Beasts from Below
By Sam Willis
18th MAY 2024. 6 guys and a couple of vans up to the brim with carp fishing gear hit the road to France. Destination: Soisson and the infamous, Aquarium Carp Fishery - A Hard venue for the most part.
As we left the scorching weather of the U.K, there were murmurs of concern that similar conditions for us, could trigger the carp to start spawning, putting an immediate end to the trip. Thankfully, on arrival and following the traditional mosey around the lake, we could see this was not the case.
Following on to the draw of the swims, I came out last. Not ideal, but, it was made worse from picking a very familiar peg 12 - a swim I’d fished two years prior, landing 3 good fish, but still ended up having to move!
The bailiff explained that peg 12 would be a slight challenge this time, as it was actually at this moment in time, underwater, so waders and wellies would be order of the day. Of course, I’d packed neither of these things, but, stuck with peg 12, without even bothering to view it. All I can say is, on arrival, I was greeted by what you can only describe as ‘a swamp’, and all I had to handle it was a pair of trusty crocs - with trench foot looking to be order of the day ,or possibly, the entire week.
With a few beers downed to help with a little relaxation, it was that time of day to get the gear set up. With the bivvy in place, and weapons/rods poised for action, two for the time being, I loaded the rigs with pink Squid InQ pop ups - we were off at last. Within the first ten minutes an alarm screamed, a rod was bent and…I was caught completely off guard! Mental! The fish and I fought for a few moments, a scrap for sure, but it was to be first blood to the carp, as it dove into the thick weed and, well you can guess the rest. Loss of a fish can be a moment of frustration for an angler, at any given time. However, the signs were telling me the spot and presentation were correct and the fish are nearby. Promising, especially on a hard water. Again, we settle and we wait. The 3rd rod can wait for its debut tomorrow - the travel has taken its toll and the beer has hit the spot - early bed time….
8.30pm (ish) an alarm! Fish on! This time a much, much smaller fish - though once in the net, a much welcome surprise. A 4lb 2oz Cruscian Carp! A fish the owner of the lake had no idea of. A welcome surprise for him and a nice Crucian PB for me. Rod re-armed and back out on the spot within a few minutes - another beer then bed (again).
3am…what the hell? A massive scream from the alarm. I was up and out of bed…disorientated for sure, heading out to the water before the chance had gone. With the rod lifted and turning the handles, I was into a fish. My heart sank slightly, it felt heavy…weed heavy, or perhaps I was lethargic from the days travel and the ahem, beers. But no, this was moving, heavy, but moving. This seemed promising, I kept the pressure on the rod, easing it in, another pull on the rod, a few more slow turns on the handle. Again and again the fish lunged, slowly but very hard. I kept my cool - It was happening.
Thirty eternal minutes later, job done. Looking into the net confirmed why time had slowed right down. A carp, a rather large carp. A possible PB, but who knows until its seen out of the water and weighed. My PB up to this point was 44lbs. This fish certainly looked to have surpassed that figure, but we had to be sure first. It did. I was ecstatic to say the least. This amazing fish had even surpassed my target 50lb barrier for the trip. Here it was now in my arms
Mirror Carp. 60lbs 4oz.
PB.
8am…day 2 -offically. The rod I’d left out over night had sparked to life. I was greeted with a tench of 6lb.80z. Again another PB. So, here we are, day 2…3 fish landed, all personal bests - what is going on? With pictures done and still two rods back on the spot, the party was then crashed by a 24lb mirror. A smaller size in regards to what is found in French Carp waters, but at home in Blightly, a very respectable size - never lose your perspective. The last 24hrs you could say, had been utterly mental, you just couldn’t make it up. The day ambled along, with food and chat, and accounts of the previous nights action - with me still buzzing. Our quarry though for the time being, dormant.
The 2nd evening finally dawned on us. We remarked how big the moon was looking, and how it would be great to catch another French fish in its light to again surpass my ‘home’ catch PB’s.
As people say, be careful what you wish for. Yeah..about that….
Chimes at 3am and a screaming alarm…the night began. The battle ensued. Fierce, but not long. In the dark of night time is hard to read, I would still hedge my bets on a good 20 minutes of scrapping. In and out of the snags and finally into the net. I knew straight away it was to be another best, the needle clocking round to 44lbs - on the money. What a beauty!
To be honest, at this point, I felt like anything was possible, and, to outline one factor, it was only my peg that seemed to be doing all the bites. With the ‘44’ put back, the right hand rod tore off! Thankfully with the hour reaching nearly 4am, I was grateful the fight was short. In came a 36.8 mirror - lovely! I left the rods out for the rest of the night, I didn’t want to be re-casting, looking for my spots in the pitch black, sunrise was just around the corner.
The day rolled by without event. That said, in retrospect, it was a welcome relief as I was feeling unwell. I left the rods parked up out of the water for the most part of Monday - but were back on the spots at last light, it had to be done - no matter what.
Once again, 3am on the money, the left hand rod went into full meltdown. An unsteady dash to the rods, a full on battle ensued -brutal. Weeding up, getting it clear, it felt like yet another eternity in the dead of night. Still under the weather, I managed to coax an ‘almost leather’ mirror into the net. With the scales reaching 39lb, the fish was returned to the blackness, then, back to bed. The rest of the night lay silent.
Tuesday came, both rods armed and back on the ‘bar’. I decided to then up the anti and place one into a corner. A spot, where something had given itself away the previous evening. Then it was off for a bit of a social with the guys nearby, rods within earshot. By 2am I’d had enough, I slipped back to the bivvy.
What is it with 3am? It seemed to be THE witching hour to wake me up - no mercy! A savage bite from the left hander, a severe one toner, backed up by the two other alarms screaming out of control from the violent rocking of the rod pod, such was the ferocity of the take. By the time I’d picked up the rod, the fish was already across the other side of the lake. At first, the tension of the rod felt very similar to the ‘60’ on first night….but gradually, it all became clearer, as twenty minutes had passed before this hulking mass of muscle was on my side of the lake, then battle really commenced, the devil had truly arrived.
Staying low and tearing off down a snaggy margin became yet another heart in the mouth moment, the line rubbed constantly on the underwater obstacles, in particular an out of sight tree -or part of one. With the worry of a possible cut off, I grabbed the net, keeping the rod high waiting for its appearance.
Roughly 3 foot away below, I caught a glimpse of something at the end of the line - something….colossal. On realisation, I needed help. I shouted back for an extra pair of hands. There was no way I was going to lose this carp. With a gilly on the net and my hands back on rod and reel we began the arduous task of getting the fish in for good. In that short space of 5 minutes, which had felt like an eternity, the fish finally went over the net cord. Peering into the net, I knew, well, we knew it was a special one, it was bigger than the ‘60’, substantially, even hauling it in was just ‘different’.
With the lake manager on the phone, I blurted out that it was a possible ‘70lb+’ fish, knowing the lake had not seen anything even remotely leading up to a ‘70’ - a bold statement for sure.
With this ‘beast’ in the sling and onto the scales, we watched the ‘wheel of fortune’ on the scales spin - with baited breath we waited momentarily.
74lbs on the dot.
A new lake record into and over the 70lb mark. An official first from the venue. Utter disbelief all round and an indescribable feeling from myself - ecstatic was an understatement. Pictures were taken, while sleep certainly was not, as an adrenaline pumped cloud 9 settled over the lake for me. With all this going on I took the decision to have a break. I gave the swim away for 24hrs while I just celebrated this crazy week. My substitute managed to catch himself a nice tench as well as a 26lb carp, as well as being cut off from something more substantial. By Thursday I claimed my swim back and still managed another couple of fish. Modestly coming in at 24lb and 32.8lb, respectively. Without a doubt this has been a mad, mad trip, yet without sounding like a cliche, a trip of a lifetime.
All of these fish I’ve caught coming in from the squid InQ. I am so ever grateful to Jay and how he produces these baits. I’ve only been using incQbait baits for 12 months overall, minus winter months, as I don’t fish winters or colder months, so less time in fact, but in that time, my catch rates have just gone through the roof, helping me on lakes to no end. The first time I used it, I caught a 39lb 14oz mirror during a competition, that I also won. What more can you say to that??
Maybe I should just say -get on the squid, its deadly!
Cheers
Sam
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