LUNAR MAGIC AS MOONSCALE FALLS ON SUPERMOON!
We may never fully understand the link between a carp’s feeding behaviour and the movements of Earth’s celestial companion, but the Moon will always fascinate us as anglers, particularly when catches like this occur.
A day session on Dartford and District Angling and Preservation Society’s Bennett’s Lake on the day of the supermoon saw Roy Cansdale land the largest carp in the lake, the mighty Moonscale at a PB-crushing 53lb 2oz!
“After collecting my bait from Keith Gladdish, the authorised DNA franchisee for Kent, I went for a short day session trip to my club lake in Kent,” said Roy.
“I had a quick look around and picked a swim that allowed me to fish into the wind at the far end of the lake. I fished a spot I found on a previous trip at 10 and a half wraps out on a small gravel spot in 13ft of water. I put both rods on the same spot, introducing about a kilo of 18mm Bug boilies, plus two kilos of chilli hemp.
“The rods had been out about nine hours when the left-hand rod went off! I played the carp for about 15-20 minutes and it put up a great fight, before slipping into the net. I could see it was a good size, so I called over a lad who was fishing a few swims away to help take some photos. Luckily for me, he works in the Tackle Box and was taking some photos for the shop. Then a bailiff turned up to help, too.
“We then got the carp on the mat and knew it was Moonscale, the biggest carp in the lake! We weighed it at 53lb 2oz, beating my previous personal best by about 6lb. With the photos done, we put him back. It was the best carp I had ever seen and in mint condition.”
At the business end, it was a 22mm Bug Hard Hooker soaked in Bug Bait Soak that did the damage for Roy.