Big 'nuisance' carp to Mark Barrett!

[poledark]

No Peter, as usually they have shed their spawn by now, which was one of the main points of my post!

 

Re Martin Gay and his carp catches, perhaps we should ask Jim Gibbinson about that

 

Thgere are other points that I could raise especially re the lineage, but I think I have said enough

 

Den

[mark barrett]

den you make some very valid points and its condition was a worry to me when handling it. i could quite easily have got mick rouse out to photograph it from the times, but the fishes welfare was uppermost as you quite rightly point out that its carrying spawn. for that reason it was also photographed in a thunderstorm and i got ******* soaked!!

 

however its condition i dont think is life threatening, simply because i have been fishing this drain for a while in the past and all of this year. this drain suffers very badly from run offs of water and was flooded just prior to the season. last year in the really ht weather without a spring flood the fish were holding spawn into july. this year hasnt been anywhere near as hot and as previously mentioned it has flooded so i think that the fish will drop the spawn in the next few days, if it already hasnt.

and whose to say it is the first time of spawning this year? i have seen carp spawn more than once in the past, so maybe it has spawned once, and this is the second time.

 

secondly the fish is a comfortable 35 pound fish without spawn. what doesnt come across in the pictures is that the fish is incredibly thick across the back and shoulders and has a head like a labrador! in all of the photos i am not holding the fish very far forward to the camera as i physically couldnt hold it out, its head is nearly as big as mine fella! also i am not the worlds most svelte specimen of manhood. i stand over 6 feet 2 tall and weigh around 24 stone, to give you some gauge of size.

 

i know that you are making these points in a constructive way and they are not bitching comments and i take them as such, but i think its only fair to put you fully in the picture mate.

 

finally, people are not raving over the fish because its nearly 44 so much as the fact that it is a very big fish from a completely wild water and it doesnt come with a name such as "two tone", i think thats the point that has slightly passed you by matey!!!!

[poledark]

Thanks for that Mark, you are right I was not bitching, and was well aware of your concerns. I do not want to spoil your pleasure at your catch, (I bet you are still hugging yourself and grinning all the time),

 

Den

[mark barrett]

think i have managed cloud seven den!!!!

 

and my arms aint long enough to hug myself!!!

 

tight lines mate

[Newt]

That fish sorta reminds me of Mike Tyson. Short, thick, and strong with a serious belly. Nice one Mark.

[fenboy]

Really...I can't belive the utter b***ocks I've been reading. A good guy catches a great fish - perhaps the most SIGNIFICANT acrp of the season - and he suffers bitchiness.

 

Spawnbound? What was Chris Yates' record, for chrissakes? It died soon after because it couldn't shed a couple of seaosns of spawn.

 

Sorry, but I can't help detecting sour grapes here because a bloody good angler has caught a wild fish froim a water that the carp circus (mainly clowns) doesn't fish.

 

Again, well done Mark - especially for being so polite to the tossers who azre trying to demean a brilliant achievement. Fish are meant to hold spawn. That's why the biggest pike come at the end of the season... as well as roach, chub, barbel....

[Peter Waller]

Oi Fenboy, stop bullying Den, he's a nice old boy! Him and I often don't agree but atleast we remain civil to each other, more or less!!

 

Most records are freaks of nature, that is what makes then records. And if Mark's fish is carrying two seasons worth of spawn then that is nature. It hasn't been fed on high nutrition foods to create an artificially high weight, it is as it is because of a misfortune of nature. It is a naturally big fish from a more or less natural water. Mark found it and caught it. He didn't do a Nige Williams and follow the masses like a headless chicken. I just wish it had been a new record!

 

Okay, so it is from outside the artificial and blinkered world that is UK carping, it has been caught by a thoroughly decent bloke, a bloke who is an angler, not just a carp angler. It was caught in a legal manner, it was caught during the legal open season, its weight is a fact. I have nothing but high praise for Mark, both on a feat of angling and the way he has conducted himself against petty critiscism. Mark is an example to us all.

[Elton]

Quite a few people have found this thread looking for "Mark Barrett". You don't think he's got some high-profile job writing for an angling magazine, do you?

[James P]

What an ugly sod!!!!!

The fish looks alright though!!

 

He he fantastic fish Mark. It's a great achievement to catch such a wild beast, and testament to your ability as an angler. I also think your knowledge of spawning, fish welfare and appreciation of nature shines through in your posts, something a lot of anglers need to learn in my view.

 

Not putting Marks catch down, but it isn't a "Forty" doubt if it is even a real 35, and it may very well be spawnbound (it is mid July!) and it could very well die soon.

 

Den

Thinking about it Den, why is being spawnbound any different than catching a fish after putting in groundbait, boilies, pellets etc? In theory any fish caught in such circumstances are weighing heavier than normal. If you'd put out a couple kilos of boilies and the carp had eaten all of this before it picked up your bait, it's going to weigh a couple of kilos more without you even realising it.

 

Does any of it matter? I don't think so.

 

James