Sharpy lands a dream chunk on the Club

Solar Tackle rod Carl Sharp is really turning it on this year, with numerous big fish from both the United Kingdom and European venues already under his belt in the past fortnight. He is taking advantage of some excellent weather to basically empty every venue he fishing at present. With all this success he still remains loyal to his quest for the big one from the superb Dovecote carp lake, near Milton Keynes and after nearly 5 years of hard work and a great deal of perseverance Carl has finally achieved his goal. We had a chat with Carl and in his own words here is the full story of this rising stars personal achievement.

"When I arrived at the lake on the Friday evening, I was to find that it was pretty busy, and with a quick walk round resulting in no shows from any fish, I had settled for an unfancied swim known as the Fence. With a few more people arriving and setting up pretty close by, my confidence was low, and I felt pretty penned in. It was no surprise that I woke up on the Saturday morning without a single bleep, and just to make matters worse it was lashing down with rain. Unable to just throw in the towel at less than half way into the session, I decided to pack away in the pouring rain and search once more for a fish or two."

"I ended up driving round to the motorway bank which I found out was vacated the previous evening. Standing there, rain in my face, feeling pretty sorry for myself, I scanned the water when all of a sudden a fish swirled about 40 yards out and slightly to the right of the swim. As quick as a flash I grabbed one of the rods from the van and flicked a single pop-up (from the previous night) onto the spot. I laid the rod on the floor, slackened the clutch and line so that it lay limp from the rod tip. I placed a pebble onto the spool just in case I missed anything and stood there for 10 minutes or so."

"Just then another fish rolled slightly further right, and with that I wandered next door (less than 10 yards away) to see if it would be a better angle from there. With that decision made I jogged back to my rod to find the pebble on the floor and clutch slowly ticking. As I struck into it I could feel that it wasn’t any of the lakes monsters, and sure enough a small common hit the back of the landing net. At 11lb 6oz, it was a start, but I knew there were a few more out there still and much bigger too."

"All 3 rods were then flicked around the area of showing fish, each armed with a single 11mm Solar Club Mix pop up, with a small piece of Solar’s foam nuggets just to eliminate any weed problems with the hook. The hooklink was the new Solar Easy Strip coated material in a brown colour in 20lb breaking strain, finished off with one of their X Wide Gape hooks in size 10, with an inch of shrink tube bent at an aggressive angle using the Solar Rig Cone."

"The next action came around 4 hours later when the middle rod was away. Again a small common of just over 16lb was the culprit, but with 2 fish in quick succession things were looking up, especially as 5 hours earlier I was sitting at the other end of the lake without any confidence at all. The fish kept on showing, and as darkness started falling, the middle rod was once again singing its merry tune. This fish felt a little more substantial, and after a 20 minute battle I was proven right as a mid 20 common was lying on the mat, 26lb 7oz of golden wonder indeed (pictured right). "

"With the pictures sorted and the fish slipped back into the lake, it was a case of replacing a fresh pop up and flicking it back towards the general area. The bobbin had only just been set and as I was walking away, the very same rod began to tighten once again. In less than 5 minutes from slipping the common back, I was once again engaging battle with an angry carp in the fading light. A couple of hairy moments ensued as the fish found sanctuary no more than 10 yards from the bank, but with my chest waders on I was able to get above the fish with the rod tip and change the angle of the line. By doing this the fish came up in the water and slid into my awaiting net. This session is getting better by the minute!"

"A lovely big plated mirror was lifted up for its photo shoot, an awesome looking fish with deep reds and oranges being displayed under the lateral line, and at 28lb 15oz,(pictured left) the biggest of the session. The rain started coming down once more as darkness descended, and with the wind driving it straight into my face, I had no other option but to zip down the door and settle in for the night. Nothing else happened throughout the night (although that suited me as it hammered down all night!)"

"I was awoken the next morning by the a one toner on the right hand rod that was being fished around 20 yards from the bank down the right hand side. Yet another lengthy battle commenced and it must have been at least 25 minutes (although it felt much longer) before the fish gave up the fight and allowed me to once again scoop up my prize. In the water I could see it was a good fish. ‘I’ve cracked the 30 barrier’ I thought, and left the fish in the margin to make a phone call to my dad who would come to take the photos. When he arrived, I explained how it looked a chunk, and might even touch 35+, until I tried to lift it from the water! How wrong I was! "

"It only dawned on me when it was placed on the mat the sheer bulk of the fish that it was in fact a little bit special, the lakes biggest resident in fact! On the scales she didn’t disappoint, at 45lb 9oz (pictured below)she was my first UK 40, beating my previous PB by a whopping 7 1/2lb!, The photos were taken, and phone calls were made, and all thoughts of getting the rod back out went out the window. "

"To be totally honest the emotion of the moment was a bit too much and I had to take a step back to take it all in. I’d achieved my goal, and the thought of catching one more after her acquaintance would seem to be an anti-climax from what had just happened. As I packed away though, the middle rod did throw up one more fish, an 8lb bream! It’s a funny old game this fishing, one day you feel its never going to happen, and the next you can‘t put a foot wrong… but isn’t that why we do it??"

Carl is sponsored by Solar Tackle