Having a Merry time; in the UKCC qualifier @ Merrington!

Once a year the UK Carp Cup is held at venues up and down the United Kingdom. From prolific big fish waters to more commercial type venues and every year we enter this competition. I say we, even though it is a singles event, as Kieran and myself work as a team. He may be doing the angling but I am always by his side making sure he is chilled and focused, fed and watered and also doing any other little bits and bobs he needs doing.

This year K chose Merrington Carp Fishery as his qualifying venue after spending some time there last year while he enjoyed a family holiday near by. When he returned he told me about the lake and then we did some more research on it. It is a man made lake and stocked with some fast growing but stunning fish. Simmos and Wellington commons making up the majority of fish. The venue insists that any carp under 10lb are to be retained and introduced to the stock pond, this also made it a great venue for throwing up a good fish or two.

After a long winter of following catch reports on Merringtons' Facebook page and checking any forums we could find, we settled on a few tactics but decided not to over think our selves too much, like we had in previous years! Kieran had found out that washed out baits had been doing a few fish as well as zigs. We armed ourselves accordingly and soon it came around to the qualifing weekend and we felt ready. Luckily it landed on the bank holiday weekend and it meant I didn't have to use any of my holidays to cover the event, which is a good thing as I have my syndicate to crack and will need a few days here and there for that.

The lake was a fair distance from us so an early start on the Friday morning saw us hit some traffic but nothing major and we rolled in to the car park at Merrington for about 12 noon. Upon arrival I was greeted by what can only be described as the happiest man in the world, my old mukka 'Lofty' Elwood who was running for Miranda Brown. It was great to see him and he even lent me some gas as I had forgot to buy a new one, I owe you Cupcake! 

After a good few laps of the lake we decided on the swims we fancied and went back to the car to start loading the barrow while we waited for the dreaded draw! Once all the competitors had signed in then the draw began and one after the other the names came out of the bag with Kieran coming out mid-draw. We got our fourth choice peg, which wasn't too bad all in all. We barrow'd the gear round and then set to making home for the weekend. 

Home Sweet Home

The UKCC is a 40hr match and runs from 6pm on the Friday to 10am on the Sunday and there is an hour before the start in which the competitors have time to mark out their swim and add any bait if they so wish too. As K was familiar with the peg he knew of a few spots already and set to work finding them when the hooter sounded at 5pm. As K was sorting his spots out I got to work tying up a few zig rigs and solid bags. Our tactics would be to fish zigs during the day while leaving the baited spot alone, then drop solid bags on the spot when the light levels dropped.

Zigs a'hoy! 

After the second hooter sounded Kieran got to work and dropped three zigs out at various depths on the bar in front of us. Once he had sorted the rods the young lad set about preparing the 'baited spot' on the other side of the bar with a lovely concoction of DNA Baits 12mm S7 boilies and hemp! Hemp is a great bait and one I intend on making full use of this year! With the spots prepared I got the kettle on and it was time to watch and wait.

As it always seems to do with these events, time slowly crept along and every bird that bobbed under the surface grabbed our attention, every alarm bleep made us start and by the end of the first day our eyes were sore from scanning the water at every available opportunity. 

Watching the water. Always Watching! 

Topping up as the sun goes down. 

Soon the light started to fade and after many a recast nothing came to our zig baits. K decided that it was time to drop a pair of solid bags on to his baited spot and on his other rod have a roving
Chod rig so if a fish showed or crashed he could drop a bait on it almost instantly. Once the rods were in position K topped up the spot with a few more Spombfuls of bait and we settled in for the night. Unfortunately it was an uneventful night for us but as the light grew and we stirred in our sleeping bags we noticed a lot of fish showing over to the right of our swim but we were unsure if they were in our swim boundary. However we noted the area and I headed to the map in the cafe to measure the lake. It looked like the area was 80 yards in front of us and literally on the boarder of our area, but the important thing to note is that it was in our area and that gave us an idea.

The day brightened and the sun came out and with that K decided that zigs would be a good shout for today so in came the rods and back out went the zigs. A slow day followed with only a few fish seeing the bank from around the lake. It got to around 5pm and we decided that it was time to prepare the spot we had seen the fish crashing out on at first light so K set to punching out Spomb after Spomb on the area. And the last Spomb contained something a little special. We had a small porous stone inside a solid bag filled with halibut oil which we hoped would help pull fish in to the area. The idea being the stone would absorb some of the oil and then constantly pump out attraction in the middle of our spot. 

Skippy!

Once he was happy with the area we set to work getting solid bags tied and rigs baited, we opted for short rigs with DNA Wafters attached to a soft, supple braid tied to a super sharp Nash Twister fished blow back style.At this point I think nerves and general stress started to take its toll on the poor lad as he was struggling to hit the spot with the solid bags! I can't remember the last time I had tied so many pva bags in one go before! However perseverance pays and he had both rods on the spot before the order was made with the cafe for that nights tea! Haha, good fun though.

With the spot prepared and two rods on it, K decided that his third rod would again be a roving rod but this time with a boosted bottom bait and small mesh stick instead of a single bait. He place this rod just on the backside of the bar in some soft clay he had found earlier. With all the rods in place it was time for tea! Lasagne for me and sweet and sour chicken for K, they look after you at Merrington! 

We settled down for the night and at about 11.30pm Kierans left hand rod broke in to life and immediately after picking up the rod K felt that something was wrong. The fish was either foul hooked or trailing 100+ yards of line and a 4oz lead! The fish unfortunately came off as it was the latter that was causing us issues but the good news was we managed to get the trailing rig and line in and bin it! Understandably the lad felt pretty destroyed at this point but with a little hug and chat he picked himself up and recast the rod. 

At 1.30am his right had rod tore off and the fish must have taken 20 yards of line, on a tight-ish clutch, before we had got to the rod. K lifted the rod and bent in to a hard fighting fish. Soon he got it in to our margin were it decided to go mental again! After what seemed like an eternity he slipped the net under the fish and gave a little dance of joy. One in the bank and still in with a chance of qualifing!

Dumpy 16lb 8oz Simmo, good times! 

With the fish secured in the net I cut the line above the leader so K could get another bag tied on, get the line in the clip and back on the spot while I got the fish unhooked and safely transferred it too the retaining sling. You could feel the confidence brimming from the lad and he dropped the solid bag on the spot first time, boom! 

I went and got the marshal so we could weigh and return the fish and once that was done we had a celebratory drink and returned to our sleeping bags to keep warm! 

The action made us feel really confident but unfortunately nothing else came from the spot until at about 6am when the middle rod rattled off and as K picked it up he said it felt like a small one. But in a competition a fish is a fish and we made ready with the net and soon the fish was in the margins giving a good account for itself. Again as the net went under it I cut the line and K tied on a new leader and punched a bag to the spot. It was then I looked in the net and told him it was a bit bigger than he thought, still no monster but at 20lb 8oz it certainly was a welcome sight! A pretty double linear and a twenty to boot! 

Top work K! 

For the next few hours we sat and waited, scanned the water for any signs of fish but the lake just seemed to have switched off for us. However we had a fantastic time at a great venue and banking two fish for 37lb saw us end in 4th place and it was a great way to spend a weekend.

We must say a big thank you to Merrington for a suburb venue, to Big Fish Gear for our stylish clobber and DNA Baits for all their support.

Next on the cards is the BCAC for K and his friend Ian on the brilliant Q Lake in York and then the Midlands Carp Cup for both of us later on in the year at Kingsbury Pine Pool, I'm very much looking forward to that one. Also our own fishing in-between the comps so a busy year ahead and if this weekend is anything to go by then a good one to boot! 

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy your fishing as much as we do.

Matt and Kieran.