Fisherman's tales of 'the one that got away' and the 'monster from the deep' are usually left a mystery, but in the case of a southern match water, the culprit of these stories has now been found.
Hawkhurst Fish Farm's Match Lake was famed for its huge weights, when back in 2009 a match record was set with anglers netting over 2,600lb in a contest, with the winner banking 682lb!
Over the years these numbers have been slowly decreasing, with average winning weights dropping below 200lb.
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Unsure of the true cause of the decline, with venue owner Tony Garnham-Wilkinson assuming the anglers might have been losing their touch, in the summer of 2022, part of the mystery began to unravel - when anglers reported hooking into a catfish they just couldn't get in.
Eventually, a catfish of around 32lb was landed but the stories of hooked and lost monsters didn't end there...
"We went as far as to offer a cash prize for the capture of the catfish that was terrorising the water," Hawkhurst office manager Jasmin Longhurst told us.
Fast forward to December 2023 and the lake was closed for bank work and repair, giving the team at the venue the perfect opportunity to net the lake and see just what stock was residing in there.
"You can imagine our disbelief when we found a monster catfish weighing a whopping 110lb!" Jasmin said.
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"At this size, the Match Lake fish were obviously the perfect snack, hence its incredible weight.
"We are unsure how long it had been in Match Lake, and can only assume an angler moved it over from Main Lake in the past, not realising the consequences it would have on our Match Lake stock."
After some debate, the fishery management team made the choice to move the monster fish into the site's Main Lake, so it can live in relative peace, without causing any more trouble for match anglers.
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"Our biggest catfish prior to this stocking was last caught at 88lb, and whilst we don’t expect this cat to grace the bank often, we look forward to the excitement of seeing an angler land it for the first time," venue owner Tony said.
"It certainly is a beast! Works on our Match Lake are ongoing, and the lake is being geared up to reopen in the spring.
"You’ll be pleased to hear we have also restocked the lake with small carp, to make up for the loss caused by 'The Hawkhurst Beast'."
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