50's from six countries for Steve Briggs

Steve Briggs made history recently when he became the first person ever to catch 50lb carp from six different countries. His latest capture came during a six-day session on a private 80 acre low-stock lake in Belgium. In good conditions Steve started catching from the start on the difficult venue and after landing a small stockie and a 35lb mirror, he then latched in to the lakes largest mirror, a fish named Zeus which weighed in at 61lb 8oz! Steve baited a shallow spot in amongst thick weed with Club Mix and BYT boilies and matching pellets and was surprised by the action after fishing the lake on two previous occasions where he landed just one carp. Fishing at 150 metres range with braid, he used a three-metre length of 40lb Unleaded to keep everything down on the bottom in the clear water. 

Over the next two days the action continued and amongst eleven fish in total he banked two of the other known big fish both of which were commons, The Long One at 51lb 8oz and The Leopard at 42lb 8oz. After that conditions changed and the fish switched off but Steve was more than happy after landing his main target fish from the lake.

Steve commented: "I'm over the moon to have had a result like this and to have caught a big Belgian carp. The lake is very tricky and to give you an idea, there were just 27 carp caught from there in 2010 and the one carp that I had caught previously from there back in 2008 was in fact the only capture of that fish in seven years! But the big mirror Zeus was one that I'd seen a picture of several years ago and I'd always wanted to catch it so it was a magic moment - and of course to become the first person to make it 50's from six countries is a bit special too. Thanks to Theo and Jonny for making us welcome and for putting in the hard work to create this challenging but rewarding venue."