{"id":2361,"date":"2019-05-04T18:04:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T17:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonarthur.co.uk\/?p=2361"},"modified":"2019-05-04T18:04:39","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T17:04:39","slug":"an-epic-finish-at-meadowlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jonarthur.co.uk\/?p=2361","title":{"rendered":"An Epic Finish At Meadowlands!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On Wednesday I was back at Meadowlands Fishery for another really enjoyable coaching session. Richard contacted me for a bit of a crash course in modern commercial fishery techniques as he has been away from the sport for many years and so much has changed in that time.<\/p>\n

He had a modest amount of tackle, some brand new and some vintage, but I was confident it was enough to catch a few fish and get him right back up to speed.<\/p>\n

We concentrated on the feeder and pole as these two methods will serve him well wherever he goes. Starting off on the short pole, using a new margin pole he\u2019d just purchased, we were soon getting plenty of bites from skimmers and small carp.<\/p>\n

A switch to the feeder was slow to begin with, until we realised the fish wanted to be much closer in. As soon as we began dropping a medium Matrix Open Alloy Feeder short we were back into action!<\/p>\n

A few tails and swirls began appearing down our margins so we switched back to the pole. The fish were being tricky down there but he eventually connected with a 10lb mirror that really tested his 12-14 Slik elastic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As the session drew to a close I suggested one last try down the margins, but this time with feeder gear. No sooner had his feeder settled I spotted a huge paddle over the top and seconds later a big swirl. I looked around to see Richard\u2019s rod hooped over with a big carp on the end!<\/p>\n

The fight from this fish was unbelievable and it took a good 10 minutes or more to get the fish close in and up near the surface. It was only then that I realised just how big it was. No wonder Richard was struggling a bit \u2013 it was absolutely massive!<\/p>\n

I quickly dropped the camera, ran down the bank and swapped his landing net for my biggest one. When the fish finally hit the spreader block I couldn\u2019t believe the size of it. I\u2019m not sure if the pictures I took do it justice, but I can honestly say it\u2019s the biggest fish I\u2019ve seen for a long time. We never weighed it but I know it was easily 20lb+. What a fish and what an epic way to end a session!<\/p>\n\n\t\t