What would you consider to be ‘feeding heavily’? Introducing a gallon of maggots, or perhaps a few kilos of boilies? On a recent trip to China, Gary Newman reached the impressive landmark of banking his 10th different freshwater species over 100lb, after landing black carp of 118lb and 113lb. And he did so after feeding 250kg of snails over eight days!
His trip got off to an awful start when he broke a rib the evening before flying out, and nearly had to cancel entirely.
“I’d been told by A&E in the UK that I’d pulled a muscle, but after an agonising 13-hour flight to Shanghai, I suspected it was something more serious,” he told us.
“A local hospital advised against doing anything strenuous!”
Undeterred, Gary dosed-up on painkillers and started fishing, but after four days of blanking on a rock-hard 132,000-acre venue, he moved to a 1,200-acre lake where he’d had previous success.
“I baited an area heavily at 40 yards with snails, using over 25kg of them a day,” he revealed. “These were fed from a boat, and I’d also top-up with a large Spomb.”
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Over the top, Gary fished hair-rigged snails, and within an hour of making his first cast, he had a take.
“I was surprised my hookbait was picked out so quickly among all the loosefeed, but after a 20-minute fight, I had a 1.65m-long black carp in the retainer,” he told us. “That fish weighed 118lb and smashed my PB for the species. Next day it was followed by another monster of 113lb.
“The broken rib meant that I was in the most pain I’ve ever been in while fishing, but it was well worth enduring for those fish,” Gary added.
He fished a two-snail hookbait with a piece of cork between them, on a blowback rig incorporating a Korda Wide Gape XX Size 1 hook.
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