Davy revealed:

“What started out as an attempt, with only the slightest bit of hope, fuelled by a desperate urge for fresh air and lakeside peace after being caged in for what felt like an eternity, unexpectedly turned into a very eventful campaign. And isn’t that the nicest way to experience angling, free of expectations?

“Like most successful day sessions, it all began with some preparation. Two times I drove to the lovely, big sandpit to bait up the chosen spot. On this particular lake I always found that pre-baiting twice suffices to up your chances by quite a bit, provided that the timing and location is right. And so, I sowed my seeds and mixed in a few handfuls of the Manilla Active.

“After a short and restless night, Mr. Ramon and myself saw ourselves pushing our lightly loaded barrows along the muddy path to our wintery hideout. All fired up, as you would! The morning passed by uneventfully but as we neared the midday feeding period things started to kick off. We both caught a 20lb common, followed by two mirrors in the 30lb bracket in quick succession. All of them painted in the nicest, shiny dark brown and golden tints imaginable.

“A mega result on any day, but in the midst of winter we found it somewhat off the scale. We both had the feeling though; the stars were aligned and the chance for something a bit special was very much on the cards. So, we switched back into our working mode, kept applying bait to the spot and even did little sprints in and out the water to fetch fresh rigs or extra slings and such. All in order to make the most of the short feeding spell.

“Not much later, my companion caught himself an awesome looking 45lb male mirror. Proof that the bigger fish were also joining the set table. Something we had silently hoped for, and we sensed a sort of upbuilding scenario unfolded itself. Once more we repeated the process of resetting the trap and added some more bait. I think that time round we even got the chance to photograph one of the thirties!

“Before long, I was into a fish that felt like a weighty one from the off. It kited to the left without me being able to gain any line. In the end, I waded out on the shallow strip near the bank, towards my opponent. I must have been some fifty meters on my way when the other rod roared off and Mr. Ramon was suddenly occupied as well. This caused a bit of a problem as I didn’t have a landing net with me. But by keeping our cool and some more wading about, I soon found myself with a net in hand, and within netting distance of a beautiful, long mirror carp that laid on its flank with its mouth gulping air.

“I felt elated as soon as I saw it’s lovely, dark shape. This carp really was a pearler. Its appearance was somewhat similar to that of those Wraysbury originals, with the same red-brown colour, almost jet-black back and the scattering of scales near the tail. Those old history fish have always been my personal favourites of all UK carp.

“Meanwhile, Brecht caught a twenty-pound common, which he released straight away. I, myself fought the urge to just keep gasping at my prize, as I realised, we just had to keep on going. The opportunity was too rare to let it pass by!

“Still standing in the lake I carefully transferred the beautiful mirror into one of the last remaining sacks, before we repositioned the rigs. About half an hour later, while I was capturing Brecht posing with the 45lb mirror, the same rod I caught the beautiful mirror on, was away again. This time round, the first part of the battle wasn’t impressive at all. With me gaining line, the hooked carp kited to my right. All the way up to the shallow strip, five metres from the bank.

“Suddenly there was an eruption when the carp turned around and sped back to the deep water. Never in my life have I seen a carp cause that kind of water displacement, not even close. It was just insane. Mr. Ramon, who acted as gillie, and myself were instantly nailed to ground, when we saw the top part of a huge carp head appear, followed by an enormous back, whilst it shot forward. About four foot away from the head there was a giant vortex, presumably caused by the kick of its tail!

“The performance made me think back on footage I’d seen on national geographic, of crocodiles that charge forward to grab their prey. Instantly, the tension rose significantly. Mr. Ramon seemed in a state of shock. Never before had someone stood next to me with jelly knees, who was supposed to net the carp I was playing! When the fish appeared close to us right at the edge of the deeper water, I heard him mumbling about how he had just seen a big, pale brown shape pass by under water.

“Once in the net it looked ridiculously big. Its frame had grown immensely since its last capture and its back had maybe doubled in thickness. We stood there for a while, in hip depth water, each holding one side of the net, gazing in disbelief at the massive beast resting within it. When we looked at each other we both burst out in mad laughter. To all those lockdown walkers that were about we must’ve appeared like two nutters! And that probably wasn’t very far from the truth.”