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