“BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS”
A prolific spring campaign landing some stunning, old, scaly mirrors on a Suffolk syndicate has recently resulted in the capture of the largest fish in the lake for Andrew Murphy.
After bagging himself a string of beautiful fish to 36lb, Andrew hit into the jewel in the lake’s crown at a PB-breaking 41lb 11oz, his second UK forty.
Taking about his campaign, Andrew said: “I have been doing a bit on my Suffolk syndicate over the spring and have done really well so far, which I put down to keeping mobile and, of course, The Bug!
“I’ve been getting down to the lake for first light to try and find out where the fish are, but this hasn’t necessarily been the places where they have been happy to feed, so I’ve been tempting them with little tweaks to my bait, such as the Bug Bait Soak, the Insect Meal powder and the Bug Hydro Spod Syrup, which I think has been a massive edge.
“I’ve mainly tried to get in known swims if I couldn’t get on showing fish and targeting spots with fresher silk weed and feeling for the harder drops. Another thing I’ve been doing is smelling my lead for fresher areas of the silk weed, as in my opinion a lead will tell you everything.
“Probably 80% of my sessions have gone well and I have been lucky enough to pick out quite a few of the bigger, older residents. I didn’t really have a specific target fish in mind; I have just been happy catching what has come along, as they are all old, historic creatures.
“Key for me has been my trusted 18mm Bug Corker pop-ups, soaked in Bug Bait Soak and covered in Insect Meal, ensuring they stand out from the freebies. Using this tactic, I had already caught two fish of 32lb, a 34-pounder and two 36-pounders, but my most recent session saw me achieve something beyond my wildest dreams – the biggest in the lake!”
After a successful spring campaign up until this point, Andrew was on for a rare blank on his latest visit, but having seen a fish show, he opted to move swims to the other side of the lake in the hope of nicking one.
Andrew continued: “I knew my spots in this swim, so wrapped up with fresh hookbaits and introduced 10 Spombs over both spots, but the day and night passed with no carp to show for my efforts. After a bream in the night, I redid a rod at first light and introduced a further five Spombs of bait over each spot. Whilst sitting there having a coffee and watching the sunrise, all of a sudden I had an absolute belting one-toner! It didn’t feel that big initially, but thanks to the deep margins it started to lunge left to right, heading for the trees, until 10 minutes later it was finally in the net. Looking down at the width, I knew it was a very big fish with huge set shoulders. I put him in the sling and weighed him – 41Ib 11oz, I was absolutely buzzing and could hardly believe it. Not only was it my second UK forty but a new personal best.
“I put him back in the water to rest for 10 minutes whilst I sorted out my camera gear and rang a mate. The adrenaline was unreal! One thing I do believe is having a lot of faith in the quality bait that DNA produces. Thanks to all the staff for their hard work in making it happen.”
