A Majestic Time

A few months ago while browsing Facebook, I noticed a post pop up from Mark Pitchers detailing a group tuition he was planning on holding a few months later on Majestics Pool. With out hesitation I messaged him for more details. To fish with one of the countries top carp anglers on a lake I've been wanting to fish for a while was a no-brainer for me. I sent him my deposit the same day and secured my place on what I hoped would be an awesome experience.

The Man Himself

It was a good few months away and with each passing day I got more and more excited. Not knowing exactly what to expect I wanted to go in to the experience with open eyes. I use a few of the Fox products, my mainline and terminal tackle storage, but not much else and as Mark had mentioned we would be given a small selection of end tackle then I was game to give it a try. He also said bait would be provided, but this left me in a bit of a quandary as I am a DNA Baits team member and Mark uses Mainline Baits, but I needn't have worried as boilie and pop ups were not needed on this trip.

The afternoon before the session I loaded the car, checked that I had everything I needed and then popped to the cinema with the wife to watch Guardians Of The Galaxy. It set me in a great mood and when I got home drifted off in to a fitful sleep. I woke feeling refreshed and ready to take in everything Mark had to offer. The drive to Beverly was uneventful and I was soon heading down the winding back roads that led to Majestics, thinking I had got lost at several points! The lake was stunning and as I unloaded the car in the car park Mark turned up in his van and walked over to say hello. As we stood chatting, the rest of the tutorial guys turned up and Mark decided that we would draw our swims as this was the fairest way. Two guys picked their swims then it was my turn, I drew peg 6, which turned out to be a peg called Willows.

Willows Commanded The Small Island 

In front of me was a small island which was an obvious fish holding area and it was the first spot that came to mind for dropping a rig on. I got my house set up, rods on the rest and then put the kettle on before I went to meet Mark back in his HQ. He was going to run through what he would do to target the fish on this particular water. He ran through a selection of rigs including zigs, which is something I was wanting to cover with him, so I listened intently to Mark's stories on using zigs. He highlighted the importance of being super accurate when it comes to setting the depth of your zigs. He also showed us his blow-back rig and a semi-stiff hinged rig, more on these later.

In The Car Park Peg, HQ!

Next we covered what bait he thought would suit the session on this lake and pulled out several bags of sweetcorn from the bucket at his side. Yeap, sweetcorn and nothing else. This would be interesting. I have never fished straight corn before, it has always been mixed with either pellet, or boilie crumb etc but Mark went on to explain the benefits of using the universal carp catching bait. We all know there is not a carp swimming that won't tails up over a bit of yellow and if there is nothing else in the swim then the carp will go nuts on the golden kernels.

The rig he showed us to fish over the top consisted of two grains of a Evolution Baits corn stack fished on a blowback rig which was constructed slightly different than I normally would do. For starters the hook size blew me away, a size 4 SSBP Fox Armapoint! It just didn't seem right having this piece of ironmongery hanging under two pieces of fake corn but I put my faith in the man and soon he was sending us to our swims to construct rigs and get fishing!

Once I got back to my peg I got chatting to the lad who had fished the night before in the next peg up and was just leaving. He told me that fish had been crashing out just off the snags on the island in front of my swim during the night and he thought they would still be in the area. With this in mind I decided to tie on just a lead to my marker rod and flicked it out the 30 or so yards towards the snags. The lead landed bang on first cast and as I felt it down I got a good solid 'donk', I clipped the rod and then cast it to the right of the island, it was the same distance and the lead hit the deck with pretty much the same reaction. Now if it was me fishing normally I would have flicked out two solid bags on those spots and scattered a good amount of boilie around them, Mark however asked us to put our trust in him and fish with corn so I removed the lead and tied a Spomb on to my marker rod. The idea was to fish our rigs on top of a few handfuls of the golden kernels so I filled the midi-spomb and cast about 4 loads on to each of the spots that I had found, ready for the rigs.

The Corn Rig, A Slightly Different Hook-bait Arrangement But The Idea. 

The Corn Rig is dead simple to tie. Take a length of Fox Camotex soft and stripped away the last 6 inches. A small hair is formed in this section and then the hook-bait attached, then slip down a small piece of silicon which would be for the blow-back effect. Next, after threading on the hook and setting the silicon so that the hook was sitting perfectly balanced, all that is needed is a nice neat Knotless knot which should leave about an inch of supple braid before the coating. That's about it a side from tying a long loop on the end of the rig and threading on a anti-tangle sleeve. With the bait being critically balanced and the semi-stiff hook-link material, the anti-tangle sleeve just helps push the rig away from the lead set up. I fished one rod with yellow corn and the other with pink corn, both balanced so that the eye of the hook was touching the lake bed.

Rigs on and rods clipped up I put the yellow corn to the right of the island and the pink to the left. Both went crack as the lead hit the bottom so I was super happy with my clipping up around marker sticks. A few fish where cruising just below the surface in the bay in-front and to my left and it looked good for a roving zig so back off with the spomb and on with my marker float set up. Mark had highlighted the need to make sure every inch was accounted for so I measured the set up from lead to float tip at 13 inches and then flicked it out in to the bay. The depth varied from 4ft to 5ft but after a few cast I found the majority of the water was 5ft deep on the nose. The fish where very close to the surface so I made a zig at 4ft 4 inches so that the Zigaliner hookbait would be presented in the very upper layers of the water column. Mark suggested using black as our hookbait colour so I flicked it out and finally sat back for five and watched the water.

After about an hour I was just deciding what to do when Mark walked around. I told him where I had my rigs, on what baits and also length of my zig. The conditions looked great for zigs and Mark wondered why my zig hadn't been taken. He suggested tying my zig slightly longer, to say 4ft 8, so I got cracking. Another black Zigaliner and a size 7 Fox SR hook where attached to a 6 foot length of zig line as Mark suggested moving my right hand rod and attaching the new zig to that, two zigs at different depths would help pin point what depth we need to fish at. We were just discussing where it would be best to cast too when the bobbin on my right hand rod crashed in to the rod blank and the tip pulled hard around to the right. Fish on! As I lifted the rod I heard Mark laughing behind me 'We won't move that rod then!' The fish came in quite straight forward but had tangled in my middle line and there was a ball of weed on the line as well. Mark was there with the net and soon scooped the fish up as I walked back in the swim to keep the line from tangling even more.

A stunning common languished in the net and Mark thought she would go over twenty. I hoisted the fish in to the cradle to be unhooked and Mr Pitchers zero'd the sling. I lifted her up as the excited, self-confessed carp freak read the dials, 21lb 6oz. Excellent! I was over the moon. Mark nipped back to his van and had his camera in no time. He took some amazing shots.

Stunning 21 Pound Common On A Simple Corn Rig

With the pictures done I released the fish and then got to sorting the lines out. It was a right mess but I didn't care as I had bagged a stunning common after only a few hours and I had one of the top anglers in the country there to fist bump the victory. Mark left me too it and went around to give the rest of the guys his time and expertise. I got the rods back out and decided to lengthen the zig that was already out and just as the lead had touched the bottom my middle rod signalled a take but the clutch was a little slack and the fish took me straight in to the snags on the island and as I gave it a little pressure the hook pulled, something I have suffered with recently on a few other trips. It was my fault, the clutch needed to be super tight. On reflection the rig was most definitely too close to the snags. But that's carp fishing and I just hope I didn't put too much stress on the fish or damage it in anyway. 

I was definitely sulking but got on with checking the rig, wrapping and clipping up the rod then recasting. It took a few attempts but once I was happy with the rig I baited the spot with another three spombs of corn. The day was ticking along and darkness was approaching when my right hand rod burst in to life. I was on it as fast as I could, the clutch was tight so the fish couldn't take any line whatsoever, it did however kite right on a tight line and try it's best to get under the trees between me and the next peg. At the last I managed to turn the fish and it powered off back towards the island to seek sanctuary. I managed to steer it back and soon the fish was languishing in the bottom of my landing net. I was buzzing. It looked a good fish as well and was most definitely a new personal best mirror carp. 

I unhooked the fish in the net and let him recoup will I sorted the rig and rod for recasting. Then I zeroed my scales and transferred the fish to my sling, 25lb 8oz. A new PB mirror. I was bouncing around my peg. What a session. 

Scaly 25 Pound Mirror, Same Spot, Same Rig.

I made sure the retainer was secure, with my prize all safe and sound, while I recast my right hand rod. I also brought in my left and removed the zig rig. I replaced this with a semi-stiff hinged rig that Mark showed us with a Wraysberry candy stick hookbait I had drilled out and plugged with cork. It was very similar as the rig I make but with a few minor changes. I flicked about 40 to 50 S7 baits around the clear area Mark had told me of to my left in open water and cast the rig in the middle of it. 

Once the rigs where in place I gave Mark a quick ring to let him know the fish was in the sling and what it weighed. He was delighted and would be round soon to do the pictures. I couldn't believe the session so far. It had been amazing. With the photos done Mark went and cooked everyone a bit of a BBQ with delivery to each swim, now that's service! As Mark came round with my burger I put the kettle on and made the shattered bloke a nice cup of tea and we sat and chatted for a while before heading to bed. 

About half an hour later I had a weird stuttering occurrence on my middle rod that may have been a fish trying to rid the rig so I decided to bring it in and check it out. It was about midnight and a thick wet mist had come down which made visibility poor but I could vaguely make out the island and knew that when clipped up I would be able to tell from the drop if I was back on the spot or not. Anyway as I was checking the rig over my right hand rod screamed into life. Again with the tight clutch the fish couldn't take line and again it tried to get in the trees to my right. What a fight. All I could do at one point was hold on as it flat rodded me heading back out to open water. After what seamed an eternity in the dark and wet fog the fish was finally in the net. Relief swept through me. I couldn't get to the hook in the net so hoisted her out on to the waiting cradle. The hook hold was phenomenal. A good inch back in its mouth and there was no way she was coming off. I got the net and rod out of the way, zeroed the scales again and lifted my prize, 25lb 10oz! Another mirror pb. I was just overjoyed at this point in the session. I got her safely in the retainer and redid my rods before dropping Mark a little text message. All I got in reply was 'Boom!' And I soon saw his headlight come on as he trudged around the lake to do the honours.

25lb 10oz Of Hard Fighting Mirror, A New Mirror Carp Personal Best.

Marks tuition comes with the whole package, not only the knowledge and experience but also the excitement, the passion, he does your photographs not matter the size of fish and always, always puts you first. Once we had done the pics we let the fish return home and had a celebratory fist bump, with explosion and a cup of tea. Then it was back to bed for the pair of us with big cheesy grins and the lot!

I Don't Even Drink Tea, Now That's Carpy! 

I woke at about 5am, the wet had kept me up most of the night with droplets gathering on the tree branches above me and then drumming on the top of the brolly. I was sat watching the watch and saw some fizzing coming from around the island but after half an hour nothing materialised. I had a niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right with my rigs, pitch black and a horrible fog must have affected my recasts, so I brought in the right hand rod first and sure enough it was maybe two feet to the left of the spot that had been producing, in a bit of weed. With the rig de-weeded and fresh foam nuggets attached it was soon making its way back in to the lake and I hit the right spot first time. I followed this with three mini spombs of corns and then redid the middle rod but replaced the pink corn with yellow. 

I was happy with my left hand rod. The hookbait was drilled and corked so I knew it would still be buoyant and it was on a lovely clear spot so I knew it was presented well. I had noticed a few fizzes coming up from around the area which I hoped were fish grazing on the scattered boilie I fired out the night before.

Stunning Morning On Majestics

The morning started to move along and soon I was thinking of packing the gear away a bit at a time but just as I was starting to consider it my right hand rod barked a take and I was soon battling another of Majestics angry fish. Like all the others she tried to get in to the trees to my right and when that failed headed back out to open water but it wasn't long before I had her in the net and looked down to find another stunning scaly beast. This time she went 22lb 6oz and was what I thought a stunning end to the session. However with photos done and time creeping along I thought I would recast anyway and chance for another one while I was packing away. Mark again came around and did the pictures for me and we had another cuppa while soaking in the mornings activities. 

22lb 6oz Of Scaly Goodness, Boom.

I honestly couldn't believe the session so far. It was just, epic. The most apt word I can think of for it. I'm not a big fish angler or have access to waters that contain huge amounts of 20-30 pound fish. I scrabble around on day ticket lakes, except for Jurassic which is heaven away from the madness, for mid doubles so to have had four twenty pound fish in a 24hr session was a pure red letter day for me.

As I was starting to load the barrow with my bed chair and other bits I heard a fish crash out behind me and I turned around to see the ripples coming from the island over the middle rod and thought I couldn't be lucky enough to get a take from that spot, and I was right I didn't get a take from my middle rod but instead my right hand rod absolutely tore off and this fish decided it wanted to make a bee line for the reed beds to the left of the swim on the far bank but it was soon sulking in the folds of my net and looked to be a touch smaller than the others. Mike, who was a regular on the lake was up in the next peg along chatting to the lad there and came down and helped weigh the fish, which surprised me as it went 20lb exactly. Mark again did some pictures and we had another fist bump. Five twenty pound fish in a session. I don't know who was buzzing more, me or Mark!

Needless to say it was now time to pack away. Marks next group was due in a few hours and I had had my fill for certain. I loaded the barrow up and headed back to the car park with a huge smile on my face. As I loaded the gear up in to the car Mark came up and shook my hand and said I had angled really well and even though it was a tuition I didn't need many pointers, just some fine tuning, which made me feel even better. I had caught all my fish off my own back, Mark just guided me along and showed me what he would do on this particular lake. In all honestly if it was just a normal session, I would have fished the spots I'd found with out a doubt, but like I said I would have used solid bags and wafters with boilie as my food bait. Mark said that doing that I might have still caught, but not the numbers I had. Maybe one day I will go back and use the tips and tactics he taught me side by side of what I would have normally done and see what happens. We shall see. 

Till We Meet Again Majestics.

With the car loaded Mark got the gate and gave me a big grin and salute as I pulled out of the car park to start my journey home. Its been a few weeks now since this session and I still smile when I look at the photos and think of the banter and mannerisms of one of the countries best. Mark had taken on the challenge of a group tuition, his first ever, and was totally shattered but never let it stop him from being attentive and engaging. I would totally recommend Mark to anyone wishing to improve their carp angling, in fact I have recommend him to a friend at work and they have booked Mark for a pairs tuition next year. I'm also thinking of booking Mark for a 'One to One' session at some point to go over some of the points we touched on at Majestics. 

Well there isn't a lot more I can say on this session. It was one I shall remember for a long time to come. Thank you Mark. 

Tight Lines.