WRAYSBURY's PETS
26th June 2019
Will Hayston has the session he could have only dreamed about, banking both the famous “Mikes Pet” and “Not Mike’s Pet” in the same session from the iconic Wraysbury 1 North Lake!
Catching one of the sought-after historical originals from Wraysbury is the reason why so many people join the iconic lake, so to catch two in one session and also one of the new breed of big ones in the shape of a 35lb fully, is certainly something to remember.
Will Hayston has this memory for the rest of his life and details the session below for us:
He presented 16mm Krill Wafters over 16mm Krill Freezer baits with 6mm Krill Pellets and Bloodworm Pellets all soaked in Cloudy Krill Liquid.
“Last year I decided I wanted to have ago on the historic Wraysbury One complex, mainly the North lake which contains some big historic carp and a flourishing stock of newly stocked fish.
This session was to be my fifth trip to the venue as I live 170 miles away in Devon so it’s a relatively long drive to get to the lake.
Working nights, I had the car loaded ready to go straight from work in the early hours of the morning. I arrived to find the lake pretty quiet as it had only just re opened after the fish had recently spawned. After a couple of laps, I decided to fish a swim I’d fished the previous week as the fish were present in large numbers out in the open water. I already knew two very small clear spots amongst dense weed that I’d caught from the previous session.
The weather didn’t make things easy as we had a very gusty S/SW wind and what should have been two or three casts to get onto the small dustbin lid sized spots, quickly turned into ten and fifteen casts. Never the less I positioned a rod on each spot followed by about a kilo of 16mm Krill boilies soaked in Cloudy Krill Liquid per rod which didn’t go out as accurately as I’d intended due to the big crosswind. The wind died down that evening and I was able to re position the rods and bait up more accurately.
I positioned a rod on each spot followed by about a kilo of 16mm Krill boilies soaked in Cloudy Krill Liquid per rod.
My first bite came at midnight a 23lb common. The rod was re-positioned and rebated.
The next bite came at 5am and as soon as I jumped out the bivvy and made contact with the fish, I could see the fish was on the surface straight away and I could see it was a good fish by the amount of water it was moving. I managed to slowly draw the fish in towards me and when the fish got within about 30 yards of the bank it came to life and made several runs and attempts to weed me up. Being on strong gear I was able to hold steady and after the fish had gone under and over the other lines, I could see this huge shape rising up out of the depths toward my net!
Finally she was beaten and as I went to net the fish I had to really put the net down deep to fit her in, as I looked down into the net I was immediately blown away by the sheer size of this fish and straight I knew what one it was. Upon lifting the fish out in the sling and weighing it I knew it was a fish called “Mikes Pet” and at 45lb 2oz it had beat my pb. I remember punching the air in celebration thinking I had actually caught one of the Wraysbury A team. After the photos and returning the fish I re-did all the rods and applied some more bait.
At 7.30 I had a mad mid double that went on a mission to wipe out all my other lines, after recently spawning they were still full of energy that was for sure. Nothing else happened that morning but the weather was prime carp fishing weather, very drizzly, over cast and a big South westerly wind.
I had a bite at 6pm that evening, an 18lb mirror followed by another mid-double at 8pm. The wind eventually died off as it got dark and I was able to rebait more accurately as the cross wind carried on making it difficult.
The following morning, I received a take at 6am, another mid-double, a take at 8am again a mid-double, at 9am I had a 19lber and 9.30am another mid double and in between fish I made sure to top up with 3-6 spombs of krill boilies. I had an out of the blue bite at 11am which turned out to be a 20lb fish from a single Krill Pop-Up on the 3rd rod cast very long towards an island where fish had been showing. I wound the rods in after this and applied some more bait leaving lines out for the middle part of the day.
At 2 pm I got the rods back out and within 45 minutes I was into another hard fighting Wraysbury carp. A 23lb mirror made a nice account for itself. Nothing else through the evening period but I was awoken at 4.30am by a screaming take, I hooked into the fish which immediately stripped line off me and weeded me up. After some time, it came free then after almost wiping my other rods I netted a rather special 35lb scaly stockie. The only way I can describe it is a triple row linear on both sides with a very solid long frame. I assume it to be a male fish. I put it in the sling and rang a bailiff to see if he was able to come help take some photos.
Whilst waiting I repositioned the rod topping up with five spombs of krill and made a tea. Before the kettle had even boiled the other rod was away and I netted a small common which I just unhooked in the water. The bailiff then came around and we took some photos of the scaly stockie but upon putting the fish back the rod was away again.
This fish was slightly different as it kited hard towards another island at shorter range to my right, but with steady pressure I managed to gain control and after it is going in and out of a few weed beds this huge framed mirror surfaced. I said to the bailiff “that’s a good fish” and after gently persuading it into the net we both looked down and in disbelief quickly realised that we were looking at “not mikes pet”!
I couldn’t believe it both of the pets, as I looked down into the net I could see my Krill Wafter just sat on the edge of its mouth thinking I wander how much of that it had eaten as by this point I’d gone through almost 10kg of Krill boilies and 5kg of Krill Pellets and Bloodworm Pellets. We lifted the fish out and put it on the scales and they settled at 39lb 8oz. By this point I was in disbelief and I have not heard of both the pets coming out to the same angler in the same session! We did the photos and put the fish back and I turned and shook the bailiff’s hand and he went off back to his swim. Upon sitting down on the bed chair looking out at the morning sun in utter elation the left rod was away again this time with a 20lb common. I started to pack up as I had to leave and as I was loading the barrow another rod was away, this time another small common which I unhooked in the water, finishing the session off nicely”.
