Rod & Line (September 14)

3:28pm Thursday 14th September 2006

IT has been another week of big carp as south Wiltshire fisheries provide pleasure and match anglers with plenty of big fish and big weights.

However, when it comes to big carp, the honour must go to Salisbury Angling Club member Allan Hughes, who not only smashed his own personal best but he also set a new lake record when he fished Kevin Nash's Lac Chateaux in the south of France.

The 44-year-old from Whaddon was on a week's fishing holiday with his wife, Debbie, when he landed a massive 63lb 2oz mirror carp.

Allan's previous best - also caught in France - weighed-in at 36lb.

Debbie said: "I couldn't believe the size of it.

"It was absolutely huge."

Allan is a hospitality co-ordinator working at Boscombe Down and he also caught several other double figure carp during the week, but nothing to compare with the new lake record fish.

Back in the UK the second highest honour probably goes to Ron Weekly, who took a 17lb 4oz ghost carp from Bishops Lake at Waldens Farm Fishery.

Close behind was an angler whose name is not known to Rod & Line but who fished Abbots Lake on Friday and risked life and limb going after carp sun-bathing among the tree roots and low branches.

His patience paid off and he caught two ghosts at 14lb 2oz and 13lb.

Lewis Fudge fished Abbots and took a 5lb bream and Nick Young had a 2lb 3oz bream and a 9lb 12oz ghost.

Steve Whetteron fished Abbots and landed a pair of common carp at 15lb and 11lb, which took floating crust.

Monks Lake and Popes Lake have produced excellent bags with some anglers topping 60lb a session.

Sunday's match on Dea-cons was won with 39lb 4oz.

Bags of more than 100lb have been taken by anglers fishing Cottage Lake at Witherington Farm and the Snake produced a winning weight of 61lb 1oz in Sun-day's final round of the Nigel Turner series for Lee Wood-house.

Overall winner of the series is Southampton's Graham Tappenden, but Salisbury's James Knight was runner-up.

On Sunday the series individual winners and the top ten rods from each team will thrash it out in a one-off final at Witherington for a top prize of £1,000.

James Brockway fished Watergate Farm at Bulford and caught 40 carp between 2lb and 8lb and two young anglers fishing over the weekend caught between 60lb and 70lb of fish, mainly carp around 5lb.

The new fishery has also booked its first match for later in the month.

In the Ringwood area, Lifelands is fishing well and from the park opposite, anglers have been having good sport with chub, dace and small barbel.

Damsel remains the best pattern for trout at Avon Springs, Durrington, with two fish just over 7lb taken from both Willow and Club lakes.