Benson the Monster Carp: WHAT?

End of the line for Benson the monster carp:

http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINTRE5735A220090804

"British anglers were in mourning on Tuesday over the death of Benson, believed to be the country's largest common carp."

Was voted Britain's Favourite Carp in 2005. Has been caught more than 60 times.

Almost nothing about that article makes any sense to me.

Maybe it committed suicide after all the catch and release trauma.

(xpost) ...annnnnnnnnd welcome to England! All that story needs is some cricketing jargon, a thin layer of Marmite, and some Spotted Dick, and it would be completely unintelligible to Americans.

Well I'm not American, and I love & understand cricket & eat marmite regularly (but never tried spotted dick), and seriously it seems like this article comes from some weird Narnia/Hogwarts twilight zone.

huh

Britain's favorite carp, a household name.

this article makes perfect sense. what is it that you find bemusing?

The fact that there is a gigantic fuckoff carp that is allegedly a "household name" in your country?

among anglers

He was a big fish in a little pond. RIP big guy.

^^^ LOL

I understand the article, it's just the choice of words that throws me...

"weighed as much as a medium-sized dog"
"It caught me by surprise"
"the fish may have been poisoned by uncooked nuts"
"I know it is only a fish but it really is a very sad loss."

...it's like a rejected Chris Morris sketch.

"poisoned by uncooked nuts" is a very interesting detail, yeah

Apparently, some anglers use their nuts as bait...

They dip them in your soup - bloop!

Juggalo anglers mourn the death of Benson the Wicked Carp

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs29/300W/f/2008/114/a/9/Hip_Hop_Fish_by_nedashi.jpg

Actually, Dan:

http://www.myspace.com/juggalofish

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/JuggaloFish/VF/JuggaloFish-ProfileName02.gif

Was voted Britain's Favourite Carp in 2005.

I wonder who were the other candidates for this prestigious title?

Man, there's just this tiny, tiny part of me that wishes I was young, living in rural Illinois, and not having anything going for my life.

(xpost) They were just small fry...

http://www.ukcarpdirectory.com/

this is an entire other level of crazy to me

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article6737796.ece

yam xp

the country's largest common carp

He was only a commoner! Not middle or upper class at all, what's everyone mourning about?

If you look at it long enough, carp looks like a typo :-(

he will swim on in the waters of our hearts and minds forever...as every few weeks we reel him in, heavier then before, then let him go once more.

every few weeks we reel him in, heavier then before, then let him go once more

Just another day in the life of Morrissey.

they actually called him "the people's carp" on bbc

The thing that made Benson famous was her accessibility. Unlike other big carp, she was a day-ticket fish — anyone could go along and try to catch her.

Britain’s biggest carp at the moment, Two Tone — 67lb 14oz — is in limited access waters run by Mid Kent Fisheries. There is a waiting list to get in.

Everyday anglers loved her because there was a chance they could have their photo taken with one of the big fish. If you had her and a few others, you could point to a track record. There’s a lot of elitism in the sport and some serious anglers did not like her because she was open to everyone.

The slut!

You never her

I wrote an article about someone catching Two Tone last year.

BTW in that post Tuomas I'm more impressed by the fact it proves that people are weird gatekeeping jerks in the same manner in every hobby.

Killed by anglers with uncooked nuts. Is this some kind of coming-of-age circumcision type thing for anglers?

fish are very partial to tiger nuts - but only if they are prepared correctly do they become digestible. Basically some twat has tried to catch the fish of a lifetime and ended up killing a very large, very sought after fish. It's pretty basic knowledge amongst fishermen too, so it's a very special level of twattery to do it.

lots of v v ignorant posts above btw, but then this is Ilx so I should expect it.

fish are very partial to tiger nuts - but only if they are prepared correctly do they become digestible.

I...don't...want to know.

Most of the posts are just meant to be funny. Chill. (xpost)

ILX: v v ignorant about carp, nuts

Yeah, were just a bunch of carpists.

Hold on, are "tiger nuts" nuts from some plant, or from an actual tiger? Because if it's the latter, it indeed is a very special level of twattery to castrate an innocent tiger to catch a common carp.

Benson was caught so many times, she probably died from carpal funnel syndrome.

oh stop carping on about it...

This is important, you can't just sweep it under the carpet.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/108/290394345_47fb13a401.jpg

If you're holding a tiger by it's nuts, is it unable to bite you?

Porkpie, yeah I think tiger nuts are banned on a lot of stretches of water, probably because of this.

Also, I'm not at all surprised by the 'twattery' of some anglers. I've witnessed or heard of a lot of fishermens total lack of respect for the fish or waters they're on. Including club members too.

We came across a dead 10lb plus barbel washed up on the river Ribble banks a couple of weeks ago, an angler told us that a few days ago some kid had caught it but had been so excited that he'd spent ages holding the fish out of water trying to take a photo of it. The fish didn't recover when he put it back in the water, obviously.

Britain's Jauntiest Carp

I thought the point of fishing was to catch the fish and eat it... I had no idea etiquette says you have to release it once you've taken a photo.

http://rlv.zcache.com/holy_carp_bumper_sticker-p128434523648784426trl0_400.jpg

rip heaven needed uncooked Tiger nuts in the belly of a popular carp

http://www.mullsports.com/images/roachman.JPG

this is benson btw
http://www.carpcrazyangling.com/Benson.jpg

we know, for he is after all a household name

What's the fish called?

http://www.arcadiaclips.com/media/Murder_by_Death-Bensonmum.mp3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTVXfCbos-o

In all seriousness, that is some cruel shit, hauling that poor fish out of the water 60+ times with barbed hooks through parts of its head, waving it around while it suffocates for a while, then putting it back in for someone else to do the same. Like Guantanamo for carp.

ˆˆˆˆˆsounds like a friend of mine forcing me to listen to a series of Phish tour tapes.

nobody uses barbed hooks anymore, for coarse fishing.

Unbarbed hooks, oh well that's ok then. Bet the fish loved it.

Suprised americans would find this weird when they chase giant catfish in the exact same manner all the time?

fish love being caught, just look how excited they get on a tight line!

barbed hooks cause a right mess to the fish, when people try and remove them.

was that one episode of the Simpsons based on Benson?

I miss fishing...I haven't done it for at least 12 years. We always used barbed hooks, but our intent was to eat their delicious bodies. And delicious their bodies were.

My dad had caught some rainbow trout one night when we had my first boyfriend over for dinner. He didn't like fish at all, he said, but he agreed to try a bite. "Wow, you make fish REALLY GOOD!" he said, and took a whole one. It turns out his previous opinion was based on the only fish he'd had before, Gorton's fish sticks.

It's cool if yer gonna eat them. As a non-veggie I can hardly complain about that. But there is a strange moral blindspot about fish - what if people started catching birds in the same way?

Suprised americans would find this weird when they chase giant catfish in the exact same manner all the time?

I'd respond to this but I have a giant catfish I have to go chase.

Guys, do you know about the alligator gar? They give me the FEAR.

The longnose gar, however, is kinda cute imo:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/491893879_f55100ee6e.jpg

wtf at THIS:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/bigtimebowfishing/DSC00350.jpg

I mean what the fuck

what a load of carp...

two tragedies in one day: rip also to britain's most famous goat.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5978273/Britains-most-famous-goat-dies.html

I am not against fishing, or anything, but there really is something kinda hilariously formalistic and meta about catching the same fish again and again dozens of times until it dies.

Goat Major Sergeant David Joseph said: "He was always busy with charity work, weddings and school visits.

this dude has the best job title

Shiiiit, I saw this champ looking suave outside a hotel the other week and regualarly drink in a pub named in his honour - RIP big man

Pour one out, let the goat eat the empty can

We're all sad the goat just died today, well, well, well
We're sad enough to cry, cry-ay-ay-ay
Sad the goat just died tonight
We're sad, his funeral's gonna be out of sight

Ah, man. When you're a young and invincible goat, you kid yourself that you're gonna bleat death and live forever. Too baaaaaaad it's not true.

Suprised americans would find this weird when they chase giant catfish in the exact same manner all the time?

... Because they're tasty?

quantity has a quality all its own

http://www.team-swap.com/Images/catfish.jpg

Are lil' kittenfish cute?

Nothing better happen to that penguin in the Norwegian army. (Nils Olav: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/1495503.stm)

I'm too drunk to read this whole thread, but can anyone confirm or deny that Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard was one of th lucky souls who caught this carp while it was alive?

he's on dis tench no pike lol

i caught my first ever mirror carp last week, which was pretty exciting even though it was only a tiddler (in carp sizes)

I've never properly carp fished though, ie never bothered with hair rigs, boilies or camping out for hours waiting for a bite.

Been hugely successful this year with my personal fave fish - the tench. Although as the summer has gone on they've become less and less eager to feed, as is their way.

less and less eager to be stabbed in the face, maybe

you know lots about fishing don't you

i have never personally been impaled by a hook in the mouth it's true.

j/k. sorta.

i guess if you nothing about fishing, you cease in trying to offer any obnoxious or ignorant comments.

and besides, Jesus was a fisherman. So it must be okay, right?

yeah but i bet he coaxed them out of the water with his gentle hands.

Who knew that sitting on a small folding stool all day made you butthurt

Benson, one of the most sought-after catches in the country did commit suicide! I knew it!

http://digg.com/comedy/Benson_the_monster_carp_commits_suicide_Whoppa_net

Daily Show ran this as the top story on Thursday night.