While 100lb is a great weight on any English river, Mirfield AC’s Craig Turbitt more than trebled that during a match on the River Calder, landing a club record 309lb 7oz haul of bream.
Fishing a simple groundbait feeder, Craig landed around 50 fish averaging just over 6lb, with some closer to 9lb.
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“We knew we were on to something special eight years ago when the first-ever match here was won with over 80lb,” said Mirfield match secretary, Martyn Highe.
“After an hour, word got round Craig would need an extra keepnet. Pretty soon we called for a third!”
Craig told us: “It was a once in a lifetime session. But I almost didn’t book in. I was going to watch my son play cricket, but given the appalling weather I thought I’d fish instead.”
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Fortune then smiled further, as one neighbouring peg was closed due to a wasps’ nest while, in the next, his nearest rival fished the waggler for roach. “After the first fish around 15 minutes in, it just didn’t stop!” said Craig, who fed three pints of casters and a full bowl of groundbait, catching his fish on double worm to a size 12 hook.
The club did the weighing in batches of three to four fish, which took five volunteers and a lot of careful teamwork!
“It’s a truly amazing bream river,” Craig said. “There’s a huge amount of natural food. Shoals can number hundreds, and it’s thrown up quite a few ‘doubles’. My catch probably just scratched the surface!”
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