Colin has smashed up the Reedy, and it was his first trip of the year !!!!
Before I give the details I just want to say how rare and special these days are, and how privileged we are when they happen. It is nothing to do with luck, a normal angler could fish here every day for 50 years and it would not happen. They say luck is “opportunity meeting with preparation” That is certainly true with these catches.
Firstly the conditions have to be right, low air pressure strong SW winds. It cannot be sunny but also not raining.
Second the swim has to be right. All of these big catches come from swims we have baited everyday for weeks. If our guys are fishing them they are baiting while they fish and if not we take the boat in a feed them. I have had a massive bust up with my competitor this week because he feels my going in and prebaiting swims is wrong or unfair. But that is a vital ingredient of how we fish here.
The timing must be right. In my opinion, such catches are only possible between mid May and mid June, when the smaller family pods of carp are combining into far larger breeding shoals, and feeding up to store the energy for the forth coming orgy.
Then the angler must be right. The level of physical fitness needed to catch 80 odd fish is far more than you think. Yesterday I had 39 fish myself, today my shoulders are killing me. 80 fish is not fun, after the first 30 you are in pain and it only gets worse. Not only must the angler be fit, he must also be a superb angler. (It is no accident that the previous record of 76 fish also came from Colin.) Tactically the angler must control feed levels to keep the fish competing for the bait and “feel” what is needed. On Wednesday Colin used less than a bucket of corn, when Paul set his record last year he fed 8 buckets. Feeding is everything and every day is different. Both were correct on their days, but knowing how much they want is an art form. The angler must also have the ability to beat the fish quickly. You cannot mess around when you are averaging a fish every 8 minutes for 11 hours!
The tactics must be right. Paul’s fish came in fast water, so he was on a 4.5 ounce lead and a 3.5 T/C rod. Colin’s came from a shallow bay so he was on the Polaris float and a 2.75 T/C rod.
And lastly you need some sort of support group around you. Bringing bait, cold drinks, (in Colin’s case cigarettes) coffee, and replacing broken items. In short the angler has to stay focused on the fish catching and everything else be brought to him. For Colin, he did not even have help netting the fish as he was deep in the water in chest waders all day.
So record breaking is not for the feint hearted. We do not plan these events, but when a potential record is on, word spreads quickly and the team kicks into action. By 11 am Colin was on 38 fish and it was still a fish a chuck. Also by 11 am he had 3 x 30`s in the sacks, so don’t run around thinking this was pasty bashing. Colin ended on 4 fish over 30, 7 back up 29`s and probably another 40 fish over 25lb. All but a handful of the fish were over 20lb. He lost 7 fish, caught four mirrors to 25lb. All the fish came to a single Mainline boilie tipped with plastic corn, he changed hook lengths only twice and changed his hook bait only 3 times. I bet Danny Fairbrass felt the movement in the force with such savage tactics and was twitching like mad back in Essex.
From 11 am onwards someone was with him most of the time and as Geezers float record of 64 came close a few of us went down to see the final stages. The last 20 fish came in just over an hour and a half. That is under 5 minutes per fish!!! Hooking, playing, netting, unhooking and recasting. Basically he could have gone on to break the 100 mark, the fish were climbing the rod, but we had tables booked at Grumpies and anyway the boy was busted.
I wonder at such catches, is this the biggest ever catch of carp in one day ?? I have no idea but it was a truly awesome display of carp fishing.
Was I pleased ????
O traducere pe scurt ,intr-o partida de pescuit ,de dimineata pina seara ,cu o singura lanseta ,pescuit la pluta ,s-au prins 81 de crapi de o singura persoana ,media a fost 10-12 kg ,singurul ajutor pe care la primit ,a fost cu tigari aprinse ,bauturi racoritoare si citeva sanviciuri ,mentionez ca nu este o crescatorie ,este un brat al fluviului StLawrence ,iar crapii sint in genul celor de pe Dunare .A avut nevoie de o zi de refacere , dupa munca depusa .
Bravo lui pentru rezistenta !!! Locul asta nu cumva e in camping-ul unde te-am gasit anul trecut ? Era o platforma parasita de lansare a ambarcatiunilor in prelungirea drumului unde iti parcai masina, cu un mini golf cu stuf ...pentru cunoscatori 
, am facut deja rezervarea la Jeff, sosesc vineri dupa miezul noptii si stau pana luni dupa-amiaza.
