Fueled by a tale!

The pool was practically deserted today, there was one angler with family in tow, in the far corner trying for another Carp like the one he had a few weeks previously but he looked to be struggling with the weed which is by far the worse I've seen it, the last time it looked this bad was four years ago when the level was down by more than a foot. 

I did my rounds and headed off to Jubilee fueled by a conversation I'd had with Barry on Wednesday night. He'd phoned just before ten with tales of a single mirror carp he'd caught that evening, a monster at just over 23lb caught on a biscuit fly. (Monster for a fly rod that is!)

It was hot and I think the fish population of the lake were all on the top, I could see Bream, Rudd and plenty of my target, Carp. I started feeding biscuits and up they came and it was long before I had the first fish of the day on the bank and I think I've seen this little fella before.

I moved around to the point and got the fish feeding fairly close in but as soon as the fly landed on the surface they became cautious, drifting up to examine every biscuit rather than snatching them off the top. They moved further out  and I had to lengthen my cast to drop the fly at the back of the biscuits I was feeding and did fool a couple of fish into taking, they were only small commons but they really do fight hard for such small fish this is also enhanced by the use of such a fine carbon stick to catch them on, I love fly fishing for them and someone else that does is Barry, he arrived at around six and fished the point swim but struggled to connect with the takes he was getting but did manage to get one good fish. 

I on the other hand, was struggling with ducks, as soon as you turn your back they were in the swim cleaning up the biscuits but I kept feeding and the fish stayed around. I struck into one take which I could tell was a better fish by the way everything went solid, I saw it's tale and dorsal a couple of times and it was good so I just had to hang on, get it under control and in the net. Bigger fish don't seem to thrash around as much as the smaller ones that twist and turn very quickly so it wasn't an epic battle, it plodded around in front of me taking line when it wanted to eventually it gave in to the constant pressure and slid over the cord. Barry did the honours with the camera and I lifted my prize, a long and lean 14lb 4oz Common.

Tench and a Personal Goal.

Fished an early session on Saturday and after a walk around the lake and a quick chat with Andy who had just banked a nineteen pound plus common, I made my way to a swim that looked promising. I was fishing the point opposite the island and I put both rods out with PVA bags on to two spots I'd caught from before. The persistent and chilly north easterly wind was still with us and the sheltered area at the front of the island seemed to draw the fish in, there were plenty of bubblers showing and I decided to change one rod over to a chod rig to try and get a quick bite. I cast this to areas where these fish had been bubbling with the hope they would return and did have a couple of sharp tugs through the session, too quick to be liners, my hook can't have been sharp enough to snag whatever was tasting the bait. All the action came on the PVA bag and bottom bait with a single Carp, which I did mistake for a Tench until it broke the surface and five good sized Tench.

One of the tench was in a rather sorry state with a badly mangled bottom lip, it's jaw bones visible poking through the skin, not nice to see.

At the end of February I opened this years carp account at Ryton and over the next few weekends I managed to pull one out here and one out there, a few weeks ago I realised that I'd caught at least one Carp from the lake every weekend since the account was opened, since then I've still managed to catch but I decided to make it a goal to achieve this and see how far I could get. Today I reached my tenth consecutive weekend with a Ryton Carp on the bank, all be it just short of seven pounds.

I'm not one to gripe about things but something I do want to have a moan about is at Morris's. I'd left a few saplings grow there last year so they could be pruned back to provide some stalking cover for this summer, these were pruned back earlier in the year and other anglers who regularly fish this peg had noticed, some liking the idea so I wasn't just doing it for myself. I was told today that someone has cut these down and now left the peg wide open to any fish that swims past in the margins making it crap for stalking, thanks!!

Saturday Zig.

An early start today and after dropping the gear off at peg two I headed off for a couple of laps of the lake in search of a feeding fish or two, I ended up settling on peg two as the only visible signs of fish bubbling were in front of the tree's on the no fishing bank. Rods were dispatched to their spots and I set about sorting out some fresh hook links and baits ready for the first recast. A good fish crashed out in the middle of the lake and was in casting distance from the log swim on the far side so I thought about a move to be on the fish and started to pack away my gear, I glanced around towards the logs and noticed a red jumper clad angler standing there, never mind, peg two it was.
As the sun rose higher I noticed more and more Carp up on the top, there were plenty of bubblers in between them so they must have been in a feeding mood. I quickly set up a zig and put it out amongst them. Nothing happened for a good hour so I changed boilie colour and whacked it back out. Anthony had dropped by for a chat about the pegs, the possible solution being steel cages (gabions) filled with rock to replace the wonky slabs, a good idea I think. We were in the swim next door chatting about how under cut the bank was and how a cage full of rock in front of the swim would make everything more stable, Anthony went to fetch his waders from the car to have a poke around some of the other swims and I went back to my rods, I noticed that the bobbin on the zig rod was tight up against the front of the alarm but there was no line leaving the spool, I hadn't switched on the alarm so missed the initial take, I picked up the rod, slowly tightened the line and could feel a few gentle nods through the tip, I switched off the baitrunner and lifted into a very heavy lump that pulled back, now it made a run. It felt a very good fish by the way it pulled line off the spool but I soon had it under control and slowly played it back to the net allowing it to go when it wanted to, I could hear some voices from the top of the bank behind me and tried not to let them bother me until the fish was safely in the net, the Carp plodded around in front of the swim for a while before submitting to the folds of mesh, I then turned round to find a small audience watching and even had a small round of applause.
A wader clad Anthony was on hand to help with the weighing and photography as a group of onlookers watched, Anthony read 19lb off the scales, nice!

I had a Tench at around lunchtime but all the Carp had disappeared off the top and I couldn't see any signs of feeding fish, the session finished at one.

Last one of the first quarter.

Only a short session on Friday, I didn't get to the lake till just after five thirty and I made a hasty start that didn't feel right, even though the wind was blowing into this swim from the right direction it just didn't feel 'Carpy' so I moved to the point opposite the island and just as I put my stuff down a Carp popped it's head out of the lake infront of my swim, that was more like it.
It was good half an hour into the session when a Tench made an appearance, they are very welcome and prove that the rigs work well but I was just hoping I wouldn't get too many more of these as Carp were my target, I'd already seen another good fish show on a slightly different spot and decided too put my next bait there and not long after I did it went off, something heavy was shaking it's head around in it's bid for freedom and it escaped, the rod was rebaited and put out onto the same spot.
Andy stopped for a chat on his way out of the park and we had a discussion about rigs and exchanged a few ideas, we also saw a Carp being caught on peg one which is always good to see. It was getting late and I was thinking about packing up when a one toner screamed out from one of the alarms, the rod tip was pulled round as a good fish made off with the bait, I picked up the rod and allowed the fish to run before engaging the clutch, it just carried on going and kited in towards the front of the island, I turned it and it came towards me twisting and turning along the way, the closer it came to the mesh the smaller it felt and at one point I even joked about it being a tail hooked tench, instead a nice Mirror Carp rolled over the cord and into the waiting net. Photo's were taken (Cheers Andy) and a lifted scale was attended to before it was released. It weighed in at 12lb 10oz's.

It was still light when this picture was taken, the flash makes it look like the middle of the night.

Crystal clear in the shadows.

I arrived for a late session just after three, my first view of the lake was greeted by several carp milling around on the top in the corner bay, I carried on down the road bank towards the car park and couldn't believe how clear the lake had become in a matter of days, I was here on Wednesday evening with a marker rod and there was still some colour in the water, today you could see how shallow this lake really is!

I had almost done a complete circuit of the lake when I saw Colin on the top of a bank watching some slightly bigger Carp through the tree's doing the same as the others, teasing the anglers into having a go, so I did. I set up in a corner I've not fished for a long time and cast towards the front of the tree line, rods were laid on the ground without alarms as I was expecting this to be a hit'n'run affair. I missed the first run, (or it was dropped) but a second and third pulled away shortly after, they were both Tench. Baits were back on their spots and at around five thirty my first Carp fizzed line off the reel in it's bid for freedom and it really did pull some line off the reel, with most of it's energy spent it came to the net without too much fuss. On inspection, the hook hold was very deep inside it's mouth so this fish wasn't coming off, it must have been having a proper feed to get hooked so deep.

The shadows of the tree's I was under make this fish look like it has bands of colour but it was an immaculate, evenly coloured common that pulled the scales round to 11lb.

After letting the fish rejoin it's friends I thought about moving as the disturbance in this corner was sure to have scared everything off to the the far side of the lake but no, there were still some dark shapes mooching about under the tree's so the rods were soon back on their spots with fresh bags attached ready for the next take. It was about half an hour later that there was a start stop run on one of the rods, I knew it was another small Tench and it was to be my third of the session. After recasting again I thought I was going to be in for an evening of Tench fishing but I noticed a few larger dark shapes moving around one of the baits, I was willing that rod to go, breathing the word "C'mon" and watching for the line to tighten, when I glanced over to where the fish were I missed the take, the line had instantly pulled tight and was leaving the reel at a rate of knots so I picked up the rod and let it go, it Paused and shook it's head around making me think it was another Tench but it was too heavy to be one of them, strangely, the fish just wallowed and thumped around as I gently pumped it back to the mesh and just before it reached the cord I backed the drag right off in case it woke up.

This fish was a bit of a hot potato on the mat but I managed a few pictures without getting a slap from that massive tail, the scales read off 16lb 14oz's.

Sunday Session - What a Cracker!

With my commitments that had been put off from Saturday out of the way by lunchtime, I was free for a late session on Sunday and started at around three. After about an hour and whilst chatting to Colin on the top of the bank one of the rods was off, the screamer I thought was a Carp ended up as a rather feisty male Tench but welcome all the same.

Another hour passed and I was just swapping my sunglasses for my specs when I had another screamer of a run. When I struck it felt proper carpy this time and I'm not sure if the fish knew what was happening as it tore about in all directions and swam over my second line dragging this around, it did eventually give up for the net, Andy was watching from the top of the bank and assisted in the photographing and weighing. (Cheers Andy)

Andy gave me 16lb for this common.

Just before seven, I was again at the top of the bank having a chat with Barry who had just packed up for the evening and the same rod was off again, why is it that fish always bite when you are furthest from your rod, just about to eat or packing up to leave?

This was another Carp but I was very confused by the fight, it was heavy but felt a bit like a Tench, Barry suggested it might be one of the big bream but when I saw it I was very surprised, the shape was like a mini Malissa but as a mirror carp, very short and a belly like a football, I'm sure Colin mentioned this fish earlier on so it was nice to catch her the same day.

14lb 8oz.

I'm not sure if Melissa's genetic make-up has anything to do with the shape of this mirror but I do know of another common of a similar size in the lake (Short Round) with the same extended belly, could they be Melissa's offspring?

Short Round, Melissa and the new member of the family.

I was very happy with the way the evening was going as I've only managed single Carp per weekend so far so to catch two in a session was great. I'd just recast one rod and left it on the rest to allow the line to sink when the bobbin on the second rod hit the front of the alarm, there was no run so I initially thought it was a Tench and struck expecting one, what I didn't expect was a Carp, it tore off at at great rate of knots away from me straight down the tree line and broke surface before heading in towards the trees, I put some pressure on and turned it but it kept twisting and turning before swimming straight back towards me, it wasn't too long before I had it plodding around under the rod tip making lots of short energetic runs, it refused the net several times but eventually submitted.

Another immaculate Common at 17lb 10oz's.

This was a cracker of a short session.

Cuckoo cuckoo!

Yesterday afternoon/evenings session ended in a blank, everything looked good for a bite but the only thing biting were the midges and with another warm calm day forecast for today I felt I'd have to start early to connect with a fish. I arrived at the lake just as the sun was rising, there was a slight mist on the water and I had the call of a cuckoo coming from the woods behind the lake in the background, lovely.

I had a good look around the lake and couldn't see any visible signs of fish feeding so set up on a peg I know well. First chuck was with a pop up and whilst I was setting up a bankstick with the alarms I had the first take, the line pulled up tight and line started to pull from the reel before stopping, I struck but felt nothing.
A good hour passed before I had another take this time on the bottom bait rod, I was convinced it was a line bite at first as the bobbin rose to the alarm then dropped back but I kept getting twitches on the line, the bobbin rose and dropped again so I decided to pick up the rod and feel for a bite and just as I did the line fell slack so I reeled and lifted the rod then watched the line angle quickly change before connecting with the fish a good thirty metres from where I'd cast the bait, the brief tussle drew a small audience of dog walkers on the path behind me and after netting and weighing my prize I put one of them to work by getting them to take the picture.

12lb 2ozs of fast moving common.

Another hour or so passed and I saw a fish show further around the lake so I decided to make a move and try to connect with a second fish. Not long after putting a bait onto the spot where I'd seen the Carp show, a good sized fish jumped twice, I gave that rod another hour with nothing.
It's nice to see a bit of colour around the lake, this sunny spell is putting some green back on the trees and it won't be long before the fish start heading for the margin cover, it's also nice to hear the 'chitter chatter' of martins overhead, a good sign that summer is on the way.

Easter Quick One!

I spent the first part of the Easter break in North Wales, a bit of a mad two days cramming in as many places as we could in between visiting family but it was worth it, we had a couple of hours on the beach at Llandudno early on Saturday morning, it was flat calm and the sun was very warm on my bald spot! the only thing missing was my beach rod and a multi hook trace baited with lugworm and peeler to catch a flounder or two from the bay.
Woke up tired on Sunday so was quite happy just to do an afternoon session at Ryton and got there at around two thirty and set up in one of my usual spots on the back of a very cold wind, there was one other angler on the point who packed up shortly after I arrived, as he walked past he said to me 'I heard you had one' my reply was 'not today, I've only just got here', he thought I was the same chap that was fishing this spot in the morning so something must have been caught from this peg earlier in the day.
The usual combination went out on two rods to the usual spots and the waiting game began, after about an hour Barry arrived for a short session so I was having a quick catch up on events with him at the top of the bank when my left hand alarm screamed as line peeled off the reel at a fairly rapid rate I immediately clambered down the bank at a rapid rate to catch up with the fish.
The buoyant curiosity teaser had got the better of this Carp and it wasn't happy, it tore off across the lake flipping on the top a few times and at one point I thought it had come off as it turned and swam straight towards me but I managed to keep in touch with it to avoid a thrown hook, when it got closer in I could see that it wasn't as big as it felt but was very welcome, Barry did an excellent job of netting it and held it in the margins while I got the mat and scales ready.

10lb 12ozs, I think it was a male as it was long and slim and was lacking the spawn filled belly that the females usually have this time of year.

(A big thanks to Barry for taking the picture)

Barry setup on the peg next door and put a deadbait out on one rod and fished maggot on the second hoping for some Perch but we both remained fishless for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

What a difference four years makes!

A short session this morning, starting early I was surprised to be the only one on the lake but on reflection it was the opening day at Jubilee which I think explains why I had the place to myself for most of the morning.

Not to bore you with details but I only had one fish out today and it was the only touch of the whole session. This Carp fought like stink and I could tell it was a little better than the others I've had so far this year by the way it refused to come to the net preferring to just plod around making very short powerful runs. Eventually the fish gave in and rolled over the cord into the waiting net and as I parted the mesh to look at my prize I thought this Mirror Carp looks familiar and a mirror at Ryton is a rare sight. I took pictures and weighed the lump before releasing and as soon as I got home, out came the photo albums and there it was, caught in 2006 and much smaller at only 7lb 12ozs, 'Morris's Mate'.

'Morris's Mate' almost four years ago.

I'm glad I've kept a photo log of all the Carp I've caught at Ryton, as well as helping me to identify individual fish it's also acting as a guide to how well the Carp are growing.

This is what 'Morris's Mate' looks like today at 17lb 14ozs.

I wonder how big Morris is?

Carping with Man Flu!

Suffering with a bout of man flu I felt some fresh air would do me some good and started Saturdays session sitting in sunshine at the back of the island, clouds soon moved in and a cold wind got up which spoilt things, the way I was feeling I'd have been quite happy to stay on this peg all day and enjoy the sunshine that was forecast but with the weather changing I felt I'd have to move around to find the fish. It was during the afternoon, when fishing on the far bank that I saw a couple of Tench come out and would have been more than happy with one of those but it was earlier on whilst fishing the peg at the back of the island that I had what was to be the only bite of the day.

I'd cast a pop up to the gravel bar just off the point of the island and it had sat there for a good thirty minutes before the alarm gave out a short sharp 'shrill' and the line pulled up tight, I waited for a short while to see if anything would develop then reeled in to find the bottom bead of my chod rig had been pulled down to the lead, I'd been done!

Today's weather was much better, plenty of sunny spells but there was still a cool wind blowing across the lake so I put myself on the back of the wind with the sun in my face. I was fishing the road bank and was hoping to emulate last years March 15th 'dream' session where I caught four Carp and Five Tench, biggest Carp weighing in at 22lb (my biggest last year), it was also the session that started my 'Ryton Carp' blog, I can't believe I've been writing this for almost twelve months!
Today's session wasn't to be anything like last year and I think it might be a couple more weeks before the Carp wake up properly, this time last year the hawthorn bushes along the back of the road bank were just starting to show their first leaves of the year but this year I think we're going to need a few more days of sunshine before they split their buds. Back to the fishing, I did manage to bag one solitary Carp today but at only 6lb I did almost mistake it for a Tench until it came to the net.

A very short fish with big shoulders, surprisingly heavy for it's small frame and in excellent condition, one to watch for in a few years.

Bite time!

Saturday afternoons session ended in a blank and it was bloody freezing when I left the lake, I was half expecting to find some ice on the lake today but the sun was very warm when I set up at the back of the island, I'd had a good look through my diaries this morning and I fancied a go from the peg I built a couple of winters ago and I've done well with early season fish from this corner of the lake in the past.
The usual pop up and bottom baits went out to known clear spots and the wait began. The sun was lovely and warm and I was sure that this corner of the lake would receive a visit from a hungry fish or two with the amount of sun it was receiving, the water temperature must have been a degree or two higher in this corner but all that visited my baits were the tufties. I kept an eye on the ducks as they surfaced in case they'd been spooked by something else feeding in the cloud they were making.
Several hours passed very quickly and I remained fishless, I made a quick move to where I'd caught last week and was set up and cast out ready to see if 'bite time' would be the same. It was only a few minutes later than last week when one of the bobbins hit the front of the alarm as a fish pulled the tip round, this was no tufted duck. The fish felt heavier than last week and put up a good scrap, this was no Tench either, it wasn't long before I had a Carp safely in the folds of my net.

A lovely plump common of 12lb 8oz.

About half an hour later I hit another run off the same spot but something I hadn't done before casting out was check the hook point, it was blunt!

This one got away.

Ryton Twenty Ten Carp Account - Open!

Even though it's not quite spring, I've started my campaign for the Ryton Carp.
I started early on Saturday and used pop up boilies on one rod, bottom bait and PVA stick on the other and cast these towards areas that were clouded up by the feeding tufties, these spots have accounted a few early season Carp for me on previous seasons and even though you have to put up with the constant line bites and pick ups from the ducks it's somewhere to start. After a couple of fishless hours I moved to another swim with the hope that the sunny spells would start to warm the shallower water unfortunately the wind swung round and picked up slightly and was now blowing straight onto my sunny spot. With the wind having a cold bite to it I made a move to another swim that enabled me to cast to the calm areas sheltered from the wind with a hope that the fish would be there.
Early afternoon saw the session finish on a blank and after seeing the forecast for the Sunday I didn't think I'd be fishing again this weekend.
The heavy rain had past over our region early this morning and the wind was a lot lighter than the forecast so I made my way back to Ryton for another Carp session. I stayed on the back of the wind again and used the same combinations of pop ups and bottom baits to target the same spot's as yesterday. It was only after I made a move that I struck gold with the first fish of the day. The tufties were having a good root around the area of my pop up and at first I thought one of them had picked up my bait as the bobbin was making some very erratic movements, I picked up the rod and started to reel in the bait but couldn't feel anything, then everything went very heavy and I could feel something kick and then kite off to my left, at last a Carp!. The Carp had picked the bait up and bolted straight towards me pulling the top bead off my leader and up the main line, hence the weird indication.

A nice way of finding out how safe my rigs are!

A small Common weighing in at 9lb.

There was still some bird activity over the spot so I put the same pop up out again, I'd only just sunk the line and set the rod on the pod before it rattled off on another run. It didn't feel as big this time and after a short tussle I had the fish in the net.

The Tench at Ryton are always welcome.

Ryton 2010 Carp account - Open!

Ryton Pike - Parts 4 and 5.

Part four was last week which was a complete disaster although I did meet a fellow Leamington club member and blogger Daniel Everitt and we had a good exchange of ideas and thoughts on Carp and Zander so even though I blanked the session was most enjoyable for the information.

Today was much better, I only planned to fish for a few hours over lunch time and I didn't have a clue where to go whilst eating my breakfast this morning, I thought about the canal and Zander but didn't fancy it and settled on a short session for a Ryton Pike. On arrival at Ryton the place was fairly quiet with only the one angler on the road bank, I headed over to the opposite bank and a spot I've been wanting to fish for a while.
Rods were cast out with the usual deadbaits, one free lined with just a small weight sliding on the line, this was the 'chuck it and leave it' sleeper rod, the other bait was under a float which gave me something visual to concentrate on. Today's chilly wind was blowing straight into this peg which made the fishing a bit uncomfortable but the sun was warming on my back as it shone through the tree's. After around twenty minutes I saw a few inches of line pull through the eye's on the free lined bait but nothing further developed and I put it down to the wind, it was only when I decided to bring this rod in and recast that I found I had a Pike chewing on the bait, I think I was as surprised as the Pike!. I soon had it in the net and after dealing with the hooks we both posed for a picture.

9lb on the dot!

I carried on at this peg for a while hoping that another Pike would be in the area before moving around to the back of the island. I left at 2.30pm with just the one fish banked.

Rudd - On the fly!

Friday 21st, Fly fishing for Carp at Jubilee. Things were very slow with the Carp, they were on top but not interested in feeding, there were some fish topping next to an overhanging tree to the left of the swim I was fishing so I thought I'd have a go at catching whatever they were. I put a normal dry fly on, don't ask me what it is but it does resemble a small daddy long legs but I couldn't put a name to it. This was cast towards the front of the tree and was taken almost straight away, Rudd.
I caught three in fairly quick succession and they are the first Rudd I've caught using a fly, result!


Whilst catching the Rudd I kept catapulting out a few pouches of biscuits to try and tempt the Carp into feeding, I've noticed that as soon as one starts, they all do, it's probably the competition for food or something like that, anyway, they were on the top and now feeding. A small Carp of around 8lb was the first on the bank but it spooked everything off after taking a tour of the swim after being hooked. The Carp were now being very cautious and stayed just out of Casting range waiting for the free offerings to drift their way on the wind. A constant scattering of a few treats would eventually tempt them back within range. It's great to see a cluster of biscuits slowly disappear one by one your fly being next in line, the cork gets gripped tighter, line grasped firmer waiting to strike, the water below the fly changes colour a split second before a Carp emerges and slurps down the fly, strike, Then all hell breaks loose. this is exactly what happened with my only other fish of the evening, it was a much heavier fight than usual and after netting I had to give it a number, it pulled the scales to 13lb 4oz's.

Not big by Jubilee standards but great fun on the fly.

Two in the net!

Due to commitment's this morning, today's session had to start just before midday, I decided to try one of the pegs on the road bank and cast towards where I'd seen some fish show yesterday. Today's fine weather brought crowds of people to the park so after an hour I decided to find a quieter peg. I set up on the grassy bank where I caught a couple of Tench yesterday, This spot didn't produce anything allthough I could see the Carp cruising on the top towards the middle of the lake. I couldn't reach them from this peg and as luck would have it, another angler on the corner peg was packing up to leave, a good cast from this peg could reach these Carp so I made another move, the third of the day.

I tried a zigged pop-up on one rod (surface baits at Ryton are near useless because of the birds) the second rod had my usual bottom bait and PVA bag of pellets. I had nothing for an hour so I swapped the zig for a four inch hooklink and put it back out to where the Carp were cruising, within a few minutes it was away and a small Common was soon in the net, 8lb 8oz. (A big thank you to Curtis for taking the picture)

A short while later I started to get some interest in my bottom bait with a few start stop runs, these were Tench and I managed to bank two I also had a couple of good runs but the fish managed to transfer the hooks to loose branches on the bottom, stick fish don't put up much of a fight!!

The next cast was the last of the session so I really put some power into this cast to get it as close to the tree's as I could to get away from the Tench and into Carp territory, it was on the spot. I'd just started to pack away my gear and the rod I'd just cast out was away, It was a good scrap and I had to lift the second rod off it's alarm to keep the line clear as the Carp kited to the right into open water, at one point a floating log made things a little difficult, I managed to steer the carp past this and soon had it in net, I then turned only to see and hear the spool on the second rod spinning, another Carp was on!

I have had this happen twice before with both Tench and Carp, two fish at once. I guided the second smaller fish in slowly and almost lost the first fish as I pulled it over the cord and into the already full net, It's a good job 42" nets are as big as they are.



The first fish was a Common at 14lb 2oz.




The second was an almost leather mirror carp 'Larry' I've caught him before a couple of years ago at 7lb 4oz he's now 11lb.

What a great end to the day.