Richie Lofthouse banks syndicate special.
Richie Lofthouse has been enjoying a prolific run of form on his Essex syndicate recently, banking a pristine 31lb 10oz mirror carp. The fish, which is regarded as one of the venue's most revered fish, fell to a naked chod rig, while Richie was enjoying a night session at the venue. 

Richie explained: “I arrived at the lake late on the Sunday evening at around 7pm for a 24-hour session. The lake had only done two fish that weekend, both low twenties. I decided to have a walk around to an area that gave me a good view of the lake. It wasn't until around 8.30pm that I made my decision. Fortunately, I saw quite a few carp show at long range in front of a free swim.

"So, I headed around there and rigged all three rods up, naked choddy style. The size-8 Choddy hooks are a proven favourite, and my hook baits were the new Mainline High Impact IB pop-ups and each rig was cast the 120 yards needed to reach the feeding zone.

"As I settled down for the night I could hear carp crashing out over my high-attract single hook baits. I woke at 4.30am to watch the action unfold. I saw around 25 shows in the general area that morning until finally at 7.30am my left-hand rod pulled up tight and I played out what felt like a heavy fish that didn't do much apart from hold bottom and plod. I was happy when she finally went in the net and saw that it was the big zip linear that lives in the pit. At 31lb 10oz she looked in great condition for a carp of nearly 40 years old, which is a credit to the members new and old.”