Catch Reports

Stunning - just stunning!

Posted in Catch Reports on 29th April 2009

Martin Finan’s incredible list of big fish captures just seems to get better and better! Fishing a difficult Southern gravel pit, it was only 13-months ago that he smashed the lake record with a huge 54lb mirror, followed by a hat-trick of forties, but he’s now been at it again!! Read it and weep!

During the past year Martin has concentrated his efforts on to a certain area of the lake in pursuit of an extremely elusive ‘leathery’ type mirror that has only ever been caught on a handful of times during the past 20-years. Having seen the great fish frustratingly cleaning up his free offerings on a number of occasions, and with the season running out of time, the big fish maestro finally managed to nail the monster at a staggering weight of 52lb 10oz!! A new fifty for the venue and of course for Martin himself.

As if all that wasn’t enough, during the same session he also managed to bank a 33lb 8oz mirror followed by one of the most stunning looking carp you will ever see, a 37lb 2oz perfect linear which visits the bank even less than the big mirror! All the fish fell to the legendary B5, which just keeps on nailing the big fish time and time again.

Mike sent Martin the following message on the evening before the capture:

“Encouraging to see he's on the 'money'. Not long now but still time. One
moment's mistake for a lifetime of memories! Don't forget to call me”

The call came the following morning!! Stunning – just stunning!



The use of Food Oils

Richard Kelly is certainly no stranger to big carp, but that's because he understands the importance of a well balanced nutritional food bait. It's paid dividends for him on numerous occasions, as proved again here with another UK forty.

We firmly believe that a well balanced nutritional food bait will completely out fish baits with little or no real food value, and the inclusion of a food oil will help to provide the essential fatty acids required for the carp’s dietary requirements. Further to this, the inclusion of a lipid source will also have a sparing effect on the proteins used within the bait, thus allowing the carp to assimilate the available proteins far more efficiently. In short, food oils will increase nutritional values and provide an extra source of attraction to the finished bait. In short, the fish love them, they increase nutritional values and to cap it all off, they make the bait easier to roll!

Top tip

If making your own baits, reduce the oil content by 50% during the colder months and add a nutritional emulsifier.