The HUGE CARP I thought I'd never catch...

When a fish does that, after already it being on for 15 minutes, you know it's something big. The story starts at the old club lake. This was a place we used to fish when we were much younger. On one session we rode our bikes down the hill to the much larger deep reservoir. For the first time in our lives we came face to face with a shoal of wild big water carp. Their home was a 200 acre drinking water reservoir. Rarely fished and home to the unknown, this place inspired us to take our carp fishing to the next level. One afternoon whilst fishing at the club lake, Alex landed a large common. We believed it to be the biggest fish in the water and a new personal best at the time. A young man strolled over and weighed the fish for us, confirming its weight at 26 pounds, breaking the previous club record. He wasn't particularly happy about Alex's capture and only later did we learn that it was his record that Alex had just beaten. We thought little of it at the time but a chance encounter with this individual was to shape the future of our fishing. Over the coming years our angling took us to many places, including a season on a small park lake. There we caught many of the lake's specimens, including the big common, which we both landed in the space of a week. After the park lake we stumbled across a huge water, 300 acres of potential and rarely fished by carp anglers. This is the shallow reservoir. A season of fishing here resulted in numerous carp, a small percentage of them being very special indeed. The biggest of the bunch was a huge mirror carp, another lake record fish. Whilst most people were kind, this capture seemed to anger a certain individual and abusive comments were posted online by none other than the man from the club lake. At the end of our first season on the shallow reservoir, there was one more impressive carp that we hadn't caught. It was known as the big scaly. However, trying to catch one individual carp from a water so large was going to be nigh on impossible, so we took our obsession elsewhere. We'd caught the bug for fishing huge venues and our memories brought us back to the deep reservoir, the place we'd first seen after fishing the club lake. Down at the fishing lodge we were told that we could have a ticket in two weeks when the new season came around. With the good news, we began pre-baiting, ready for the year's campaign. Two weeks of baiting later, we popped back in to pick up our ticket. This time we were met with disappointment as the lake manager told us the membership was now full. We were not entirely convinced by his story, so asked a friend of ours to inquire about a ticket himself. To our surprise, he was given a fishing permit immediately. We had been lied to. I was back the week after and asked again if we could have a ticket. This time we were told that there was a problem with insurance and therefore he could not let us fish. This was once again a lie, as other members explained that nothing had changed. I pleaded for a straight answer and eventually the fishery manager explained that we weren't allowed a ticket because in his opinion we had killed the big fish in the park lake. We had been banned from the deep res before even having a chance to fish it. Remembering back to our park lake campaign, there was a host of rumours soon after we fished it about the big common being found dead. I logged into Facebook the next day only to find some damning comments about us from none other than the man from the club lake and his friend who also fished the park. One comment read, the big one is dead because Karl and Alex killed it. Another, the lake is ruined because those kids had the big common out the water for too long. Determined to stamp out the ridiculous lies being spread about us, I fished the park lake soon after. On my first night back, I landed the big common again, proving it was not dead at all. We found out soon after that the man and his friend who had spread the rumours were fishing the deep res themselves and it was thanks to them that we had been banned. Feeling deflated, we decided to do a second season at the shallow res, somewhere we could escape the politics and negativity of those two anglers. A season passed with us mostly catching small commons but right at the end, two weeks before our season ticket expired, we landed two incredible carp. A dark old common and the one and only big scaly. They may not have intended to but those two negative anglers were responsible for us catching possibly the most beautiful carp either of us have ever caught. In the meantime, the dust had settled at the deep res and the lake manager seemed to have realised the rumours about us were untrue. We were permitted to fish the lake for perch and during one of our short trips, we bumped into a guy who'd just landed a huge mirror. He explained it was the biggest fish in the lake. That was it, we had to try and catch it. Speaking again to the lake manager, he offered us a ticket. I smiled and waited for the catch but there was none. We had been accepted onto the membership. He asked that we abided by their rules which was strict but manageable. The only frustrating thing for us was the ban on fishing boats which meant we'd be burrowing our equipment an awful long way but this we would have to deal with. Well, we've just gone and done it. Finally, after all these years, we've been given a ticket. As autumn faded into winter, we barely fished the lake, discouraged by another angler who'd spent all season on the deep res and only caught two small fish. It wasn't somewhere that you fish half-heartedly so we decided to start properly the next year. Spring arrived and we began thinking seriously about our campaign and preparing our tackle. Life got very busy all of a sudden and in April, I fell quite ill. Fishing was put on the back burner and we turned our attentions to sorting out our work lives. We quit our jobs which were causing a lot of stress and instead decided to focus entirely on our fishing videos. As we'd just taken our YouTube channel full-time, we needed to make some films. Starting a campaign on the deep res was not really viable at this time, we just needed to shoot and edit videos quickly. The summer was great and we loved the freedom that we now had to travel and make the productions that we enjoyed but there was always the thought of the res in the back of our minds. One evening in autumn, we popped down the res for some perch fishing. Just standing by the water gave us the urge to start fishing it and seeing as life had calmed down a little, we decided now was the time. Since joining in the spring, we had thought a lot about where to start our campaign. The res had two distinct arms, one which was very long and the other much wider and deeper. The wider arm was broken by a causeway, behind it laying a big nature reserve, off limits to anglers. We had heard rumours the reserve was connected by a giant pipe which ran beneath the road, perhaps this would be a good place to intercept fish passing to and from the reserve. We weren't totally keen on this area though and despite a load of lead and marker float work and trawling through old photos and maps of the res, we were unable to find proof that the pipe even existed. To add to this, spending many evenings watching the water, we never once saw a carp jump in this arm. However in the longer arm, we'd seen that shoal of carp around seven years ago near the and despite not seeing any since and the water level dropping drastically through the season, we decided this is where we would start. We're down the res for our first night, we're pretty excited because we've been wanting to fish this place for years, literally years, so it's getting the barrows loaded, gonna head down. The water's quite low because it's the end of the season now but we're gonna find a spot to fish and just give it a go. I'm really not that confident but we've got to start somewhere. Our initial approach was to fish single hook baits and spread them over a wide area of water in an effort to locate a carp. First night, exactly what we expected. One big fat blank, didn't hear any carp, didn't see any carp, there's probably no carp in here. No, there's definitely carp in there but we've got to try harder. Our next session was just a couple of days later and we decided to set up a little further down the bank where a large oak tree had fallen into the water. Session number two, we're here for the night again. We've chosen a little bit of a different area to where we were last time. We kind of just don't have a clue where to start so we thought we'd do one session down further into the shallows then try a different area and basically just keep doing that throughout the autumn until we find something to go on. We have seen a couple of fish which have jumped which could have been carp, could have been bream, maybe even pike but at least we know there's something in front of us. It's going to get quite cold tonight so I'm not sure how that will affect the fishing but we'll see. Night number two, here we go. Come on. I have to just let it go slack for a bit. Well that is absolutely snagged up in something on the far margin. It's probably gone around something around that oak tree. I can't get it moving. I'm letting it go slack for a bit but I'm just so scared to pull it too hard and try and get it out. I've put the rod back on the alarm, clipped the bobbin back on and just let the line go slack. If the fish is still there it might swim off, it might get out of the branches and pull some line but at the moment it's just sitting there dead still, nothing. Eventually the rig came free, albeit without a carp on the end. I recast and hoped that it wouldn't be the only action of the night. It is almost a linear. We did it Alex, we caught our first one. There you have it, our first one from the reservoir, the first carp of our campaign. Sadly the bite I had just before this one did get away and I lost it but this one has cheered me up no end and it's an incredible looking linear too. Don't really know a lot about the stock in here so every bite is going to be a bit of a surprise and this one has absolutely made my day. I'm going back home and getting on with my work with a big smile on my face. The fallen oak had done me two bites in a night and seeing as Alex was busy filming elsewhere, the next session I returned with my girlfriend and was lucky enough to catch another one. Another one, a beautiful common, bigger than the mirror that I had first fish. We're getting amongst them. Back at home there was lots of work to get on with. Alex got up to date on video editing for our channel and I prepared the rods ready for our next session. Our chosen setup was similar to how we fished the shallow reservoir in seasons one and two, however we had decided to beef up the tackle to combat the much snaggier conditions. On the shallow reservoir we could fish with 12 pound monofilament straight through to the lead as there was very few obstructions in the water, however the deep res was altogether different. The lake bed was littered with tree stumps and rocks and specifically the area we had found fish in also had a large fallen tree in the water and ropes not far away either. This meant we needed to use a snag leader. This length of very tough material would give us maximum chance of stopping cut-offs. On our reels we fish with 20 pound sub braid, the lack of stretch meaning a fish would have less chance of reaching the snags before an indication registered on our alarm. Outside rain had began falling and it continued all week until our next session. It's time for another overnight. With the constant rain we wondered if the water level might have began rising. Nope, actually the water that's flowing in looks clearer than it did before. It was 21 wraps and rods but the water level's dropped a bit. Once set up we saw two fish crash out by the tree. One seemed relatively small, the other though looked quite big. The weather is just perfect for carp fishing, we've got wind blowing right into where we're fishing, rain, really low pressure, everything is in our favor. Full of confidence we decided now was the time to begin ramping up the baiting. If we could get fish feeding on our boilies then there was a good chance of keeping bites coming as the temperatures began to drop. Fishing the deep rares was awesome, being such a secluded place it was peaceful and we barely saw anyone. In the back of our minds though were the two negative anglers. We desperately hoped we wouldn't cross paths with either of them. Meanwhile in the online world they had been back at it. On one occasion amid a flurry of swearing they sent us abusive messages with multiple threats of violence should they see us fishing the lake. We hadn't much choice but to block the two of them and get back to our fishing, deep down just hoping that we could catch the big mirror and be done with it all. We woke to a mud bath of a swim and no fish to show for it. Packing away in the rain wasn't fun but that's something that all carp anglers know about. After the online threats our parents encouraged us not to fish the lake anymore but if there's anything we've learnt in life it's to not let people drag you down or get in the way of your journey. So long as you're not hurting anyone just do what makes you happy. Just heading down the windy road that takes us to the reservoir, pretty excited for another overnighter. Knowing that the fish are in the area and we've had a pretty hype for tonight. Oh wow that bucket's gonna be heavy. It's almost tipping my barrow over. Just a little bit paranoid and we're ready to go. Let's get down there. I'm gonna end up getting pulled down the hill. Oh my gosh my barrows need brakes. Wow. We set up full of enthusiasm the thought of the big mirror always boosting our energy and determination. We were starting to learn the swim better by this point and getting the rods back on the clear spots around the tree was becoming easier. That's it rods are out for the night. I was just spotting out and managed to get about two kilos of bait over the spot. Tiger ducks and boilies 15 mils. Then my reel decided to fall apart so I didn't manage to get the last sort of kilo out. I'm sure the amount of bait won't make a huge amount of difference but it does mean that is my third rod so I can only fish two tonight. It wasn't just the reels that took a beating during this time but the terminal tackle too. On my second fish of the campaign I'd noticed my hook bent open slightly. This didn't result in a lost fish but it was enough to make a switch over to Wide Gape X hooks in a size 6. These have an increased wire thickness and nothing was going to bend them out. We woke that morning without a bite the epic sunrise taking the pain of blanking off our minds a little. On, yes. We found that walking backwards whilst holding the rod was a good way of keeping constant solid pressure on a hooked fish and can really help with tempting them away from the snags. We are hooked up on the most incredible morning when the whole night was not even a single bleep on the rods it was super windy and stormy. We'd also got into the line tight whilst putting on waders to land the carp. Oh no, oh no, I just went over them. That is a bit deep, a bit deep for my wellies. Good morning Alex. Morning. It's a really great sign that this particular swim is doing bites so I think our plan now will be to bait it up and just try and draw more fish into the area. There's at least one there so I'm sure we can get more in the spot. Nice. Yes Alex. Alex now had a fish under his belt too so confidence was sky high. Some people may wonder why we weren't keen to explore and fish other areas of the lake but as we found whilst fishing the shallow rears in previous seasons when you find one or two fish on a massive water it's very likely that there are more in the vicinity. What worked for us in Reservoir Diaries season one and two was to keep moving around until we found a few fish and then begin to bait the area. Therefore maximising the productivity of a spot and only moving away from that area should we blank for a prolonged period of time. We baited up once more during the week and then returned for our sixth session at the res. We have hooked a good mirror. We've got one and it's a mirror. Alex was made up with his first mirror from the deep res but dawn was to bring another surprise. Oh my god. The excitement of fishing somewhere like this is you just don't know what you've got on the end and this one was big. Oh my god it's a big mirror. It is a big mirror. Knowing about the lake's big mirror that we'd seen previously this battle was a tense one. That is a good mirror. Look how big the dorsal is. Well it wasn't the big one in fact it was almost half the size but still a great capture and one we were both super happy about. Well I think a mixture of the heavy rain, the wind, the low pressure resulted in the carp feeding big time but yeah I managed a couple of very nice mirrors this being the first one. This morning was just so productive. I still can't quite believe it and this is the biggest one of the bunch. What an awesome carp catch from the reservoir. After catching those two mirrors spirits were high and our excitement for fishing the res continued to grow. Once again we had lots of editing work to do for our channel but decided to take another day off that week to return to the water and make the most of the conditions. The challenge of fishing big waters is rarely in selecting the perfect hook bait or delicate or subtle presentation. 90% of it is down to location and being at the lake at the right time. Whether we caught more fish this campaign was simply dependent on keeping the bait going in and not giving up. We're back down for our second night of the week. The weather is, well you can hear what the weather's like. It's absolutely hammering down on the brolly at the moment. I'm just sheltering under here. We've got the rods out. Alex had a twitchy bite just probably half an hour ago. Nice one Alex. First bite of the night. There was a stick bite. Not really sure what happened there but I think a fish picked it up, dropped it and then the hook went into a branch. There we are. There's the swim. The rods are back out. I've got what we call bike cam rolling. It's actually going to be running out of batteries soon but there it is ready to go. Wade is ready as well. The rain's just started and it looks really good for a bite. We will see what happens tonight. Just the average fish we've been catching at the moment. A nice one in the middle of the night in the pouring rain. Whoa that's a ripper. The rainy night brought us fish after fish, sleep becoming an unlikely prospect. The morning arrived with yet another bite which felt like a better fish. It's the biggest common of the night so far. Just getting light and we've caught another common. Oh this is definitely the biggest of the night. Oh my god we're in again. No. Damn. You land three in a row, Carl loses one. Typical. This is kicking off. I don't need my head torch anymore. And another one. My carp was yet another relatively small common meaning Alex's fish was the only one photographed that morning. We had landed four fish and had five bites in an overnight session. It was clear we were fishing in the right area of the lake. Other anglers explained to us that five fish would have been a good result over the course of a whole season so we were very excited about how the campaign was going. Another night. Another night. Some more fish. Back home to work now. Enjoy the hill. This hill is super steep and trying to push a heavy barrow up there is so hard so I found the best way is to just get momentum and basically just run as fast as you can up the hill. Wow. Me on the other hand, take regular brakes, push a little way, put the barrow down, push a little way further, put the barrow down again. Honestly that goes on for what feels like miles and somewhere up in the distance is the car park. A couple of days later and we were back in the car not driving to the res but instead to Germany. We had organized to meet some friends of ours and fish off of a houseboat for a few days. Our time on the boat was fun as spending time with friends always is but the thought of the deep reservoir's big mirror was always in the back of our minds. We decided that as soon as we were home we'd defrost a load more boilies and ramp up the baiting. We weren't going to have much time before the temperatures began dropping and the fish might move out of the area and into deeper water. So we've come down today just to put in some bait. I've got the mix of 15mm boilies and tiger nuts so it's relatively bream proof and I'm going to put in plenty of that. Probably, I don't know, a kilogram or two around the tree just so that the fish have got bait to feed on before our next session next week. A kilogram or two of bait on a water so large can feel like a drop in the ocean but can really make the difference between consistently catching and struggling for bites. After five days of baiting we returned to the res only to find someone fishing in the pre-baited spot. We were gutted but took this opportunity to fish another area instead. We weren't all that confident and wished we could be fishing to the fallen tree but had to make do in the new swim. We switched back to fishing single hook baits, not wanting to spread our bait around different parts of the res. As we expected the night was quiet. I sat and watched the water and at first light saw a fish crash by the fallen tree in the distance. We knew where we needed to be but had to head home that morning and just return as soon as possible. The other angler wasn't in the swim long and soon went elsewhere. We jumped at the opportunity to get back down there and it was not long before the bite started again. Four o'clock in the afternoon and another carp in the net. Oh wow that is so cool. Starting to be a bit like our other seasons on the big reservoir that we fished before where you have to wade through quite a lot of commons like these before you find the fish that you want to catch. That said, pretty chuffed with this one to be honest. Alex has gone back home, he's got some work to do. Me, I'm gonna be a bank tramp and stay all day. Stick at it as long as I can and see if that big one won't show up. In Alex's absence I hooked another fish and a good one too. I'm hooked into one. These larger commons were impressive fish and I was very much enjoying catching them. Yes, wow. That night I landed yet another decent common. The baiting was definitely paying off. Good morning from the banks of the reservoir. It certainly is a good morning as we have a carp in the retainer out there ready to take a photo of and an absolutely beautiful sunrise. Wow, look at that. Definitely getting bigger as well. That's quite heavy this one. These carp were quality fish and catching them from 200 acres of water was always going to be rewarding. However, that morning was about to become an even more memorable one. This actually feels quite big. Oh no, this is a big fish. Is it? I can tell already. Yeah, definitely. Alex had successfully steered the fish away from the fallen tree but the battle was far from over. This is definitely the biggest fish I've hooked whilst fishing on this place. He's pulling so much harder. Oh my god, we have got something monstrous on here. He's going to go from the buoy. The carp had reached the buoy and the line become snagged. The fish is even still there. Hours passed and no line was gained. The fish was gone. We couldn't possibly know what Alex had just lost but the big mirror is a good deal larger than any of the other reported captures from the lake. It is at times like these when you either throw in the towel or decide to never give up so we baited up once again and returned a week later. Well, it's another atmospheric evening down at the res and we're both pretty optimistic of a good night. The bait's been going in all week and the weather certainly looks quite good so we'll see what tonight brings. Well, he's woken up. The first bite of the night was a pretty mirror, the rod tearing off again soon after. I can't believe it, it's another mirror. The action was non-stop as I hooked into yet another carp. This was turning into a dream session and it wasn't over yet. The fish fought hard from the off, charging powerfully towards the same buoy Alex had lost his fish in. That is quite big. This was a serious carp and one that I had to land. My heart was in my mouth as I drew the beast towards the waiting net. What? Down there in front of me is a carp of ridiculous proportions. The width of that thing's shoulders, oh my god. We did it, eventually. I didn't sleep the next couple of hours, just perched on the edge of my bed watching the dawn arrive. This was a morning I'd imagined but never expected to experience for real. That's nice. Along this campaign we've caught quite a lot of fish that we've never seen photos of, fish that other people don't recognise and that's certainly very very exciting but in the back of our minds we did wonder if we'd ever catch the known big mirror and just a few hours ago it happened. It's so heavy. What an incredible carp. It's actually really hard to hold just because it's so so heavy in such an unusual shape but yeah, made up to finally catch it. I hope that if this video leaves you with one thought it's that you mustn't give up because someone stands in your way. There will always be barriers, there will always be those who put you down, those who want to see you fail, but please never give up.