Essential Catch Reports
Reports flooding in!
We are receiving loads of catch reports from anglers up and down the country and would like to thank everyone for keeping us informed. Regrettably we can’t use all the reports within this section due to space availability and download times, but we will be ‘cherry picking’ some of the catches and keeping these pages periodically up-dated with some of the more notable catches. It’s important that we receive good quality images to accompany the catch report, so please keep ‘em coming in, and Mike will respond to each one via personal e-mail.
Please scroll down the page for latest catch reports & click on images to enlarge.
Catch Reports 2007
Lake Record Smashed!
2007 started with a bang when we received a report from Paul Wortley from Hants who has been targeting a difficult local gravel pit. Despite receiving plenty of attention the venue seemed to have completely locked up – that was until Paul arrived armed with the Winterised B5! Within a short space of time and in typical B5 fashion, Paul soon managed to smash the lake record with this stunning 42lb 2oz mirror. Happy New Year!
Click on images to enlarge
The Elusive Long Common!
Springwood Pool’s elusive ‘Long Common’ isn’t a fish that graces the bank very often. It’s a ‘once a year’ fish at the very most, so you can image how pleased Duncan Cameron was when he recently banked the awesome looking ‘bar of gold’ at a weight of 30lb 7oz.
Duncan has been applying the Shellfish B5 barrels into a few selected areas on the west country venue, and on this occasion he trickled in 20 free offerings on to a silty marginal spot and ‘slack lined’ over the top. Good angling!
Back in the thick of it!
Following on from his outstanding success of 2006, Martin Finan from Glos has immediately been back in the thick of the action. Martin decided to fish for a 24 hour session on a relatively low stocked gravel pit to produce a 3 fish catch, topped by this awesome looking 30lb 1oz Mirror. Not bad for the middle of Feb!
Martin introduced approx 100 B5 barrels per fish and presented a B5 Corker Pop-up fished ‘Withy Pool’ style over the top. It’s already looking like Martin can look forward to yet another cracking year ahead.
Consistent-Lee Successful!
Consistent catcher of big carp and all round nice guy Lee Petty has been getting amongst the big fish yet again recently. Lee tends to keep things pretty close to his chest and we tend to lose track of just how many carp he catches, but wherever he goes, he always seems to catch on a very consistent basis indeed – even from the most difficult venues.
The Leicestershire based big fish man has been putting the Shellfish B5 through its paces in recent weeks and has yet again caught a stack of carp. The list includes plenty of doubles and twenties, alongside mirrors of 32lb 12oz, 34lb, 39lb 4oz and 41lb 10oz! As the saying goes ‘Top B5 Bombing’ and well done Lee from all the Essential Team.
Top Marks Fudgy!
Ageing carper Dave (Fudgy) Fuidge from Bristol has recently managed to bank himself a couple of whackers from a notoriously difficult low stocked Berkshire venue – so he tells us! Dave managed to spot a few carp showing in a different area of the lake and broke the habit of a lifetime by moving swims and putting himself in pole position!
A couple of kilo’s of Shellfish B5 boilies and matching B5 pellets were then presented over a silty patch at the edge of a big weed bed at 60 yards range. Just three DVD’s later and Fudgy was slipping the net under this awesome 38lb 8oz mirror, shortly followed by a cracking 31lb 4oz common. Good angling old fella!
Amazing Start for Jon
One of the country’s most successful big fish anglers Jon McAllister from Kent has recently had an amazing start to his campaign on an Essex syndicate water. On his very first night, Jon managed to bank a 35lb 14oz mirror, a fish that hadn’t been caught for 4-years - but it got even better! The following night Jon managed to bank a fish known as Stella at a staggering 45lb 8oz.
Jon has been using the Shellfish B5 with a new attractor combination that includes Black Pepper Oil and caught the brace of big fish on his first two nights using it, as well as his first ever session on the water! Amazing stuff Jon – keep ‘em coming!
Lakes First 40+ Common
Long standing Essential Bait user Mikey Edgeworth from Stonehouse, Glos has banked plenty of big fish in his time, but we doubt that any have ranked any higher than this magnificent lake record 41lb 7oz common. Mikey caught the big fish from a large Glos gravel pit, along with another common of 30lb 6oz, and as you would expect, both fish fell to the awesome Shellfish B5.
Mikey held the previous lake record common of 37lb+ for a few years, until Dave Waker recently broke it with a common of 38.06. However, Mikey wasn’t going to be ‘out-gunned’ and within a week, he claimed it back again with this superb specimen.
Ovenight Success
The likeable Rick Golder is undoubtedly one of the UK’s most consistently successful big fish anglers and has caught an impressive number of big fish since switching to Essential Baits two years ago. In 2006 Rick managed to bank an impressive number of big fish, which included x 17 thirties and x 3 forties!
In recent weeks Rick has been targeting a Colne Valley gravel pit and has been managing to squeeze in one or two short overnight sessions before going to work the following morning. Less than a fortnight ago Rick managed to bank a cracking 38lb 8oz mirror during one of these short sessions, but even this was eclipsed on his most recent ‘overnighter’ when he managed to bank a magnificent brace of big mirrors, weighing in at 39lb 4oz and 40lb 5oz! Talk about going to work a happy man!
As usual it was the ever consistent Shellfish B5 that produced the goods for Rick who said that the fish have been going absolutely potty for the B5. We think his results speak for themselves, but whichever way you look at it, this man is on fire! Well done mate – keep up the good work.
Note: Rick is a regular contributor to Carp Addict for those who wish to read more about how he manages to convert his limited amount of time to fish on the bank.
Biggest Brace in UK History!
If there’s one thing in life you can rely on, it’s the fact that mega big carp catcher Jon McAllister will never be far away from his next big fish! But on this occasion he has blown even his own high standards right out of the water by landing the biggest ever brace of carp this country has ever seen! The huge brace weighed in at 47lb and 59lb 2oz respectively and were caught within a few hours of each other from the Essex venue. This after Jon had only arrived at the venue six hours earlier!!
Long term Essential Bait user Jon has been on a tremendous roll lately, having banked mirrors of 35lb 14oz and 45lb 8oz from the same venue on his first two nights on there! (See catch report above) In the few short weeks since then, Jon has banked several other 20’s and 30’s but during the early morning hours of Monday 21st May, the big fish ace from Kent was about to write his name into the history books.
Jon had been applying his Shellfish B5 boilies to a localised feeding spot for a couple of weeks and had witnessed his target fish ‘The Annie’ feeding over the spot and keeping it clean. Within a short space of time the small clearing soon turned into a large polished off area and it was time to make his move! Jon arrived at the venue just after midnight with his line clipped up ready to drop on to the ‘money’, before sitting back and awaiting his fate. The rest, as they say, is history. By 6.30am the following morning Jon had banked ‘The Northern Linear’ at 47lb, shortly followed by ‘The Annie’ at 59lb 2oz to cap a memorable and historic brace.
Amazingly the 59.02 isn’t even Jon’s PB, having banked Conningbrooke’s ‘Two-Tone’ last year at 64lb 5oz! In many peoples opinion, Jon is the most successful big fish angler this country has ever seen, and when you take a look at his remarkable record of big fish, it would be very difficult to argue against it!
We certainly wouldn’t, and when you consider the phenomenal track record the B5 has for nailing the bigger fish, it was surely only a matter of time before it helped to claim the biggest brace of carp in UK history. Well done Jon from all at Essential, it couldn’t have happened to a more dedicated and genuine angler.This must surely put Jon in contention for 'Carp Angler of the Year'.
Jon writes regularly for Carpology for those who wish to read more about his BIG fish exploits.
