Langman's Legend's - by Ron Buss
Having held numerous fishing records at Woking & District Angling Association over the years, trying to find something to suit my new thirst for fishing goals was a hard. Having held consecutively on two occasions the mirror and common carp records from the specimen lake and after much consideration I set my sights on Mickey Wheelers record of 27 carp from Langman’s in a season. Knowing the amount of effort that Mick put into catching this amount of fish and the type of angler he is, this was going to be no easy ride. However, this was my quest and the following account tells all that my season on this lake was to bring.
Langmans Lake has always been steeped in history and mystery, John Brough the former Head Bailiff held the surrey record for some 16 years with a fish from this water, tipping the scales to 33lb back in 1966 at a time when free lined potato was the going bait. In the near 30 years that I have been love with the lake many good anglers have pitted their wits against its inhabitants. The likes of Chris Ball, Andy Little, The Mintram’s and even my fishing hero Bill Quinlan from Redmire, all of whom have wet a line in its margins. In recent year’s Ian Russell from Heathrow Baits, Bob Newman from Carp Company have had a bat at against these ever elusive fish.
Looking at the lake, you would think it would be a knock over as it is only 6 acres in total with an average depth of 4 foot, at a glance it looks quite easy. Finding the fish in this lake is quite hard, they very rarely show themselves, when they are in the bushes they are often not on the feed and for quite long periods of time they just don’t play the game at all. Having several Large beds of thick lily pads, an island and several nice gravel areas to present your baits this lake is also home to large amounts of natural food. This is where the challenge becomes reality as a dozen fish in a season’s angling is a good achievement; stocking levels however have never been high. In John Brough’s time there were probably 50–60 carp in Langmans and to this day what with subsequent losses and re-stockings see’s the same number of fish swimming round in it today.
This season kicked off for me on July 18th 2006, after a bit of a struggle at the start of the first 3 day session, I managed to clip a 17lb and 23lb 8oz mirror. Returning on July 26th I managed another brace, a 31lb 4oz mirror and an 18lb 8oz common, thinks were slowly starting to come together but unfortunately after a 2 day session on August 26th which resulted in one fish of 28lb 8oz, I was unable to get back to Langman’s until November 15th. Being involved with Richworth as I am, I was field testing the new freezer bait KG1. On the 15th of November I had a 20lb 6oz mirror and the next day saw an 18lb common and “The Cobbetts orange” at 32lb 8oz in the book. “The Cobbetts Orange” had eluded me for several seasons and finally I had caught up with it.
My next session was planned to coincide with some really nasty weather, gale force winds and slashing down with rain. Arriving on Langmans on the 22nd of November during a lull in the rain I quickly got set up in pole position. Baits out and with brew on, the right hand rod at about half five in the afternoon was away with a 24lb 8oz mirror carp, with it safely in the net it was a good start to the session. The session concluded on the 29th November and during this time I accounted for no less than 11 fish, three 30’s and eight 20’s, things were really starting to shape up.
However, once again I was drawn away, not to return until January 12th, this was to be a six day session in which the weather was mainly strong winds and driving rain. High hopes were soon rewarded with a 26lb 4oz mirror and a 17lb common, just when you think you are on top of it all fate goes and dishes out a deadly blow, having had a real ripper of a take and a battle royale. “The AGM” was nearly beaten and heading towards my net, this fish is the biggest in the lake but was not to be my biggest as the hook popped out and I watched her sink into the depths just short of the net. Gutted or what!
I moved swims having spotted some fish in the margins on the far side of the lake and on the 16th January I had a fish called “The prehistoric” at 24lb 8oz, this fish to our knowledge is almost 50 years old and still likes to grace the mat on the odd occasion. The following morning at 05:25 another ripping run saw me into another good fish and once again I make the acquaintance of yet another old friend, “The Double Linear” at smack on 30lb. At half eleven that night another record, I was standing there with a 30lb simmo in the net the first ever simmo carp in this lake to hit 30lb and blow me I went and caught it.
No more action was to follow during that night but just after breakfast the right hand rod was away again and low and behold in the net was “The Slate Grey”, a fish that I had not seen since it was a double and at 28lb 8oz it finished of my session a treat. Being unable to return to the lake due to over seas services until the 2nd February just for a 3 day session I opted to go into “Pole Position”, at around elevenses my spirits were lifted with a 28lb 14oz simmo, these simmo’s are sure putting on the weight. No more action after that and unable to return until the day after Valentines Day. This was to be another six night session that started off a treat when in the evening of the 15th I had a 29lb mirror and this fish now equalled the lake record for fish caught in a season.
It was almost as if after this fish was caught that the whole lake shut down, the inhabitants content with feeding on naturals or just lazing under the bushes not to be tempted. Several of the regulars that fish on Langmans were to have a go but all to no avail. During my time on Langmans this year 99.9% of the fish have been caught during the hours of darkness. Imagine my surprise when on the 22nd of February after lashing two tuti fruiti’s 3/4 the way across the lake I was rewarded at dinner time with a ripping run. A real battle ensued mainly due to the range that this fish had been hooked, but after patiently playing the fish a 28lb 14oz dink slipped over the net cord. The record was mine, however this will not be the last of it because I now have until the middle of March to go on and build a better record worthy of any challenge. I suppose in retrospect the only other thing worth mentioning during these sessions was the fact that once again I broke another club record with a fine 13lb 6oz bream which beat my previous record of 12lb 15oz by a good 7oz.
My next session is planned with a week to go before the start of March, in these last few weeks of the season the fishing can be very special to say the least. An average end of season session can produce good numbers of fish; however this lake has a habit of kicking you in those round golden things. Never the less I shall try to push this new record a bit further if I cant bearing in mind the longest blank session on this venue is a consecutive 21nighs with not even a sniff!
