Castle Water Relics.

It was back on an afternoon in late August of 2024 that my girlfriend suggested I get myself down to the syndicate for a quick overnighter! Having known it to be a productive time of year on the lake I felt it only right to take her up on the offer.

I quickly packed my gear into the car and headed off on the short 10 minute journey to the lake! Having arrived i did my usual lap of the lake to see the members that were on and see if I could see any signs of carp. The lake itself is a beautiful old estate lake of around 12 acres with average depths of around 3-4ft! It is set in the grounds of an old Castle which dates back to the Norman period! Surrounded by sheep fields and rhododendron filled woodland it really is a scene of the ultimate tranquility. There were anglers dotted around in a few swims but it was far from busy. I decided on a swim known as castlebank 3 which commanded a lot of open water and was a known patrol route for the fish as they left the shallows and made there way into the deeper water throughout the night. It was a swim that I had not fished in a while so to familiarise myself with it I whipped out the leading rod to find some smooth areas of silt amongst the abundance of weed beds. Using the far island as a reference point the rods were deployed to 3 different spots with the furthest cast at just under 10 wraps. By the time the rods were out the darkness had slowly crept up on me and the bats were swooping around in full force!

I retreated into the bivvy and got my head down for what seemed like 5 minutes as I was awoken to a fox rx absolutely melting in my ear! As I was frantically attempting to put on my boots it sounded like the run had stopped and the fish had ditched the rig but I could still hear my spool churning! What had happened was the take was that aggressive it had pulled the rod off the bite alarm, and as I picked up into it the fish continued to take line! I was convinced that I was attached to one of the smaller male commons of the lake that like to whizz around but as I got the fish closer I could see it was a gooden! Once the fish was safely in the net I peered in with the headtorch and instantly recognised it was my main target, a fish known as swirly! A mega old common with a story or 2 too tell! I always wondered how it got that heavily scarred face. Was it damage ? or was it a life time of sifting through debris and exploring this historic lake.

Looking at the time I knew daylight wasn’t too far away so I unhooked the fish and put her in the retainer too sulk for a short time! I was feeling shattered and contemplated leaving the rod in but something told me to re wrap and get a fresh rig out there so that’s exactly what I did. Buzzing with what I had just achieved i tried to get a little more shut eye , but this was short lived as the same rod was away again and I was attached to another one of the estate lake carp! This fight was far less erratic and I was convinced that I was attached to a good one right from the outset! As the carp went over the net cord I could tell straight away which fish it was, a fish known as Big fin! I couldn’t believe it, my 2 main target fish were both mine all within about 30 mins of each other! The timing was perfect as the sun had just started to come up, so I composed myself and got the camera equipment together! First to be weighed and photographed was swirly and she tipped the scales to 33lb 8 oz! As I laid her on the mat I was in awe of an incredible creature with tiny pecs and a perfectly rounded, heart shaped tail! I could of stared at her for the rest of the day but being a really old fish i slipped on the waders and cradled her back into her watery home! As I watched her glide away I had nearly forgot i had another one awaiting it’s photo!

Big fin went 34lb exactly. This fish was the complete opposite of Swirly with massive pelvic fins and a huge rudder of a tail! As I let her go i felt a real sense of achievement! I have never been the type of angler to target specific fish but they were 2 very special carp! I could have stayed longer and fished the morning out but decided to wind in and get back to inform my family of what had just happened!

Our memories as carp anglers are often held not only in our minds, but in our photo albums. I often go back to this very special photograph of Swirly. Its scale patterns help imagine the life it has had. Swirly is a fish that tells the story of survival. Each misplaced scale, and each scar has a story to be conjured by the imagination of the angler. A truly special fish, caught from a private Estate Lake within the grounds of a historic hunt. This carp represents quintessential Britain. This carp screams – British Carp Culture.