Mark lands the Space-hopper to break lake record 

 

Whilst fishing a 72 hour session on the in form Willow Lake, at the superb Fenland Fishery complex near Earth in Cambridgeshire. Hertfordshire based rod Mark Laurence landed the big mirror known as “The Space-hopper” at a very impressive 44lbs 14oz, to break the venue record and beat his UK personal best by 3lbs 4oz. The UKMA team visited the venue the day after the capture to get the full story from a very happy Mark, read on to find out exactly how Mark trapped this very sought after autumnal stunner.

 

Anglers Profile

 

Name	Mark Laurence
Home town	Letchworth, Hertfordshire
Age	46
Occupation	Site manager
Fished for	37 years
Previous UK PB	41lbs 10oz common
Previous PB Venue	undisclosed

 

 

Location

After checking the weather forecast and a discussion with his brother John who was his bank side companion for the next 72 hours, Mark decided to fish with a back wind as he had learned from years of experience, that in colder months he stood more chance of catching the lakes better fish on the back of the wind, rather than having it right in your face. He than set out feature with his marker rod, finally choosing a large silted area at mid range that had gravel and weed surrounding it. Mark explained ” the reason I choose silt beds to present my baited rigs over when targeting big carp is because many anglers ignore these areas searching out gravel bars and weed beds as they are easier to locate, leaving the silt beds pretty much untouched."

 

The Rig & Bait

Mark likes to keep thing as simple as possible when it comes to his rigs as he is a fond believer in complicated rigs catch fish but a lot more angler. He used an 8’’ length of KORDA N-Trap silt coated braid hook link material in 15lbs breaking strain. Mark's chosen hook for the session was the NASH Tackle Fang Gaper in size 10 set up blow back style with a 1" long hair below the O ring. The rig was then attached to a lead clip system which guaranteed that the lead would be ejected once a fish was hooked. The rig was finished off with 3 feet of rig tubing, to camouflage the rig once situated over the silt bed and most importantly to help protect any fish that you hook from scale damage or line cuts once hooked and being played.

The bait Mark had chosen for the session was the Squid T2 from Bedfordshire based bait manufactures Innovate Baits. On his first visit to the venue earlier in the year, the Squid T2 had produced some excellent sport for Mark and this had given him total confidence in the fish catch capabilities of this subtly aromatic bait. After doing a bit of research, UKMA learned that the Squid T2 has been developed to release a steady flow of colour and flavour into your swim without over feeding the fish which is perfect for cold water situations. Mark fished a single 18mm Squid T2 that had been heavily glugged in Squid T2 Liquid. He opted to feed his swim with a little and often approach. He started the swim off with 60 freebies loosely scattered around his marker float with a throwing stick and over a 48 hour period he fed 2kg in total.

 

The Session

With Mark and his brother John settled in for the 72 hour stint on this very popular day ticket venue, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty of what we all love doing, catching fish. On a very cold first night with winds to gale force, John was first of the mark with a stunning 28lbs14oz mirror taken on a single Squid T2 with a few loose offerings scattered around his spot. On the next morning Mark took a 17lbs mirror which turned out to be a bonus to fill the time as much greater captures were just around the corner. After a bit of early evening pre-baiting Mark and John settled in for the night but at around 9.30 in the evening Mark's peace was interrupted by a positive movement of his Elstow indicator, after a couple of bleeps from his Delkim receiver all went quiet again.

At this point Mark shone his headlamp on the rod that had only seconds before shown signs of life to notice his reel line had gone totally slack. So he walked over to the rod just as his line went solid and his rod tip surged round. Mark connected with the creature and soon realised that the fish had picked up his rig and move towards him and then decided to take another route of escape and head out into open water to his left. Soon enough the fish was under control and heading to the landing net. After a heavy but lazy fight Mark slid his net under the fish he’d been targeting. The fish was immediately placed I on the unhooking mat, checked for any abrasions or wounds and after calling Mike Hawes, the fishery manager, the fish was sacked with permission, awaiting Mike’s arrival for verification of weight and photographs.

 

 

Once back on the bank, in the weighing sling and attached to the scales, the dial flew round to 40lbs plus mark and after they had settled the Space-hopper as the fish is loving known held the scales at an very impressive 44lbs 14oz, beating the fish's previous best weight of 44lbs 04oz and setting a new venue record. The fish was then rested and returned in perfect condition. Mark commented “This is the fish I wanted and to have her on the bank after only 5 nights on the venue, I’m well chuffed” he continued “considering the number of times the Space-hopper has been caught, the fish’s was in perfect condition, the odd body abrasion which is expected but the mouth showed no sign of rips or tears which is a testimony to how well the fish has been handle by other anglers and how well the fishery is run”.

So with 24 hours left and the lake record under his belt, Mark settled back to enjoy that smug feeling we all get after landing a big fish, and rightfully so. On the last night, Mark then connected with one of the venues huge catfish which run him a merry dance for over twenty minutes before it finally smashed his rig and slid of into the night (you can’t win them all). This was the last action Mark had from his session but John not to be out done, stuck to his guns and landed a 21lbs mirror to finish his session off. With four fish landed between them and a new venue record thrown in for good measure, during a session when temperatures plummeted at night and the wind was hazardous to say the least is a worthy achievement.

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To find out more about Fenland Fisheries or Innovate Baits, please click the respective image below.