Frequently in the shadow of its more famous neighbours, the North and Car Park Lakes, the Split Lake at Nutrabaits Yateley has recently slipped into the limelight.

The catfish record for the Split Lake was set by Dan Chart a couple of weeks ago at 33lb and Reading angler Gary Beasley has just matched it.

In two remarkable sessions on the fishery last week Gary netted the 33lb specimen and then returned the following day to take a brace of cats weighing 26lb and 28lb. All of the fish falling during the daylight hours between 6:30am and 5:30pm.

Gary also banked a grass carp of 22lb 10oz to set a new record for the Nutrabaits Yateley Complex. Grass carp are not numerous in the Yateley waters but a small head of fish are known to be present and are rarely seen and even more infrequently caught.

In addition to the catfish and grass carp Gary showed that the Split Lake also holds some fine carp with a mirror of 23lb 10oz which set a new personal best for him.

Gary took all of his Split Lake fish on 2.5lb Harrison Ballistas coupled with Shimano Baitrunners and 15lb Big Game Line.

The end tackle was an ESP stiff rig with T4 Raptor hook and 2oz flat pear led. Hookbaits were 18mm Assassin-8 surrounded by 20 to 30 15mm free offerings.

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