Personal Bests

[salokcinnodrog]

I love the captures on @ouchthathurt 's link (https://forum.carp.com/topic/26761-your-top-carpfavourite-captures/page/2/#comment-379816) especially @jh92 and his beautiful common from wild weather on a big water, and it brought to mind the question of personal bests and what they mean to you or even in every case if your largest fish is your PB.

For my own mind, my largest fish is not my 'personal best', not because of any coherent reason, other than while big, but it doesn't have as much meaning as the capture of a 28lb carp from the River Gipping. A tiny river that for most of its length is no more than 3rod lengths wide, yet produced fish to over 40lb.

Just how do you define your personal best?

Your largest fish?

Your pb Common, pb mirror, pb leather?

Your largest lake or still water fish vs River carp?

I can go back through my limited photo album on my tablets, phone etc and every fish has a meaning, along with memories of that fish.

[...]

My biggest fish is a Sturgeon named Percy 33lb 12oz....biggest Carp (Mirror) from local Park Lake 18lb 1oz

[Carpbell3]

This one I think just under 36 but goes up to 39 nice fish out of respect I won't name the carp but it's the biggie out the little lake unless 43 is still in there. Gutted I'm not on there still it was the only lake I liked out the two I had a ticket for, really is a one off.

https://youtu.be/K-wa4WsVGEY?si=hBXlyYeALJDqXUfd

 

[B B]

Maybe the post should read My personal best memory’s 

The Bass at a club record 12lb fishing into a big surf at dawn

Two Cod at 8lb and 9lb from the beach in the dark with no headlamp..I always wanted a double 😞 

The big Common from Oxlease, sadly no longer with us had the fish by fishing the opposite of what everyone else was doing 

Watching family, friends, and complete strangers catching their 1st fish while using my rod 

The three 2lb plus Roach on a feeder 

Finally and finally when it all came good on a French lake  

A bag full of Mackerel and feeding the campsite with them 

And recently a couple of low 20’s from my syndicate  

So many good times and adventures with friends some who have sadly passed away 

50 + years of fishing with many memories the above is just a snippet of them  …

I do hope for many more  🤞 

 

 

[salokcinnodrog]

1 hour ago, B B said:

Maybe the post should read My personal best memory’s 

I did think about that, but I'd fill a page on them as well myself.

 

I also wondered on people and what their definition of the personal best is.

As much as my largest fish is my 'personal best', its not my most memorable fish. It carries memories of December nights, but for me winter nights bring a more memorable fish from Earith, a 25lb common that Ian Jones came down to photograph at around 1am. 

Another 30lb mirror from Brackens is more memorable than my largest fish. Also hooked under the rod tip, but on the bank I think I lost the wrestling match by submission. Brackens has given me other fish as or more memorable than the 33lb.

One of my favourite memories is a bad taken picture that I've since lost (not by choice) of a fish called Turbo, from Barham Pits. I'd set the camera up on the back middle rest of my buzz bars, as I was regularly doing and managed to cut my head off.

Norfolk and Suffolk Winter League had their match on the lakes from 10 to 3, so I couldn't set up until after the weigh-in.

I'd set up right at the bottom of what was originally D pit. Within 30minutes of casting in I had a take from the island and then ended up playing a fish that took me around 200metres up the bank to my left, back down, around my left hand rod, and took about 30minutes to land. I'd always wondered why this fish was called Turbo, until then. Not massive at 23.8, but at the time my pb by 2lb, and a heavily scaled beauty. The only take of a 2 night session within 30minutes.

 

[Golden Paws]

"Best" fish is very subjective. I suppose I'd have to go back many years when I was a match angler and fished with a local juniors club. I got a bit bored of catching small roach and with late teenage distractions of drink, being in a punk band, motorbikes and girls, I started to drift away from fishing. One day I saw an advert in the local rag for the local branch of the Pike Anglers Club advertising for members and I went on a fish-in with them. After a slow day with very few fish coming out, I caught a 12-3 pike that blew me away and one of the members offered to take me fishing on a regular basis. I think I was being groomed as he didn't have a car (or a job!) and I ferried him around for a few years until his first spell in prison - long story, leave it at that.

Summers were spent fishing for barbel with my new found "specimen mentality" and after being single minded on catching a double, after 10 x 9lb+ fish, I smashed it with an 11-14.

When all the barbel in the river seemed to disappear overnight (yes, otters were present), I decided to start doing some Carp fishing on a local day ticket. The first trip was a blank and the second was going that way until some pike anglers packed up mid afternoon and complained they couldn't get a bite because there were too many carp crashing around in the swim. The second they were gone, I decamped and caught 6 with the best being a 19-2 that made me feel that I'd arrived.

My best fish is a 9-6 pike! I hooked it in a narrow river and it went absolutely ballistic! Every time I got it close to the net, it turned, put its shoulders out of the water and pumped it's tail forcing me to back wind until it got back to the middle again. I must have played that fish for a good 15 minutes before I finally netted it but it totally earned my respect.

[barry211]

being fairly new to carp fishing my old specimen scales reached a heady weight of 3lb, i did grab myself some bigger ones for this year as i am keeping a little diary each time i go so have started keeping a record. For me though i view a personal best as something i have caught using rigs i learnt to tie myself and with something i have done differently with my bait, i have had some really nice looking fish but still struggle to tell what is what from all the different types but a best for me is something simple like 'i really enjoyed landing that one' i just like the challenges of learning rigs and a new approach to fishing having been a maggot drowner for 30 odd years.

i have had some lovely memories of different fish over the years and spent a time targetting perch which was fun but never really gone for pike and maybe that might be my next challenge.....

[salokcinnodrog]

4 hours ago, barry211 said:

i have had some lovely memories of different fish over the years and spent a time targetting perch which was fun but never really gone for pike and maybe that might be my next challenge.....

In Norfolk you have a very active Pike Anglers Club region who arrange fish-ins, (sometimes with Suffolk region) and boat days.

I know that the PAC may seem expensive for a single species 'club', but the money is piped back into pike preservation.

With Norfolk, you might get some 'help' or training on handling pike, and be lucky enough to be able to go with someone.

 

I love the whole concept you have on your fishing, it's a real breath of fresh air, and most importantly, the enjoyment you have.

[elmoputney]

I think for me my PB really comes down to the fish that mean the most to me. I try and enjoy all captures and I have a few favourites that I have caught over the years, the 17lb pond record was the one that made me become a proper carp angler I think. We had our tactics sussed and we slayed the bigger ones in that pond. We used to freeline dog biscuits right in the edge. Feeding off the smaller ones to create the frenzy, 

The 26lber I caught from the club lake all those years ago I prebaitied for 2 weeks and that taught me something I have used many times since. 

To the modern times my goal was a 30lber I nearly did that a few times and caught some cracking high 20s beating my pb a few times  before my most recent one which completed that challenge and was a fish I really wanted in the album. That meant a lot but it seemed more fate than effort if that makes sense, i am always working at it week on week so it's not like it's zero effort but i didn't think I was building up to it, it just happened. 

But for me the fish that meant the most was probably this one a new pb at the time but it was not long after my dad passed away and it just meant so much at the time still does, I noticed someone else caught it a few weeks back and it just made me feel really happy to see it again. 

Fishing is just great, I love being able to go and relax regardless of if I catch or not, just being there is enough these days, but catching a few along the way makes it the special journey it is. 

Just enjoy the ride and challenge yourself as you go as you are the only person you need to be better than. 

 

 

 

[kevtaylor]

On 26/08/2023 at 11:35, Carpbell3 said:

This one I think just under 36 but goes up to 39 nice fish out of respect I won't name the carp but it's the biggie out the little lake unless 43 is still in there. Gutted I'm not on there still it was the only lake I liked out the two I had a ticket for, really is a one off.

https://youtu.be/K-wa4WsVGEY?si=hBXlyYeALJDqXUfd

 

Not been seen for a good while, got a mate on there who's switched on and he's not seen it either so doesn't look great.  the 43 went many years ago, went missing just before the fences went up same as the big common next door.  I had the 43, cracking fish such a shame would have gone onto being 50+ easy.

[Carpbell3]

3 hours ago, kevtaylor said:

Not been seen for a good while, got a mate on there who's switched on and he's not seen it either so doesn't look great.  the 43 went many years ago, went missing just before the fences went up same as the big common next door.  I had the 43, cracking fish such a shame would have gone onto being 50+ easy.

I'm not sold on otter fencing they can climb them easily if they want they are pretty much a ferret they did a koi pond recently that had a electric fence.

[kevtaylor]

1 hour ago, Carpbell3 said:

I'm not sold on otter fencing they can climb them easily if they want they are pretty much a ferret they did a koi pond recently that had a electric fence.

Chris recently said they try to get in every night.  It's a full time job keeping them out.

Seen them on one of my current waters and the fishing has not been the same this year unless its me but seeing tail damage on fish in snags and a fish has been found by another angler 👎

[salokcinnodrog]

2 hours ago, Carpbell3 said:

I'm not sold on otter fencing they can climb them easily if they want they are pretty much a ferret they did a koi pond recently that had a electric fence.

 

1 hour ago, kevtaylor said:

Chris recently said they try to get in every night.  It's a full time job keeping them out.

Seen them on one of my current waters and the fishing has not been the same this year unless its me but seeing tail damage on fish in snags and a fish has been found by another

Aye, the tilt on fences is nothing.

A couple of years ago at Bromeswell I was patrolling at night with Sky and they were actively searching for easier spots to climb over the fence, and waiting until we were in the distance before getting into the stock pond. It found a carp we'd missed when netting.

We had tail damage of a fish, one of our biggies, and she's lost weight, although could have been fully spawned out.

[framey]

 

a 3lb roach caught when the record was just broken at 4.1 

and a 5.11 chub when the record was about 8lb 

rolling meat in a swim that Wilson used to show on go fishing my club had the opposite side of the river.

[dayvid]

My Personal Best is over 40lbs , my BEST fish is 23lbs 12ozs caught around 25 years ago i guess , i remember every thing about that capture as it was my first 20 and can still see it all in my mind , that fish will live in my mind forever.