Tactics
Sought-after fish makes captor’s predictions a reality!
behind the week’s best fish
SCOTT Boyles caught arguably the most sought-after mirror in the country after assuring his girlfriend that fishing in the rain is all worth it if you catch the fish of your dreams. The 37-year-old Aylesbury angler landed the Big Plated from St John’s, on the Linear Fisheries complex, at 42lb 8oz.
Having endured a wet and fishless first day in swim 39 on the Oxfordshire gravel pit, Scott got into bed and had a call from his partner that many anglers can relate to. “We had the usual discussions of whether I was crazy, and what was I doing there in the rain and cold,” said the panel beater and sprayer.
“I laughed and assured her, as usual, that it would all be worth it if I caught the Big Plated!
“I like to think that this must have been a good-luck omen, as the next morning at 6am I heard
a few beeps of my receiver on my left-hand rod.”
This had been Scott’s roving rod the previous day and was rigged up with a solid PVA bag and positioned in the small bay to his left off a slight shelf in 6ft of water.
“I sat up, slipped on my jacket and within seconds the rod was away,” continued Scott.
“After a 20-minute battle in the rain, tense moments and two close evasions of the net, my heart was in my mouth, but shortly after the second near escape I managed to net under what looked like a very large mirror.
“On lifting her out of the water I discovered I had in fact caught the Big Plated!”