By Harry Lanaway
Hi, my name is Harry Lanaway and I have been a keen carp angler since the age of seven. I have pursued these "Monsters of the Deep", from many different venues. When I set out for a days fishing, like everyone else, I like to achieve my targets. Well, I am thrilled to say that last year I caught all my targeted fish!
Back in March 2008, I decided to fish the back (top) lake at Church Farm. There was no closed season on Church Farm and I think that the rule is still upheld. The back lake is under-fished, wild and with discrete paths leading to each swim. The water itself still had some weed present. You would be lucky to see another angler fishing, it was Heaven! This was my time to relax with nature.
My target fish was the 'Cams Common', a fish with a top weight of 25lb 4oz. I desperately wanted to catch this fish, because the only other person to catch it over 20lb was Cam, my mate. That's why he had the privilege of naming it. Now, I couldn't let him take all the credit, could I! 
I decided to tackle the water using 4mm trout pellets, as I was familiar with this technique. The hook baits I used were Richworths Crab and Muscle Pop Ups which I fished one inch off the bottom. The rig was a simple 'bolt rig' incorporating an 'inline lead'. If fishing at range, a solid ESP PVA bag was employed; otherwise I spread a handful of Trout pellets around each hook bait.
I waited for two weeks before I fished the lake, pre-baiting at least twice a week. I had found some productive feeding spots in the margins and in the areas where the carp cruised around the island. Typically, the fish spawning coincided with my fishing! But at least this showed me the margins that the carp liked. I could see my target fish, followed by another common of about the same size which was much more golden in colour. They looked so big. I picked four spots in either corner of the lake, and started my quest.
I would fish every Tuesday after school, and all day Saturday. The quest started off fantastically and I caught a known fish in the first week. It was the 'Small Ghostie' which weighed in at 16lb, but that's not where my luck ended. I 'caned' the lake for several weeks afterwards and I was managing to catch carp every session! There was only one problem. The fish were all less than 17lb and I just wanted that tug on the line to be from one of the larger residents.
It was now the 18th April and I had caught at least 15 fish, all of them under 17lb! It had been raining for three days solid and Church Farm was flooded. The water level was up by two feet and much more rain would have caused the lakes to join up. I had baited the north east corner of the lake, and decided to fish there. To be able to fish the spot, I had to sit on a bucket, in the water! (Something I wouldn't usually have to do). There were several carp milling around in my baited area. This put me on edge as they were rooting around for food. I was now just waiting for a take. It must happen soon! Then everything went quiet, just like the lull before a storm. Suddenly, the line started to peal from my spool and the baitrunner went into overdrive.
As I lifted into the fish, I thought "I've got a tench on". The fight was 'naff' for a carp; in fact, it felt just like a tench. Then, suddenly, a never ending silver flank broke the surface. I thought 'hang on, this is big'. I screamed "Cam, come and help me land this one! I think it may be one of the originals". After a short but meaty scrap, the fish was safely in my landing net. What a feeling! I was elated! I staked the landing net out in the margin and phoned my mum to ask if she would come down to the lake to do the honours.
As soon as my mum arrived we weighed the fish in at 30lb. Carp care and photographs out of the way, I returned the monster to its home. At last 'Cams Common' was mine and at a new lake record!
After fishing the summer here, there and everywhere, I decided to concentrate my efforts on one lake only. But which lake?! I knew where, Church Farm Middle Lake. The water contained some stunning 20lb+ commons. In my opinion, they are every bit as good looking as the Frimley commons. The Trout pellet and pop-up trick had worked so well for me on the top lake and so I decided to use the same tactics on the Middle Lake. Why change a winning formula?! Well, the method worked a treat. I caught 10 different fish, but I had the same problem, they were all less than 17lb. I had caught the same fish, a 10lb fully scaled mirror (I nicked named it 'H'), three times. I decided enough was enough, and spooked him off whenever I saw him over one of my spots.
Autumn was now in full swing, and I was fishing with my mate Josh Webb (Josh was fishing for Pike!). Josh had already caught two pike, one of about 5lb, and the other about 10lb, so he was happy. It was now 17:45 and time to pack up. As I stood up my buzzer let out three bleeps, 'My God', I thought, "I'm in".
The buzzer was screaming as the line was being ripped from the spool. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. As I wrenched the rod from its rest, the fish was now twenty feet or more from the bank but at least, in open water. What a fight it was! A real 'Muscle Buster'! As Josh slipped the landing net under the fish we both let out a huge cheer. Looking at the fish in the net, it looked to be over 30lb. I phoned my dad to ask if he could assist with the photography (apparently, we were quacking like a couple of old Chinese scrubbers!). When my dad arrived he quickly took some snaps, treated the sores on the fish and weighed it in at 27lb 6oz. RESULT!
Mission accomplished and targets achieved, it was now time to relax.
Till the next time... H 