Venue record breaker shocks as it piles on 10lb since last capture.


A brand new UK 50 has been caught at a weight of 53lb.

The fish, known as the Gurm, sets a new record for Fryerning Fisheries in Essex and was landed by Rayleigh angler Mark Deighton during a five-day session at the venue.

The weight of the fish was a huge surprise to both Mark and fishery manager Charlie Knowles who spoke to Total Carp about the capture.

“The fish was out last in June just after spawning at 44lb,” said Charlie. “It’s put on a big amount of weight since then. We think it’s been making the most of the naturals in the water as have all the fish, everything has been coming out bigger this year. It’s great to see it break the 50lb mark.”

Mark banked the big specimen two days into his trip to the fishery and was hoping for a more modest weight to celebrate his birthday.

“I was really hoping to catch the fish at 44lb on my 44th birthday which was the day after I actually landed it,” he told Total Carp. “The take was a screamer with my old MkI Delks sounding like the fish was traveling at 100mph. As soon as I hit into it I knew it was a good weight, you could just feel it. I didn’t have any trouble getting it to the bank, and once it was in the net I could tell it was going to be special so I went and woke up the fishery owner.”

The carp gives Mark a new UK pb, beating his previous best capture – the Amphibian from The Manor – by 11lb.

Mark tempted his prize by introducing kilo of boilies to a mark at 40yards range where a weedbed had recently been shifted by strong winds. Fishing in silt he presented an air-dried 10mm boilie custom made for him by A.M Bait Services of Southend-on-Sea and christened ‘The Bounty Hunter’ on a size 7 ESP hook to a 10inch Quicksilver hooklink. A Korda Safezone leader and a 3oz lead with 12lb fluorcarbo mainline.

For more details on fishing Fryerning Fisheries, click here.