Catch Reports 2009 page 3
Long Distance Whacker!
Eddie Johnson from Conwy, North Wales has been making the 480-mile round trip to St Ives lagoon in search of the Fat Lady on a regular basis, but last week he finally managed to nail his target fish! Arriving on the Monday for a 4-night session he introduced 4kg of B5 boilies close to a weedbed at 60-yards and continued topping up the spot with 1.5kg daily because he saw the odd fish show including what could well have been the big one.
On the Thursday morning Jon Mac, who was fishing next door joined him for a brew and as they sat there chatting, Eddie’s right hand rod burst into life! After a spirited scrap during which the fish weeded up for a while, Jon waded out up to his waist in water to finally slip the net under what was obviously a very big carp. The look on Jon’s face said it all - it was Eddie’s target fish – ‘The Fat Lady’ at a weight of 55lb 3oz! We know Jon’s time will come, but for now it was Eddie’s moment. Well done that man, and once again – top B5 bombing!
Click on images to enlarge
Over the full moon
Mike Edgeworth has been dreaming of catching his target fish from a large Glos gravel pit for nearly 10-years after someone denying him the opportunity by requesting him to take the syndicate boat back to the boathouse then catching it on his rods whilst he was gone!! A wicked and some would say despicable act that we would not recommend to anyone unless it was close to the end of the season and time was running short.
However, good things come to those who wait and on a recent trip armed with a bucket full of B5 and a full moon above, the light was shining down on Mikey when after a long hard battle he managed to slip the net under the fish that had eluded him for so long. The scales registered a massive weight of 52lb 8oz! All of a sudden everything was looking Rosie and Mikey was over the full moon! Well done mate and big congratulations from everyone.
The Leopard strikes
Carp just don’t get much better looking that this absolute stunner of a fish known as The Leopard. The lucky captor was team Essential member Martin Finan who recently managed to bank the impressive creature from a Glos gravel pit at a weight of 36lb 12oz.
Just days before the capture Martin introduced a couple of kilo’s of B5 into some snags and watched The Leopard bully the other fish out of the way to get to the bait so he wasn’t surprised to see it end up in the bottom of his net on his next session. Great observation, great fish and a great bit of angling.
Gigantica monster
It’s not often you will see foreign fish pictured on here but Andy Clark has had his fair share of UK whackers over the years so he more than deserves this one. He and his missus Katherine recently decided to give join up with a group of friends for a nice relaxing break at Gigantica lake in central France.
Apart from two noddies (according to Andy) everyone on the trip caught fish, even Katherine who managed to bank a lovely 35lb heavily scaled mirror on the final night (bottom right). However, top honours went to Andy himself when he banked one of the venues largest residents at a massive weight of 67lb 12oz! As you would expect the B5 was responsible for the majority of the fish on the trip and a big thanks to Gazza Wade (who caught several fish to just under 40lbs) for supplying the pic – awesome!
One bait, one angler, three 50’s!!
Martin Finan from Glos recently re-wrote the record books by becoming the first angler to catch three different 50lb plus UK fish from the same water and all this in just 18-months!
His blaze of success started in March 2008 when he banked a new lake record 54lb mirror before setting his targets on another very big resident that resides in the 50-acre gravel pit. He eventually banked the elusive fish at 52lb 10oz just over a year later when he braced it alongside a stunning 37lb linear.
Martin continued to introduce the Shellfish B5 on a regular basis to catch a very impressive tally of 30lb and 40lb fish from the venue and it seemed only a matter of time before yet another 50lb carp graced the bank. The inevitable happened just recently when after a very hard scrap as daylight broke, Martin managed to steer another huge fish into the folds of his waiting net – it went 51lb exactly!
To catch one UK 50lb carp in a lifetime is a fantastic achievement, but to catch three in just 18-months is phenomenal! Once again the B5 has been responsible for setting new standards in the bait world after breaking history in 2007 by catching the UK’s biggest ever brace - further proof indeed that the awesome B5 has to be the most successful and consistent ‘big fish’ bait ever developed.
Well done Martin from all at team Essential….
Mid-Winter Whacker
We’re so please to report this next one. Long term Essential Bait user Paul Wortley from Bournemouth has been enjoying a very successful season on a local gravel pit with several big fish in recent months on the ever consistent Shellfish B5, however, his latest success came in the shape of this proper cold water whacker that pulled the scales around to an impressive 46lb 10oz!
The big mirror was caught at 5.30am next to a submerged weed bed at approx 80-yards after baiting up the spot the previous evening with a mixture of chopped and whole winterised B5 boilies and beat Paul’s previous personal best by 4lb 8oz. Congratulations Paul, good angling and further proof that if you put the B5 in the right spot the big fish will follow.
