A new chapter has been written in the angling history books after the largest common carp ever landed on UK shores hit the bank.
It weighed an almighty 66lb 8oz and was caught by electrician Kieran Duff in strong winds and rain from Buckinghamshire’s Waterside Fishery, completing a four-year quest in the process. He was fishing on Kingfisher Lake, where the famous big common had gone uncaught for nine months before Kieran tempted it on a 15mm pop-up.
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“I arrived with my daughter, Nancy, who was with me for the first day of a week-long session,” he told us. “There’s an island at the end of the lake near which, every year for the past few years, the big common had been caught in early April, so that’s where I headed,” Kieran said.
The first 48 hours of the session passed without event, but while on a call with his wife Kieran noticed a carp flop out in the middle of the lake.
“I swung two rods around to fish that zone – one right on the show, the other just over the back of a bar around 30 yards out,” he explained. “Both rods were baited with 15mm S7 pop-ups fished over a handful of mixed pellets and washed-out boilies, all from the DNA Baits range.”
Afterwards, Kieran settled down to sleep, but just on midnight he was woken by a bream-like bite from a mid-double stocky, and his confidence started to grow.
“I got the rod back out and drifted off to sleep. At 3:10am my other rod, fished over the back of the bar, absolutely melted off. I lifted into it and knew instantly that it was something far, far bigger. It was a solid weight, like being snagged to a fallen branch but with the force of a tugboat,” he added.
An epic battle in darkness followed, with the fish making multiple surging runs before Kieran finally had it in the net.
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“I called my wife, dad and brother to tell them, ‘I think it's job done’!” he revealed. “But I had doubts that I’d really caught the biggest common in the lake – the fish I’ve been after for four years. So, I called Kris, the owner, who confirmed that I had,” he said.
Kieran’s delight was boosted further when the mighty fish was weighed, as he then realised he’d also banked a British Record common.
“I was beyond buzzing and couldn’t really understand how I’d done it. We realised it was the largest living UK-bred carp currently alive. Holding a piece of history in my arms, I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of happiness, after achieving a dream I thought would never become reality. It brought me to tears.”
A crowd of bailiffs and friends had gathered in Kieran’s swim to witness, photograph and help weigh the fish, and by 6am they had all gone.
“I wound the rods in and made a coffee,” he added. “I stood alone, watching the mist rise off the lake. It never looked so beautiful,” He concluded.
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