Big carp can be caught very close to the bank, even on large waters. This was proven last week by Saul Gardiner, who banked this remarkable 61lb 1oz mirror from the Grenville syndicate in Cambridgeshire.
Travelling nearly six hours from his home in Edinburgh to fish the 72-acre venue, the 51-year-old arrived in very hot and sunny conditions, easily locating numbers of fish in a corner of the lake.
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"It's not something I've ever seen on Grenville, as the fish are usually at range," he told us.
"It got even better too, when I observed fish cruising and feeding along the margin in front of the only swim in that corner, so my mind on spots was easily made up!"
On returning to the office to get his gear, Saul was informed by the owner that the swim he had chosen was limited to fishing in the immediate margins due to heavy weed growth in the area - luckily, that was his plan anyway!
"There were plenty of fish down the margin to the left of the swim which were obviously looking for food, but due to the restrictions I couldn't fish for them," Saul said.
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"I decided to scatter feed around there to get them used to my bait and keep them away from the swim while I set up. And it wasn't long before the fish were heads down ripping up the short weed looking for bait."
With things looking very good for a bite, Saul quietly got two Multi rigs in position on a lovely clear spot at the end of the reed line, and deposited a mix of whole and crushed DNA Baits S7 boilies over the top, which had been soaked in S7 liquid and Betastim.
"Not long after I had the rods sorted, a mini storm came in from nowhere," he said.
"Mega winds had me holding onto the brolly, whilst torrential rain and hail soaked everything, then came the thunder and lightning!
"It came and went quickly, but the fish had also vanished."
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Deciding to wait for the fish to come back, Saul endured a rather uneventful night, until just before 6am, when a slow and steady take developed on his righthand rod...
"Knowing there was a big weedbed at about 30 yards range, I quickly had my waders on to try and steer the fish away from it," Saul said.
"It was just getting light and I could make out some big swirls just feet from the weed.
"Thankfully, the fight went on without any more drama and soon a large head appeared over the draw cord of the landing net.
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"I lifted the net with a feeling of disbelief at what was sitting in there."
Trying to calm himself down, Saul then called the venue owner Paul to come and take the photos, knowing he had one of the lake's giants and a new personal best in his net.
"When we lifted the retainer out, it was very evident this was one hell of a big fish," he said.
"The 'Big Male' at 61lb 1oz - wow!"
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