FOUR FORTIES IN FIVE WEEKS!
Big-carp season is certainly living up to its billing for a lot of anglers at the moment, not least John Payne, who celebrated his birthday with his fourth 40-pounder in five weeks!
This week it was the turn of Felix to grace John’s net, another chunk of a mirror that John has become accustomed to catching of late! Weighing in at 46lb 10oz, it was the highlight of an 11-fish catch from the Monks Pit syndicate in Cambridgeshire.
John said: “Arriving at the lake at midday on Sunday, I was glad to be setting up in the dry before the deluge that was forecast arrived.
“After what turned out to be a quiet first night the rain set in and, boy, it didn’t disappoint! The next 48 hours were almost biblical, with non-stop heavy rain, surrounding fields flooded and the Ouse breaking its banks!
“This obviously had an effect on the fishing, with the lake rapidly rising, but I did manage a 32lb 5oz mirror for my efforts that I managed to photograph during a brief lull in the rain.
“On the past two years, I have managed to catch a forty on my birthday, so I was hoping for a hat-trick. Once all the rain had passed, the lake fell calm and I actually managed to see feeding over my baited area. With only me and one other angler on the lake, it started to look like my fortunes may change and the next 24 hours I managed to land three fish to mid-twenties.
“I was sat watching the lake when Mick, the other angler, popped round for a chat. I was just saying to him the story of the previous years’ birthdays and that he was present on both occasions, and yep, you guessed it; five minutes later the left-hand rod burst into life and I was battling with a heavy weight that didn’t want to move! Ten minutes later and after a dogged fight under the rod tip, Mick netted it at the first attempt. Whilst I busied myself getting the rod back on the spot, Mick was looking after the fish. He said he knew which one it was and that it was definitely a mid-forty. It was a fish named Felix and tipped the scales at 46lb 10oz, making it four forties in five weeks!
“Whilst technically not a birthday fish, as it was a day early, it was my hat-trick fish and Mick had been there for all three!
“The rest of the day and night were quiet, but the following birthday morning i did manage a lovely 35lb 9oz mirror.
“I ended the session with a total of 11 fish, with the winning method being dark Crayfish wafters in solid bags of Crayfish Mini Mix pellets over a large beg of chopped Bug and S7 shelf-life boilies soaked in BetaStim and Salmon Oil.”
