WORLDCARPCLASSIC.COM
AGAINST ALL ODDS CLIVE HICKS & KEITH TURNER
Home and Away
...Keith displays a fabulous English mirror, and Clive shows off a beautiul French common
was in action with another screamer. Into the net came another common that was a good twenty and we knew that we were in with a real shout, particularly if action had been slow in other areas of the lake. With the competition due to finish at 9:00 am there was no way we were going back to sleep and were waiting for the first hint of the sun over the distant trees. We had a couple of visits from journalists that
morning which we felt was a little premature. It is never over until the fat lady sings, but there were definite signs of her warming up in the wings! After what seemed like an eternity the rocket went
up to signal the end of the competition. We knew we were in with a shout with three fish for over 77 lb but it was hard to get confirmation that we were there because it was not yet confirmed that no-one else had caught overnight. It is like a slow dawning when you finally realize that
The morning catch report was a big surprise. We were the only pair to have caught more than one fish and we were a few pounds ahead .. the nearest weight behind us being Tim Paisley and John Lilley
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again – same procedure and it was beginning to look like we had got it sussed when another large carp was bundled into the net. Keith played a blinder with the landing net again scooping it up as it was just about to make another surge for freedom. As it happened, the hooklink snapped in the net which caused us both to breathe a massive sigh of relief. Another common weighing in at just under 30 lb this time. The morning catch report was a big surprise all
round. We were the only pair to have caught more than one fish and we were a few pounds ahead in the competition – the nearest weight behind us being a single fish from Tim Paisley and John Lilley. No further fish were caught at all during Saturday
and to be fair we knew now that the ‘feeding window’ in our swim was between midnight and 6:00 am so we took the opportunity to rest up. It was getting pretty tense now; we were in the lead going into the last night, but a single fish from any of the other competitors that had already caught would allow them to overtake us. We put the rods out to the same positions as the previous evening and sat up wondering what was happening around the lake. We were convinced that we could hear Delkims going off and that we were going to be pipped at the post. Dramatically, at 4:30am, the right rod, once again,
you have come in first and it takes a little time to come to terms with it! I suppose a combination of nervous energy and exhaustion, I have never seen Keith smoke so much or pace up and down the swim like that before. My heart was pounding too, but I tried to keep a cool head as we started the process of packing away to get back to the presentation - inside my stomach was really churning. Things then went from great to greater when Keith had a phone call to say that his daughter Marry Anne had just given birth to a daughter of 7lb 11oz, can you believe the timing! This news coupled with his mother making a steady recovery from her heart attack was all too much to take in at once, we were of course absolutely delighted. Collecting this prestigious prize has been a dream
for us. I am pretty much ‘unknown’ in the field of carp fishing and Keith is certainly not what I would describe as a named angler, (although his website
www.carpbookshop.com is quite well known and very popular amongst carp anglers), yet we had come through the World Carp Classic as winners! I think this is one of the great things about the event in that on a big water like Amance, everyone is in with a chance. So, if I was asked for advice for next time what would it be? Keep it simple, do what you do best and be prepared to try something a bit different. A combination of simple tactics good teamwork and lady luck got us through – and it is true that the harder you work the luckier you get! By the way, peg 51 blanked! n
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