'Biography' of Chris Yates' Record Carp

[Pyrethrum5]

Hi,

I recently found this article by Kevin Clifford in the October 1980 edition of 'Coarse Fisherman' and thought that it might be of interest to this forum. Specifically there is a lifeline or biography for want of a better word for Mr Yates' Record carp.

Makes interesting reading if you can get a copy....

Regards,

Mark

PS apologies for the orientation of the images - couldn't work out how to rotate them prior to uploading....

[Gary Bills]

This is interesting, and raises the question as to how the weight had packed on so much over the "norm", when Yates caught it as the record. Let me be controversial, for devilment, and say, - we might be talking two different fish when we talk about the Bishop - because the Hilton forty has significant scarring on the operculum, judging by the pic, and the Yates 51lb 8oz does not..
I'll duck for cover now... Initially, Yates did not recognise his record as the "38"...

[Julian]

This is interesting, and raises the question as to how the weight had packed on so much over the "norm", when Yates caught it as the record. Let me be controversial, for devilment, and say, - we might be talking two different fish when we talk about the Bishop - because the Hilton forty has significant scarring on the operculum, judging by the pic, and the Yates 51lb 8oz does not..
I'll duck for cover now... Initially, Yates did not recognise his record as the "38"...

I thought the reason CY did not initially recognise the fish as the "38" was simply because it was covered in mud when first landed.

Also the '38' started to appear very regularly after the 1976 drought, and there are various comments about it looking increasingly larger throughout the period 77 to 79.
As for the scarring - there was a photo posted on a recent thread on TFF where a large carp that had chunks of its tail missing and damage to scales had regrown the missing parts of the tail and the scaling was almost normal again just a few months later.

[Gary Bills]

This is interesting, and raises the question as to how the weight had packed on so much over the "norm", when Yates caught it as the record. Let me be controversial, for devilment, and say, - we might be talking two different fish when we talk about the Bishop - because the Hilton forty has significant scarring on the operculum, judging by the pic, and the Yates 51lb 8oz does not..
I'll duck for cover now... Initially, Yates did not recognise his record as the "38"...

I thought the reason CY did not initially recognise the fish as the "38" was simply because it was covered in mud when first landed.

Also the '38' started to appear very regularly after the 1976 drought, and there are various comments about it looking increasingly larger throughout the period 77 to 79.
As for the scarring - there was a photo posted on a recent thread on TFF where a large carp that had chunks of its tail missing and damage to scales had regrown the missing parts of the tail and the scaling was almost normal again just a few months later.

I thought this might get you going...! However, I did once go through all the pics of the Bishop I could find, and that scarring remained over quite a few years, only to be absent when Yates caught the 51...curious...
As you say, Julian, probably eventually healed up...
Of course, that doesn't explain the sex change...between the time Bob Jones caught it and the time it broke the record...

[Mark]

PS apologies for the orientation of the images - couldn't work out how to rotate them prior to uploading....

I have turned the pictures around Mark.

[Tengisgol]

It may have been in the Redmire Pool book itself, and it might have been what Julian was referring to, but I read that the drought had led to the water level dropping and the shallows being exposed for a lengthy period of the summer.

The suggestion being that this re-invigorated the lake and its 'richness' leading to many of the known fish increasing in weight in the next few years.

[Pyrethrum5]

Thanks Mark for orientating the images for me

Irrespective of whether its one fish, two fish or ten fish, I still think it and the other Redmire carp are incredible looking fish!

Regards,

Mark

[Shaun Harrison]

It had dropped a rather large belly when Chris landed it for the second time and had possibly taken on/absorbed water. I am told this can be quite common shortly before a fish dies. I wouldn't have thought it's framework would have particularly grown so guess the extra 1 1/2" length was from measuring over the body rather than laying the fish on the tape for the true length. Would be interested if anyone knows how it was measured?

John Carver tells me it was definitely hooked once more after its record capture. I wonder what it would have weighed had it been landed? Probably slightly less but it could obviously have been slightly more too.

[Tengisgol]

I for one am quite glad that the fish was never landed again - obviously some sympathy for whoever hooked and lost it (that's a given) but the record book had a great story to tell then and there was so much that was right about the way it happened.

Call me a romantic but it would be wonderful to see a seventy pound monster from an unknown lake, to a deserving captor, caught in a nice traditional fashion!

[Carp Artist]

R.I.P. "The Bishop"