BRACE OF FORTIES IN SEVEN-FISH JANUARY HIT
The majority of anglers might have been looking at the weather this week and thinking, “no thanks,” but as Perry Alabaster has proved, they can still be caught!
Returning to Monks Pit for the first time in a month, Perry wasn’t feeling especially hopeful with the poor conditions in store, but the fish had other ideas, and over the space of three nights, Perry picked off seven fish, including two forties, the aptly named Snowy at 41lb 14oz, and Triple A at 42lb 4oz.
“Having not had the chance to fish since the beginning of December, I felt a little more out of touch with Monks Pit than usual when I returned this week,” admitted Perry.
“After the recent snowfall, persistent rain forecast and with night-time temperatures dropping to -3 and a daytime windchill factor of -6, needless to say, confidence levels weren’t as high as they’d normally be!
“Just before dark, the rain finally eased off and I was able to get some solid bags containing S7 wafters on to my spots. I injected the bags with a squirt of S7 Amino Smoke to create some additional attraction and pulling power in the deep water. I baited up with a mix of S7 chops, S7 crumb and Crayfish Maxi Mix pellets, then sat back in hope rather than expectation.
“At just gone midnight, I was awoken by my first carp of the year, a 32lb 14oz mirror on the right-hand rod. I’d only managed to get one self-take of it on my phone in the drizzling rain when my left-hand rod burst into life. How or why does that even happen? No action for hours on end, then two rods, miles apart from each other, produce bites within a few minutes – crazy! So, back went the 32-pounder and I went on to land fish number two, a 25lb mirror. I was so grateful that I’d set up two nets, something I always do in the event of moments like this. A few more rushed self-takes and I was quickly fishing with all the rods out again. Fifteen minutes or so later, I’d barely got back into bed when I was into another mid-twenty. It was a very satisfying night’s fishing in the end, with three fish coming during a hectic half-hour feeding spell.
“The weather on the second night of the session turned noticeably colder and the action appeared to dry up, but as the sun started coming up, one of those little golden windows of winter opportunity opened up again and the bites came thick and fast once more!
“The first carp of the morning was a pretty 18lb 8oz stockie with some big scales on its flanks. I was really happy to land that one, especially as I had struggled to rip my landing net from the wooden platform it had welded itself to in the icy conditions. About an hour later, I was in again, and this time whatever I was attached to felt much bigger. The fish kept taking line way out in the distance and it must have been at least five minutes before I even got my elastic line marker back on to my spool, which meant I still had 80-plus yards left to retrieve. This fight reminded me of the scrap my last forty had given me back in October when a fish called Snowy beat me up for ages before I managed to net it. Lo and behold, after landing the carp and photographing it, I realised it was Snowy again. Apt really, considering how bloody freezing the weather was! Weighing in at 41lb 14oz, I wasn’t too disappointed that it was a repeat capture; after all, it was my first session of the year and playing it was still a buzz.
“Less than half an hour later, I was into my sixth carp of the session and this one felt good, too. A much slower, heavier, plodding-type feeling this time. The sort of fight that normally means you’ve either foul-hooked a sandbag or you’re into something huge! After the customary, deep-water margin battle, another big fish rolled into the net. It weighed in at 42lb 4oz and I didn’t recognise this one. I pinged a couple of pics over to the bailiff and he informed me that it was a fish called Triple A. I definitely hadn’t caught this fish before, so it was another forty crossed off my Monks Pit most-wanted list. I was delighted with that one!
“With work relatively quiet at this time of the year, I decided to stay on and fish one more night. Typically, the additional night was a quiet one, but just as I was looking at the cat ice in the margins and thinking about packing down my frost-covered brolly, I got one final take, resulting in a lovely, chestnut-brown 28lb 8oz mirror.
“What I thought could potentially have been a difficult session turned out to be a dream start to my 2025 campaign and the bonus fish right at the end was the icing (pardon the pun) on the cake.”
