CARPERS KEEP CATCHING AS ARCTIC WEATHER BITES
THE adaptability, resilience and perseverance of UK carp anglers has once again been on display this month with a flurry of lockdown catches in some brutal weather conditions.
Topping the lot was the capture of one of Somerset’s biggest commons, a 52lb 2oz fish known as ‘Speck’ landed by Peter Chmiel.
Focusing on a clay spot he had seen the huge fish roll over before Christmas, the 58-year-old had to de-ice the padlock to the local venue after arriving in minus temperatures. Just an hour into the session, a couple of bleeps on the alarm signalled a take…
“When I couldn’t get it off the bottom after 20 minutes I knew it was a big fish,” he said.
“Once I saw her in the water, I couldn’t breathe, until I squeezed her into the net. A truly awesome fish,” added Peter, who praised the Angling Trust for getting us fishing again.
Local angling was no problem for Alfie Nicholls, who is lucky enough to live at Devon’s Furzebray Lakes. While tasked with feeding the fish on the Island Lake, Alfie couldn’t resist getting a rod in the water and was rewarded with one of the lake’s biggest residents in the shape of ‘Blackspot’ at 44lb 8oz.
To cap off January’s catches is a stunning snow carp caught by YouTuber Chris Fennell from his local Carp Pool Fishery in the Cotswolds.
The 27lb fully-scaled was landed from an area of shallower water on a 12mm XO Carp pop-up on a hinged-stiff rig, topped with six red maggots. “After a short fight, I had my first-ever carp landed in the snow in the net,” he said.