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Lure angler towed half a mile by monster carp

by Aidan Bordiuk |

Updated on9th March 2026 at 1.56pm

When fishing the canals and rivers of the UK, you never quite know what you might hook next. Yes, you can target certain species on certain methods, but as fish are wild creatures, they don't always follow the rule book, and when that happens, it can lead to some of the most exciting moments on the bank!

While fishing on the Lea Navigation, a canalised section of the River Lea, Nathan Mitchell had the shock of his angling life, when this huge 32lb carp intercepted the spoon lure he was using for pike, before proceeding to tow him half-a-mile down the stretch during an epic battle.

"I headed to the Lea Navigation for a late winter pike session with my trusty 7 cm spoon, but the day took a legendary turn," Nathan told us.

"As the light began to fall, my lure was hammered by something far heavier than a jack. Expecting a big pike, I struck into a massive weight that immediately began a powerful, unstoppable run," he added.

"I was using a Savage Gear SG2 spinning rod (10–30 g) with a Daiwa Ninja 3000 reel. For the line, I had 18 lb x8 J-Braid in Weedy Green, which is light, but thankfully, very tough!"

Not expecting to hook such a large fish, Nathan was a little under-gunned, to say the least. Desperate not to lose it and unable to stop it, he was pulled along around half a mile down the section of the Lea Navigation he was fishing, as the fish dragged him through various snags along the way. After roughly 45 minutes of heart-stopping action, he finally managed to tire the fish, assumed to be a pike, enough to get it to surface.

"I was so sure it was going to be the biggest pike I’d ever seen, until my friend Robo shouted, “That’s a carp!” I didn’t believe him until I saw the side of it in the head torch beam," he recalled.

"We managed to shuffle it into my Fox Rage net, which was a Three Stooges moment. I am a carp angler at heart, and while I love my carp fishing, no carp from the lake could come close to the thrill this one brought me. What a once-in-a-lifetime fish and a moment I will never forget, I am still shaking now!"

IF YOU FANCY TRYING LURE FISHING, HERE IS A GREAT BEGINNERS GUIDE!

The 'predatory' carp that couldn't resist Nathan's spoon

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