Wychwood angler’s run of form sees quartet of best fall in weeks.

Four personal bests in a row is not a run of fish to be sniffed at, and a figure that has given Wychwood-backed rod Roy Russell a couple of weeks to remember.

The venue for the 43-year-old’s amazing run was Oxfordshire’s Richworth Linear complex, where Roy had smashed his PB carp twice in one session on his last trip with fish of 39lb and 40lb 2oz.

Keen to get back and chance his arm again, the Walsall-based carper’s latest trip to Manor Farm Lake (the day-ticket scene of the previous session) saw him do the double again, this time with a new PB carp of 41lb 4oz and a welcome surprise of a tench weighing in at a whopping 10lb 4oz.


First of the fish in the 48hour session to fall for Roy’s tactics was the stunning carp known as Kempsey’s Linear. Finding Roy’s 12mm Aqua Dynamix The Edge pop-up fished over a bed of white maggots – tactics that also fooled a further three twenties – the fish gave Roy his second 40 of the month. But there was more to follow.

Not long after the white pop-up did the business again, this time seeing Roy hook into a fish that he thought was a small carp before the olive flank of a specimen tench breached the surface.

All of Roy’s fish fell to a set up using a size 8 Fox hook with a short 15lb braid hooklink to a 2.5oz lead. This was presented in a clear area surrounded by weed beds at around 100yards range.