Broadlands Record - 'Henry Cooper' - George West

Broadlands Record
George West

I had a couple of weeks available for a work placement from my university and as I’m current doing a Fishery Management course I decided to do it down Broadlands lakes. Broadlands is arguably the most popular day ticket fishery in the country, with the final of BCAC (British Carp Angling Championships) being held here. They had also been badly affected by the high levels of rainfall received recently and the majority of the lake was flooded, so there would be plenty of work to do once my placement started.

With the work being based directly next to the lake and hearing of a few fish  being caught, I thought I might as well make the most of it and fish a couple of nights in between work. With the lake still badly flooded, a lot of the swims were inaccessible but as I had a pair of waders I could still fish the majority of the lake. For the first night I decided to fish in an area known as carp alley as it has always had good winter form. I got the rods out around 3pm after managing to wing an early finish to get a bit of extra fishing in.

 I was fishing tight to an island and was made up when the bobbing pulled up tight about an hour later and the first fish was landed after a lively battle , which was a lovely 20lb 8 common.


20lb 8oz

Before dark I took a further 3 fish to around 18lb but as soon as darkness fell everything went quiet. As the temperature had dropped dramatically I had a feeling the fish weren’t patrolling the shelf of the island anymore due to the shallow water and cold temperatures. I decided to bring the rods back about 10 yards and instantly the action started again. I banked another 5 fish to 19lb 14 during the night and it was fair to say I was tired for work the next day!



19lb 12oz

I had all my fish on white pop ups over 3 kilos of freebie boilies, making sure the swim was topped up after every fish.

I still had another 10 days left of work but it wasn’t until the following week that I was able to get the rods out again. While I had a good result in carp alley, I had a feeling there weren’t many big fish present, as I only had one over 20lb from the 8 fish caught. While I was working along a fence line clearing debris caused from the floods I noticed a couple of fish stick their heads out and good ones at that, so maybe this was where the bigger fish were holding up.

I was planning to fish that night and as the swim was free I set all my gear up during my lunch break, with the intention of fishing their after work. Once again I made it clear I was keen to get fishing and finished earlier than usual so that I could get plenty of fishing time in.  My mate Gareth Birch was fishing in the swim next door as well so luckily I had a cameraman for what turned out to be a hectic couple of nights.

Again the same presentation as before was used, with my multi rigs and white pop ups used on all 3 rods. The marginal bush I’d seen the action on was around 80 yards away and I placed all three rods towards it around 12ft apart. I was expecting a few fish but it took me by surprise when my delkim roared off only 5 minutes after getting the rods out. It felt like a much better fish as well and my thoughts were confirmed when a 23lb 5 common was in the net, not a bad start!



23lb 6oz

The action again was hectic and I even had a double hook up before I reeled in at mid night to get some sleep for work. I had 9 that night along with 3 20s which was a decent result when not a lot else was getting caught.

I was speaking to the boss about my result that night and he seemed pretty impressed but he kept mentioning one particular fish known as “Henry Cooper” which hadn’t been caught for over a year now. It was last out at 34lb+ and I jokingly said to him she’s mine tonight, in which he laughed and said “not a chance”. 

 



20lb 12oz



 

 

Although I had a few bigger fish the previous night, the so called “a team” were eluding me. Again I fished to the same spots as the night before and the action was mental yet again but the biggest was only just over 20. I then hooked into a fish that got me caught up in a snag and me and my mate could clearly see it was a better fish (25+ at least). Just as I managed to coax her out the snag the line parted and I threw the rod on the floor in anger. It was around 10pm and it had wiped out one of my other rods and I didn’t have the buzz to get the rods back out after the earlier loss, so was fishing with just one rod at the time.

It was 3 hours later when my last remaining rod signalled out a few beeps and I was into another fish.  This time the fish came in nice and easy until it got near the net and it shot off on a number of deep heavy lunges peeling line from my spool every  time. I told my mate it was another small one but deep down I knew I was attached to something better. I caught a glimpse of a big pale shape in the moon light and instantly recognised it as the big one known as “Henry Cooper”, as there is simply nothing else like it in the lake. Luckily, before I had time to panic my mate slipped the net under her and I looked down in awe at how big she actually was. She was last out at around 34lb and I was expecting her to be the same sort of weight but when she swung the needle round to 37lb 3oz, I was buzzing! 


'Henry Cooper' 37lb 3oz

She was in mint condition and the fact she hadn’t been caught for over a year is saying something considering how busy Broadlands gets. She was the finale of my 27 fish caught over the 4 work nights and set a new venue record. What a way to finish!

Back She Goes!

George West - Noble's Fishing