AT staff reveal their strangest captures

“I WAS feeder fishing for bream on the Nene Embankment near the Asda supermarket when I hooked into what I thought was by far the biggest slab of the day. It stayed deep all the way to the net until I scooped it and discovered it was a carrier bag containing a once-frozen chicken still in the wrapper!”

Steve Fitzpatrick, editor-in-chief

“I ONCE had a barbel take the rod off the rests during an evening session on the Kennet about 20 years ago. It turned out to be an old rusty horseshoe hooked firmly in the U-bend. I can only think it was trundling downstream and somehow managed to grab my size 8, which I like to think was resting flat on the bottom!” Stephen Stones, associate editor

“I CAUGHT a paint tin on the River Yare. It gave me a great drop-back bite. It was Crown gloss white… hooked through the handle!

“I had a Sainsbury’s carrier bag on the same river (circa 1992, light brown colour). I played it for ages, and when I saw it just under the surface it looked just like a big bream. I swore a lot as it neared the net…”

Richard Grange, features editor

“I FOUND a genuine message in a bottle while fishing the Thames in Oxfordshire. It bobbed along in front of me and I managed to retrieve it and remove the note from inside. There was a phone number on the note but no area code (this was before mobiles were widespread).

“I tried ringing it using the local area codes I knew, but none worked, so it must have travelled a long way!”

Thom Airs, carpfeed.com editor