Fryerning XL Essex Big Carp Syndicate Monthly Blog March
It’s the end of March, the sun is out and we’re back already for Episode 4 of The Fryerning XL Essex Big Carp Syndicate monthly blog, with Adam Penning. Just like the three previous March's blog is packed to the rafters with Big English Carp including a 56lb Mirror and possibly the largest leather in the UK. As well as these two incredible specimens Episode 4 features stacks of 40’s, 30’s and 20’s with plenty of P.B.s smashed along the way.
Following on from January and February, March, at the Essex Big Carp Syndicate, has been truly remarkable even by Fryerning’s incredible standards. What a contrast from last year, when only one carp grabbed the banks of The Main Lake (Though it was a 52lb Common!). So far March 2019 has seen over twenty carp adorn the catch report book, mind blowing stuff!
Both The Valley and Car Park Lakes have also been in ‘red hot’ form, consistently producing the goods for the members including Adam Penning, but more of that in a bit!
March started off with a bang when on the first day of the month Darren Hollidge landed The Nunn at a mighty 48lb 12oz. This incredible fish smashed Darrens P.B. to smithereens and was landed using a ‘lucky’ borrowed net which days before had been used to scoop up Mirrors of 44lb and 41lb!
Darren Hollidge with his new P.B. The Nunn 48lb 12oz
Barry Wingham has been a syndicate member for many years at Fryerning landing an enviable list of big fish in his time. A five day session this month on The Main Lake was certainly his best yet and can only be described as that of a lifetime!
Astonishingly Barry landed a 50, two 40’s, a thirty and several smaller carp. The highlight of his catch was certainly The Gurm which smashed his P.B. to bits coming out at a huge 56lb.
What a session Barry Wingham with The Gurm 56lb
Barry used to have a reputation of being a bit frugal, with some saying, ‘he’s that tight he only breathes in’, though you certainly can’t say that no more! Barry certainly wasn’t afraid of chucking bait in on that session, going through over 15kg of Mainlines finest.
Barry used 15kg of his favourite Mainline Cell boilies
It just goes to show if your prepared to put the feed in, you can certainly reap the rewards!
Another cracker, Barry with The Stripe
And another, Fourscale at 41lb 8oz
The day before filming, one of the largest Leathers in The UK graced the banks of the Main Lake when the vastly experienced Steve Falco landed The Netted fish at a whacking 48lb 12oz. The fish looked in exceptional condition and is set to breach 50lb in the next month or two.
Steve Falco with The UK’s largest Leather 48lb 12oz
Mark Luckman certainly opened his Fryerning account in style, when he caught one of the most sought after of The A-Team, The Emperor.
One of 16 forties that The Main Lake boasts, the chunk went a mammoth 46lb her best weight yet and smashed Marks P.B. significantly. We fully expect this fish to go over 50lb within the next couple of seasons.
Mark Luckman and his new P.B. The Emperor at a massive 46lb
It’s been a great few weeks for Mitch Atwood, who has landed some fine Main Lake carp including Charlie at 40lb, one of the oldest fish in the lake and The Riddler at a great weight of 36lb. Being of a Leney strain, The Riddler is a very special fish to catch indeed! Mitch followed up these two exceptional carp with a rarely caught Koi and a smaller common.
Mitch Attwoood and Charlie 40lb exactly
The Riddler, a very special fish indeed
Ian Holman celebrated his golden wedding anniversary with a trip down his beloved Fryerning and was duly gifted with the golden wonder, Roundtail at 36lb 6oz. What a fitting fish, for such an occasion I’m sure you’ll agree!!!
Ian Holman with a anniversary carp, Roundtail 36lb 6oz
Once again, Gold Ticket member Lincoln Slater, has been getting among them, landing a whole host of fish, the pick of the bunch being Berties Linear at 41lb and an un-named mirror of 30lb 6oz. He has certainly being putting the time in over the last few months and his results are telling of such dedication.
Berties Linear 41lb
An un-named 30lb 6oz mirror for Lincoln Slater.
As mentioned earlier The Valley Lakes have also been in scintillating form with some fantastic fish coming out.
Mav Smith kicked off the action with a cracking 33lb P.B. Mirror caught on his maiden trip as a Fryerning Syndicate Member. Obviously Mav was delighted with his prize and can’t wait to get back down and break it again.
Mav Smith with his new P.B. 33lb
Main Lake member James Jefcoate has managed to pop down for a few sessions on The Valley this month and has been rewarded with a trio of fantastic looking carp up to 26lb something the lake is famed for.
James Jefcoate with a cracking 22lb Mirror
This ‘beaut’ went 26lb
Another Valley Lake stunner for James Jefcoate 26lb
Another Main Lake member pit his wits against The Valley Lakes residents, was Trevor Saunders.
Trevor managed to land a cracking 27lb mirror, within hours of setting up and was over the moon with the fish especially as the moment was stared with his father Albert.
Over the years both Trevor and Albert have caught some incredible specimens up to 47lb from Fryerning yet his enthusiasm at catching a fish of any size is still clear to be seen. Great stuff!
An overjoyed Trevor Saunders with a 27lb angry common
Sam Lane is also no stranger to the catch report books having had plenty of carp over the years as a Fryerning member.
Once again, he was jotting his name in the book, this time with a 36lb Common and a new P.B. Nice one Sam, well deserved!
As mentioned earlier Adam Penning has also been down a few times this month and shown just why he is regarded as one of the best out there.
In three separate sessions comprising of two 48 hour and a 24 hour trip, the carp tutor bagged a hugely impressive 19 carp, four of which were over 28lb!
Adams been getting amongst them this month
As Adam explained in last month’s blog, one of the great lures of The Valley Lake is its incredibly diverse stocks and he sampled plenty of these as the photos below show. He caught Commons, scale’y mirrors, linears, you name it, and they all fought like stink!
This is going to be one serious fish in the future
Another absolute stunner, an amazing fish!
Through watching Adam fish, it is extremely noticeable at the amount of time he spends watching the water for signs of carp, then moving on to them setting little traps to catch his prey.
The fish in the Valley are all unique
His successful tactics include generous scatterings of freebies with PVA bags containing Sticky Baits The Krill boilie crumb, Bloodworm pellets and a few particles. Rigs were kept simple with small ultra-sharp hooks, and light leads. 10mm Sticky Baits Manilla boilies did the damage on the hair.
Good quality baits placed in the right place, one part of the jig saw
Adam used plenty of particles to accompany his beds of boilies
With angling as good as this on offer, it’s little wonder that the Valley is a favourite bolthole of Adams.
Some breath taking fish came to the rods of Adam this month!
Once the sun came out, the Valley lakes stocks made an appearance popping up to the surface to catch the sun’s rays and taking full advantage of the thermals.
Two anglers to target these upper layers were Dan Roberts and Alex Milligan, with both bagging themselves hard fighting commons.
Dans went 27lb while Alex had a ridiculously good looking 28lb sample.
Dan Roberts with a 27lb lump
Alex with a gorgeous 28lb Common – what a result!
As always, action on the Car Park Lake been fast and furious with some eye watering action being had.
It was great to see Phil Blanchard back on the bank after a long spell away from the fishery due to injury. A quick overnighter to get back in the swing of things saw the much experienced angler land ten….. what a way to blow away the cobwebs!!!
Other catches include 18 in a 24 hour session and scores of other big hauls.
Connor Ward with one of many to have come out The Car Park Lake this month.
With the carp now feeding harder, we have increased the amount we are feeding around the site.
In anticipation of this we have just taken delivery of two tonnes of top quality, high oil, carp pellets. These are the very same ones we feed all the lakes and stock ponds and are available at a very cheap price of £38 per sack. It’s a pocket friendly way that encourages members to feed a great food source in to the lakes. A win, win situation. Please ask for details!
Two tonne of pellets ready for feeding the carp
Keeping on the bait theme as we write this, we are about to receive a large delivery from our friends at Mainline baits.
It’s a great bait at a great price and you just have to flick through the catch reports to see how many fish get caught per month on their exceptional boilies. Once again, ask for details.
This month the team have been getting covered in mud and silt rummaging around the stock ponds, sorting out the Fryerning fish of the future.
Some of the finest C2 and C3 carp have been hand-picked and moved around into various stock ponds where they will thrive, packing on the pounds over the following few months.
The stock ponds contain some incredible carp
These fish are something really special, a huge variety of different carp that are the best out there.
Can you believe we are back to summer hours already and with this brings several changes.
The longer daylight hours see the gate times changing to 6.00am to 8.30pm, which allows you to get in/ out that little bit later.
The most significant change this month is the switching to fishery nets, slings and mats.
Top kit so please look after it
As I’m sure you are all fully aware, we take bio-security very seriously at Fryerning, not compromising our stocks what so ever. The switch to using our carp care equipment eliminates the potential introduction of disease through gear once the water temperatures begin to increase.
Sets for the Main Lake can be found in the Bio-Security container located next to the shower/ toilet block whilst those for The Valley and Car Park Lakes are in the Metal storage bins around the lakes.
Back to using our fishery nets
All the equipment is top class stuff, with Fox Mats and Avid Carp slings, so please look after them and treat them with the utmost care.
Once you have finished using them please wipe clean and dry them out replacing them back where they came from.
The codes for the containers are found in the letter you received with your membership card.
That about rounds it up for another month at this fabulous Essex Big Carp Syndicate. I’m sure, once again, the catches have blown your mind and hopefully whetted your appetite to blow the dust off your gear and get down on the bank.
Don’t forget to keep logging on to the website www.xlcarp.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest catch news and information.
