This incredible 39lb Farlows lake Mirror was taken on Tuesday 24th October.
I had been working at Horton for the day out shooting a magazine feature and was due to meet my boss in Reading the following day. Instead of making the long journey back home, I decided to stop by the popular Farlows Lake for a quick night between work. I arrived late afternoon, with the light slowly fading, and after a chat with the bailiff Charlie, it seemed as if not much had really been coming out; I got my ticket and headed round for a quick look.
I had only just turned out of the gates and looked down the end of the lake in a weedy area, only to be greeted by a fish rolling among the weed in the open water. That was enough for me, I quickly grabbed the kit and began to have a lead around in open water. Quickly, I had found a firm area, small but solid, so went about getting my rod clipped up to the mark before introducing half a dozen spombs of chopped
Odyssey XXX boilies. The rig went bang on the tight spot and I soon had one rod baited and ready to rock. With the light fading, I decided to just fish the one rod overnight, not wanting to make anymore unnecessary disturbance.
It was nearly dark and I was just texting my friend when the single rod pulled up tight, a typical slow, big-fish take. It weeded me initially, but with gentle pressure I had it free and coming closer and closer. Before long, I bundled the fish and the huge ball of weed into the net, thinking it was a typical 20lb Farlows fish. It turned out to be far from that when I lifted it from the water, so I was pretty chuffed. After a few quick self takes, I slipped the fish back and got the rod back on the money. I managed another two fish that night on the single rod before packing up at 7am the following morning.
All fish were taken on
Odyssey XXX corkball pop-ups, coated in
Betaine powder. The end tackle consisted of 15lb Syncro XT mainline straight through to a lead- clip, with a Tungsten Loaded hinged stiff, through to my reliable Bristle/ Stiff Rigger combination.
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