The Northwest Record

Dan Wildbore: When did you first hear about the fish and when was the right time, in your head, to go and fish for it?
Rob Allen: “I’d been hearing about Tatton for years, but I suppose I only looked at it as a possibility in the last seven years. I kept thinking about it, but found a reason not to go for it. The lake is a serious challenge and I think you have to have everything in place to be able to embark on such an adventure. With fish like that, it could quite easily grab you and take over your life, so I had to be ready for the situation, should it happen.”

What is it about that fish that made you want to tackle such a demanding venue?
“It is the Northwest record and being from that neck of the woods, it made sense to fish locally for a change. I had spent a fair bit of time fishing in the Oxford area and loved it, but driving past that one was tricky. I was also fishing another local lake for a large mirror, so I had to decide on a cut-off point of when I was actually going to do it. It was around November time that I caught the big mirror and from then on I decided to begin the pursuit of the special Tatton Common.”

A beautiful morning in the park

When was the first trip to the lake?
“I had just come off Christchurch and dropped into The Park on the way home, just for a look and to digest the challenge that was ahead of me. I had walked it a few times over the years, and being a National Park it is a nice place to go and take the dog for a walk. I wasn’t expecting to see much, being 1.3 miles long and 300 metres wide. You can fish only from one bit of bank and with buoys in the water you are limited. Looking out, it was clear that you could really fish only 20% of 85-odd acres. It was days only too, with two large areas of out-of-bounds. Everything was against you and I suppose it is why so few people actually go and fish the place.

“I had a bit of time off that week, so went down everyday and spent the time plumbing up and getting an idea of what was in front of each swim. I wanted to know everything I could about the contours of the bottom, because I didn’t want to be plumbing up when I was actually fishing.

“I didn’t have much work on in December, so did as much fishing as I could. I fished around 17 days and didn’t so much as see a carp, but I was hooked on the place. Although it was a ball-breaker of a lake, it was absolutely stunning.

“I fished the centre of the lake and baited an area with all sorts; I even went to the tackle shop and gave them a big hit of maggots. I didn’t catch or so much as see any carp, but I caught a load of bream and tench and I was getting a feel for the place.”

Did you have an idea of where would be best to catch The Common, going on past captures and so on?
“I did, yeah; it was all about the ends really. I fished the middle section for a few reasons. Firstly, as a bit of a decoy, but also to allow to me view the lake and see what was going on. I had in my head where I needed to be for the spring, which was right at the end of the fishing bank. You had a large out-of-bounds area to the right and that was fenced off. This was like a reserve and the fish would spend a lot of time there. It was fenced off because of the deer, but there were gaps that the fish would swim through and on the other side was a snaggy oasis devoid of angling pressure. I knew this is where they would be a lot of the time, so I wanted to bait an area that was as close to this zone as was allowed.

“I found a spot at range and baited it every four days. Come rain, shine or snow, I was there. every four days putting it in. I was only fishing for 10 carp, with maybe 30 or so smaller ones that had come through, as well as loads of bream and tench. But I wanted that bait going in, to try and give those fish a regular food source.

“Because of the number of smaller fish in there, I couldn’t just pop down with a couple of kilos, so I gave them 15kg of bait each time, which was mainly particles and a mixture of Krilland Manilla boilies. At the time it wasn’t called Manilla, it was just a test bait from Sticky, so in my head I knew I had a slight advantage in that nobody else on the lake could use it. It was expensive, time-consuming and hard work.”

Deer and stags were everywhere and part of the place

Did you try not to miss a slot and be regimented?
“The only time I would miss it, would be if I was on holiday or fishing in Oxford. Even then I would drop in on the way home after being beaten up, cold and smelling, to put out a big hit of bait. I had to do it and once I had started I knew I couldn’t stop; this was the plan and I had to stick to it.

“In my head, if I missed a week I may as well throw all the hard work away and I had come too far for that, I had to keep going. It is hard to describe it but you know when you get addicted to fishing and you can’t stop thinking about it? I was the same but with the baiting, I saw the baiting as ending a successful session, I was that convinced it was going to work.

“There were also a couple of other lads fishing it regularly at the time, so I had to try and make my spot stand out.”

This must have had some effect on your day-to-day life?
“It was hammering me to be honest. I was going down before or after work. I would be at the gate for 6am, get to the swim and get the bait out, while keeping an eye out and looking for fish. I was constantly late for work, always shattered and it began to bring doubts in. Each time I would drive to the lake and question myself. At times there were torrential downpours, 40mph crosswinds and I would stand there with a 15kg bucket of bait and my spod rod, look out and wonder what I was even doing there. Getting that amount of bait out with a Spomb at 120-odd yards is hard work and I would be shattered before I even started work. I was lucky that other than tench anglers, I would often have the place to myself, which sounds crazy with a 55lb-plus common to fish for, but the nature of the lake makes you think that it is impossible to catch.”

Being a National Park you must have seen some odd things happen?
“You have around 1000-acres of historic park and it brings in thousands of people with it. I remember one morning the gates opened early, which they would randomly do on some occasions. I got on the lake earlier than usual and in the half light, as I pushed the gear to the swim, there were deer everywhere. A big old stag just stood there and my dog and me were trying to weave our way around him and the rest of the deer. They are not used to seeing people at this time of the day so they can act differently and you have to be careful.

“One morning my dog started kicking off, barking at them and instead of leaving the swim, 20 or 30 deer jumped into the water. They wouldn’t come back in and I couldn’t get my rods out. I had to walk off and wait for them to come out before I got back in the swim after it had been trashed by tons of deer. They can come up to you all day, swim in front of the rods and sometimes take you out. It can be a real nightmare and that was without the thousands of people that walk their dogs, chucking sticks at the rods and big dogs jumping in for them.”

Over 85-acres but you could only fish roughly 20-acres of it - and the carp were often found in the out-of-bounds Duck Pond

The amount of bank space that you could fish was limited

You must have been totally addicted to the place after a while?
“I found myself unable to sleep when I knew I was going fishing. It was a constant worry of someone getting down before me, someone poaching it and catching off my spot, I had all sorts going through my head. What if I didn’t wake up to my alarm? During the second season, I actually started to drive up the night before and sleep at the gate! I would have all the gear ready, pick up a Chinese on the way and kip in the back of the van, just so I was there and couldn’t miss out on a chance of getting on early or being first through those gates.”

When did you actually start fishing the spot after all that baiting?
“I did the odd day here and there in the winter, but I started fishing the spot on the opening day of the season, the June 16. I was so excited to get down there, so I left my house 7pm the evening of the June 15. I had a nice bit of scran en route and I had planned on doing a 21-day straight session.

“I couldn’t sleep, I had a disgusting old Transit van at the time so I slept across the front seats. There were a couple of other lads there that I knew were putting the time in too, so we all chatted and then got our heads down. When the gates opened I had my first proper session. I had a tench within an hour and the liners I was getting were unreal. I knew they were visiting the spot. The rain was coming in hard that afternoon and I was chatting to a lad next-door to me when out of nowhere one of the rods was away and it was a clear carp bite. I couldn’t believe it, I was shaking throughout the whole fight, even though I could feel it was a small one. It was a common of 19lb and to say I was buzzing was a major understatement. I couldn’t believe what had just happened; people go years there without catching a carp and I had done it on the first day of the season! Even with it being a small carp, that moment I felt, all that hard work had been worthwhile; what a buzz.

“I was absolutely soaked and had to be off within the hour, so I packed up, having plans to fish the nights on another lake. I got there, put the rods out and I was drenched. I sat there with a brew around midnight and just couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sit here and risk the alarm not waking me up, so I packed up and drove straight back to the gates of Tatton. That was how much it had gripped me, I didn’t want to leave the place.

“The plan to fish the other lake was gone and I was back to the gate at 2am. I put on a set of dry clothes; had some food and a fag in the back of the van and I felt good to be back, even though it had been only a few hours away.

“I was back in the swim that morning and I got the rods back out to the spot as soon as I could. I’d not even put the kettle on and the rod was away with another Tatton carp of around 17lb. My head was blown away and I couldn’t believe this was happening. All those doubts were banished and I was rocking. Those two fish meant the world to me; it proved what I was doing was working and things just got better from there.”

Rods out and back in the zone

By this point the spot must have been totally trashed after months of baiting, what sort of presentation did you go for then?
“When I first felt the lead down on the spot it would go down with a decent drop, but clearly through silt. By the time I fished it the spot was cracking down so hard. I kept things simple, with big, sharp hooks and either double bottom baits or snowmen.”

Did the roll continue opening week of the season?
“The sleep deprivation was taking its toll and it was mentally ruining me having to pack up at 5pm when the spot would start to become more active. Instead of sitting there and most likely catching one, I had to load up the barrow and walk half a mile back to the van. But I carried on and plugged away; there was nothing I could do other than plod on.

“The third day came and everything by this point was super quick. The baits were on and the reels clipped up, so I had everything out and sorted in no time. I was stood in the water with the third rod ready to cast out when the first rod was away. I chucked the third rod into the reeds and was doing battle with my third Tatton carp! I was over my thigh waders desperately trying to keep it away from the buoy. Thankfully everything went okay and I netted a low-twenty common. I slipped it in the retainer and set about getting that rod out to the spot. I retrieved the rod from the reeds, checked the hook and heard a beep. I looked over and the tip was pulling down and line began to tick off the clutch. I picked up into the fish and before I knew it I had two Tatton carp in the slings. All that work was paying off and the spot was absolutely rocking. The second fish was only a high-double, but I had caught four fish in three days’ fishing.”

Day-only fishing was demanding

Had you seen any of the fish in the close season while you were baiting up?
“I spent so much time down there, even if I wasn’t baiting I would walk the dog. If I was going to see them it would be in the out-of-bounds. The Duck Pond is at one end of the lake and is a ‘no fishing’ area, but people feed the ducks. As you can imagine you would often see carp in there, but I really wanted to see her. Jim’s Fish was the biggest in the lake and I was totally obsessed by it, but it was the first sighting that heightened that obsession.

“I won’t mention what time of year it was, but I was sat in the reeds looking at a group of small ones cruising around a weedbed. As I leant over for a better look, I glanced down and I could see a huge set of shoulders, right beneath me. It was her, Jim’s, and looked absolutely huge.

“I went numb; goosebumps shot up all my body and I got it all on video. The park was full of people and I prayed nobody would ruin my chance to observe this special creature. I remember a lad shouting at the top of his voice and all I wanted to do was tell him to shut up, but this fish wasn’t bothered, it was used to it and I watched her for twenty minutes.

“Having seen her here, some mile away from the spot, it made me change the baiting slightly. I began to go down with a blue, inconspicuous rucksack full of boilies and tried to put 10kg of bait out in a line down the lake. It sounds a little far-fetched, but for my peace of mind I did this for six weeks every four days. When it came to three weeks before the start I upped it to 20-30kg on the actual spot and did everything I could to get those fish used to feeding there. So the effort was paying off and it did work.”

Come rain, shine or snow, Rob was there as much as he could

Blimey, that is a lot of work for sure! Tell us about the rest of the 21-day stint?
“I had a couple of days’ blanking, before I got another take one morning. It stripped God knows how much line off me, I simply couldn’t stop it. When I thought I was beginning to gain control, pop! It was gone. I had no other thought in my head other than I had just lost it. I couldn’t get it out my head, even though it could have been another fish.

“I didn’t catch anything else off the spot during those days and I was convinced they had changed the times at which they were feeding. It was as though they knew they were being fished for and just kept away until the hours of darkness.

“I thought that after catching a few fish my mind would be at ease and I wouldn’t worry as much, but it got worse. I was wondering whether they were crashing over the spot during the night, or were they done with it? It was a struggle not being there, but the rules wouldn’t allow it.

“I couldn’t focus on work and I thought I would even have to go and see someone about it. My friends and family were worried and this was only the first year. It didn’t matter whom I saw, I couldn’t have a normal conversation with people. I would tell the guy in the shop about Tatton and I would walk out and think, he didn’t give a sh*t about some common carp!

“I couldn’t go out with friends, I had lost all social skills. I didn’t want to be anywhere other than at that lake. I would price a job up and almost put them off. It was getting silly, but I had started it and there was no turning back.”

How did the first year go?
“It started great and then it must have been around five weeks after that initial hit. I got lucky and the gates opened early. The rain was coming down and it looked bang on. I hadn’t got the third rod out when I got a bite. I was just holding on to this fish that was stripping line off me.

“I was in the lake up to my chest to try and steer it away from the buoy. After a 20-minute battle, I netted a big mirror. At the time, I didn’t know that there was a mirror of that size in there. I was told about one that hadn’t been caught for years, but most anglers keep things to themselves.

“I looked down in the net and thought I was looking at a near-40lb fish. I couldn’t believe what was happening, so I slipped the fish in the retainer and made a call to a friend. We got her on the scales and she went 36lb 10oz; a huge mirror for the lake with a massive frame. It was the biggest mirror caught from Tatton and one that rarely sees the bank, a fish known as Chestnut.

“I was totally blown away and from then on, I said to myself that I wasn’t going to stop until I caught Jim’s. It was making me ill and I needed to stop, but I told myself that I had to keep going and things were going to happen. I thought that I could happily leave the lake having caught what I did, but I wasn’t going to do that.

“I ended the year with five carp and lost one big fish off the spot. I had all sorts going through my head, but from what I had seen, I was playing with the idea of changing spots. I was sitting in my swim one day, thinking that every time I saw the big common it was the other end of the lake.

“As I sat there, I could see a carp swimming past the rod tips. I grabbed the glasses and ran down for a better look and it was her, Jim’s, looking huge and carelessly swimming past. I spent the next few days down the park but not fishing; I wanted to do everything I could to find this fish and try and learn as much about it as I could.

“At times I would find it, chuck a few Mixers and it would smash them. But this was in the ‘no fishing’ area and I just couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t have seen it as an achievement. After watching it for weeks, I decided to change the spot I was fishing. Tatton is an old flooded stream and I noticed that this fish would leave the out-of-bounds and I’d follow it until I lost sight. I wanted to find where the stream was and fish the other side of it. Eventually I found an area I was happy with and began the baiting process all over again for the second season.”

All the hard work had paid off

How did the second season start?
“I was blanking and it was hard going. My head was going and I had a trip down to Oxford for a few days. While I was there the dreaded happened, I had heard some news of a fish getting caught. To my knowledge that was the first one of the year, whether one had been caught illegally I don’t know, but I was gutted. I couldn’t get down for a while as I had my brother’s wedding the following weekend. It was that bad I didn’t even want to be there, which is terrible, but that was the extent of the obsession.

“I did a couple of days the following weekend, two days before the full moon. I was on Saturday morning and the gate was opened early. I got everything sorted and it was around 7am when I got a bite. The new spot I was fishing was in an old woodland, which could have caused me some problems. Where the woods were on the bank, years ago they stretched across the lake to the other side. When it flooded, they trimmed the trees and left little stumps. My lines were going over all that and I had to keep the rod up high. Sometimes I would reel in and catch one, it was a nightmare. I was flapping while playing that one and I couldn’t believe that I had a bite so soon after coming back to the lake after a few weeks away.

“Thankfully the fish was on the surface, which allowed me to keep the line up and out the water as much as possible. The fish went to the right, away from an old sunken tree that I knew was to my left. I knew it was a good fish and when it went into the net, I dropped to my knees. It was an unbelievable carp, perfect in every way and I got a friend to give me a hand with this 32lb 8oz common.

“The fish were having it and I won’t go into it too much, but there were things happening while I wasn’t there. I knew something was going on and spoke to my business partner and told him I needed a bit of time to go fishing; I had in my head ‘something was coming’.”

A new Cheshire record!

Were you still baiting heavily?
“I was, yeah, every four days. I won’t lie though, the second year I did things a bit differently. To save time and knowing people weren’t around, I would swim the bait out on my large unhooking mat and tip it all over the spot. I could be in and out in minutes and it saved a lot of time!

“I sorted out with my business partner to have Thursday and Friday off and to fish the weekend. I got everything out on the Thursday and actually saw movement on the spot, which I hadn’t seen before. To see a carp there was unheard of and it looked so good. My confidence was brimming and before I got the brolly up, I was in!

“The take was like the other big fish that I’d caught and I knew it was going to be similar. It was gone, I just held on as the braid burnt my fingers trying to stop it. Eventually I managed to turn it and from the minute I did, I could feel the heavy weight plodding along. I knew which fish it was from that moment and I was shaking frantically. My body melted and the fish went the direction I wanted it to and everything was going to plan. It was like I was bringing in a bin bag, it didn’t take any more line, it would just plod around and occasionally shook its head.

“It was around 20 yards away, its mouth popped out and a chuff of bubbles surrounded it; it was unmistakably her. You could drop an apple down there and it wouldn’t touch the sides; this thing was colossal. I can’t even explain the way my body felt, but when that fish went in the net, I felt my life flush back in to me.

“I had lost my life, I was depressed in fact, but that moment changed everything. I shed a tear, put my head in my hands and I was shaking. I secured the net and made my way back to the brolly, a total emotional wreck. I called young Jack, who had been on this journey with me from the start, who had helped me in so many ways I couldn’t begin to explain it.

“It wasn’t a phone call saying I had it, get down. It was like a dream, I spoke softly and told him and knowing me so well, he knew it was over. I phoned Scott Lloyd too, who had also gone through a daunting challenge of his own in pursuit of a large common. He was local, but couldn’t make it down to help with photos, so I had to try and find someone handy with a camera. I called Tim Rowland who knows the guys at Sticky really well and Dan was filming in Yateley, but amazingly Jake was doing a shop fit a few miles up the road. In fact, Jake and Marcus actually passed Tatton 10 minutes before I called them, so they turned back and were there straight away.”

She was the most incredible creature I have ever seen

What was the moment like, can you even remember it?
“By now there were a few lads in the swim and luckily a friend filmed it all, otherwise it would have all been one big blur to me. When we got her out it was special, to see such a magnificent creature on the bank will live with me forever. She looked immaculate, and huge too.

“I still cannot believe that I caught it to this day. We zeroed the scales and she went 57lb 4oz: the Cheshire record. For that area of the country it was absolutely huge. The adrenaline and buzz helped me through holding her for the photos and it was a dream come true; such a special carp.

“As much as the day sessions, the restrictions and the low stock kills you, it wouldn’t be the challenge and achievement as it is. Some say it would be great if you could night fish it. Yeah, it would be more manageable, but then the place would be busy and turn into another circuit water. Tatton is what it is: One of the biggest tests in fishing, and to have done it, I feel that I have achieved so much on a personal note and learned so much too. No matter what turns up in that lake in the future, I will never wet a line there again. It made me physically ill and I couldn’t and wouldn’t put myself put my body through that again.”

Dreaming

Amazing achievement. Where to next?
“It will be Stoneacres for a bit of enjoyable fishing. It is a lovely lake, with an incredible stock of carp. It is a pleasure just being there; the people are great and I can spend the next few years’ angling there, just enjoying it.”

A moment that will stay with him forever