ANGLER'S MAIL takes carp fishing seriously. And our big carp galleries are backed by TAG (The Angling Group) who have top carp fishing brands Taska, Nutrabaits and Kryston.
For quality big carp products visit these 3 websites: TASKA – KRYSTON – NUTRABAITS
DEEPINGS ONE in Lincolnshire produced four fish over two nights for Guisborough, North Yorkshire-based Les Marsh, but the icing on the cake was this 43 lb 4 oz mirror called the Fat Italian.
Les added an 18 lb zip linear, a 32 lb leather, and a 34 lb 4 oz mirror.
Les said: “The first night I was tortured by tufties diving on my baits, and I even considered going home until my middle rod ripped off. This turned out to be the 34 lb 4 oz mirror and the others soon followed.”
The fish were attracted to over a kilo of JH Baits KLF and Nutti B boilies and a kilo of Hooked on Baits Blitz Mix. Les’s end tackle used was a line aligned bottom bait rig comprising 10 in. of Hybrid Konda and a Hybrid Armohawk wide gape size 6 hook.
SCOTT PHILLIPS had a large slice of luck when the hook straightened as this stunning 42 lb 2 oz mirror slid into the net.
The 38-year-old purchasing manager from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire was fishing the 35-yard far margin of Linear Fisheries’ Oxlease Lake, using a Sticky Baits Krill Wafter with yellow foam over 2 kg of hemp, maize, corn and boilies.
His hair-rigged boilie was held with silicone to the shank of a Korda Krank size 4 hook.
Scott added mirrors of 24 lb 8 oz and 17 lb 4 oz, plus a common of 23 lb 12 oz in 24 hours at the Oxfordshire fishery.
A SIX-YEAR hunt at Reading FC’s Tapperns Lake in Theale finally paid dividends for Simon Cowdrey when he landed this beautiful fully-scaled mirror carp weighing in at 32 lb 2 oz.
The lake record fish was last caught in 2012 at 29 lb 10 oz and came to the first cast of the day for Simon, who was field-testing a new bait for Fishitbaits.
Two weeks previously the 38-year-old, from nearby Reading in Berkshire, also had a mirror at 27 lb 10 oz, which was an unknown fish for the venue.
FISHING a gravel bar to the left of the margins lured ‘Hobnob’, at 37 lb 2 oz the biggest common in the lake at White Springs, South Wales for 32-year-old John Flewin, owner of Tales Angling Media.
He baited heavily with CR1 bottom baits, and fished a CR1 Wafter on a Fluro D-rig with a pellet bag sprayed with Stinky Stuff and dipped in Flatspot.
STEVE WHITEHEAD lost a big specimen due to heavy weed at Linear Fisheries’ Oxleaze Lake in Oxfordshire but the next day landed a new PB carp of 36 lb 9 oz after a 25-minute battle.
A Sticky Baits Manila boilie on a size 6 Choddy on a flip rig fished over a lightly baited area tempted the specimen.
The 48-year-old aerospace engineer, from Bristol, caught a PB 40 lb 8 oz pike from local Chew Valley Lake last winter.
TOM LORAINE landed the fish known as Red Scale weighing in at 42 lb 4 oz from a Lee Valley Pit in a 24-hour session.
The 32-year-old from St. Albans, Hertfordshire explained: “The lake was very busy and even for a 60-acre pit I felt a little hemmed in!
“After a losing a very powerful fish the night before I went back into my pre-baited area at 100 yards on a firm silt spot and managed this one in the morning.”
His big one came to a Sticky Baits Manila boilie on a size 4 Korda Choddy, over 5 kg of Manila boilies (whole and chops) all glugged in hemp oil, in conjunction with a hinged stiff rig.
TWO nights on a local syndicate lake resulted in this lovely mirror for Daren Norman of Rochester, Kent.
The delighted 43-year-old said: “I lost a chunk that straightened my hook after 40 minutes in heavy weed. My sulking stopped when, following a mental hour and half fight, I finally landed one of the jewels of the lake at a very healthy, spawned out 42 lb 1 oz.”
The papermaker baited a 4 ft bar at 50 yds with 50 Sticky Baits Krill freebies, using a Krill boilie on a size 5 stiff rigger hook, on a stiff hinged rig with an ESP tungsten hooklink and 15 lb Syncro XT line.
THIS 43 lb 2 oz stunner from Swan Lake on the Bluebell complex near Peterborough is known as ‘The Perfect Common’… and it lives up to its name.
It was the only fish of a three-nighter for 52-year-old Tony Gibson from Northampton, who switched from a zig for a single bait on a firm area at 75 yards.
The bait was a new currently nameless boilie coming soon from Dynamite, fished without any free offerings; a tactic rarely used on this popular day ticket fishery. The semi-retired consultant IT project/programme manager presented the boilie on Size 8 Nash Twister fished blowback style.
GAVIN CAMPBELL from Addlestone, Surrey landed the first 40 from a local lake where he had learned his carping. The superb 41 lb 7 oz mirror came with a 22 lb common in a two-hour session when he also found time to help his mate catch a PB 33 lb mirror!
Gavin explained: “After helping my mate I was just saying ‘let’s go celebrate’ when I spotted the fish cruise over one of the margin spots I had baited, so I quickly tied up and lowered a rig in.
“I then sat and watched as the fish I’ve seen growing for the last five years fed up the margin shelf.
“It’s always nice to catch a big carp but to catch one from a venue you cut your teeth on is amazing.
“She was my 13th thirty plus carp from the lake since learning to fish on there.”
The 25-year-old security engineer baited up with Krill crumb and hemp and used a chopped down Krill wafter on a size 6 Drennan barbel hook, 4 in. Tungskin hook link to a 5 oz flat pear lead and 3 ft of TA leadcore.
THE first half of a six-day session produced the first English 30 for harbour master Nathan Betts, plus a PB common and his biggest surface-caught fish.
The 41-year old was at local Taswood Lakes near Norwich, Norfolk, and notched up a 33 lb 10 oz ghostie, plus a 29 lb 11 oz common, a 26 lb 8 oz grass carp, and two more double-figure commons.
The ghost carp took a Vortex bottom bait, tipped with fake corn, over a kilo of pellets and 15 boilies scattered around. The rest took a trimmed down Vortex pop-up on the surface.
For quality carp products & more visit these 3 websites: TASKA – KRYSTON – NUTRABAITS