Here come the big ones

Here come the big ones


On July 24 1930, Albert Buckley arrived on his own at Mapperly reservoir. A very heavy overnight rain had turned the normally clear water into a slightly muddy tinge. He picked his favorite swim at the foot of the embankment where the water reached a staggering 30ft just a few feet out. He set up his totally inadequate tackle, which comprised of a match rod, 3lbs line & a size 10 hook. His bait was to be honey paste rolled to the size of a pea. He baited up and cast into a very strong head wind, his tackle landed just a few yards up the margins but buckly knew this swim well and knew it was totally snag free. He allowed his tackle to settle and so began one of the most famouse carp sessions ever recorded in fishing history. What happened during this session was to write Albert Buckely into carp fishing history forever. A total novice at carp fishing, Buckley landed four carp during this session weighing 9lbs, 11, 15 and a giant breath taking fish which tipped the scales at 26lbs. This fish was landed on 3lbs line and took buckley over 1.5hrs to land. This fish stunned the fishing world and easily became the new long standing Uk record. Skeptics at the time dammed this session to be a fluke and that this fish would never be beaten. Well this turned out to be very true as even after the Second World War Buckleys 26lb fish held firmly in the record books just as predicted. at this time carp fishing was about to be revolutionized as a new generation of anglers had come onto the scene. These anglers had one thing in mind and this was to prove that these large carp could be caught on a regular basis. With the end of the second world war much more time and energy could be put into other areas of life and many in depth studies of the carps behavior had beed carried out and analyzed to great effect. new thinking had evolved, new tackle designed, new techniques experimented and a whole new range of baits was being formed. Among these new thinking anglers was a trio of friends called Walker, Thomas and Richards. These three anglers proved all the doubters very wrong and their cathes became legendary right across the carp fishing world. These catches included a brand new Uk record of 31lbs and then in September 1952, 22yrs after buckleys record. The legendary dick walker landed a massive 44lb common (above right), this fish was to yet again rock the carp world and to hold the Uk record for many many years. This fish was landed from Redmire pool, the premier carp water of the time (above left). Dick called this fish ravioli but it was better known as Clarrisa and was to spend the rest of its life in London zoo.