Benson (1984 – 4 August 2009) was "Britain's biggest and best-loved" common carp. Benson's popularity was such that she was caught 63 times in 13 years, although the accessibility that made her popular was also the cause of controversy among

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...

's elite. She has also been referred to as "the people's fish" and was voted by readers of '' Angler's Mail'' as Britain's Favourite Carp in 2005. The fish, who was female, was originally one of a pair: her original companion, Hedges, disappeared in a flood of the

River Nene The River Nene ( or : see below) is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in Northamptonshire.OS Explorer Map sheet 223, Northampton & Market Harborough, Brixworth & Pitsford Water. The river is about long, about of w ...

in 1998. Both fish were named due to a hole in Benson's

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

that resembled a cigarette burn, in a reference to

Benson & Hedges Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the ''Benson & Hedges'' name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British ...

. At her peak weight, in 2006, she weighed . Benson died on 4 August 2009, aged 25. At the time of her death, she weighed the same as a large dog and was worth £20,000. The owner of the lake where she lived alleged that she was accidentally poisoned by anglers using uncooked

tigernut ''Cyperus esculentus'' (also called chufa, tiger nut, atadwe, yellow nutsedge, and earth almond) is a species of plant in the sedge family widespread across much of the world. It is found in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Southern Eur ...

s as bait, though evidence points to the contrary (see section on death below). Another possible cause of death was the complications during egg production.

Fame

Benson lived in the Kingfisher Lake at the Bluebell Lakes complex, at Tansor just outside

Oundle Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough. The town is home to Ound ...

in Northamptonshire. She was one of approximately 150 carp in Bluebell Lakes, which are managed "to provide the best environment for growth potential of the fish". Steve Broad, editor of ''UK Carp'' magazine, ascribed Benson's fame to "her accessibility": However, this very accessibility made the fish controversial among the sport's elite: "Everyday anglers loved her because there was a chance they could have their photo taken with one of the big fish ... some serious anglers did not like her because she was open to everyone." Benson's record of being caught so often masks her unpredictability. "There was a period when Benson was caught every Monday for six weeks. Then it seemed that she disappeared for the next 12 months"

Death

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' reported in August 2009 that the fish had been "poisoned": It has since been confirmed that the most likely cause of death was not nut poisoning, but rather reproductive complications due to

gravidity In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional t ...

. Benson's successor as a popular and very large common carp may not live too far away from the fish's former haunt. "The same complex where Benson lived boasts a lot of promising 40 lb fish. There's one—the Z-Fish—that is ounces under 50 lb and still growing."

References

{{reflist 1984 animal births 2009 animal deaths Individual fish Individual animals in the United Kingdom Individual wild animals