CHRIS YATES & THE CARP THAT DIDN’T COUNT - 1980

THERE are a select few waters that you’d fish today in search of a record carp, but back in the 1980s, this branch of the sport was still in its infancy. It was seen as very ‘secret squirrel’, and of all the lakes to fish for a massive carp, the tiny Redmire (Bernithan) Pool on the Welsh border was THE one to get on.

Steeped in history, having produced Dick Walker’s record Clarissa in the 1950s, it was the turn of angling legend and writer Chris Yates to show what the pool was capable of. At the start of the decade he landed a 51lb 6oz mirror to beat the then UK best.

Unfortunately for Chris, his application for a new record was cut down by British Record Fish Committee red tape, as the carp was ‘not made available for inspection’ by committee members.

This would have meant taking the fish away from the lake but Chris wasn’t prepared to do that and so the carp, which he named The Bishop, was weighed, witnessed, photographed and returned.

In an age of hi-tech tackle, rigs and baits, Chris caught the monster using nothing more complicated than a grain or two ofcorn on the hook, with a piece of Plasticine as a casting weight. The fish showed anglers that the 50lb carp benchmark was now possible to attain. Since then the record weight has gone up and up!