Lee Carpenter fills us in on his capture of an incredible under the radar upper 40
It was well into the third year on the low stock pit, but this year felt different to the previous two for Lee Carpenter. Being self employed lee was able to put work on the back burner for a little while in order to maximise his time on the bank and focus his efforts on fishing.
Returning for his first night of the year at the back end of April, his efforts in keeping the bait going in in the weeks leading upto this point seemed to be starting to pay off when a big mirror gave its prescence away over the spot. Nothing further occurred during his session but upon leaving the lake again Lee despatched some more bait to the spot hoping that the fish he had seen earlier would keep visiting in his abscence…
After dropping his daughter off at school, it was back home and the van was loaded in double time. On the way back to the lake Lee already knew exactly where he needed to be. With four consecutive nights at his disposal confidence was high.
Lee proceeded to get a bed of B5 & Black Snail out over the spot followed by his rigs, a hinged stiff rig, tied up with a size 4 Duropoint Chod hook, baited with a B5 corkball.
Lee has so much trust in these two: Size 4 Duropoint Chod & Essential B5
The weekend part of his session passed quietly, with little sign of anything to go on but come Monday morning thoughts of the inactivity over the previous few days quickly dissipated as one of the alarms signalled a take.
Lifting into the fish a heavy and dogged battle ensued and it quickly became apparent that he was connected to a big fish, how big? - As it drew closer to the waiting net lee’s inclinations were confirmed when its huge leathery flanks rolled over the cord revealing its true size.
Blood, sweat and tears from over Fourty six nights of blanking over the previous three seasons were all quickly forgotten when this rarely caught mirror at 48lb smashed his P.B
Having last been caught by one of lees mates some twenty three months previous, the huge mirror looked immaculate in the morning light.
Speaking to us, Lee told us that he has to use gear that he has absolute confidence in, particularly so when chasing big rarely caught carp! After location the two most important things are a sharp and reliable hook and a good quality bait.
If you’ve got the location right then then it follows that a good bait and trusty tackle will massively increase your chances of landing the carp of your dreams.