I won my first goldfish at a fair. I was young and I can’t remember what I had to do to win it or what I called it, but I spent hours watching him swim around the little plastic tank in my room. From then on, I was hooked on fish.
When I turned eight, my dad would take me float fishing in the canal near where we lived in Banbury, Oxfordshire. I was ecstatic if I caught anything; I’d run in circles with excitement and take pictures with my Polaroid camera.
I started fishing in lakes, and in 1994, when I was 14, I caught a 39lb (17kg) carp. I loved the adrenaline buzz from bringing in a big fish and have spent years studying the best weights, rods and bait.
I now work as a plasterer in Brackley, Northamptonshire, and find fishing is a great way to switch off from a physically demanding job. I try to go abroad on fishing trips a few times a year with friends. The carp are generally a lot bigger on the continent.
This spring, I booked a trip to a fishing spot in the Champagne region of France. It has a list of the fish in each lake so you can create a “wishlist”. You have no real control over what you catch, but I was after the Carrot. Weighing in at more than 61lb (27kg), she is a monster of a fish and is rarely caught. She is actually a carp, but her bright-orange appearance gave her the nickname of the “world’s biggest goldfish”.
I caught nothing the whole week. It was disappointing, but I enjoyed myself so I arranged to go back in July. This time, there was a group of eight of us for a week. We put money into two pots; one for the biggest catch and one for the most fish caught. Though we agreed if anyone caught the Carrot, they would take the lot.
On the second night, I went to sleep in my tent about midnight. Just after 2am, I was woken by my line alarm going off, letting me know that I had a bite. The sensor is triggered by movement in the reel, so the more strength and speed behind a fish’s pull, the quicker the alarm beeps. This one was what we call a “screamer” – it was beeping so quickly, it was like one continuous siren.
My adrenaline was pumping and I struggled to get my shoes on as I ran out to my line. It didn’t feel like a particularly big fish, but I struggled to pull it in the longer it went on. It took about 15 minutes. My friend Marco waded into the water to get the net ready. I saw him jumping about as I pulled it in. “You’ve got the Carrot!” he was shouting.
My head was spinning and there was enormous pressure not to let it go – fish can get away if they’re pulled in too quickly. My hands were shaking as I weighed her – 61lb 4oz. It was a few pounds short of my biggest catch – I caught a 65lb (29kg) carp a few years earlier – but it’s the one I am the most pleased with.
I then checked her over for any injuries and administered antiseptic treatment to stop her getting infections. She was healthy. I lowered her into the water and waited for her to swim off – the fishery has a “no-retention” rule.
As I caught the Carrot, I was awarded the £160 prize pot for the trip. I used some of it to treat myself to fish and chips on the way home.
I posted about my catch on Facebook and dozens of people sent messages of congratulations. A friend from an angling publication asked to feature my photos – I said yes. What angler wouldn’t want the glory for a catch like that?
The story was picked up by the tabloids and I was getting message after message from friends. I went to plaster a customer’s house recently and she asked: “Didn’t I see you on the news with a big orange fish?”
I had hoped to go back and catch her again one day, but a few weeks after my trip, I heard the sad news that the Carrot had passed away from natural causes. I was pretty upset and sorry for the owners of the lake.
I’m proud to say I’m one of a small group of people who had the honour to see her. She has a couple of offspring in the lake, so hopefully they’ll follow in her footsteps and become just as famous.
• As told to Heather Main
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