After the capture of Charlies Mate, from Frimley, I was seriously thinking of giving up carp fishing. It may shock you to know this, but I had dreamed of that moment for most of my life, and as long as it had taken, I got there in the end. I took some time off, thinking of my life and what I wanted from it. Finally, I decided there were plenty more carp for me to chase around. And, of course, it was carp angling history which gave me all the desire I could wish for. I came to the conclusion, I needed to catch a mirror carp this time around, and it had to be comparable to Chris Yates 1980 51.08 British Record from Herefordshire’s Redmire Pool. I had a couple of places to keep me busy whilst I chose which fish to set my sights on, but it couldn’t be just any fish weighing as much as Chris’s record. Oh no! It had to be special, and it didn’t actually take me too long to find my new obsession..

There were plenty more carp for me to catch.