Goodbye 2013 Hello Good Times!!

For me 2013 has been a year of frustration and discovery. Frustrating because of my lack of discipline and it wasn't until late, very late in the season that I got my head straight and found a quiet little lake to get back to my roots and start racking up a good catch rate.

Early on in the year we were focusing on Q lake for Ks looming UKCC qualifier. The first session proved quite successful with a nice mid-double common falling for a small white hook bait cast to the bottom of a bar in early February. It was bloody freezing but I thought I was in for a good season.

Early Start To The Year

For 2013 I thought I would open my bait options a bit and decided to go for a split between DNA Baits S7 and Nash Baits Monster Squid Purple, and to be fair neither bait really produced for me during the year as I wasn't focused. I did manage another fish from Q lake over a bed of Purple MS and it was the most stunning fish for me this year. A big plated mirror. 

Very Happy With This Fish

Aside from the few fish from Q Lake I really struggled. For some reason I would always be late getting to lakes and being day ticket venues (Three Lakes being one of them) the better swims would be taken and I would have to try and make the right choice from the pegs that were free. And if I did drop in to the pegs I favoured I seemed to over complicate things and would run out of time before I could rectify my mistakes. But that's learning and towards the back end of the season I realised that I was over complicating, using rigs that were just not needed and it was then I went back to my PVA bag approach and started to catch again. A method I will never underestimate or ignore again!! I came back around after a good chat with Julian C after a depressing 48hr I spent on Three Lakes with fish in the swim and me being unable to capitalize, so thank you Jules. Helped me get my head out of my ass! And a big thank you to Mark Watson for reminding me a rig doesn't need to be complicated to catch fish and long live the Twisted Blowback! 

So late on in the season I was reminded of a small local lake with a great stock of carp were I could relearn the basics and get back in tune with my fishing. Strawfields lake as it came to be known. I never had anything big from the place but I never blanked, and always came away with multiple runs and sometimes two in the net. Simple solid bags or multi-rig pop ups cast to the edge of weed beds, reeds and over hanging trees never seemed to fail. As the water was a boilie free one I decided pellet, hemp and corn would be the way to progress and after putting out a few handfuls in any spot it would soon be fizzing with fish feeding and dropping a bag in usually resulted in a quick bite. 

Not Massive Fish But With A Bit Of Bait They Could Be! 

I've lost count of the amount of times I have seen lads turn up with a battery of rods and pods, chucking in handful after handful of boilie (which is only allowed as hookbaits or crumb) but then going home with a dry net because they had no intention on working for a bite. It really gave me a huge boost going back to basics and re-learning how to angle. 

With the weather dropping cold and the days shorter meant my fishing taking a back seat to work. I've had to grab as much overtime as I could to pay for my syndicate ticket next year aswell as saving for a house deposit but what fishing I have done has been at another of my favourite small waters, a little lake called Stillingfleet. There are two lovely big 20plus commons in the lake I would love cradle but until I get them I will make do with some of the most stunning fish I have had the pleasure to angle for. 

Lovely Commons In This Lake

So that's basically were I am now. I have my ticket for a very special lake next year again thanks to Jules for asking me to be a part of the lake he affectionately calls Jurassic Park. I will be spending 90% of all my fishing time on the lake with the odd afternoon or morning session on Stillingfleet. 

I have also decided to remain on just the one bait for next year but am really struggling on which to choose. I love the DNA S7 range but also the NuttaS range. Its going to be a tough call, a few have said just split it and use both but I am not sure if that will weaken my odds, for now thou I think using both baits separately between three rods will hopefully give me an early indication on which bait the Jurassic fish will prefer. Then I can switch all the rods to that bait and get a few on the bank.

Now all I need is the weeks to settle down and once normal service resumes I will be back on the bank in 2014 full of gusto and beans! And I have a new hat! 

Tight lines folks or keep em slack for those that do. 

Matt.

Winter Is Coming!

It certainly is on its way now! The temps are dropping as fast as the leaves and the banks are quieter than they have been for many a month. Now is the time to start those winter campaigns and I've started mine on Stillingfleet Pheasant Farm near York.

Summer On The Farm Lake

Now winter is upon us and with work commitments, family life and house savings, both time and money is short so my only chance for a bit of sport this winter will be locally and day sessions only. I decided that instead of jumping from lake to lake I would focus on Stillingfleet and see if I can bag a big winter common from the place. I had her last year at 21 pounds and I'm sure she will be a bit higher now with all her winter fat stores on. If not, the sport from the other smaller fish will keep me occupied for the cold months ahead.

Being around 20 minutes from the house it means I can get there early without having to sacrifice too much sleep, which for me is a good thing. It also means I can prime the lake a few days before I am fishing with a few handfuls of bait in some of the spots I have found. 

A Few Handfuls Of Chops Should Keep Them Feeding

So with this in mind I popped down to the lake on Friday afternoon after work and put some bait in the lake ready for Sundays session and it seemed to work as I hadn't even got the second rod in the water when my single hookbait ripped off. The result was a stunning little Ghost Common of around 8 pounds. It might only be small but it was a little special to me because it was the first fish I have had on my home made Secret 7 white popups.

Little But Stunning

It didn't take long to get the rod back out and once in its spot I got my second rod sorted with a small PVA bag and bright pink Korda slow sinking maize on a blow back rig. One of my favourite PVA rigs and one I have scored a lot of fish on this summer. About an hour after the ghostie the same rod rattled away with the single hookbait but sadly I dropped the fish as it neared the net, it was a better fish and I was a bit gutted as I saw it swim away because the better fish tend not to show themselves often.

Anyhoot, I checked the hook point and my Twister was still sharp as a needle so a quick change of hookbait and the rig was soon back on the spot. The day wore on and not a fish showed anywhere on the lake and as the sun started to dip below the tree line I considered packing up but before I did I brought in my PVA bag rod, which I had been casting to several different spots during the day and changed it out for a helicopter set up and a semi-stiff combi-link with a Twisted blow-back attached to the end. I changed hookbaits and put on a yellow PB pop up from DNA Baits and once balanced cast to the reed line on the bank opposite me. About 10 minutes later the rod rattled away and I started to curse myself for not changing to yellow sooner! After a spirited fight a lovely looking little common was in the bottom of the net.

Scale Perfect Commons Seem To Be All That Live Here! 

A quick rig check, fresh 15mm hookbait and out it went slight further up the reed line and with time running out I was hoping for one more. My prayers to the carp gods must have been heard as it wasn't long before my alarm let out a single bleep as the bobbin tightened up. I struck in to the fish and it was soon under my feet before it went berserk and took me into every nook and crevice it could find, it was real 'heart in mouth' stuff using my 3.5lb Entity's as I feared I would drop the fish again but with the right amount of clutch control and the forgiving tip section the fish was soon on its side and then in the net. Result! It looked a better fish than the others and it was, not huge again but maybe 11 pound as I don't tend to weight these guys in here, but happy with it for sure. 

Best Of The Day

I love this little water. It's a lake I can go to in winter and maybe not guarantee a bite but know I stand a good chance at one when the other lakes in the area slow right down, and especially for day time bites. And one thing I must remember is to get on the yellow! Last winter I scored well on both white and yellow so lets hope this winter proves the same again before I move on to my syndicate early next year. Now that is a lake I can not wait to get on! 5 acres, 10 anglers and one of those is my idol and all round legend Julian Cundiff! And a stunning zip linear I have seen Julian with is a fish I would love to catch. Lets hope they take a liking to the S7 and my hookbaits! 

Till next time, 

Matt.

A Special Winter Capture - Kieran

It had been a quiet start to 2013 for me after nothing materialising from a cold and snowy forty eight hour session at Welham Lake, along with a whole host of exams through the back end of January and the start of February, it all added up and meant that I was yet to break my 2013 duck. I was growing ever frustrated of two things, one being the lack of time on the bank and the other being the simple fact I was yet to see a carp on the mat this year, this was really starting to concern me. So as you can imagine when my Dad turned round to me on a fresh Saturday morning asking if I wanted to go on an overnighter that night, I met his question with an enthusiastic grin and signified to him that I was well and truly up for it. As it was already 10 in the morning and we had only just got the go ahead from mother hen it was all action stations. After a few phone calls to a few mates on the banks and lakes in the area it was clear most of the banks were really busy, despite the shocking forecast.

On the back of all that information we formulated a plan as we quickly got to work grabbing all the gear and loading it into the car. The plan, ride down to Raker Lakes on the outskirts of York and if the lake was ‘chocka’ we would move onto another lake that was relatively close and hopefully less busy. Raker holds such excellent winter form as long as there isn't a lid on the lake and it can make the chances of obtaining a good peg on the venue to be next to nothing!

With the gear packed and a quick smash and grab visit to the local Morrisons we departed on our hour long journey to York. Even though heavy snow showers were forecast for the Sunday and minus temperatures for the night we left in very high spirits. After avoiding the worst of the York lunch time traffic we arrived at the gates in reasonably good time. After driving through the gate we arrived in the car park of the venues specimen water, Kingfisher Lake. We had to pinch ourselves several times when we got to the car park as there were only three other cars meaning, hopefully a quiet water. Puzzled but elated we hurled ourselves out of the car and grabbed a small bucket just in case we needed to reserve a swim in double quick time.

We set off on a quick lap around the lake and after seeing next to no signs of activity on our travels we had to rely on the little 'background' knowledge we had gathered beforehand. Several of the pegs on the east bank from the car park are often the place to be and this bank houses the lake’s indisputable hot winter peg, 12. This is an excellent peg on Kingfisher and has been known to produce some near impossible results in all of the coldest of conditions, so it was of no surprise that one of the other anglers had taken the initiative to occupy the swim. In fact all three anglers were fishing next to each other and after a brief chat between ourselves we decided to jump in to peg 15 which was situated just to the right of the car park. We knew this peg was one of the venues other ‘hot’ pegs and I had seen it pop up on a lot of the catch reports featured on the fishery’s website. I also knew a couple of mates who had experienced good hits from this peg, so I was confident between me and my dad we would be able to waggle a bite or two.

The peg was fairly spacious with enough room to house four rods comfortably keeping the bivvies at the back of the swim. The main feature of this swim was a long island which ran across the entire length of the swim with both ends of the island accessible from the swim. There was also an aerator just up the right margin. With time wearing on and darkness a few hours away we hastily unloaded the gear into the swim and began to blow the dust off the rods and reels! I didn't want the Carp Police didn't come round and laugh at my dusty blanks!  I had decided to take my beloved 2.5lb Daiwa Powermeshes. The rods are very dear to my heart and after resting in the garage for a few months it would have been rude for me not to have taken them out for a spin.

I went for very similar tactics on both rods. In fact the only difference between the rods was my choice of hookbaits. The rig was an 11 inch combi-rig, consisting of a 10 inch fluorocarbon boom and a 1 inch supple braid section leading to the hook arrangement. The hook that I was putting my faith in was a PB products size 8 anti-eject hook. A super sharp and strong hook. I then kissed the hook with a tiny piece of silicon tubing on the shank and another tiny piece of shrink tube just to cover the hook’s eye to help it flip in the event of a pick up. I used a 'shocka' style lead arrangement. One meter Pb Silkray leader with a 4mm rubber bead sitting behind a 2 ounce in-line lead. I was housing a slightly modified helicopter sleeve in the base of the lead to allow the lead to lightly grip the sleeve, creating just enough tension to set the hook before turning into a full blown running rig making it harder for the carp to get rid of the rig. I was using this arrangement as I believed that it would give me the best indication and hopefully turn more pick-ups into full blooded runs. Which I find vital when you’re fishing for fish as pressured as Raker’s and even more so in winter!

With the rods and rigs assembled I promptly set about whipping on my chosen hookbaits. On my destined right rod I went for a DNA Baits Pink Peril 10mm pop up and then proceeded to whittle it down until it just sunk under the weight of the hook and released plenty of attractors into the murky water. On my left rod I chose to put on a chopped down DNA Wraysberry wafter for the same reasons. With baited rigs done I decided to tie up a couple of small mesh bags containing crushed DNA NuttaS, about the size of a 50p coin, just to ensure the long rig kept tangle free in flight. It also gave the rig a bit more attraction and a tasty mouthful for any willing carp that chose to investigate the rig.

It was time to get the rods out at last. So without any further ado I nicked on a little bag of NuttaS goodness and sent the right hand rod out to the corner of the island and after feeling a solid ‘donk’ I set about sinking the line. Once I was satisfied I slid on a backlead to make sure my line was really nailed to the deck and out of the way. I fished with slack lines despite the backleads and had a reasonable drop on the indicators. Normally I'm not too keen on using slack lines but in this case the fish are so pressured that I decided it was a necessity to get my lines pinned down.

I decided to cast my other rod directly in front of me in line with the tallest tree on the island, leaving me an easy marker if I was to recast in the middle of the night. I left the rods to it and decided against putting any bait over the top of the rigs, as I had faith that those little pink and red morsels on my hooks would be enough to attract any passing carp and snare the bite I oh so desperately wanted. I sat back with my dad to take in our surroundings and watch the water as the night slowly began to draw in.

As the last trickles of light made way for the oncoming darkness we sat back to consume our grub for the night and enjoy the last of the unexpected mild temperatures. Then just as we were about to retreat to the warmth of our sleeping bags, the bailiff came round and switched the aerator on, which was just conveniently sitting in my right hand margin.

The bailiff informed us of the oncoming temperatures and he was fully well expecting the lake to freeze. I thought it would be a good idea to put a rod in the vicinity of the aerator hoping that if the rest of the lake did freeze then a few of the lake’s residents could be drawn to the ice free water holding more oxygen. I acted swiftly on these thoughts and wound in my right rod, checked my rig and placed it just on the edge of the aerator’s ripples. Feeling fairly confident despite the weather forecast I retreated into the warmth and comfort of my bivvy.

Apart from the odd single bleep during the night it passed by uneventful and I was left scratching my head as I woke up at first light. Luckily the temperatures hadn't decided to drop to silly minuses and the lake had not frozen. However it looked hopeful for a bit of rain and with a quick check on the weather app on the phone it told us that there were predicted snow showers for later on. There was also an ice cold wind hacking into the swim which wasn't making life very comfortable or easy for that matter.

With the aerator switched off I thought my rig would probably have a better chance of a bite out towards the island. So with that I wound the rod in again, nicked a small bag of NuttaS on and cast out towards the corner of the island. I picked a slightly different spot to the one I was fishing the day before, with fish in winter being so lethargic sometimes, I thought even the slightest change of location may lead to that valuable bite. With the rod re-positioned, line sunk and backleaded, I popped the kettle on to get what was going to be the first of many brews for the day.

No more than half an hour after recasting the rod I received a savage take as the rod tip hooped round and the relatively tight clutch began to give line. I was onto it in a flash and despite the initial heavy lunges my Powermesh cushioned the blows comfortably and I soon had the fish under control. Apart from the initial run and a single attempt to escape in to the snaggy margins to my right, the fight was quite lethargic and didn't give the old rod too much punishment. The fish soon succumbed to the awaiting net and up until now I had thought the fish to be only about 16lb. However the water had deceived me and the common sulking at the bottom of my net was much closer to the magical twenty mark than I first thought!

I quickly composed myself before paying off plenty of slack and passing the rod to my dad, as I broke the net down and checked the fish’s fins ensuring they were flat, I was left in awe at the size and beauty of the fish sitting there before me. After a few seconds I hoisted the creature out of the water and placed it on the cradle. A quick investigation of the hook hold and I saw the anti-eject hook had done its job perfectly and was embedded in the middle of the fishes bottom lip. After popping the hook out I left my dad to look after the fish as I hastily grabbed the camera and scales before wetting and zeroing the sling.

The moment of truth! And after slipping the fish into the sling we finally got round to weighing it. My dad confirmed a weight of 21lb 10oz and my jaw dropped! It was official. I had finally achieved my target of a twenty pounder! As I cradled my new pb my dad rounded off several shots with the camera before enjoying one last final moment with her. I parted ways with the fish and slipped her back into her watery home.

The best part of that capture for me wasn't when the scales swung round past the magical twenty mark, but the moment where I watched the fish that I had chased for so long swim off and knowing full well I had conquered and achieved my fishing goal!

Half an hour after landing the fish one of my dad’s rods ripped off and after a five minute scrap the hook pulled just as the fish was nearing the net cord. Despite a huge lunge forward with the net in an effort to scoop the fish up it was just too far away and it turned and evaded capture. It was a couple of minutes before either me or my dad said anything. We’d got a glance at the fish and it was a mirror evidently bigger than the fish I had just had so it was a bitter blow and one that put a slight dampener for the remainder of the session.

Shortly after the session reality sunk in and the bad end to the session was soon put to the back of our minds. I was able to focus on the successes and soon after I began to receive messages and texts of congratulations. That’s when the buzz really kicked in and that buzz was reminiscent for many days to come making the capture all the more special. The target twenty had been achieved in fine style!

That's all folks hope you enjoyed my article and please give us your thoughts on this piece on our Facebook page The Hobo Carpers

Thanks again,

K

Short Session Success

Also the name of a very well written book by a true legend. I was doing some thinking the other day and wanted to work on a way of getting a fair amount of attraction in to my swim but not to overfeed the fish, so I looked to Mr Cundiff for inspiration and found several comments on his use of Nash Baits Soluballs as a freebait.

While I was in Erics in Leeds the other day they had a clearance bin full of Soluballs so I grabbed several bags of the Pineapple flavoured ones which I intend to use for my winter fishing, but as I had a few hours spare the other evening I decided on trying a light baiting tactic out on a local little water, Stillingfleet.

Pineapple Soluballs For A Cheap Alternative To Feedbaits

I decided that seeing as time was limited, I had less than four hours on the bank, that I would have to sacrifice some time to locate the fish and on my second walk around a small carp poked its head out near a reed bed so I dropped the bucket and grabbed my rod bag and cradle from the car. Unfortunately my rods were still set up from the surface fishing I failed at last time I was out, so I decided that a handful of SBs along the reed bed would hold any carp in the area as I set up my rods, 1 with a solid bag set up and the other with a lead clip.

As I was finishing tying up some sticks I looked up and was shocked at the amount of fizzing and boiling that was coming from along the reed bed! I franticly got my lead clip rod sorted with a blow-back rig tied to a size 7 Fang X hook and Suffix Camoskin. To this I attached a MS Snowman using the new Nash Snowpots (love them!) threaded on a bag and flicked it to the reed bed. It wasn't long before it was away, in fact it was just as I was tying up a solid bag on the other rod, and after a spirited fight which took me all over I put the net under a cracking little common.

Little Beauty! 

On my bag rod I started off with my favourite colour wafter a Milky Malt, in a small bag loaded with DNA mini-pellets, boilie crumb, hemp oil and some crumbed Soluballs. But after a few aborted takes I decided to change from the wafter on a blowback rig to a single piece of Korda slow sinking maize on a KD rig. The bag had been on the deck for only a matter of minutes before it went with another little common. 

Unfortunately it was time to pack up by this time and it only felt like I had been on the bank for a matter of minutes. But I had two fish on the bank and it had cost me (less ticket price) a grand total of 75p to fish. 

Not a massive amount of bait but it worked! 

Even though it was such a short session I felt I learnt a lot from it, the use of very little bait is something I have always shied away from but now will be something I will use when the situation calls for it. 

Tight lines. Matt.

My Take On The Twister

A few months ago I went on a session with my mate Mark Watson and he showed me his variation on the now classic Multi-Rig. So I've taken his variation and added my own little twist to the rig for when I am fishing over a clear bottom.

First I start off by taking a small amount of soft braid and tying it to a length of fluorocarbon hook link with an albright knot. A super strong knot that gives a cracking pivot point for my rig putty.

Albright Knot and Monster Squid Purple

Once the knot has been tied its time to choose a hook and for this rig I only use a hook that is super strong and sharp so I choose the mighty Twister hook from Nash. I use them in both size 10 and 7. The size 10 hooks are quite big for a 10 which I love as they balance out a 10mm bait perfectly. For this rig today I am using a size 7 in conjunction with a 15mm pop-up. 

Twisters, super strong and sticky sharp. 

With my hook chosen I now tie an overhand loop knot on to my braided section. This loop determines the hight my pop-up will sit off the bottom and I prefer my bait to sit a few inches of the deck so tie my loop accordingly. Next I take my hook bait and thread it on to a micro ring swivel, I love using a swivel as it gives the bait so much more movement compared to a standard rig ring running on the loop. Once the bait is in place and the tags are blobbed down I attach the hook to the loop exactly like you would with a normal Multi-Rig, follow this with the hook bait and finish off by looping the braid back around, securing the bait to the rig.

Micro Ring Swivel for maximum movement.

All that is left now is to add a small length of shrink tube the eye of the hook. This makes the gape wider and flips the hook super fast allowing it to catch hold aggressively in the carps mouth.

Angled Shrink Tubing For Fast Hook Turning

Now all I do is add enough putty to the albright joint so that the bait sinks slowly. I don't like to over shot my pop-ups anyway but with this rig I found the more I balanced the bait out the better it kicked away from the lead system and sat fully extended. I feel that this gives me perfect presentation and also has a very good amount of the 'reset' factor. If the bait is picked up or wafted around I know the fluorocarbon will kick that balanced bait back out and be sitting pretty again.

My finished rig. 

All I do is add a diffusion anti-tangle sleeve to the rig and then tie it on to the swivel with a grinner knot or a loop and quick link and the rig is ready to rock. 

I have been using this on a variety of venues and caught a few fish topped with this mid-double big plated which was caught on a clear spot in between some weed beds on Monster Squid Purple pop up and a small spread of matching baits. 

Multi-Rig-Combi-Link Caught Big Plated Mirror

I wouldn't use this rig on a bottom that is weedy or silty as I feel presentation wouldn't be as good as it is on a clean bottom.

Thanks for reading and have fun. 

The Hobo. 

Q, Festivals and C4Hs!

June has been an interesting and fulfilling month for me with lots going on.

Kierans UKCC was mid month so we decided to get a practice in at the beginning of the month. We booked on the lake and picked pegs 4-6. I decided to fish peg 6, Kieran went in 4 and his dad fished peg fives water from four with Kieran.

The day was quiet and the wind was hacking into pegs seven and eight but we gave it our best and I walked away with a lovely big plated mirror going 14lb+ on the scales.

Nice mid-double mirror from Q. 

A few days later I managed to sneak a day session in at a new water. The little pond is a gem and I cant wait to spend more time here and get in to some of its older residents. This little cracker came to my first session and was caught on a Monster Squid Purple pop up over a light scattering of whole and half boilies.

Stunner, I think most would agree. 

Soon it was time for Kierans UK Carp Cup qualifier on Q Lake in York again. Kieran will give his account of exactly how we got on but the lad fished out of his skin and walked away with his head held firmly high bagging a stunning 24lb Common on the last morning. 'Love you Entity!'

After a few more quick sessions resulting in a few more blanks Carping 4 Heroes was upon us. I picked Kieran up from the train station at Sherburn at 8.55am and we were on the road for 9am. The drive down to Biggleswade was quicker than we thought and we were soon at the gates of Manor Farm Complex and after a quick chat with Simon who was running the C4H event we decided on having a walk around the complex. The lakes really are quite stunning and nothing like what I had expected. We stumbled on Winters lake and it truely is an amazing looking water, weedy, reed lined and some massive fish to boot! We found one of the lakes residents sunning itself in a weedy bay, all 30lb+ of albino grass carp! It stood out like a sore thumb but also had a few other very nice fish following it. As we made our way back to C4H HQ we met Joe Turnbull and got chatting, mentioned the albino we had seen and then headed back down with Joe to have another peek.

The event was a resounding success and a lot of praise goes Simon Bangerts way for organising the event and making it a great weekend and if it wasn't for his team of marshals none of it would be possible so thanks guys.

A few more day sessions here and there and a quick overnighter on Selby Three Lakes ended the month. I am finally getting to grips with Three lakes, now even after a year off the lake, I have been doing my research and had fish in my swim, unfortunately the only take I had I lost the fish. But that's fishing. I am back on there very soon for a 48hr session ( a rarity for me ) so I really can not wait for it.

Till then.

Tight lines.

Matt.

My little slice of heaven.

It's not very often we find a lake that has virtually no angling pressure these days, especially in the area I live! So imagine my surprise when I stumbled along a small intimate lake not too far from the market town of Selby that, from what I heard and have seen, holds a good head of carp up to the 20lb bracket.

When I pulled the car into the car park I was blown away by the beauty of the place. Tree lined with good solid pegs, reeds and large weed beds. Perfect. I took a walk around the lake and saw plenty of fish in every peg so I decided to set up away from the entrance in a bay that just looked too good. It was my first trip to the venue and I decided that the weed beds in the bay would be the most obvious feature to fish too as I didn't want to thrash the water to a foam with a marker float. With the weed beds coming to the top I could make out the edge quite clearly so a cast with a bare lead found that where the weed finished on the surface it indeed finished on the bottom too.


Baring this in mind I decided a pop up bait would be best as there will most likely be a few strands of the green stuff kicking about and I wanted the baits to sit a pretty as possible. I set one rod with a Chod rig on a diffusion leader and finished of with a Monster Squid Purple pop up. On the other rod I decided to place it where the weed bed split to the left and the lake bottom looked much clearer. I pulled out the multi-rig combi-link for this spot as I feel it would offer the best presentation on the clear bottom, again tipped with a Purple pop up and using a Fang Twister hook with a short kicker.

Multi-rig Combi-rig

As the lake has a boilie ban then I went armed with pellet and some hemp and fished the MS pop ups over the top. The day was one of the warmest we had had so far this year and the carp were making the most of the sun, basking in the weed that lined 90% of the pond. No amount of riser pellet was going to shift them on the surface yet alone a bait five foot below them! 

As the day drew on I had a 'lead' around the lake to get used to any features etc and I found that the lake bed is compiled mostly of silt but a nice soft shallow silt. Around the margins it firms up and a nice 'donk' gets transmitted through the rod when the lead lands on them. 

At around an acre and averaging roughly five foot in depth with a lot of natural features and from the look of the carp, a lot of natural food, I think I will thoroughly enjoy the time I will be spending on the bank. I had been set up in the larger swim for a few hours and decided that I would reel in and head down the lake to try tempt any carp that might be around in the weed free, lilly padded corner. I was hoping to see if any took a liking to some pellets of the surface but after an hour of trying and several large rudd destroying every riser pellet I put out I decided to reposition the bottom baits in the main swim for the last hour. About ten minutes after the Chod rig had been placed a short distance off the weed on the harder bottom it ripped off and I was soon playing my first fish from the venue. 

Small but a cracker.

The little guy ran me ragged in to the weed and a few lilly pads but he was soon in the net and at about 9lb it wasn't the biggest fish I had seen that day but was a real stunner. Now I can't wait to get back and next time I have some little edges tucked away that I reckon will put a few more fish on the bank. 

Matt. 

Part II - Manor Carp Lake York

Manor Carp Lake York is a 2 acre reed lined lake on the outskirts of York near the little village of Bolton. It is set in some lovely countryside views and has 5 pegs which makes it very intimate and gives the lake a special feel.

I had a 24hr slot come free and I decided that with the recent changes to the weather and lakes starting to switch on then why not give the place a try. I arrived at the lake 12 noon on the Friday and was greeted with an empty lake, fast, cold northerly winds and hailstones! Not the best conditions at all. But I always enjoy the time on the bank even if I don't catch.

I decided to start off with a single bag and multi-rig cast out to some likely looking spots. As I was in the double peg (1 and 2) I cast my solid bag to the white sign and the single bait to the cut through while I set the Supa-Brolly up!

Supa-Brolly

So after a few hours of rain and wind and then sunshine I decided that I would pick a few spots for bottom baits and then have a roaming zig rig set at 6ft using the new Fox Zig Aliners. 

Zig Aliners.

This is a very , very neat little product that makes setting zigs up a doddle. Still nothing had shown itself to me and I was not feeling confident in a bite. My good friend Leon turned up to keep me company and eat all my Chilli to boot! 

I knocked up a new bag mix with some liquids and boilie crumb. Then using the coated in-line leads from Liverpool Carp Leads I knocked up a few fresh bags for the evening ahead. These leads are great value for the money and are also of the highest quality. My favourite of the range are the leaf coated leads that blend into many a lake bed. 

I start of by taking out the plastic insert and separating it from the rubber bead.

Plastic Insert Removed

I thread on the rubber bead to a diffusion leader and add a quick link to the end.

Bead Pulled into Lead

The bead pulls into the lead neatly and then leaves the clip ready for the hooklink which gets pulled almost fully into the lead.

Clip Pulled into Lead with Hooklink Attached

Once the hooklink is pulled into the lead I know that when a fish picks up that rig and feels the hook point then the heaviest part of the lead will help drive the point home. With this set up once the fish has been hooked and the lead has done its job then the clip will leave the bead allowing the lead to fall away from the fish. Hopefully not letting the fish to use the lead to rid the hook. 

As the session wore on the weather got progressively worse with temps dropping to zero and the wind not letting up until the small hours in the morning and I packed away drawing a blank. Even so I had a wonderfully relaxing session out in the country side away from the rat race. 

Heres to blanking chaps! 

Insert Ghosty Here!

Cast A Way

Everyone looks at improving themselves at some point. Be it getting fitter, obtaining better qualifications or increasing their knowledge of a chosen subject. Fishing is no different.

We all strive to improve and adapt our fishing so that we can take on any obstacles that get in our way. One of the areas that I had overlooked until recently was distance casting. It's no secret that I fish smaller waters where putting a PVA bag at 60 yards is the norm for me but if someone had asked me to put a single hookbait at 110 yards I would have struggled and not hit that distance.

A while ago I started talking to Mark Watson about his fishing and tuitions and he said that I should come along one time. So we arranged a date and had more of a social than full on tuition which allowed Mark to fish as well as show me the finer points on distance casting.

I arrived at A1 pits on a Tuesday morning around 8am and found Mark on Pit 6 fishing into a savage head wind. He had set up on the railway bank and had fished the night before but sadly not getting into any fish that had held up in the middle of the 26 acre lake. The first thing Mark suggested was to get my rods out and have a cast to see what I can do without any guidance. So I attached a 3oz distance lead to my lead clip Nashy leader and hammered the lead out on what I thought was a good cast. Mark told me to take up the slack to lead and clip up, then we used some distance sticks set 5 yards apart.

84 yards, not the mega huge distance I thought I would hit. Mark gave me some pointers and we tried again, and again, and again. 95 yards was my next clip after ten minutes of tips. I started to get a feel for the cast now and on the next clip managed 99 yards! Mark said to me "The next cast is going 100 yards, I can feel it!" Well he was right, the cast felt good and I clipped up after tightening down to the lead at 105 yards! That was a 21 yard gain in little over an hour of coaching. I was well impressed and I think Mark was too. 

Now I was using my gear for the first hour. Nash Entity 3.5tc rods, 12lb Nash line with no shockleader and my Shimano 10,000RA baitrunners. The spools on these reels are not really made for distance casting so Mark said to try out with his rods. Nash NRXD's with Diawa Tournament big pits and super low diameter line, a 30lb Whiplash shockleader and 4oz distance leads. It took me a lot of miss-casts to get used to the 'different' gear and when I clipped up we landed at 103 yards. I was chuffed to bits but Mark thought I had more in me. I gave my arms a rest and Mark had a few casts with some final pointers and we clipped one of his casts up at an impressive 124 yards. My turn again and after a few more attempts we clipped up on what I thought was a good 'un. 123 yards! Boom, and in to a head wind. To say I was pleased would be an understatement! 

Mark suggested that I put both my rods out with single hook baits for the time being then we would put the kettle on and have a chat about the rest of the session. After the rods had gone out we sat with brew in hand, Jaffa cakes opened and had a natter about what to do while we watched the fish lump out at about 300 yards in the centre of the lake. After a chat we decided to do a bit of accuracy work as it was pretty clear the fish were along way from us so the disturbance shouldn't interfere with our fishing or those about us. Mark set up his marker rod and we located an area about 65 yards out that was 'deep and soft' between the two bars that ran out towards the middle from our bank. He outlined the importance of getting an overall view of the area in which you're fishing, there could be anything either side of your chosen spot so finding out what is there will be a big help. 

After mapping out the swim we found the area around our spot to be 'deep and soft' so I cast to the marker, clipped up then brought the rod in and attached a rig. Now, I am a boilie angler and don't own a spod rod etc so have never really done any spodding or spombing before. Mark suggested I try and work on it so he produced his spodding gear and loaded up the Spomb with hemp and talked me through casting one out. It is a much different cast to anything I had done that morning and if anything it felt to me like the cast I would use for a PVA bag, which Mark agreed with. So I had a good few casts not quite hitting the float every time but once you get used to it and are in a rhythm and balanced I noticed that it became quite systematic and I got it close on most casts. 

So we sat watching the fish bosh at silly ranges for another hour and we decided to reel in and have a walk around the other lakes in search of fish that might be within casting range. After spying a few fish on pit 4 we walked around the bottom corner of 5 and saw a group of three or four fish cruising on the surface and Mark suggested the fish were on the back of the wind and a move down here was on the cards so we headed back to pit 6 and packed the gear away before driving around to the back of 5. 

On the move!!

As we got there someone had beat us to it and had settled into a few of the swims but the corner was still free and had fish in the area so Mark ordered me to set up some zigs and get fishing! I cast out a 6ft zig which was way too deep as I felt the lead down and on the other rod I set up an 8ft zig. With the 8ft rod out fishing I tied a 10ft zig, attached a piece of PVA foam to and replaced the 6ft zig with the longer one. 

I left the rigs out for about an hour but nothing much was happening and it was time to decide on where to set up for the night. Just as I was packing away to move I saw a fish lump out about 60 yards away from me. Mark saw it too and we decided to move around the corner as he knew there was two bars that ran parallel with the other bank and it looked like the fish were definitely on the bars. I made a crucial error here. 

As we were on the 4/5 split I decided to fish pit 4 because the swim was easier to navigate and to be frank I was being a bit of a pansy. The bank wasn't as steep and wouldn't be as difficult for setting the bedchair up etc so I would be more comfortable. We all make mistakes and that was mine. Not long after we had set up and Mark had told me to stop messing about on 4 and get in the peg next to him his middle rod signalled a pick up and the line pulled out of the clip. Mark was on it and lent into a fish that made the NRXD take on a healthy curve. After several minutes and a bit of expert filming skills the fish was soon secured in the net and I was to undertake fish watch as Mark set up the cradle and sling. And what a fish at just a touch over 32lb and gorgeous in the late spring sunshine. 

32lb of gold!

Seeing Mark with this beautiful creature and also the swim he was fishing made me rethink my situation and I decided to move into the less that hospitable swim next door. It was on a 45 degree slant and just enough room for my Supa-brolly at a squeeze. Once I was in and set up though I realized that it was not as bad as I first thought. I got my bed level, bivvy table level and was actually quite comfortable. If I take anything other than the casting away from the session then it will defiantly be that I can squeeze into these tight swims and be comfortable and relaxed.

Mark took two more fish into mid doubles and we both thought that some more action was on the cards as night drew in but alas it was not to be. I did have a savage liner on my left hand rod that I struck into and a drop back on my PVA bag rod fished to the near bar but both resulted in nothing.

Even though I didn't catch I feel that in this session I learnt more about myself and my own fishing than I have in a long while and to add the casting element on as well just made it a great session. Mark is an excellent guy and we get on quite well so I am looking forward to tagging along with him on another session I hope. As for his coaching skills then I couldn't recommend him highly enough. He has patience a plenty and focuses on you when it matters rather than himself. If you are looking for tuition then I would give him a call first and you will not be disappointed. 

http://www.carptuition.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/MarkWatsonCarpCoach?ref=ts&fref=ts

Spring session at Welham! - Kieran

It had seemed an eternity since I’d been fishing and although it had only been a month and a half or so I wasn't used to being cooped up so long, so after an intense weeks skiing in Austria with school a 24 hour session at my home water Welham sounded a very good idea. After ringing Gaz and having a quick catch up, he filled me in on what was available and I instantly jumped on Stalking, it was due to be a father and son trip and Stalking is one of our favourite swims on the lake and one where we've had our fair share of success from as well which somewhat aided the decision.

The night before I cleaned, organised and prepared all the gear, so that we would be able to go from the off in the morning, after a good night’s sleep both me and my Dad were pumped for the session ahead and set off in high spirits. After a quick stop to pick something up from the local tackle shop and a stop on the other side to the local Lidl to pick up some bits and bobs for the session we were soon trundling down the golf course’s track at around 11:30. After unloading the gear out the car we were soon walking up the wood chipped paths of the lake and to say I’d missed that feeling was an understatement.

On the way up the path to Stalking we bumped into Gaz who informed us that the pressure was on and that there was a stack of fish in front of us and upon arrival into the swim we could count 40 plus fish, most of them being in the channel on the right hand side of the swim. My Dad didn't really have a preference, so I jumped on the right side of the swim and although the fish up the channel didn't look anywhere close to being on the feed as long as they were present I knew I had a chance of snaring one.

Rods were the priority and without no time to waste I assembled one of my rods which I’d already rigged up with my version of the chod rig, a rig that I've done very well at Welham with in the past. I tied on one of my test green pop ups that Matt had asked me to make and although they were just my first test batch they looked and smelt great so encouraging signs to say the least! I sent the chod out up the channel up towards the bulk of the fish before sinking the line and paying off plenty of line. I decided against putting any bait over the top of it for the time being as there was plenty of fish around the bait and I didn't want to spook them. On the second rod I had assembled a fluorocarbon D-rig which was coupled with a simple lead clip system, before I sent the rig out I nicked on a pva nugget, then I cast the rig towards the silver birch on the corner of the island and as there was only a few fish in the vicinity I treated the area to a dozen 14mm DNA Baits NuttaS boilies.

With the rods out, we set about erecting the bivvy and getting the swim sorted for the rest of the session and after half an hour we were both sitting in our chairs surveying the lake. Although fish were present in the swim the frustrating fact was that they weren't in a feeding mood and they were happy to just graze over the baits. This seemed to be the fish’s behaviour for the next couple of hours or so and with only a few hours before dark, I set my full attentions to preparing for the night ahead. I was planning on baiting a large area with bait up my right hand margin which stretched into the entrance of the channel and as it was so close in I decided I was going to bait with halved baits, just to be slightly different. My plan was that I was going to fish a solid bag representation over the top filled with matching boilie crumb and half a boilie with a pink corn tipping it as a hookbait.

Firstly I set to work on halving roughly half a kilo of NuttaS and after spending the best part of quarter of an hour using scissors I have now come to the conclusion it may be wise to invest in a Korda Kutter! With the bait done I threaded on my hookbaits onto several solid bag rigs and before I knew it I was again reaching into my bag of Nutta, as I began to crush plenty of boilies in order to fill my bags up. Half an hour later and I had six perfectly tied compact solid bags sitting on top of my tackle box and with only an hour before darkness I set about applying the bait into the swim. As the spot I was going to concentrate most of my bait was only ten yards out , I was able to use big pouches of bait which meant I was able to deposit the bait in double quick time and I also ensured the bait was spread over a  fairly large area.

With the bait for the area deposited I wound in my rod with the fluorocarbon D-rig attached and took the rig off and tied on one of my solid bags and was then promptly dispatched with an under arm flick onto the spot. With the baited rod sorted I wound in my chod and pondered on where I was going to place the rig for the night, after a few moments of deep thought I decided I was going to cast the rig just past the entrance of the channel because I was sure the rig would be among the fish if they chose to move from the snags running up the channel. I chose to put 50 baits over the chod and although a few of you will be wandering why I was baiting quite heavily for Welham’s standards, recent results had shown that people who had put the bait in had achieved the best results.

With the rods sorted for the night, I set back and watched it slowly get darker and darker and as darkness drew in the temperatures dropped considerably and it wasn't long before I was retreating to the bivvy in order to stay warm. With grub prepared and then consumed I slowly began to fall into the land of the nod and I wasn't disturbed too much throughout the night, only the odd bleep caused me to stir through the night and morning came all too soon. As I got up and scanned the swim I could see the group of fish had not moved an inch and were still held up in the little snicket where you couldn't get a bait to. With the lake appearing to have completely shut down, I set off to go and see my good friend Chris and when I got to peg 9 he met me with a big grin and told me he had managed to winkle out a 17.10lb common! This was yet another fish to fall to Chris’s black cell, he’s already had 55 fish out of Welham this year on it and not only is the bait a great fish catcher but the ducks, swans and other bird life can’t pick it up, so it’s quite possibly the perfect Welham bait. (I’ll leave a phone number at the bottom of the page because Chris’s range of boilies and pop ups is really worth checking out!) .  

It appeared as Chris was the only one to catch and as I trudged back up to the swim I couldn't help but feel that the chances of a fish was not looking that hopeful, so when I got back to the swim I wound in my chod and took off the green special and put one of my Double H white pop ups on and flicked it just on the edge of where I had put the majority of the bait the past night. With only an hour before we had to be off the peg we began to pack down and ship most of the gear apart from the rod bag and rucksack to the car. With only half an hour to go we could see a few fish getting their heads down and with tons of bubbles coming up over the rigs we were left with a slight hopeful feeling a fish might fall to either the chod or the solid bag.

My Dad informed me that the guys who were due on Stalking were readying their gear and with only ten minutes left, my chod ripped off, a big boil on the surface confirmed that a fish was hooked. I pounced on the rod and immediately piled the pressure on to try and drive the fish away from the snags and in honesty it didn't take much persuading, it practically swam in to the net! With a fish in the bag it was a relief and although it wasn't the biggest fish in Welham it’s colours were amazing and although I didn't weigh the fish both me and my dad thought the fish to be around 13 and a half pounds. With pictures done we slipped her back and as we were slipping our rods into the rod bag the lads who were due on Stalking turned up, so we had a  brief chat and loaded our gear into the car and said our goodbyes to both Gaz and Chris and hit the road home!

 DNA Baits www.dnabaits.com 

Pb Products UK  www.pbproductsuk.com/

Welham Lake  http://www.renewutesting.co.uk/welham/ 07817 175516                                                                              Steamer Baits – Chris Walker 07772520396