STAFFORD angler Stephen Johnson has been the talk of the town after landing the biggest carp of the year in the country.
The 42-year-old process engineer, who first took up carp fishing in 1986, was midway through a three day session on The Avenue syndicate water at Badger, near Bridgnorth when he caught the fish, weighing a staggering 60lb 4oz, which is a Shropshire record!
It was only his third such session since last summer, but Johnson said:”I felt I was fishing well and I knew it was a big fish straight away, you know when you are playing it.
"It wasn’t easy to catch and it took me about ten minutes to land.”
Johnson had been enjoying a good session prior to landing the ‘big one’, with other carp catches of 21 and a half pound and 26lb 9oz.
Asked what he had used to land his biggest catch, Johnson commented: “Maggots, lots and lots of maggots.”
