Oh My! Has it really been that long?

                Anyway, so whats been happening? As it goes last year was a total bust for the most part. Jurassic kicked my ass and really started to break my confidence, I don't think I was doing anything particularly wrong, I just think I was there at the wrong times but what can you do when working shifts and the lake is just a little too far to get to, for me anyway, for a midweek overnighter. I did a few sessions here and there but in September I had a 24hr tuition which turned in to a 48hr social with Mark Pitchers on Cromwell near Newark and ended bagging myself a new personal best and an original fish as well. Other than that the year wasn't great but I tried to make the most of what I had. So now that brings us in to 2016. This year on the other hand, has got off to a flyer!

                  As you may know this winter we saw some of the worst floods in Yorkshire, especially in the Leeds area. It effected where I worked and it made me realize the place I worked for was just not right for me so I searched around and found a new job, no shifts, better money and less hours, fantastic!

                 With the new job it opened up the possibility of doing midweek overnighters and I had my name down for a lake I hoped would take me on this year, so after waiting until the beginning of March and not getting on I decided to just tackle a local day ticket water, Millfield Pool nr Wakefield. The lake is stunning and it really has some gorgeous fish in the place but it was hit by the floods badly and had closed until the beginning of April. This meant it was a while until I got on the water and up until now I have done a few nights with no success but I am enjoying every session on it.

                 What I have been doing lately though is getting my match fishing on! Last year my little buddy Kieran asked me to join him this year in the Eric's Carp Champs (UK Carp Champs), The British Carp Champs and the Midlands Carp Cup. I thought, yeah why not, its a few weekends fishing and a good laugh as well. But going in to the first comp I found it to be totally different than what I expected. As the first match approached we did our preparation and ensured we had everything in place. We loaded the car the night before and headed over to Q lake in York for the Friday morning. After a good few walk rounds and checking the weather for the next few days we settled on a swim that was meant to be receiving a nice wind for the duration of the weekend, and a swim that was also first choice for most of the other pairs as well. The draw came around. The head marshal dipped his hand and pulled out the first names, mine and K's. We came out first. Unbelievable! Our minds were set and we said peg 2. Was it the right choice? Was it going to hold the fish? We kind of hoped it would and everything was looking great until we got set up and the hooter went. And the wind turned. Not what we expected at all. Thanks weather man!


                But anyway the fish did stay in front of us for a little bit and we managed to get a fish off the top very quickly. K dropped a cut down SLK pop up on the fishes nose and it snatched it instantly. A stunning scaly fish to start the comp. We were feeling pretty chuffed with our selves until we learned that Daz and Jase in peg 12 had already had 2 and lost one. The bulk of fish had definitely moved then! But we kept on going and just as the sun started to drop we managed another bite, this time I was the lucky one who dropped the floater not far from a few fish and a nice mid double common was sulking in the net. That signaled the end of the evening and we got                                                                                       the other rods sorted and in place for the evening                                                                                     ahead.

                Next thing we know an R3 is signalling a take at 3am. It was bitterly cold and a thick fog hung in the air and after a mammoth joint effort we coxed the fish in to the net and were greeted with a lovely double figure common that had a some stunning little markings. It was back to bed once the fish was secured in the floating sling and after a few moments the sun was creeping up over the horizon.

                We found that Daz and Jase had been absolutely dominating the fish they had in front of them, and the gent to their left was now catching fish. As was Chris to our right and the chaps to our left. It was a tense morning and no matter how hard we tried the carp in front of us wouldn't take a surface bait, zig or bottom bait for love nor money. After a while I suggested a slight tactical change and pinged a few S7 baits in to a gap on the reed line in front of us and followed that with a multi-rigged Milky Malt pop up. Kieran thought I was mad at first but not too much longer the rod hammered in to life and we landed another double. As K dealt with the fish I got a fresh rig on and hit the clip back on the spot and with in 20 mins the same rod was away again. Finally we had got a good few fish strung together. We were not out of the woods yet and went in to the second night fearing being over taken.

               The morning came and with it news that Jase and Daz were still hauling fish, and also that not much else had been out over night. Unfortunate for Chris to our right he lost one but upon getting the rod back out there had another bite pretty quickly. The reed line rod that had done us the two fish the day before also produced another bite which was lost. K said it didn't feel that 'carpy' so could have very well been a Catfish that had picked up the bait. For the entire match K had a rod sitting on a spot he had found from fishing the lake previously and we were amazed that it hadn't done us a fish yet. K hadn't long put a fresh Wraysberry wafter on the rig and got it back on the spot when it finally produced the goods, oh and did it produce! Not only was it a fish that we desperately needed but it was a pearl too. A stunning 25lb old scaly fish. And it sealed our 3rd place spot meaning we qualified for the semi-finals of the Erics champs. Awesome stuff.

               So the following weekend was the turn for our second match of the year, this time for the BCAC on a water called Merrington in Shropshire. K had fished the water a few times and was pretty keen on getting a good swim and felt confident we could qualify from 4 or 5 of the pegs if our luck was in. We were both not feeling that lucky as coming out first the weekend before certainly was lucky! But after a good few walks and chats we came up with a game plan. We had our first choice swim and K told me to go with my gut on the 2nd choice as it was a real coin toss for me. Anyway the draw came upon us and the first names were called, and our first choice peg was gone. The second names out, were us and that meant I had to choose, 2 or 9, I looked at K and knew which he wanted and he wanted it badly, 2. The look of relief in his eyes was priceless. To be fair I think we would have still qualified from 9 but we took the flyer.

              After carting the gear to our peg and getting sort our discussion on how to approach the swim began, to bait, not bait, single, zigs! Choices! As it turned out the fish let us know what they wanted and the backs out of the water and crashes lent towards zigs so we went with a two pronged attack. K would fish in the gully that ran along our boarder on zigs and I would fish the plateau to the left of the swim with singles and zigs to see what might be around. It didn't take us long to get in to the fish and those zigs rods just kept on producing fish! After a few hours and gauging the depth of water we were fishing in we decided to introduce a little bit of switch on to the hump to the left of our swim and it wasn't long before my Milky Malt was snaffled by a 26lb mirror! Awesome stuff! After the rig was put back we introduced a bit more bait but for the remainder of the match not another bite came from the hump.

             The Zig-Guru that is K just knew what to change and when to change it and we had a fair few fish from those spots. Not once did we feel our qualifing spot was threatened and come Sunday morning we both knew that we had taken first place and struggled to hold in the obvious with out jinxing it. But when that hooter went boy did he get a big bro hug!! My second ever match. And we not only qualified but won the match! Unreal! The support from the lads on the lake and team DNA has been unreal. All positives. Now we have a short break before heading to Kingsbury to fish Pinepool in our last qualifier of the year. Could we do the triple? Now that would be phenomenal!



Lets hope shall we.

A Fresh Start

Since I started carp fishing about five years ago I had done 100% of my angling on day ticket venues up and down the country. It wasn't until 2013 that I decided I wanted to focus on getting on a syndicate. I had been toying with the idea of finding a water at the end of summer last year and while I was away with my wife on our anniversary in Oct I got a text message from Julian Cundiff thanking me for various things (even though he had already done so much for me already!) and he offered me a slot on the syndicate lake he calls Jurassic Park.

I was blown away with the chance to get a ticket for this special water, as it is invite only. I was truly grateful and it didn't take me long to decide on taking him up on the offer and getting my ticket. I sent all the paperwork and joining fee away and soon had my membership card and details on where the lake was. However, at the time, the lake was in its closed season due to the shoots that took place on the grounds near by so it wasn't until the lake opened in early February that I could get down there.

The opening date was the 2nd of Feb and I decided I would do my first night on the 7th. I was so excited that the night before I couldn't sleep and the shift at work the next day dragged for what seemed like an eternity. The clock finally hit 2pm and I was in the car and on my way to the lake a few minutes after. Following Julian's directions they had me at the gate in no time and one of the other new members was already down there. When I got on the track I could see why he hadn't taken his car down, it was a bit boggy! However his car was a brand new VW! I decided that I would tackle the bog in my £400 focus and she was soon ploughing through it and out the other side and in to the car park.

I got the car parked and then headed around the lake for a little walk. I bumped in to Reece who was having a few hours and he told me that he saw a group of fish cruising around the area of the lake called the Point so I headed down there. Unfortunately I didn't see anything myself and with Reece being set up at the other end of the lake I decided to do my first night in the Point swim.

The night was uneventful but every moment had me feeling like I was sitting beside an lake that had fallen out of the history books and I took a long time to let it all sink in. Coming from the hustle and bustle of the day ticket scene to this was truly awe inspiring.

Early February On Jurassic

I packed away the following morning and walked the lake a few times before heading home to plan my next trip. The next few sessions also passed by uneventful but I felt with each trip I was learning more and more about the lake.

The water was so clear you could see the lake bed clearly which meant I could try and match my terminal tackle to it. It allowed me to see the small weed beds that would erupt during the summer months. I found hard spots in amongst the soft silt and put all this information in to my vault for later use.

After a few more months I felt that I needed to change things up a bit and headed to see Jase and Jase at DNA Baits. The guys recommended I switch from NuttaS to S7 as my feed bait. So armed with plenty of bait and a few days on the lake in early May I set out on my first long session on the lake. 

Having Used S7 Before Confidence Was High. 

After talking to Jules, who has caught pretty much every fish in the water, twice, it would be silly of me to ignore his guidance and he stressed that they certainly do love a bit of hemp on this water. So I got some S7 soaking in the famous seed and headed to the lake full of optimism and hope. Upon arriving I had a walk around the lake and while I saw fish in most areas it was evident that they were feeding in the shallows and I decided to set up in a swim known as the Inlet. With the water being so clear and shallow I flicked out a small lead and found a nice little spot nestled in-between two small weed beds. I decided that this would be a great spot for my main bait and then I would slip my last rod just down by my right hand margin.

It was a lovely warm spring day and the fish had decided that they would rather enjoy the sun that feed. I managed to get a good bed of whole and crushed boilie laced with hemp on my spot and two solid bags soon followed with out disturbing the fish too much. I have a lovely little mix of crushed hemp and halibut pellets laced with the mini crayfish pellet mix from DNA, a small amount of crumbed boilie add another factor to the mix. 

I coupled my bags with some hook-baits that I had been glugging for a long time, S7 and Wraysberry Wafters, I was pretty confident and settled back to enjoy the rest of my session overlooking the lake. The night passed by and as the sun poked it's head up I noticed several coots diving on my baited area, my middle rod gave a few bleeps and the bobbin raised slightly, thinking it was a coot I gave it no more attention other than deciding I would recast it when they moved off. Then the reel went in to melt down. At first I thought it was still a coot but as I lifted the rod and it hooped over I knew I was in battle with my first Jurassic carp. 

Recovering, Both Of Us.

The fish put up an amazing fight in the shallow, clear water. The morning sun reflecting from its golden flanks as it twisted and turned trying to shed the hook. After what seamed an eternity I slipped the net under her and gave a whoop, had a little dance and stared down at the common recovering in my net. I was overwhelmed. It had taken me several months and I felt myself improving on every session and to finally have cracked it made me feel fantastic. I left the fish to recover in my retaining sling while I got the camera set up and had a coffee to calm my nerves. 

Stunning Golden Scales In The Early Morning. 

After the commotion of the capture most of the fish had moved from the area so I brought the rods in and went for a little walk. It was obvious when I got down to the other end of the lake the fish had been feeding here as the water was very coloured under a tree line near the entrance, so I trickled a little broken boilie in to the coloured water and continued on my walk. I didn't get far when I was stopped in my tracks by a shoal of carp sunning themselves in the spring warmth.

One Of The Shoals In The Sun

A move was on the cards for sure and I headed back to my swim and packed the barrow. At first I thought I was mad for moving from an area that has produced me a fish already but I knew deep down that there was a better chance to be had at the other end of the lake.

It didn't take long to get the rods out, and even though I tried to keep disturbance to a minimum the carp had vacated the area for the time being. I knew they would be back, or at least hoped they would. I had a rod to the trees on my right margin, one on the spot the fish had previously been feeding on and my last rod further along that tree line on the back of a weed bed. Day soon turned to night and I sat in bed confident in the presentations and bait. As the moon poked out from behind a angry looking cloud I saw a fish top on the tree line spot and immediately stared intently at my rods willing one to signal a pick-up. It did, but some time later. The sun was starting to light the eastern horizon when my middle rod woke me, due to the weed I was fishing locked up but with a good drop on the bobbin, which gave me a really positive indication and I got to the rod just as the rod tip was hooping over. 

The fish made a run for the huge reed bed on the right hand bank and then decided it wanted to go left in the weed, it took me on a merry old dance but I soon had it front of me. Even in the dim light of dawn I could see the lake bottom in five foot of water and the carp used every inch of the depth to try and rid itself of my rig but the hook held true and I slipped the net under her. I let out a huge sigh of relief and then broke the net down, slid her into the retaining sling before hoisting it on to the mat. As soon as I lifted her I knew it was a new personal best and the grin spread even further on my face. I got rid of the rig and net then weighed her in at 25lb 10oz. I was over the moon. 

The Second Biggest Common In The Water, Made Up With This One.

The lake was alive in its spring beauty and my session had come to an end. I packed away and gave the lake a last glimpse as I knew I wouldn't be able to get back down for a little while. The next session would be almost a month later and that would be with my good pal Jules as he wanted to do a little bit of filming.

We had set the date and I decided to fish the night before but the fish didn't play ball for me. In the morning Jules turned up just as I was deciding on whether to move swims or not and we decided that to make the filming easier and session a little more social we would move up the lake a little. The fish were very active and cruising around an area of the lake in front of the hut so Jules wasted no time in spombing out some of his mush and then we got to doing some filming.

Spombs Away!

With that out the way we settled down to enjoy the rest of the session. Just before dark we were treated to the most electrifying storm I've ever witnessed on the bank. Thunder so strong it shook the brolly! 

The night was uneventful for me but JC did manage a lovely 20+ common and another smaller fish but had to pack away early the next morning and was gone before I was awake.

I had decided to pack away nice and slowly as the fish were in the area and feeding hard on the S7 and hemp I had put out the night before and I knew it would only be a short time before I had a run. Sure enough the middle rod soon screamed in to life and the fish kicked up clouds of silt as it tried to shake itself free of my rig. 

This Guy Really, Really Wanted The Bait. 

Soon it was safely in the folds of my net and hoisted in front of the camera. As with all the fish in this lake it was a stunner. Golden scales that had been brushed with sunshine. I feel so privileged to have a ticket on this lake. A real slice of old world carp angling ran by a bunch of great people. 

A few more sessions followed this one all ending the same way, with me scratching my head wondering what I was doing wrong! I was on fish, fish patrol routes through the weed, productive spots in the past, the same winning tactics, nothing. 

A few weeks after my last blank I received a text from the guys informing me of a work party weekend to install the otter fence around the lake. Something that, nowadays, is a 100% must have for protecting our lakes, our history and most importantly our fish. If we can not protect them, who can? The apex predator that is the otter, can decimate a lake as small as ours in no time at all. We must do whatever we can to protect our fish. 

I decided the night before the work I party I would fish, packing away early to help on the lake, and asked my daughter if she would like to join me. I was shocked when she actually said yes! So I got the car loaded, and loaded it was! Two bed-chairs, enough blankets to keep an Arctic expedition warm, food to feed the five thousand and finally tackle, the poor thing was bursting at the seams. We made it to the lake in one piece and got the house up, managing to get both chairs under the brolly (impressed) made life much easier, as I had visions of me sleeping under the stars and knowing my luck, I would find the only thunderstorm in the county! 

Crammed In But Snug As A Bug! 

We got tea, pasta and sausages then watched the Lego Movie and turned in for the night. At about 9pm I was wide awake and decided that I'd read the latest issue of Crafty Carper which had Dave Lanes capture of the Burghfield Common as its main piece. What a read, what an angler! How many folk (if allowed) would spend 3 hours cutting, sawing and clearing a new swim just to get the best angle on an area of the lake? Not many! I was reading about a previous capture he was outlining when my left hand rod sprang in to life. The weed in the lake was on the surface so I fished this rod in the clear margins hoping it would be a patrol route for the fish and I was right. A solid bag, Wraysberries wafter and handfull of crushed S7 did the trick and soon I was cradling a stunning upper double common in the net, another common, will I ever get in to the mirrors?! 

Sharing This Moment With My Daughter Was Unreal

As I looked down in the net of weed, carp and reed stems, I heard a little voice call out 'You get one Dad?' and I looked over to see a tired face poking out of a sleeping bag. When I said yes she came alive and was soon out of the bivvy standing next to me 'Nice one Dad! Can I take the pictures?' And of-course I let her. With the pics done we slipped the fish back and I got the rod back out, I had tied a few bags during the evening so all I had to do was loop a new leader on. Job done. 

The night passed in to early morning and I was woke by a savage take on my right hand rod. Fishing with a relatively tight line the fish still powered on, taking a bit of line. I hit the rod and the battle commenced with my second fish of the session. I was absolutely ecstatic as I was playing the fish and when she went in the net it was a massive buzz. The fish don't grow to huge sizes in this lake, but what they lack in size they more than make up for in looks. 

Terrible Photo Due To The Fine Mist/Fog But A Stunning Fish

We packed away a few hours later on and did some more work on constructing the otter fence. That, unfortunately, would be the last fish I caught from Jurassic last year. Not through lack of trying I can assure you! I must have done another five or six nights with no luck. using the same tactics, different tactics, single baits and big beds of bait, for some reason I just couldn't buy another bite. Like a good friend keeps telling me, you are always learning! And it is so true on this lake. You can think you have the fish figured out, know where they will be and what they are wanting. But they always manage to pull as fast one! 

The Little Linear. A Stunning, Stunning Fish!! On My Wanted List! 

While I was blanking, a couple of the guys got in to a few fish. Julian, as always, was having very good hits of fish but my man Alan finally got his just rewards having a three fish hit in one day. 

This being a stunning little fish and one I desperately would love to catch, and his big brother as well. 

Of course I have renewed my ticket for this year, I would be a fool not too, and I am hoping to have a few more fish as well. If I manage to land more than five I will be very happy with that out come. 

Thanks for reading guys n gals. 

Practice What Is Preached

In my last blog I covered what I would be doing for the most part this winter, and a few weeks ago I put those tactics into action and had a cracking session on a little lake near Selby called Birches. Here's how I got on.

The clocks have changed and with that came brighter mornings, however I was still up at dark and out the door just as the sky was beginning to lighten with a golden autumnal sunrise. The lake I was heading for, Birches, was only half an hour away so before long I was at the gates waiting for the bailiff to open up. Being first at the gate gives you a good chance of getting the swim you desire and I got the one I wanted. A swim called Lonely Point. It's predominantly a double peg but at this time of year the lake doesn't see too many anglers and those it does see, tend to be match/course anglers who prefer the wood bank and it's close pegs so they can chat while bagging some of the crack roach the venue offers.

I decided to set up on the right of the point and target the plateau shelf as I thought this would hold a few of the lakes residents. However, after a few hours nothing had materialised in the deeper water and I had seen a few fish crashing out in the far bay. The only peg that can fish this water is the left hand side of the point, handy for me. I decided not to put leads on there heads straight away but instead trickled a little bait in. Ten S7 boilies every 15 minutes or so and after an hour it was plain the fish were intent on staying in the area, continuity crashing out regularly.

The nature of the peg, there is a great big tree on the point end, meant that to reach the fish I had to put a lead around 80 yards away while skimming tree branches to my right and avoiding overhead phone lines half way to the bay, I had to punch the leads so they travelled fast and low, thank heavens for bringing my beefy rods!

I Hope That One Day I Will See It Again, But Bigger!

I moved all my gear to the left of the peg and then punched out my rods. On my right hand one I decided on a hinged stiff rig with a pink peril fluro popup. On the left a critically balanced bait, an S7 wafter tipped with a piece of white corn.

It didn't take long for the first fish after moving the rods and it came in the shape of a stunningly small but fully scaled mirror, this came to the wafter rod and left me with my confidence sky high! I soon got the rod back out and topped up the swim with another 15 baits.

I sat back and relaxed for a while but the clock was ticking and I was hoping to bag another fish before I had to go. Even though I got to the lake early I also had to be off before I would have liked. Anyway, with coffee in hand I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with the rig, was it tangled? Had I caught a leaf as it skimmed the tree? I stood up and was about to bring in the right hand rod when it tore off! Now the fish in this lake are possessed and go mental when they hooked and this little guy gave me a right old run about! 

I was blown away when it went in the net though. Without a doubt one of the most stunning fish I've caught, and I doubt it was even over eight pounds! 

What A Fish! I Was Blown Away. 

After slipping this one back I really was thrilled. The rest of the lake seemed to have quietened off but fish where still showing in the back bay I was targeting so I kept the bait going in. After a while I felt something was off and brought in my right hand rod. It was a good job as I must have caught a branch and the hook point was masked! So I redid the rod with a yellow PB pop up tipped with white corn and added a few foam nuggets to the rig before I recast it, but as I was just about too my lefty rattled off and then stopped. I had my hands full but dropped everything and hit in to nothing when I lifted the rod. Gutted, but I fired out the right hander and redid the left.

After I sat down and sulked a little from losing a fish I made a brew and stared out over the bay, another two fish showed over the area and then my left hand rod pulled up tight and battle was commenced. The fish kitted right and tried to get behind the point and snag me up but keeping steady pressure on it brought it around the point and it fought well in the margins. I saw it was a better fish as it was twisting and turning. I was hoping it was a twenty pound fish and when it went in the net and I got a good look at it, I was convinced it would hit twenty. And it did. At 20lb 4oz it was a very welcome fish for late October.

Lovely 20lb Common To Finish The Day Off.

It marked the end of the day but I really had a great time and on a day when I may have struggled elsewhere I feel I picked the right venue for the day and what I wanted to achieve, a few fish on the bank.

I also brought my cameras along and managed to catch some of it on film, I hope you enjoy it guys.

Thanks for reading.

Donk.

www.hobocarper.blogspot.co.uk