Mirror carp good enough to earn Abbatt the trophy

Coarse angling

Carp anglers at Fordwich and Stonar Lake have been in good form although other anglers have toiled in recent days, writes PAUL MERCER.

At Fordwich, Joe Sartain landed a 26lb 4oz mirror carp and Steve Cox a 27lb common, while Lee White skilfully played a 23lb mirror safely into his landing net and John Collins a 15lb 8oz common carp into his.

This year’s Stonar Charity Shield was fished from Friday to Sunday at Stonar Lake.

The competition is open to members and non-members of the Canterbury & District Angling Association and this year’s donations were in aid of the Caring for Connor charity.

The largest fish caught over the weekend won the match and it was Dave Abbatt with a mirror carp of 20lb 4oz caught from the Beaches swim that was victorious alongside his fishing partner George Hof.

Hof finished in joint second place with an 18lb common carp, sharing runners-up spot with Adam Maxted who also landed an 18lb common fishing alongside Ricky Jarman on a swim on the road bank.

A dozen pairs and one single angler fished over the three-day match in windy conditions. Lots of smaller bream were caught throughout the competition.

Match organiser Brian Allen confirmed just over £2,000 had been raised so far for the cause. Brian is running an auction for a generously donated “Darenth Big Lake Winter Ticket” worth over £300.

Bids are invited by text to Brian on 07990 904878. The current leading bid is £150 and the auction will close at midnight on August 8. All proceeds will go to Caring for Connor.

Away from the competition at Stonar, all manner and size of freshwater fish have been taken from the still water.

Paul Mills hooked 22 carp to 18lb 4oz, Andrew Hansen 12 more to 19lb 14oz and Charlie Hitchman a slightly larger common carp of 22lb.

Big bags of bream have been taken by Mick Crocker, Gareth Jones, Gavin Stewart and Victor Chance while Chris Harnett’s spectacular catch of 65 bream to 9lb 5oz totalled an amazing 329lb.

Ron Meares’ mixed bag from Stonar comprised bream to 4lb, two perch to 1lb 8oz and a weighty eel of 1lb 8oz, while Steve Easter landed a good mirror carp weighing 21lb and another big eel of 3lb.

Quality roach have also been caught at Stonar with Keith Bell hooking fish to 1lb and Chris Dilnut slightly bigger roach to 1lb 8oz. Both men also landed bream.

Only two juniors fished in this season’s Goldsmith Cup at Trenley Lake. When the whistle went at 1pm, Isabella Johnson won the close competition with 5lb 13oz just ahead of Hanna Boden with 5lb 6oz.

Both girls had a great time and fished well. Isabella and Hanna both went home with excellent prizes donated by Blean Angling based in Tyler Hill Road, Blean.