Fishery best common set by big specimen - with a little help from Total Carp magazine.

The record common for one of the Midland’s best-known, day-ticket carp venues has been smashed by a fish of over 41lb – thanks to a little help from Total Carp!

Weighing in at 41lb 5oz, the impressive fish was banked earlier this week from The Monument in Shropshire. Caught by Wirral angler Jay Kelly, the specimen finished off an amazing 36hour session that saw the trainee engineer break his personal best no less than three times, with Jay admitting he couldn’t have done it without his latest copy of Total Carp.

“I caught the fish not long before we were all going to pack up and head home,” Jay told TC. “I’d already had two new personal best in the session of 23lb 11oz and 33lb 13oz, one the evening before and one the following morning, before this one came along and I just decided to cast to showing fish in the last couple of hours to see if I could get one more run before putting my rods away. And not long after casting out I had a screaming take.”

Having fished two spots for the majority of the session using fake corn and cell bottom baits tipped with corn, for his final and most important cast Jay went with something new – as he explains:

“Throughout the trip I’d been reading the latest copy of Total Carp, which still had the free samples of CC Moore Live System boilies on the front,” he continued. “So I thought I’d try my hand with them. The next thing I know I’m netting a new lake record!”

Using the four boilies, Jay popped one up on the hook with a cork insert and halved the remaining three for six freebies on a stringer. Just an hour after casting out his rod rattled off, leaving him hooked into something that felt very heavy.

A short tussle later and Jay’s personal best (which before the trip had stood at 17lb 12oz) had been broken yet again, and this time taking the venue record with it.

“It was a real red letter trip and one I’ll never forget,” added Jay. “Three fish, three new bests and a lake record, it was just amazing. I'm just glad I took my copy of Total Carp with me!”
The icing on the cake, Unity's big ghost, Appollo at 38lb 14oz - an ounce of its biggest weight.