding his net including some of the most sought after and best looking carp in the lake including Ben's Common at 40.15 and Little Pecs at 36.08.   Bens Common at 40.15 Little Pecs at 36.08 Little Pecs at 36.08 A sublime looking and incredibly well proportioned Christchurch mirror of 29.08 Dark hues and a big paddle - 29.08 mirror Christchurch mirror 27.04 Christchurch Common 22.02 Apple slice scales on another Christchurch Mirrror 18.12 A spawned out mirror from the first couple of nights on Willow 18.08

Welsh big fish angler Luke Hayes has been getting amongst a serious number of carp lately on his current venue - Atlantic Wharf. About as Far removed from the typical carp lake as possible, it's concrete and architecture belies the seriously good looking carp that lurk within its containing walls. Hoisting a sublime wharf common for the camera What the venue lacks in natural charm, the carp more than make up for in looks. With a productive spring session already well under way on the Cardiff venue it was only a matter of time before one the real big ones found the back of his net. In the early hours one of his his buzzers signalled another take, unbeknown to Luke he was connected to the largest and most sought after resident - Ebeeneezer at a truly huge 42.14! Carp as imposing as this are extremely thin on the ground in wales - Truly a dream come true for Luke.

  The mighty 'Shoulders' at 43.12, As far as we're aware Englands most northerly 40! An awful lot of dedication and hard work culminated in the capture of this most imposing of carp and signalled the end of a 3 year quest for the captor Sam Stephenson! Sam was using our ultra sharp, Duropoint® Curve shank in a size 4 with a small kicker fished Blowback style to tame the fish of a lifetime! Massive Congrats go out to Sam who had this to say about the capture; "I arrived at my Cumbrian club lake and was happy to find the lake quiet with just one other angler on. After a lap and a good look round I couldn't find any sign of the fish so decided to drop into a swim that i had recently fished and introduced a good bit of bait to. The rods went out well, with good drops and I settled down to see what the night would bring. At 10.30pm the left hand rod was away and after a short battle I had my target fish in the net, Shoulders at 43lb12oz. This was made even more special by being it's first visit to the bank for 13 months and being a new club record and P.B. The fish was taken on a DNA baits s7 snow man fished on a 4inch blowback rig made with a size 4 Duropoint curve shank and kicker and was nailed in the middle of the bottom lip about an inch back, further increasing my confidence in these awesome hooks."

No stranger to big Carp, Manchester based angler Jason walker recently had an incredible result down on Dinton Pastures white swan landing one of its most sought after residents, Son of triple row AKA the Jaffa at a new best weight of 46.02. It's first capture in over fourteen months. After weeding him up almost straight away, Jason took to the boat to do battle with the as yet unseen fish. A great battle followed where upon first glimpsing his quarry on the surface, Jason attributed the Jet black back and row of dark scales to another of Dintons Gems the Sandford Linear. Before giving him time to confirm its identity the heavy carp attached to his Size 4 Duropoint Chod hook took off again this time towing him to the bottom end of the lake before taking him straight into another dense weed bed, where it held firm. Tense moments followed, whereby Jason put the rod aside and started to hand line the fish in order to tease it from its new found sanctuary. It was at this point that Jason realised that the line had become wrapped around the spindle behind the spool of his reel, fortunately, the fish was still firmly buried amongst the fronds of weed feet below giving him a window of opportunity to attempt to un tangle it.  Knowing he had no other option remaining and with his prize below him he quickly removed the spool and managed to free the coil of line. Hastily he got the spool relocated and tightened down the cap, heart in throat he picked up the rod, ready to wind down and apply pressure but the line had now managed to wrap itself around the tip of his rod. Ferrying the rod back behind him he quickly removed the twists, before putting the rod back to work, applying heavy pressure to try and bring the fish to the surface once more. With still no movement he once again took to hand lining, this time, feeling the weed starting to loosen its grasp and the line starting to rise through the water the end of his leader came into sight, not knowing if the fish was still attached and cloaked in the huge ball of weed that was now no more than six feet beneath him he grabbed the end of his leadcore, lifting it with one hand he used the other to reach into the ball of weed to feel for the fish. Still unsure and with the raft of weed now on the surface he bundled the lot into his waiting landing net. As the remaining strands fell over the cord a huge fish appeared from amongst enveloping mass and made straight for the bottom of the net! Without thinking, Jason grabbed the arms of his net and lifted them well clear of the water, the weight so great it felt as though they could've snapped in his hands. Still in awe and somewhat stunned by what had just happened he reached down into to the bottom of his net just to make sure.. It was there. With his prize now securely in the folds of his net, he floated his way back to the swim where the battle had begun over half an hour previous, exhausted, and shaking with adrenaline he made his way ashore passing the net to Myles Gibson who quickly pointed out it wasn't the Sandford Linear but was infact Son of triple row! Aka the Jaffa! Once on the mat, The Duropoint Chod hook that had held so firm throughout the battle was removed before the net peeled away revealing the glistening rich chestnut flanks and deep glassy black back of something really rather special. At a new best weight a colossal 46lb 02oz and fourteen months since its last capture, a real jewel in the crown and a new P.B for Jason that will be incredibly difficult to better, particularly in terms of looks.

Liam Gingell took some time out a little while ago to go in search of some big Belgian Carp. Armed with some of our new Duropoint Anchor Hook we asked him to put them through their paces should the fishing situation allow. What followed over the next week was some fantastic fishing that culminated in a new P.B for the Sheffield based angler  One of the first to fall to Liam's rods, a cracking 40lb+ two tone mirror. The new hook pattern pre release, Liam certainly put this hook to work during his trip! A cracking looking common, one of a number of big carp to grace the bank over the week And undoubted highlight of his Belgian trip was this mirror of 61.08 named 'Annie'  and a fantastic new P.B for Liam too!

After rounding off his time on his Berkshire club water in style with a cracking brace and with his ticket for Dinton pastures White swan coming up early Dan Handley decided to get his season underway on the 24 Acre pit. On arriving Dan did a couple of laps of the lake, but with nothing showing he set up in a swim that had a good view of the lake, with nothing much occurring through the night he was up early the next morning looking again, a few fish topped out in the middle area, responding quickly he moved on to them and was rewarded the following morning with this fantastic original at 33lb 4oz  Dan used a Semi stiff hinged rig with his ever faithful Size 5 Duropoint Chod hook to trick this old character. His rig was presented in a clear area amongst weed with a pink signature squid pop up. Dan baited with a scattering of around 150 krill boilies. A great start to his journey, we look forward to seeing where it takes him.

Liam Gingell recently had an incredible session down on Sandhurst lake, the Sheffield based angler made the long journey to the lake where he managed no less than 30 carp during his stay. Amongst them some truly Stunning looking Common and dark scaley mirrors so typical of the lake. Liam was using a Ronnie rig made up with our Size 11 QC heli ring swivels, Size 4 Duropoint Curve shanks and Clear shrink tubing for the haul which saw him get through over 70kg of Boile and sweetcorn. ABOVE) The rig that did the business, fished over the top of Boilie and sweetcorn      

With the ice finally thawed and some proper Carpy looking weather due to arrive I hastily made my way to the Berkshire club lake I've been targeting, on arrival the water still felt ridiculously cold, after a good few laps and with nothing to show I set up next to a big snag that I knew had done a few fish last winter, the forecast rain soon hit and it looked bang on, I did the night by the snag but to no avail so was soon moving down the lake in the pouring rain, everything was soaked but I had to find the fish, I repeated the wet process a few hours later, all the time just flicking light leads and singles around with nothing to go on. In my third swim of the day I finally saw what I was after, a very subtle patch of pin prick of bubbles breaking the surface, just a couple but enough. I quickly repositioned a rod right on top of the fizz, casting well over the mark and then skimming the rig back across the surface before letting it fall down, it went down nice and soft in the silt. Ten minutes later the bobbin pulled up and stuck, I lifted straight in to it knowing how finicky the bites can be this time of year, the fish put up a good fight but was soon mine, I was absolutely chuffed to bits with this capture the harder you have to work for them the greater the achievement I always think, a single 16mm pineapple n butryc popup on my usual semi stiff hinges with a super sharp size 5 Angling Iron chod hook and a little 1.5oz lead did the trick. The result - A stunning looking Common of 25lb+ a typical Berkshire bar of gold. The other side of the magnificent carp