THE SPECIAL ONE!

  • Posted: 3rd September 2024
  • Author: Team DNA
It’s the fish all the Monks Pit members want to catch, but few wanted it more than John Payne!
It had always been John’s dream to catch the Special One at more than 40lb and on his latest session on the Cambridgeshire syndicate he was able to realise that dream when the breathtaking mirror graced his net at 41lb 8oz.
John said he was so keen to catch this particular fish, he would have happily sacrificed catching his first UK fifty to see this one in the bottom of his net!
Tony takes up the story: “I’ve had many conversations over the years about which fish I really want to catch and my response has always been the Special One.
“However, I would’ve wanted it at over 40lb and would’ve even sacrificed my first UK fifty for it!
“This conversation was had yet again before I went to bed on the first night of my weekend session…
“Then at 4.45am the next day, I received a couple of beeps on my middle rod signifying a drop-back. Nothing else materialised, so I tightened the line back up and checked the line angle and retreated back to bed.
“Then minutes later, I got a couple of beeps on my left-hand rod. Upon shining my headtorch on my lines, I could see they were crossed. Game on! The sneaky bugger had kited on a tight line.
“I have to admit, it was a bit of an uneventful fight and I didn’t think it was very big. I use a headtorch as little as possible, so once netted I bit the line, secured the net and concentrated on getting the rod back out. However, the right-hand rod then decided to go into meltdown! After a very spirited fight, I netted the fish, turned on the headtorch and peered into the net and could be in no doubt of what lay before me!
“The Special One was mine at last and I had realised my dream, with the fish tipping the scales at 41lb 8oz. In the other net was a 25lb 10oz common!
“Over the course of the rest of the session, I had mirrors of 26lb 4oz, 33lb 14oz and 36lb 13oz, and lost one to a hook pull.
“My winning approach featured dark Crayfish wafters inside solid bags of Crayfish Mini Mix pellets and Krill Meal, injected with BetaStim and Salmon Oil.
“These were fished over 15kg of mixed-sized S7 and Bug boilies that had also been soaked in BetaStim and Salmon Oil.”