WHERE DID THIS FISH COME FROM?
UNSURPRISINGLY, news of this incredible fish set tongues wagging in the carp world.
There’s always a tantalising air of mystery and romance surrounding big-carp captures from running water, but many noted fish can be traced back to the lakes they’ve escaped from. For example, the incredible River Aire 50-pounder – the biggest river carp ever publicised – was washed into the Yorkshire river from Eric’s Willows Lake during floods. Other noted nomads, like the infamous Dippy, which surfaced in the River Gipping, were moved deliberately.
The Thames Valley is full of carp lakes, and incidents like the massive summer floods of 2007 have seen plenty of stillwater fish end up in the river. That summer, the 40lb Barnet Fish from Reading DAA’s Whistley Mill was caught 50 river miles away from the Thames at Kingston Bridge.
Ash told Carpfeed: “They have all got to have come from somewhere, that’s obvious, but it’s been a couple of years since any major flooding in our area, so fish stocks have been pretty stable.
“These carp didn’t magically enter the river system last week, they have been on my radar for years, and they aren’t the only ones!”
So, where did Ash’s incredible 44lb 14oz linear come from? Initial reaction suggested it could have come from Sonning in Berkshire. Carp legend Dave Lane wrote on Facebook: “I’m fairly sure I’ve had this one from Sonning in 2002 at 34lb.”
But after studying his photo album he told Carpfeed: “I have just checked and this is definitely NOT the same carp. There is a bald patch on the tail root of the Sonning fish I had.”
Sonning was the 300-plusacre home to an incredible fish known as the Eye, which rocked the fishing world when it turned up at 52lb in 2000. The venue is still fishable, but was extensively redeveloped to create a rowing course – leaving the fate of its carp a bit of a mystery.
A thread on the Anglers Forum website suggests a few Sonning fish, including the big linear caught by Dave Lane, have ended up in the Thames, but whether that’s the fish Ash caught is definitely open to debate.
Whatever the truth, the tantalising prospect remains that the massive Sonning Eye, and fish of its ilk, are out there in England’s longest river.