Catch Reports and Latest News 2008
First of all we would like to wish you all a happy and successful 2008 and would also like to thank everyone for their support throughout 2007. Last year was an incredible success and you only have to browse through the 2006/2007 catch report pages to see just how successful many of our customers have been.
Smash and Grab!!
Lee Willmott doesn’t seem to find that much time to go fishing in between rolling hundreds of kilo’s of bait each week, but when he does, he always seems to make up for it! Once again, his latest short ‘overnighter’ saw him on the banks of his own fishery, Springwood Pool, and on this occasion he managed to smash the lake record with this stunning 35lb 12oz mirror!
The big fish, which hadn’t seen the bank for over 20-months, fell on the stroke of midnight during an aggressive storm, but the winterised version of the Shellfish B5 was enough to finally tempt the elusive specimen out of retirement. Lee introduced 25-free offerings and a kilo of matching B5 pellets to a silty depression at 30-yards to bank the ultra-shy mirror.
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Harvey versus Harvey!!
Dan Harvey was invited along as a guest to fish for an afternoon on the prolific Springwood Pool Fishery in Somerset, and what a fruitful session it turned out to be! Just a couple of hours into the session ‘Harvey’ (as he is affectionately known!) received a violent take on his left hand rod, and after a hard fought battle eventually slipped the net under one of the lake’s biggest residents - would you believe it, a fish called ‘Harvey’!!! (Not named after him incidentally!)
The big mirror pulled the scales around to 35lb 8oz and was a personal best for Dan. Furthermore, it fell just a matter of days after his best mate, Lee Willmott, had smashed the lake record with a different fish of 35lb 12oz! (See above) Once again, Essential’s Winterised Shellfish B5 boilies in conjunction with matching B5 pellets were responsible for the downfall of yet another big winter fish – awesome story, awesome bait!
Big Common
Rick Golder is certainly no stranger when it comes to catching big fish and features regularly within our catch report pages. Since discovering the awesome pulling power of the B5, Rick has caught an enviable amount of very big fish from a variety of different waters, and his latest success has resulted in this magnificent 41lb 2oz personal best common, which was caught on the first morning of a 48-hour session from a Berks syndicate water.
The big common was caught at day-break following a very cold night when temperatures dropped to -4 c, during which Rick also banked a 32.8lb mirror and lost another forty at the net!! As you would expect, the Shellfish B5 was responsible for the flurry of big fish action after Rick had introduced 2 kilo’s of 16mm’s to a silty depression at 60-yards. Rick added a further 28.6 common before leaving the following day and was the only one to receive any takes during this time.
Clover rolls over!
Dan Chart from Dorking, Surrey has been targeting the Cemex Longfield Road Lake in pursuit of one its most elusive residents, ‘Clover’. However, on a recent visit to the tricky venue he managed to bank his target fish at a weight of 41lbs. The magnificent mirror is a highly sought after fish and comes from a venue which doesn’t give up its residents that often, but like so many big elusive fish before it, Clover was unable to resist the temptation of the awesome Shellfish B5.
Dan, who is also a bailiff on the venue, fished into the teeth of a strong westerley wind where he presented fifty 16mm B5 freebies to a small silt spot at a range of 10-yards. The bite came just 3-hours after presenting the bait/rig and Dan’s long term quest was finally over. Apparently the celebrations have only just finished!! Well done Dan from all at Essential.
B5 now nails the Big Dink!
Now here’s a nice story…Jason Woods from Dorking, Surrey has been fishing the Cemex Longfield Road lake with his cousin Dan Chart, who recently banked the venues other forty, ‘Clover’ at a weight of 41lb 8oz (pictured above). Since the capture of Clover Dan has continued his quest for the Big Dink and has had a number of other fish from the difficult venue since switching over to the B5.
Now Jason, not wanting to miss a trick, asked Cousin Dan if he could try some of this B5 stuff that seems to be producing all the goods. Dan kindly obliges by giving Jason a kilo of the B5 – and we all know what’s going to happen next!! Yep, out go twenty-five B5 freebies to a silt spot at 15-yards close to two small islands and bingo!! Within a short space of time Jason is smiling at the camera with the Big Dink at a weight of 41lb 10oz! Top B5 bombing yet again.
Impressive Big Fish haul!
Bristol bachelor David Fuidge decided to give the Squid/Black Pepper version of the awesome B5 a blast on his most recent outing to his Berkshire syndicate water and what an amazing session it turned out to be! Within 24-hours he turned his swim into a fish feeding frenzy as the fish just kept on coming…..
By the end of his 3-night session, Dave’s impressive 15-fish tally stood as follows: two doubles, six twenties to 29lb 4oz, then a 31.04 common followed by mirrors of 32.08, 33.00, 33.04, 35.10, 36.04 and how about this for being honest, a 39lb 15oz mirror! After he has received physiotherapy to his right arm Dave has promised to return!!
Essential Exclusive Stunning Big Fish Trio!!
Long term Essential Bait user Martin Finan has just banked one of the most remarkable trio of big carp ever reported in the UK!! The Glos big fish specialist arrived at his local gravel pit late evening and introduced 3kg of B5 boilies to the margins of an island at 80-yards, but decided not to cast out until first light. The lake hadn’t produced a fish for two months, but within the first couple of hours Martin managed to bank a 27lb 8oz common, shortly followed by this stunning 54lb lake record mirror!!
On leaving the venue Martin baited up another area of the lake where he’d spotted some fish and returned a couple of days later for an overnighter before work. It wasn’t long before he was into another very big fish, but unfortunately it managed to dislodge the hook on some branch debris. However, the disappointment was short lived as during the early hours of the following morning he managed to bank another whacker, this one going 41lbs exactly! Off to work a happy man!
Just 3-days later Martin was back at the venue again keen to extend his run of big fish. On this occasion he decided to fish towards the opposite end of the lake and at long range between two islands. He baited on dusk with thirty 20mm B5 freebies scattered around each rig and at 6am the following morning he nailed his third big fish from the venue in close succession with this awesome looking 45lb mirror still wearing its full winter coat! Martin also finished off that last trip with a 31lb 10oz mirror!
Martin would like to express his thanks to all the guys on the venue who assisted with the photography and for sharing the moments with him. Mike and the Essential team would like to give special thanks to the management for their support and understanding with the pictures and publicity, which will remain exclusive to this site only.
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Park Lake Blitz!
Bristol based anglers Steve Sweeten and Terry Hancock decided to open up their ‘new season’ account on a tricky Southern Park Lake where a hand full of carp each season is the norm. However, within 48-hours of the season opening up, the ‘Dynamic Duo’ managed to bank no less than 18 carp which totalled a staggering 500lb plus and included three 40’s and five different 30’s!!
31-year old plumber Steve Sweeten managed to break his personal best no less than 4 times during the hectic haul and ended up with mirrors of 41lb 5oz and 40lb 2oz, a 36lb 10oz leather & three other 30lb plus mirrors and six more carp over 20lbs!
Meanwhile in the next swim along, his fishing partner Terry Hancock was also on a typical ‘B5 bombing’ mission and managed to add to the impressive tally with mirrors of 41lb, 34lb, 23lb, 19lb and 17lb to complete an historic achievement from the difficult venue.
Both anglers were using Essential Baits Shellfish B5 frozen ready mades in 16mm and 20mm and introduced approx 7kgs of boilies between them during the frenzied feeding spell. All the fish fell to ranges of between 60 and 80 yards over firm spots surrounded by silt and sparse weed.
Essential Bait boss Mike Willmott knows the venue well and wrote a chapter on the lake (Park Life) in his book ‘Carp Life’. Commenting on the 500lb haul Mike commented: “A catch of this magnitude has never been equalled before on the venue and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple of lads. I know how difficult the lake can be at times so for Steve to smash his PB on 4 different occasions during 48-hours is an incredible achievement. Awesome angling from both of them”.
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