Cliff Hatton
Well-known member
I know where Martin Gay caught his incredible haul of huge commons including the famous 50lber. No, I have no intention of revealing the whereabouts because such revelation was expressly what Martin, who died suddenly and prematurely 14 years ago, did not want.
Those who followed last year’s string of powerful, informative articles from Eddie Benham and I will undoubtedly recall the strength of feeling among those who believed the massive fish to have come from somewhere in Canada; those who SAID, without a shred of evidence, that the massive fish were caught from Lake Ontario and those who KNEW the fish were caught in this country. Those in this latter group were close friends of Martin whose testimonies were utterly consistent. In addition to this, it was proven that Martin was in Hornchurch, Essex, attending a club meeting at the time he was supposedly catching carp 4,000 miles away in Canada. In any case, the stories peddled by the chairman of the Carp Society’s ‘Steering Committee’ were, by any standard, fanciful beyond words; indeed, they were absurd.
At this early point, there most certainly will be readers asking themselves why this ‘revelation’ was not made by me at the time. The answer is both truthful and simple: it just hadn’t dawned on me until the FishingMagic debate was coming to a close. The fact is it was me who had shown this incredible water to Martin three or four years before he decided to go back for a thorough exploration. Had I fished it when I first found it OR by ‘invitation’ when Martin discovered its potential years later, it could well have been yours truly posing with the record-breaking common carp and taking steps to keep the venue secret – and I would have!
I have always loved Ordnance Survey maps. I can pore over a single map for a couple of hours or more, finding them every bit as absorbing as a really good book. From my early twenties and right into my fifties I thought nothing of satisfying my curiosity for a patch or a ribbon of blue by driving as much as 200 miles overnight in order to be by the water at dawn. One such venture saw me drive to the River Banwy in N.W Powys when a huge chub of 8lbs + was reported many years ago, 1994 perhaps. It was on one of these many trips that both Martin and I used to make - quite independently of each other – that I discovered a lake full of potential and nicely off the beaten track...
I’d seen no fish but my intuition told me it was well worth a return visit with some gear when the season eventually opened. I got home fairly late the same day and phoned Martin next morning to tell him about my discovery. There was no great urgency to return so it was, as I recall, some weeks before we set off together armed with Polaroids and a packed lunch.
The lake was reached via a little-used public footpath and after a walk of perhaps ten minutes we were able to see the distinctly blue water through the thick copse of hawthorn. Pushing through, we found ourselves standing on a narrow gravel bank and looking down through 8-10 feet of clear water. No more than thirty seconds passed before a group of around ten good carp appeared and circled the swim like fish in an aquarium! Indeed, this was how Martin described it between gasps of disbelief and sheer merriment (I can hear him laughing now…) None were monsters or what you might call big fish but they were good ‘uns up to 15-16 lbs. Martin and I would have been in plain sight of these fish but it’s very likely that they’d had little experience of Human intervention.
In due course they moved on so Martin and I edged our way along the waters-edge, stooping all the time to avoid the hawthorns. As we made our way around a bay we were able to get a fuller picture of the area and one or two major features were noted. We didn’t circle the whole lake, opting to sit upon a hillock and eat our lunch by a small promontory which effectively marked the end of the bay. We saw no more fish but we did feast our eyes on this gorgeous piece of water before returning to the car and that – as far as I was concerned – was that. But Martin always was one with an eye to the future whereas I always lived for the day, basically. It is only now that I understand how Martin would have ‘clocked’ that lake with an entry in his mental diary…
When Martin eventually returned and made his phenomenal catches he chose long-time friend and fellow committee member, Eddie Benham, to proof-read his accounts and to flag-up anything that might betray the lake’s location. Now this was Martin through and through. He could have asked Eddie to scrutinize a complete pack of lies but Martin was a scrupulously honest man who’d have wanted to tell the truth without giving too much away. Based on what he read and was told by Martin in general conversation about his captures, Eddie built up a mental picture of the lake and its surrounds and subsequently drew a map of an area he – Eddie – could not recognize. Fortunately, Eddie hung on to his map for years, along with all those wonderful magazine clippings, letters and meeting-minutes he used to such devastating effect in his excellent articles of 2015.
Eddie Benham: life-long angler and close friend of the late Martin Gay.
The ‘Martin Gay 50lber’ saga lasted some six months with Eddie and I innocently and honestly seeking only to establish that Martin had never fished for carp in Canada and that the fish he caught came from a British water. It was only toward the end that I remembered the day I took Martin to a lake where…that was it! I excitedly phoned Ed and asked if he still had his map. He had, and a day or two later we were sitting in his front room with his artwork spread out on the coffee table. Immediately, I could see it was the place I’d taken Martin to in or around 1986 because certain features were just too prominent to be coincidental; I wouldn’t exactly say the map could be transposed over an official map of the area but it was just too accurate and appropriately annotated for it not to be the water.
Whether or not the water was free or private at that time I don’t know, but I can tell you that it’s private today, in this country and that it has produced carp to 24 lbs for one lucky ****** who’s had a dabble. Would I stake my life on my claim? Probably, yes.
Those who weren’t following the big debate last year would be forgiven for thinking ‘so what?’, but followers of that battle will, I think, appreciate this extra, final chapter in the ‘Martin Gay 50lb Carp’ story
