BIG FISH: Greene hooks half-term whopper

Half-term week always sees large numbers of young anglers on the banks but a couple of local youngsters got ahead of the rush with a visit to the Royal Berkshire Fishery last week.

Eleven-year-old Joel Greene and his six-year-old brother, Isaac, started fishing last autumn and in the words of their non-angling father, Allan are ‘totally carp nuts’.

It used to be unusual for juniors to get into angling if their parents were non-anglers but in recent years, helped by commercial fisheries and high-profile anglers such as Terry Hearn carp angling has become seriously cool and increasing numbers of parents, like Allan, are acting as tackle taxis and learning about the intricacies of rigs and baits via their kids.

Like many long-suffering non-angling parents Allan has not yet got the bug himself but greatly values the family time relaxing beside a lake for a day allows.

The most recent outing saw the trio arrive at a very packed Royal Berkshire venue at around 8.30am, but after hunting around they finally found a couple of vacant swims on Lake 3 although they had to fit in around a match which was taking place.

Prospects for the day didn’t look brilliant as the match anglers were having to work hard for their fish and most were chopping and changing methods and baits regularly to get a few bites. With experienced anglers all around them struggling, Allan wasn’t too confident!

Despite this, Joel set up a free-running set up with a 1.5oz lead and a halibut pellet tipped with a piece of artificial corn on a size six hook. A small PVA bag filled with 3mm pellets completed the set up which he cast into the margins.

It took just 30 minutes for Joel’s trap to be sprung and after a good fight he netted a pristine common carp of 14lb. Confident of further action he got his bait back in position straight away but despite constantly feeding and working the area there were no further signs of fish.

At lunchtime it was clear the fish weren’t coming into the edge and despite dad’s advice of fishing across to the island Joel decided to do his own thing and change tactics with a cast halfway across the lake into open water.

He wasn’t catching in the edge, most of the match anglers were fishing to the island and not catching so it was a sensible ploy and it worked as he struck into a cracking linear mirror of 16lb which he netted after a long fight.

A superb result for a talented and determined young local angler who I suspect we shall be hearing more from in the future!

- Any anglers wishing to report catches may contact me on 07780 755138. I may be emailed on ian@bigfishtrail.com