45lb12oz beast from Southern Water.


Avid's Neil Edge recently proved the importance of travelling light when he banked this incredible carp from his current target water.

The lake had been fishing relatively slow so Neil dropped into a swim that he knew had a track record for producing winter whackers. After an unproductive night in the swim, Neil was up at first light watching the water for signs of carp. As the sun rose and the morning mist started to lift, he spotted two good fish show in open water further up the lake. Not one to miss an opportunity, he began packing  his gear away and gave chase! By lunchtime, the big-fish ace had a couple of rods in position over a scattering of hemp, crushed tigers, halibut pellets and a kilo of boilies. Neil fished a Sonubaits 24/7 pop-up over the top on one of his ever-faithful D-Rigs.

He explained: "Although I'd seen a couple of fish show, I still wasn't particularly confident when I hit the sack that night. The lake had been fishing extremely slow and a couple of the lake's big'uns had already made an appearance in the autumn. At 4.30am the following morning, my left-hand bobbin pulled tight and line began slowly peeling from my reel. After a long fight, which saw the carp plough through numerous weed beds, I was rewarded with the lake's largest linear at 45lb 12oz."