This is an old fishing tale from around 15 years ago when i lived back in the UK so the year would be around 2002. i was fishing with my late father Jim - at Longford Farm in Derby-shire, the fishery was still in its infancy back then, and the farmer that owned the complex had not long finished the construction and stocked the lakes. The largest fish in the complex was said to be around 25lb with the majority of fish being in the 5lb - 10lb size range. The fishing was good, 20 or so fish in a day session was normal for us and they fight really hard. Anyway my father did the one thing he shouldn't have and forgot to put his "bait-runner" on... and a savage take from a fish pulled his rod-rest and rod into the water. He dived forward to grab the rod but just missed as it was dragged out of reach and sank out of sight. The commotion that was caused raised a few eyebrows from other anglers and those engaged in a fishing match taking place behind us. The water was deep where we was fishing, around 18ft or so and i didn't want my father to lose his rod and reel, so i stripped down and dived in. Now this really got all the other anglers attention, the following photos, although a bit grainy after scanning where taken by a very nice lady whom was taking part in the fishing match. i swam out to where the rod was last seen and dived under the water. Around 6ft under the water i saw the tip of the rod and grabbed hold and rose to the surface. i then swam a few feet towards the island where i could touch the bottom and reeled the line in, the fish was still on. Several people were now clapping and enjoying the show.
The fish wasn't that large, but it fought with all it's might under the rod tip and by now i think everyone on the lake had stopped what they were doing and were looking on to see what was happening.
it wasn't long before the fish was beaten and i swam back to shore with the fish still on the line.
The fish was safely landed and was a lot smaller than expected, only around 5lb but was a beautiful, linear mirror carp.
i also realised i had my new Samsung mobile phone in my pocket the whole time.... 10 x the cost of the rod and reel combined... oh well you win some - you lose some.
Everyone that had gathered returned to their fishing with big grins and i gave my address to the nice lady who had taken the photos and to my surprise, the photos turned up in the post several weeks later.
And the exciting tale of the guy who swam out into the lake to fight and land a monster carp was a talking point for the next few years at the fishery - i always found it so funny how the size of the fish got bigger and bigger and the battle more epic as as time went by.
Hope you enjoyed this blast from the past. Love to all :)
