I arrived at Anglers Paradise Kracking Carp lake at around 9am, to find a big 40mph South Westerly wind pushing down the lake into peg 4 as expected. With an empty lake it was obvious that’s peg 4 was going to be the place to be with the mild conditions. On my walk around the lake I saw a fish (maybe not a carp in hindsight) cause a big disturbance in peg 1, which was out of the wind in flat calm water shallower water. Maybe the fish hadn’t followed the wind after all? I thought it was best to set up in peg 1 for the time being anyway as I had actually seen a fish and it would have been foolish to ignore it. The lake only holds fifteen or so fish, so finding at least one is imperative to success. In the past I have found that if I can exactly locate the fish I can get a bite relatively quickly.
Time passed and highlighting that peg 1 was not an instant winner and come 3pm the bobbins hadn’t moved, so it was time to get round to peg 4 before darkness fell. Having fished peg 4 previously, I knew the swim well and the spots that had produced before. During my last previous trip to the lake in March, I was lucky enough to land a new lake record mirror at 45lb from this swim in similar conditions. With that in mind the first rod went onto that previously successful spot, which was a small area in between the far bank and a set of pads in 5 feet of water. The second rod went further up the far bank to a solid clay area about 6 feet from the bank. This spot again was surrounded by pads, but was deeper in about 6/7 feet of water. A 1/4kg of chopped Mainline Cell was added to each spot along with a handful of Hinders Little Gem pellets that had been soaking in a Cell additive. I tied up two pop-up rigs, incorporating a covert size 8 Gardner Mugga on our new coated hook-link called Ultra Skin in 15lb. The Gardner Covert end tackle range coupled with 16lb Mirage fluorocarbon mainline completed my rig set-up. The pop-ups were Mainline’s 12mm white milky toffee’s that I had soaked in Hinders Betalin to give even more pulling power.
With the rods all dropped using a pole from the near margin, I was fishing by 4.30pm as the darkness fell. The wind was smashing the bivvy as the gusts exceeded 60mph and the rain continued to poor down, however the temperature remained mild.
Gardner Mugga on our new coated hook-link called Ultra Skin in 15lb.” alt=”Two pop-up rigs were tied, incorporating a covert size 8 At 8pm one of the alarms let off two single beeps, which was followed by a short burst as a fish struggled to take line from a tight clutch. I picked up the rod and lifted into a heavy fish, which kited left as it made its way through numerous dying weed beds before swimming into the bank I was standing on. After a good 10 minute fight I could see the fish a few feet below the surface and I thought I had re-hooked the 45lb’er I had back in March, as nothing in the lake was known to be that big. After a further 5 minutes I managed to slip the net under the fish. Once in the net I recognised the fish as ‘Silverback’. My last remaining uncaught mirror from the lakes residents of mirrors, last out in early May of this year at 41lb. I had caught a December forty!
As I lifted the fish out the water it was very clear it was well up in weight. In the pouring December wind and rain the fish weighed in at a new lake record of 47lb 8oz, making it the biggest carp in the county (or so I’m told). A fish in December is a right result, but a fish of that size is certainly a moment I will never forget especially after a year of limited angling. With no one around I had to unfortunately resort to self-take’s. Soaked through and the photos done, I returned her home to hopefully make another angler very happy.
The remaining 36 hours passed with the wind/rain containing, I did get lucky again by catching one of the lakes smallest residents at 26lb. Overall it was an amazing session with a very lucky result, one I won’t ever forget.
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