As I opened the combination lock to the front gate I also opened a new chapter in my carp fishing journey, the next thing I had to unlock was the lake, it's by no means an easy feat. As I walked to the lake side I was instantly hit with a feeling of a water steeped in history and it seemed to melt perfectly into the landscape. I walked around to see if I could spot any carp. There are plenty of reed lines and over hanging trees, lily pads and marginal areas that appeared very 'carpy'.
Fishing a new lake for the first time is an exciting but very daunting prospect, I decided I'd follow the wind which was pushing down into a back bay partially filled with a big lily bed. I got my gear into the swim and thought I'd do some quick marker work. The bottom was silty with thin weed in places, the depth was about 5ft. I decided I was going to fish helicopter rigs with long hook-links and a pop up, hooks protected with a PVA nugget. As I was reeling my marker in a carp topped exactly where it landed so that was promising. I baited up at the point of the lilies and a spot where the lilies met the reeds. Carp where jumping in the center of the pads, some of them looked like mid-twenties, I was buzzing. I had my face to the wind so casting was tricky even though I was fishing at short range, I wanted to be 100% accurate.
The Business End
When you start on a new water it always appears to be a huge expanse of unanswered questions, when you crack the code the water seems to shrink. Instead of looking at the lake as a 'mass' you start to beable to divide what you see into sections, through time you tie them together and then you develop a full understanding of what's in front of you.
No action came in the first part of the day, I re-cast a few times and added a little bit of bait every few hours. When I was reeling my rigs in the weed hadn't attached itself in anyway so I knew my presentation was right.
The rest of the day into the evening came and went without anymore action, I thought it was a pretty successful session. I might not of banked any carp but I learnt a great deal. Firstly my presentation was correct, I've started to clock a few areas where the carp seemed to be showing and my baiting application worked. Next time I go back I'm going to sit for a while just watching the water, I'm not going to return with any preconceived ideas. I think we've all fallen into the trap of deciding what swim we are going to fish before turning up to a lake. A couple of hours in the right swim can reap rewards. Next time I'm hoping to hook my first Bovington Carp.
Lately I have been experimenting with all sorts of baiting ideas which I will go on to explain in future blogs. On this session I decided I would make my hook bait a different color to the freebies that I was throwing out. I have tried this in the past with great success, the idea came to me when I was looking at boilies on the bank.
Where Does Your Eye Go When Looking Below ?
Mine goes straight to the orange Tutti Futti, visually I believe this creates something a little different. I have been trying to target 'bigger fish' recently and I know that the 'big girls' may linger around large beds of bait whilst letting the 'care free' carp to get on with the munching. My idea is to fish over large beds of bait but fish the different colored boilie on the edge of the main baited spot. This can go two ways, it's either picked up out of curiosity, or spooked off from looking different.
Bait Positions 
I got both my rigs on my spots first cast, put the back-leads straight under my rod tips and sat back to take it all in. The wind was blowing in my face so I tucked myself behind my umbrella to get some relief. There were a few fish jumping in the center of the lake, as the hours ticked by they seemed to be getting closer to my end.
When you start on a new water it always appears to be a huge expanse of unanswered questions, when you crack the code the water seems to shrink. Instead of looking at the lake as a 'mass' you start to beable to divide what you see into sections, through time you tie them together and then you develop a full understanding of what's in front of you.
No action came in the first part of the day, I re-cast a few times and added a little bit of bait every few hours. When I was reeling my rigs in the weed hadn't attached itself in anyway so I knew my presentation was right.
Tranquilly In The Swim
Later in the afternoon I had my eyes firmly on the water when out of the blue my left hand rod went ripping off. I ran to the rod leaning into the fish. It was kiting everywhere furiously darting all over the place, it didn't feel like a carp, it had all the characteristics of a tench. As the fish surfaced I saw the green flank and orange eye staring at me, I slipped her over the net, she was pristine looking, the scales slipped to 5IBs. It may not have been my target species but I was very happy because it showed my rig presentation was correct.
A 5IB Beauty
I got my rod back out on the spot, carp where continuing to show themselves very near my right hand bait. I topped both spots up with about 15 boilies and then sat back semi expecting my right hand rod to shoot off. After about 30 minutes the left hand rod was off again. It had a similar feel to the previous take. After a little bit of a scrap I pulled another Tench over the net, it was also bang on 5IB.
The rest of the day into the evening came and went without anymore action, I thought it was a pretty successful session. I might not of banked any carp but I learnt a great deal. Firstly my presentation was correct, I've started to clock a few areas where the carp seemed to be showing and my baiting application worked. Next time I go back I'm going to sit for a while just watching the water, I'm not going to return with any preconceived ideas. I think we've all fallen into the trap of deciding what swim we are going to fish before turning up to a lake. A couple of hours in the right swim can reap rewards. Next time I'm hoping to hook my first Bovington Carp.
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