pmeares17
11-21-2001, 10:42 PM
Britain's most celebrated fish, Mary, a 56-pound carp, dies at age 32
Reuters — Aug. 22
LONDON — Britain's biggest freshwater fish has had its chips after suffering a suspected heart attack.
The 56lb (25 kg) monster — a male carp mistakenly called Mary by one of the first people to catch him — died aged 32 after reaching celebrity status among British anglers.
“ Mary wasn't just a fish, Mary was the queen of all carp ”
— Website post by veteran angler
"Mary will be greatly missed by millions of anglers," Ian Welch, manager of the lake where Mary lived near Staines, Middlesex, said on Monday, Aug. 20.
"It held the British carp record and was the largest fish ever born and bred in this country."
The carp was only 10 inches long when he was introduced to the lake in 1972, but he grew to more than 10 times the size of an average salmon.
Only two or three anglers caught Mary during each nine-month season, tempting him with bait ranging from sweetcorn to bread.
"It was a very large and powerful fish and you needed a strong line, big hooks and lots of stamina to catch him," said Welch. "He would fight for up to an hour and a half before giving up."
Carp fishing websites and magazines have been inundated with tributes to the great fish, which died earlier this month.
"Mary wasn't just a fish, Mary was the queen of all carp," said one veteran angler on the website of RMC Angling. "So many of the best anglers in the world have sat on that lake for ages desperate to catch her, ignoring everything else in life."[COLOR=blue]
Reuters — Aug. 22
LONDON — Britain's biggest freshwater fish has had its chips after suffering a suspected heart attack.
The 56lb (25 kg) monster — a male carp mistakenly called Mary by one of the first people to catch him — died aged 32 after reaching celebrity status among British anglers.
“ Mary wasn't just a fish, Mary was the queen of all carp ”
— Website post by veteran angler
"Mary will be greatly missed by millions of anglers," Ian Welch, manager of the lake where Mary lived near Staines, Middlesex, said on Monday, Aug. 20.
"It held the British carp record and was the largest fish ever born and bred in this country."
The carp was only 10 inches long when he was introduced to the lake in 1972, but he grew to more than 10 times the size of an average salmon.
Only two or three anglers caught Mary during each nine-month season, tempting him with bait ranging from sweetcorn to bread.
"It was a very large and powerful fish and you needed a strong line, big hooks and lots of stamina to catch him," said Welch. "He would fight for up to an hour and a half before giving up."
Carp fishing websites and magazines have been inundated with tributes to the great fish, which died earlier this month.
"Mary wasn't just a fish, Mary was the queen of all carp," said one veteran angler on the website of RMC Angling. "So many of the best anglers in the world have sat on that lake for ages desperate to catch her, ignoring everything else in life."[COLOR=blue]