Angling Times 1st Dec

12 News

Angling Times Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Carp News Two thirties A deep-water spot on a Shropshire syndicate produced a brace of thirties for Ian Thomas, with commons of 35lb 14oz and 30lb 8oz gracing his net during a three-night session.

Fishing in 25ft of water, the local 41-year-old baited heavily with 8kg of freebies and placed a snowman hookbait consisting of a bottom bait tipped with a 12mm Nutrabaits Pink Pepper pop-up on a size 8 Korda Longshank X hook with an 8ins Rig Marole Hydrolink hooklink over the top.

Elusive common

This 31lb common carp from Pingles Pool in Cambridgeshire had managed to avoid capture for over two years, before finally slipping up to the rods of Steven Whitby.

Capitalising on a new front of low pressure, the local angler headed to the four-acre syndicate venue for a short day session, and fooled the elusive specimen with a Cambridge Carp Baits Fluoro Berry pop-up fished over a bed of Winter Berry boilies on a Withy Pool rig.

You can see video footage of Steve’s capture – log on to: www.thecarpcatcher.co.uk

Belgian beaut This 47lb 12oz common is the fifth 40lb-plus carp that Robby Malfiet has caught this season from a Belgian syndicate. The chunky specimen came during a 24-hour session and was backed up by another common of 33lb by the Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgiumbased production leader.

Both fish were caught from close to an overhanging tree at 100yds range, with Vision Baits Ocean Protein pop-ups mounted on PB Products Jelly Wire hooklinks knotless-knotted to size 6 Korda Kurv Shank hooks.

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what a brace of winter forties... �� two mirrors caught in a five-night stint

Have you had a great carp catch?

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By James Furness james.furness@bauermedia.co.uk

A brace of forties is a f ine achievement at any time of the ye a r, but it ’s eve n more impressive when taken during the w inter. One angler to accomplish such a feat was Greg Dring, who banked m i r ror s of 4 8lb 8 oz a nd 41lb 14oz in a five-night stint on Darenth Big Lake in Kent.

Both carp came after the 21-year-old moved on to a group of showing fish following an uneventful first night on the 14-acre venue. Having had success in the same swim earlier in the year, he positioned one rod in a clear channel at 20yds and his second further out towards an island at 80yds.

“A few hours after the move I received a take from the close-in spot, and the fish felt heavy all the way in,” he told Angling Times. “When I saw it in the net I knew I’d smashed my pb of 31lb, but I was still amazed when the scales settled on 48lb 8oz.”

Un for t u nately, t he nex t

james.furness@ bauermedia.co.uk

A marginal reedbed was the killing zone for Sean Giles, who caught this 30lb 9oz common from a south-east syndicate water.

After banking a 27lb carp on the first evening, he received another take the following morning resulting in his new personal best, and by the end of the 48-hour session the 31-year-old Kent-based dustman had also added fish of 23lb 9oz and 15lb 13oz to his tally.

He offered snowman rigs consisting of Mainline Cell bottom baits and Solar Jacko Special pop-ups on 20lb Kryston Mantis hooklinks and size 8 Korda Kurv Shank hooks.

Greg Dring with his two mirrors of 48lb 8oz and 41lb 14oz (inset).

morning Greg lost a big fish he suspected weighed over 30lb when the hook pulled – but his disappointment was shortlived. “That night I had a take on the island rod, and because it felt like another decent carp

I played it quite carefully as I didn’t want to lose two in a row.

After another powerful scrap I net ted t he f i sh, a nd wa s stunned when I weighed in my second forty of the session.”

The South Croydon-based

retail manager offered 10mm Mainline Pineapple pop-ups over a handful of corn, hemp and whole and chopped ACE Baits boilies, on size 8 Korda Choddy hooks and 10lb Berkley Trilene XL Smooth hooklinks.

Huge pit, big reward At 395 acres in area, Sonning P it i sn’t a w ate r for t he faint-hearted – but Ron Reeves (56) hasn’t had any problems tracking down its resident carp, and in fewer than 10 sessions has banked eight fish, topped by this 30lb 4oz common on his latest outing.

During his 48-hour trip to the Reading and District Angling Association water he had to brave gale-force winds, and

Margin success

unfortunately lost a good fish estimated to be around the 40lb mark.

The Croydon-based painter and decorator said: “I only started carp fishing again six months ago after a four-year break. Sonning was a place I’d read about a lot of named anglers fishing and I’d always wanted to have a go on there myself. I don’t know whether or the not the famous mirror known as The Eye is still in t here, but I have lost a couple of very big fish.”

It was Carp Company boilies tipped with a piece of fake corn on size 4 ESP Cur veSha n x hook s and 18lb mono hooklinks that did the trick for Ron.

Better by 10lb Gregg Hall upped his personal best by 10lb with this 32lb mirror from Mallard Lake on the Monk’s complex in Kent.

After a run of 12 blanks on the venue, the local rod’s luck finally took a turn for the better when four hours into his session the specimen picked up his double 18mm Pukka Baits Kryptonite boilie hookbait that he had positioned on a clear area over 25 freebies.

CC Moore’s online shop

Venue best 41lb 2oz Maggots can be a devastating winter bait, as Anthony Bahnik proved by using them to bank this personal best and venue record 41lb 2oz mirror from Island Lake on the Wellingborough complex, Northants.

The Solihull, West Midlandsbased rod baited a marginal spot next to a reedbed with five pints of red maggots, and after a quiet first night he received a slow take at

8.30am the following morning.

“The fight was over fairly quickly, but it was a great feeling when the scales revealed I’d caught my first forty,” he said.

Anthony used a DT Bait Developments Cold Water Mix and Choc Cream pop-up tipped with four maggots, hair-rigged on a 9ins 15lb Fox Illusion hooklink and a size 8 Korda Wide Gape hook.

After six months of development, the brand new CC Moore online shop is up and running, boasting more features and interactive services than ever before.

And the best news is, the more you get involved with the website, the bigger the discount you can get on the company’s products. By simply sending in catch pictures, writing articles, making videos or using the forum you will receive a discount, and the more you spend over the year the bigger savings you’ll make.

You can visit the shop by logging on to the website: www.ccmoore.com