CARP SUPERSTORE manager Bradley Wegner couldn’t have wished for a better first session on a lake in his home county...as this picture shows!
He bagged this stunning 49 lb 14 oz common – despite the distraction of a double take.
The Carp Superstore manager from Northampton explained: “I walked the previous day, and noticed fish topping where there was a fresh influx of water.
“I decided to pepper 2 kg of 10 and 15 mm CC Moore Pacific Tuna boilies in the weed to try and get them grubbing around for the following night.
“Once I turned up in the swim for my overnighter, I got the rods ready to go first of all. I heard a fish show and I walked down to the lake a bit closer where I could see more water and it was over the prebaited area.
“I shakily put on some Pacific Tuna corkballs. I cast a choddy well past the spot and wound it back onto the area to avoid spooking anything in the zone.
“I managed to flick about 50 baits out with the catapult, just ten millers, to avoid too much noise.
“I cast the other two rods onto another area I had put some more bait the previous night.
“I sat back and heard another one over the same zone. My confidence was sky high and I was waiting for something to happen.
“Around 20 minutes later, I was in. It stripped 40 yards on its first run and when it came to a halt I could feel there was a lot of weight behind the fish.
“Fortunately, the lead had dropped and soon enough the fish was on the surface. I could see that it was a massive common.
“Then my left-hand rod started melting off. Incredibly, it was a double take. I needed to concentrate on the one I was playing and just ignore the other rod because I knew deep down it was something special.
“The fight went on for over 20 minutes, just slow and heavy under the tip.
“After what seemed like an age of leg shaking and my heart being in my throat, it finally hit the surface and I saw exactly what fish it was – The Colonel, the biggest common in the lake.
“I managed to net her first time, my heart was pounding but there was no time to chill out, because there was still a fish on the other rod.
“It didn’t put up much of a scrap and went in the net with the big ‘un. It was a mirror of upper doubles.
“I rang everyone in the area and they were all super buzzed for me.
“When we got the fish out it looked absolutely mint. The look on everyone’s face when I peeled open the sling was a picture.
“It broke my PB and for the first night on it was probably the biggest buzz I’ll ever experience,” he concluded.
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