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

Winter Is Coming

With the challenges of short, wet and cold days and generally awful fishing conditions, how do we make the most of the time we have to bank a few winter fish? Well this is what I will be doing this year, the same as I have for the past few winters. Commercials.

By a commercial water I mean is the more well stocked course angling lakes designed for match as well as pleasure anglers. Lakes like Horseshoe at Pool Bridge Farm in York, Acorn at Raker Lakes and Barlow Common in Selby. These lakes see anglers pretty much all year around and anglers, mean bait! The fish in these lakes seem, to me anyway, a lot more active in the colder weather and I believe it is the steady stream of bait from the match and course boys that does it.

Last year I spent most of the winter on Acorn at Rakers. It's not a demanding water but the elements can be against you with very little in the way of bank-side vegetation to keep the cold winds and harsh rains off of you. However all the swims are pretty solid and bivvy pegs go in great, so a sturdy brolly or day shelter will help your time on the bank be as comfortable as possible.

Brolly Drying In The Sun After A Winter Downpour.

I love being out in the bitter cold. The banks are quiet, the fishing is obviously harder than at other times of the year but winter has a magical feel where I don't mind if I blank or not. Aside from a shelter I still tend to travel as light as I can. Sometimes, even on small ponds like Raker, it can be a good thing to move if things don't quite feel right. While you could probably cast to every inch from any peg, these lakes tend to be on a complex of several lakes and you may find the bailiff tells you that one of the other lakes is fishing its nuts off and a move will be in order. 

I suppose everyone is different and they want different things from their fishing. For me winter fishing is all about being out and making the most of the time I have at hand and getting a bend in the rod. If that means I need to head to waters that have a higher stock level but a low weight stamp then that's perfectly fine with me. 

Cold Wet December Day Last Year, Worth It.

There will be tons and tons of winter articles gracing the magazine shelves in the next few months packed with winter tactics, I won't claim to know the best tactics that's for sure, but I think most of them will be the same, single, bright, high-viz pop-ups with maybe a pva stick of attraction. Or those wriggly little blighter's, Maggots. Something I think that will come up a lot this year will be the use of zig rigs. A tactic I will definitely be working on one rod for sure. But something that works for me is a very short high-viz pop-up, so that will be what graces my other rod.

Single Bright Hookbait Cast To Showing Fish, Result. 

I did try spombing out a bed of bait on one of the winter waters last year but it didn't seem to work for me, I don't know if it was the lake or me but the fish certainly didn't respond to a bed of bait in the depths of winter. Maybe it was the conditions, maybe it was the bait itself, maybe this year will be different, who knows. 

This festive season I plan on targeting the same waters, most probably with the same techniques, and I'll probably catch the same few fish but in all fairness, I will probably catch more than the people who think fishing commercials is beneath them. That it is not proper carp fishing. Well, while those people are sat at home wishing they were fishing, I will be out there doing it. 

No matter the size I love catching them all. Roll on the winter and fingers crossed for a few more overlooked stunners. 

Tight lines.

Three Lakes

In the historical market town of Selby, in the heart of Yorkshire, lies a truly stunning complex of lakes, Selby Three Lakes. Dug over 80 years ago, the Lakes have seen some magical fish on the banks. From it's beginnings as three separate lakes to then forming one large lake and then back to two lakes the fish have certainly seen their fair share of disturbance and turmoil, however that has not stopped the lake coming on leaps and bounds and the fishing following suit.

Recently I have ventured out in to the world of film-making, only small scale ideas and I thought back to my biggest project of late, which was my Julian Cundiff 'Live and Uncensored.' In that video Jules mentioned about building a portfolio up, a profile on which others could base your work on. So I approached Roger Hind, aka Bullet, the head man at Three Lakes and asked if I could do a video for his lake as I have spent a fair amount of time there and he said yes, crack on. So I did.

A Stunning View From Every Peg

I decided to capture my footage over several trips to the lake, not all of them fishing. In fact I did a quick over-nighter, a few hours walking around after work and then a longer weekend session to get images and recordings from separate areas of the lake with hopes of landing a fish or two.

Even though Selby Three Lakes is sandwiched in-between a 'rock and a hard place', the rock being an industrial estate and the hard place a retail park, you could just as well think you were in the middle of an Oxfordshire estate. It is just magical to behold. 

Anyway, on my first session I didn't manage to bank anything other than footage from a lovely swim called the Old Gate. I've fished this peg a number of times over the years and know that the pads on the far bank are a must for presenting a bait too. But this peg also holds a number of other features often forgotten. A large tree to the right of the swim, just visible in the picture above, can really hold the fish as a lot of natural food will fall from this tree and the carp just hoover it all up. To the left of the swim is the end of a large bar that is a patrol route. I slipped two rods on the pads and one of the bar but also scattered a little bait under the tree to see if anything should show up. The morning arrived with a stunning sun rise but nothing else and I packed away to head to work only to be returning in a few more weeks. 

Hidden Corners And Gems Of Green

The hight of summer was upon us as I made my way back to Three Lakes. The flora and fauna were at its peak, the lilly pads large and buoyant and butterflies danced with each other getting ready to bring new life in to the world. It is a majestic time of year.

I was meant to be joined by a good mate of mine on the session but unfortunately work interjected and it meant I had to go it alone, not a bad thing as I like my solitude on the bank, but sometimes it's nice to have a social. And someone to stand in front of the camera! I am not the most camera friendly person. Oh well, I move on. 

I was booked in to the House Bay swim for my return session to grab some more footage and do some final scouting around the lake. I arrived at the lake around lunch time on the Friday and had a quick walk around to see how much pressure was on the fish. Most of the main pegs were taken and plenty of lines were in the water, hopefully this pressure would push the fish around the lake. I made my way back to my swim with half a game plan in my mind. I knew the peg a little bit from a previous trip but thought I would just have a quick lead about before I set my stall up. I found the main bar that runs from the spit to the house bank and clipped up with all intentions on fishing the backside of the bar over a spread of DNA S7 boilies and particle. I decided that two rods would be on the bar and I would put my third rod on the far bank near the moored boat with a sprinkling of chopped boilies around it. Rig wise I opted for semi-stiff hinged rigs on my bar rods, one with a PB fluro pop-up and the other with a bright red one, and a simple blow-back solid bag rig on the other rod with a Korda Fake Food pink dumbbell.

The Boat In House Bay

Once all the rods were out I set up home and put the kettle on before doing a little filming. As I was putting the camera away I spotted a fish head and shoulder under an overhanging willow tree on the far bank. After seeing nothing else I decided that it would be silly not to drop a rig on that spot. I wound in my left hand rod and flicked it out toward the trees, after a few recasts adding extra yards on the clip each time, the rod was soon clipping the branches as my rig landed on the spot with a good clear, hard thud. The foam popped up to the surface and I knew my PB pop up was 'On the money!' so I fired out 20 or so boilies around it. And sure enough not an hour later the rod rattled off as I was on the phone to mate Mark, unfortunately on my behalf the clutch was a little on the loose side and I didn't manage to set the hook fully, resulting in the fish dropping off as I changed the angle of my rod to prevent it reaching the snags.

I was pretty gutted to say the least but checked the rig and found the hook still sticky sharp so I re-clipped, re-cast and re-baited in no time at all. If the fish was still in the area I wanted to get a rig on it first time and to try and make it slip up again. After 7 bream takes on my middle rod in the space of a few hours I decided that no matter what I put on that bar the bream would take! Double pop ups, double 18mm bottom baits, they would have them all! As I was playing in the 7th bream I looked over and saw another fish show on the far bank near where I had rebaited. Once the bream was unhooked in the water I decided to place my middle rod on the far bank as well and leave the bar alone. I switched the hook-bait back to a single bright pink pop up and fished it to the edge of the lilly pads near the over hanging tree.

By the time the rod was in place the day was cracking on and I got myself some tea before turning in for the night. It had been a long day, my sleeping bag engulfed me and I was soon away with the fairies. The night passed uneventfully but just at first light my middle rod signalled a take with the bobbin smashing in to the rod blank and the fish kitting left on a tight line, the fight was nice and straight forward until it got in to the deep margins at my feet where it keep diving and lunging trying to get in the lilly pads to my left. It was a great feeling when I finally slipped the net under a rather tired leather carp of around 17lb. I transferred her to my retaining sling and let her rest while the sun came up and I had enough light to get some self-takes done.

A Stunning Old Warrior.

With the photos done and a little filming for the video, I slipped the fish back and settled back to watch the water for any other signs of fish. The following day was super frustrating on the fishing front, the wind had turned and was now blowing up the other end of the lake and fish where crashing out in water in front of occupied swims so all I could do was to keep trickling bait in, hoping the sound and smells would draw the fish back into my baited area. Sadly nothing else materialised for this session other than getting some more great shots for the video and I packed away on the Sunday morning happy that I had accomplished several things from this session.

The first and foremost was catching one. I have spent a long time fishing this lake and while I have had success in the past, the last few sessions I had done were disastrous. So to get a stunning upper double, topped with getting some camera footage as well, really made the session for me. Obviously the other reason I was smiling as I pulled out of the carp park was because it was mission accomplished. I had gathered enough footage to make a promotional video for the lakes which Bullet can now use for his own doings.

Next came the really fun part in editing and splicing it all together to make a three minute long video. It is something I really enjoy doing as I can sit and piece together all the parts, grab some music I feel will suit the video, not just some generic stuff that every man and dog seems to use.

So that's it for me guys, hope you enjoyed the blog and the video below. Thanks for reading.



Matt.

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.  

Lesson Learnt, Confidence, Never Leave Home Without It!!

Since switching from NuttaS to S7 in the later part of spring this year my season had gone from strength to strength. It could be because it has resulted in a new personal best, or the fact that every fish I have had this year from the syndicate has fallen to it but what ever it was this bait has given me a huge confidence boost. The confidence was up well and truly until a recent, quick over night session....

I have so many projects on the go at the moment and so much flying around my brain that I made a monumental mistake. One of the projects I've got is a lake promo video for Selby Three Lakes Day Ticket and I managed to get some good footage just walking around the lake but decided that it would be better to grab some footage while I was fishing. So I rang the lad that runs the lake, Bullet, and got booked on for a Monday night after work.

Now here is where I messed up. For the past few sessions on my syndicate I had been doing the same thing and it had been working for me. Finding a nice little spot I know fish visit and baiting it with half and whole S7 and fishing solid bags over the top. Anyway I decided to take a bait to Three lakes that I had never used before. On to a venue that, to be frank, I had struggled my ass off on. And I know exactly what most of you are thinking, why you retard?! I don't really know, maybe I was thinking of using something that the fish may not have seen on this particular water. Something that isn't known for attracting the bream and tench. But anyway the deed was done and that was all I took with me.

So armed with a new bait I'd never used and my overnight gear I headed to the lake and went for a wonder around. Unfortunately the pegs on the majority of fish were taken and I decided to drop in to a swim called The Old Gate as I had fished it before. It was also the peg I had my first ever Three Lakes carp from so I decided to fish it more for nostalgic reasons than anything else, but as I was setting up a fish rolled on the pads straight out in front of me, that would do, I thought.

Pads Lining The Old Gate Swim

Anyway from the get go, even after seeing that fish roll, I was never really confident. I just felt I was missing something. I was happy with my rigs, the spots and conditions and seeing fish in the area was even better. But the bait was just not doing me any favours, it may not have been the bait, the fish may not have visited the spot and I may have still blanked on S7 but I would have had my confidence with me. I'm not going to rubbish the other bait at all as I spoke to the guys who produce it and they seemed to think that it would work on that particular water. Anyway the inevitable happened and I ended up packing away the next morning to a stunning sun rise caught on film but nothing else.

I took a valuable lesson away from this experience. If you want to try something new then don't go all or nothing! What I should have done is taken what I was confident in and another bait if that was what was recommended, or I should have just not bothered with the other bait at all and trusted myself and my bait. It was a harsh lesson learnt. From now on I will only take what I am confident in. Whether it be mixed with particle to create a large bed of food items that will keep them guessing.....................................................

A Banquet Of Food Items

Or on its own, which if I'm 100% honest in my opinion is the best way to fish with DNA's S7. From the sessions I've done recently the boilie approach certainly has done me well. All but one of my syndicate fish have come from a standard whole and halved bait strategy and now looking back at past mistakes and failures, I can see where I have gone wrong when I have not implemented it. I suppose that is another great thing about this sport, I am forever learning and that is what keeps me coming back for more!

S7 Capture From My Syndicate

I have locked my faith in a bright high visual hookbait at the moment, I feel matches my feed baits really well, but wonder if I am missing out on bonus fish by not having a food bait attached to my rig. I guess that will be a test for my next outing. Fishing two rigs as close as I can with the two different hookbait options and see how well I do. I am really looking forward to getting out and putting all my ideas to the test. And not just the hookbait colour but type as well! I love a wafter or pop up so will be giving the new Evo hookbait system an outing soon as well. 

Confidence, Will Improve My Chances Next Time

Anyway I have just finished a batch of off-white pop up S7 hookers which I need to sort and stuff in to an air drying bag to harden before the next outing, just in-case the pink doesn't do anything for me ;) so until then I will leave you with my over-boosted DNA post and get back to doing what I do best, not much.

Later Folks

Matt.