A strange twist of fate, dating back a few weeks ago when she first graced the bank at 40lb..
(courtesy: Dan Johannessen)
This is my 3rd season on Willows Lake. After two very successful seasons previous, this season was looking like it was going to be a nightmare from start to finish on approaching my 22nd night. I’d lost two very big fish at this stage due to hook pulls and only landed a small number of fish up to 31lb. So far this season I had photographed a 50lb and three 40lbs for anglers in swims next to me concreting the evidence that this was going to be a tough season. Only once had I drove back home down the M62 with a smile on my face.
Upon my 22nd session starting on the Sunday morning I arrived and took a look around the lake. After seeing a lot of fish in peg 20 I decided to set up in peg 19 knowing no-one had been in that swim over the weekend. I’d also seen the guys in the pegs either side with huge spod mixes which I figured would have been put in those areas over the weekend, the lake had been fishing hard with not many fish coming out in the previous ten days, I also knew that the fish were feeding on the hundreds of snails that can be easily seen in the margin so picking peg 19 was a safe option due to there being no bait in the area.
I decided to fish two rods in a silt area at 110 yards 5ft depth which had previously done me well and used the third rod to fish different depths with only a couple of handfuls of bait on each rod. The first night approaches and I decided to sleep under the stars due to the mild weather and at 4am I received my first take, a slow hard battle which turned out to be a beautiful 37lb leather carp, happy days the session was off to a flyer. By 8am I received my second take which resulted in a stocky, I continued lightly feeding the baited areas and there was no more action until 3.30am the next day. The right hand roaming rod absolutely melted off with a fish slowly taking line off my spool. I played the fish for about 15 minutes from the bank while it slowly kited left and right and eventually the fish found itself into a weed bed, on with the life jacket I jumped into the boat hoping someone would see my headtorch knowing I would be on the water incase anything was to happen. I slowly reeled myself to the fish and after eventually getting it out of the weed bed it got into another one and also picking up an abandoned line, I got upon the fish once again after removing the abandoned line and weed I pointed my headtorch into the water and saw a huge common just sat there. My heart immediately started racing knowing that there is only a small number of big commons and I’m attached to one of them. I eventually got the fish to the surface and as it broke the surface the hook pulled and I quickly scooped my prize, knowing that after all the commotion I must have woke one of the guys in the swims either side I yelled out ‘big common’. I started to row back to my swim with Craig from peg 20 waiting to help, I told him I had one of the big commons, it was huge. As I got to the margin I got out of the boat into the water I was trying to establish if it was the twisted scale common that hadn’t been landed for two years. Craig passed me the sling to transfer the fish, I got the sling into the water and proceeded to collapse the landing net, as I did this there was weed at the end of the net and it pulled the net into the water and the fish escaped. Fully dressed and in my waders I tried to grab the fish resulting in me going head first into the water feeling the huge common slip through my fingers. I come to the surface and Craig, with a horrified look on his face, said ‘oh my god I’m so sorry I’m gutted for you’ and with my waders full of water he helps me out onto the bank. I’m on the bank and I laughed in a way of complete shock at what had just happened to me, I had just lost possibly a 40+ common. With myself and all my clothes wet through I managed to find an old pair of shorts in my bag which was all I had to change into, at this point I was still sleeping under the stars but was too cold to set up my bivvy, shivering and disheartened thinking about what I’d just lost, I’d also taken in a huge gulp of water and my belly was started to grumble. By 5am still awake freezing it starts to rain, I leapt out of my sleeping bag and threw my bivvy up putting all of my gear in and while doing that I managed to find a thin waterproof jacket, still gutted I put my rod back out at first light. I rang my girlfriend and my mother to tell them what had happened to me, my girlfriends son laughed at me and I put the phone down.
At 8.15am after trying to get my spirits up thinking about articles I’d read over the years of anglers losing special fish I received a take on my middle rod with what felt like a good fish slowly plodding around. I shouted over to Craig in peg 20 and asked if he’d put his waders on with mine being wet and wade out to the fish to land it. After a ten minute fight and craig being ten yards into the water I saw a huge golden belly break the surface, Craig landed the fish and yelled ‘it’s another big common’. The feeling was overwhelming after what had happened to me a few hours before knowing there was another huge common in my net I screamed out ‘YES’, everybody on the lake must have heard me. We safely got the fish into the sling and onto the bank to weigh, as we was about to weigh the fish my left and rod melted off and I was into another fish. At this point all I could do was look at the huge bar of gold as it was being weighed and was informed it was 41lb in the meantime the fish I was playing come off. The common had been put in the retainer and I rang Danny Hodgson and Tom Broomhead who was also fishing to inform them I’d got one of the big commons and to reel in and come round. We eventually took the fish back out of the water to re-weigh and photograph and settled on 40lb, Tom informed me it was the one eyed common and it had not been caught in 14 months. At this point my session had gone from being heartbreaking to the most overwhelming experience of 16 years carp fishing, I rang everybody in my phone after this happened to explain the story.
Still wet and cold on a miserable day my confidence was high and smiles all around there was no more action until the next afternoon when a small stocky graced the net. I decided I would cut my session a day short after catching the one eyed common I was happy to leave it on a high and go and spend time with my girlfriend at home, that night I spoke to my girlfriend with my smile still beaming and she told me she thought I was going to outdo myself another fish. That night I decided to put a coupon on the football and won £1400, my luck couldn’t have possibly got any better. I was laid awake until the early hours thinking about the last few days events I was tired from barely sleeping but my adrenaline was through the roof, I eventually fell asleep a very happy man. I woke around 7.30am to a single beep on my middle rod just thinking it was a liner, I made a coffee and spoke to my girlfriend before she went to work. After I put the phone down I got another beep and a bend in my rod I decided to hit it and was attached to something that felt very big. After a long battle I netted what I thought was a big 30, I yelled out to Brian in peg 18 to help me as I knew I had another good fish. I got the fish onto the mat and as we removed the sling it became obvious it was a lot bigger than a high 30 we then established it was the Steve Turner fish, the fish settled at 46lb a new personal best, we photographed the fish and released her back into the water. True to my girlfriends prediction I had outdone myself and had an overwhelming feeling of happiness and achievement, the last 22 nights where now a blur, all the changes I’d made to my presentation of rigs and baiting strategy had paid off.
My girlfriend arrived with the car, as I drove home down the M62 I barely spoke until I arrived in Hull and Claire said to me I hadn’t said a word all the way home, I was in my own world, I’d not only beaten my pb mirror by 2lb I’d beaten my UK pb common by 10lb 4oz and a new pb leather carp.
Still now as I tell my story of the common that got away I can do nothing but smile of a story that me and Craig will share forever.
