The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Both are great accounts.

GregF wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:40 pm Mark is right, Shaun. The story did come out earlier than the Subsurface publication. John Carver told the same version on stage at a carp do (Sandown, I think) around 2004, maybe 2005. I remember thinking exactly the same thing then as Gary has commented here. Far from shattering any illusions, it made Chris appear a lot more down-to-earth and like anybody else, capable of ‘losing it’ in a highly-charged situation. I didn’t feel as if I’d been deceived by the tale as recounted in Casting at the Sun either. The book followed the tradition of the ‘heroic quest’ and as such, pretty much demanded a fairy-tale ending. All the effing and blinding and storming off down the track would have seemed out of place, although if Chris had included it, I’m sure he’d have written it in such a way as to make it quite hilarious.

Greg is correct I did tell my version of the netting at a Carp Society Show at Dunstable. I was asked by Bob James if I would be part of a "Tribute to Chris Yates" thing the Carp Society were doing. Bob was going to be the compare and several other anglers with a link to Chris would come on stage and talk about their fishing experiences with Chris.
Bob asked me about the netting and I told it as I remembered it, Chris was sitting a couple of feet away and heard every word, at the time, or after when we were chatting, did he question my account.
The fact that our accounts differ slightly is I think no surprise, it was a momentous occasion for Chris and pretty amazing for both Barry and I.
Chris had a real instinct for being in the right place at the right time at Redmire and was great rota company, a lovely man.

Personally one of the things that makes Chris Yates record so much more than just a bloke catching a big fish, is that he is an unlikely character to have captured a record carp. Walker was a genius tactician and all those after 'the bishop' have been serious carp men. I know chris was, at the time a serious carp man, but not in the same way. A simple hooked, played and landed fish wouldn't fit the man, the fish or the place it was captured. In my mind anyway.

Sadly the Parrot has been found dead this morning..

Shaun Harrison wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:42 am Sadly the Parrot has been found dead this morning..

Sad news......I imagine there will be a slightly different reaction in some circles that that which met the death of 'Big-Rig' a week or two back....

I guess rightly so although it wasn't Big Rigs choice to be artificially grown on and used and moved about like it was.

At least the Parrot did its growing in a natural state and was caught at its record weight from the water where it did its growing.

Shaun Harrison wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:41 pm I guess rightly so although it wasn't Big Rigs choice to be artificially grown on and used and moved about like it was.

At least the Parrot did its growing in a natural state and was caught at its record weight from the water where it did its growing.

Didn't Terry Hearn catch the Parrot in March of this year, was it caught again after Terry, how did it die.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GYZbx7Ds7U

They have only found it this morning but the fishery management have confirmed a autopsy will be carried out. It has been caught quite a lot recently which wouldn't help matters but most waters have been so low in oxygen this summer that a lot of fish have been struggling.
I've had to add aeration to my natural spring fed pool in the garden for the first time in the 17 years since I opened it up. I have always had carp in it but this summer several have been up gasping.

Shaun Harrison wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:41 pm I guess rightly so although it wasn't Big Rigs choice to be artificially grown on and used and moved about like it was.

At least the Parrot did its growing in a natural state and was caught at its record weight from the water where it did its growing.

Shaun, I question whether that fish did its growing in a natural state. A water that is being continually fed with high protein baits is no longer a natural water.
How big would have this fish grown if the high protein baits were absent,i.e in a truly natural water?

This is a quote from Carpfeed.com

Craig Runham was the last-but-one angler to catch the famous fish, at 64lb.He told Carpfeed: “I was fishing the lake next door and got a phone call at first light to come and see it.“It looked natural – no marks, nothing to say it was hooked or tethered.”The Berkshire angler added: “It was an amazing creature to look at, and I’m so glad to have caught it. That memory will live with me forever.”The Parrot had been caught five times this year and was once caught twice in under 48 hours, but Craig strongly denied it was a ‘mug fish’.He said: “The lake is around 20 acres and is fished by some of the best anglers around 24/7. There’s never a day in the week when it’s not nearly full.“Most of the fishing is via bait boats, so every rig is presented.“It’s the biggest fish in the lake and it’s got to eat – and it does love its food.“It’s not down to being a mug fish, or it needing a break, it’s down to the amount of rod hours on that lake. It took Terry Hearn two years to catch it and some lads have fished there for 10 years or more and not had it.“It’s a very sad day but the reason it came out five times [this year] is down to the calibre of anglers fishing for it.”


Best regards
Mem

“It’s a very sad day but the reason it came out five times [this year] is down to the calibre of anglers fishing for it.”

Sure it was.