Mike Willmott - Essential Baits

Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
Farewell! This chunky
mid-30 turned out to be the
last fi sh I caught from the
challenging Park Lake.
You either love the Park Lake or you hate it,
and for most anglers it’s the latter!
Due to the diffi cult circumstances involved
in catching the great fi sh, it represents the
ultimate challenge in carp fi shing. Most
of you will know by now that the fi sh in
question was The Black Mirror, a carp that
had graced the bank on just 12 previous
occasions, and one which is regarded by many
as being the most iconic carp of all time.
In truth, I should have fi shed the Mere
many years ago when I first set foot on the
venue, but alas, something always stood in the
way. It was now or never, but the 320-mile
round trip, coupled with an extremely busy
lifestyle and limited time availability, meant
it was always going to be a difficult task. Over
the next three years or so this ‘obsession’
was about to put an enormous strain on
my personal life, however, I was absolutely
determined to see it through to the end and
nothing was going to stand in my way.
Out of respect for the fi sh, the
environment, and those still pursuing their
dream on this venue, this series of articles is
neither the time nor the place to discuss my
personal campaign on this particular water,
other than a few brief ‘background mentions’.
It was, however, the most entertaining and
memorable chapter in my carp life so far and
I hope one of these days, when the time is
right, I can share those moments with you.
26
Fortunately, just as I was giving the boat
rescue operation some serious consideration,
the fi sh broke free from the snag and powered
off again. I couldn’t believe my luck – what a
relief. A further 10 minutes passed by before
I slowly felt I was winning the long battle
– then all of a sudden, for no apparent reason,
it all fell slack! I just couldn’t believe it. On
retrieving the rig, I found that the braided
hooklink had parted about 2ins from the
hook. Presumably the damage must have
occurred on the snag and it was only a matter
of time before it parted. I was gutted. History
so nearly repeated itself and I knew for a fact
it was a very big fi sh.
Soaked, cold, and tired, I retreated to
the warmth of my bag, but you know what
it’s like when you’ve just lost a very big fi sh,
especially in the middle of winter – the words
‘if only’ repeatedly go around in your head
and you constantly beat yourself up over it.
You give everything you’ve got to get that one
bite, hoping it’s the one that turns your whole
season around. Yes, this was definitely one
of those moments and it hurt like hell, but
experience eventually helps you get over it.
In such circumstances I always remind myself
that if it wasn’t for our failures, we wouldn’t
enjoy our successes. It’s an occupational
hazard that goes hand in hand with fi shing for
big carp. We’ve all been there at one time or
another and I’m sure we’ll all go there again!
Frank turned up the following morning
with his mate Charlie. We had a natter and
a brew before they decided to fi sh opposite
me for the day, but I don’t think they were
particularly impressed with the place and they
soon decided to abandon their Park plans
and head to a different venue in Oxfordshire.
Mind you, I couldn’t blame them, you either
love the Park Lake or you hate it, and for
most anglers it’s the latter!
Incidentally, that lost fish was the only
slice of action for several weeks at the Park,
which made it even harder to bear. The cold
weather soon returned with a vengeance,
which put paid to any further action before
the season ended.
Over the next several months I was just
using the Swindon Park Lake as a ‘stop off ’
venue because it was conveniently situated
about halfway between my house and another
venue I was targeting. During this time I
managed to catch a few more Park fi sh before
finally calling it a day, but the place will
always be a fond memory in my carp life.
THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
I was now becoming increasingly drawn to
another venue, one I’d been contemplating
for a number of years in search of a very
big mirror, which, in my opinion, is the
absolute pinnacle of everything that swims
– the perfect carp in every sense of the word.
Things were coming along
nicely at Springwood.
SPRINGWOOD’S FIRST 30
After having some early success on the Mere
I had to pull off during the autumn months
because things had got very busy back at
Essential HQ. Apart from establishing our
own fi shery/fi sh farm, Essential Baits was
growing signifi cantly and I could no longer
disappear into the wilderness and leave
everyone else to run the business!
Lee was now employed as our full-time bait
production manager, whilst daughter Kelly
was also drafted in to help with the day-to-day
running of the bait enterprise, alongside Deb
and Kim. It’s a hectic life for sure, and I was
averaging 15-hour working days (and still am)
during the busy months, but in all honesty it’s a
labour of love and I wouldn’t trade places with
anyone. Let’s be fair, I get to talk several hours
a day to customers/friends who share the same
passion, not to mention all the good friends I’ve
made from within the industry spanning the 25
years Essential Baits has been trading.
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