Chase Lakes 'A Formidable Effort'

I saw chase lakes on a 'Carp TV DVD' and was really surprised I hadn't heard of the place considering it's about 30 minutes from my door step. I decided I'd go and check the place out before fishing there, I shot down one Sunday afternoon to have a nose around. It's in a country park, there's a back lake and a front lake, the front lake is the harder of the two, the fish are wise and from the looks of it it's very weedy. 

The back lake called out to me straight away, it's big but it has lots of great marginal spots and a few islands, it spat out a 42IB a few weeks back, that's yet to be confirmed. I spent along while watching the water, the wind was blowing down into the first half of the lake and there were carp jumping along the margins. I had a word with a few anglers who were fishing, there's a good head of doubles and twenties with a fair few 30's and upwards. Obviously hearing this my mind was racing with 'where I was going to fish' and 'what tactics I was going to use'. On the drive home all I could think about was going back with my kit and getting the rods out.

My first session didn't go according to plan, first mistake I made was going on a Sunday and the place was rammed, I had no other option than to fish a small bay on the back of the wind, I had one fish out which was probably the smallest one in the lake at a whopping 3IB, not quite the monster I was expecting. It was a frustrating session because options were limited. I put it all behind me, I guess it was good not to have a blank.

The next time I went back it was a different ball game, I fished a point that had two islands and a channel to the right of me. I am not the greatest distance caster I think my limit is about 75 yards and then it all goes out the window. The islands were a fair cast, I managed to get them pretty spot on after a few attempts.

My Swim

My right hand rod was fishing tight to a marginal line that led to a shallow channel. After a few casts I found that it was weedy in a few areas so I found a clear spot about a rods length off of a overhanging bush, it felt like soft clay which was perfect to present a rig on.

 Third Rod Position

Before I even got a chance to set my landing net up my left hand rod was off like a rocket, this was on my island spot. After a slight wrestling match I slipped a tired looking mirror over the net, scales sunk to 17IB, I was very surprised I got a run so fast, it was an odd looking fish that had obviously been through the wars, unfortunately she had bad mouth damage which is always upsetting to see. I got some antiseptic on the effected areas and gently slipped her back.

17IB Chase Mirror Carp

I whacked the rod straight back out and added some more bait, a few minutes later my right hand marginal rod flew into action, teasing the fish around the point of the reeds, I had a fair scrap before netting a lovely looking common, scales sunk to 12IB. This was great because I knew they were on the bait and my rigs were doing the job well, my confidence was now sky high.

12IB Chase Common Carp

I re-cast, baited up and sat back to catch my breath. One thing I'd like to mention about Chase and something you will no doubt experience if you go, are the swans, they really give you hassle, they literally attack you so you've got to keep your landing net handy at all times to keep them away.

Swan Alert

I have yet again been experimenting with combining baits, I've found a Starmer cocktail which I call 'Telescopium' that seems to be doing the job, I am going down to the lakes with my PVA bags already made, this saves so much time on the bank especially if you're wanting to get you rods back out quick. I have 100% confidence with the cocktail I have come up with, also the advantage is, combined with a PVA nugget masking the tip of the hook, the bags make the rig very 'anti-tangle' which is a massive weight off the mind. Before hooking them on I roll them around in my hand to grind the contents down, this also tightens the bag up so when it melts it explodes out on the bottom leaving your hook bait sitting nicely in an inviting pile of freebies.

The Telescopium Blend 'Little Bags Of Secrets

Shortly after re-casting my right hand rod, it was off again, this was a ferocious take stripping line like mad. I lent back into the fish and felt straight away that it was big, it was powerful and really steady. I managed to guide it round the mouth of the channel, she was peeling line, tightening up the clutch, it still just kept forcing line off the spool. A good 15 minutes had gone by without so much as a sighting of the fish, I just took it easy keeping the pressure steady waiting for her to tire. 

Slowly but surely she started to give in, the fish topped, it was big, a real lump of Chase mirror. I gently teased the fish over the net, as I went to lift her out it struck me that I'd caught one of the big girls, luckily there was someone around to take a picture. I put her in the sling to weigh, there was part of me that thought I'd done my new PB. Scales sunk to 30IB. I was over the moon even though slightly shell shocked.

30IB Big Girl

Side On

This really was a great result and will be the reason that I join Chase lakes, my UK PB is 32IB and I feel this lake is the one that I stand a good chance of beating it on. She really was a beauty.

Slightly off topic - I have been refining all elements of my fishing in recent months and one change that I feel is helping me is my hook-link material. I got myself some 'Jelly Wire' which hasn't been out on the market for that long. In the past I've swapped between Silkworm braid, Merlin, Amnesia and Fox Illusion, there is an amazing fluorocarbon called 'Seaguar' which goes totally invisible in the water, I've caught countless fish with it. The thing I like about Jelly Wire is that you can strip it. In the past I would make my own combi-rigs using the albright knot but it's very time consuming, I've never been a fan of strippable braids but Jelly Wire seems to be a little different.

My Hook-Link

I heat shrink a tiny bit of tubing on the bend of the hook and bend it off the eye, 'top of the shank', this makes the rig spin into the bottom lip, every fish I hook it connects in the bottom lip with a very solid hold. Very rarely do I loose a fish once hooked. I got my right hand rod back out on the spot and topped the swim up, it had only been in about 15 minutes when it shot off again. 

This felt little a real big fish, I couldn't do a great deal with it, it started to make its way down the channel, this was a tricky situation because due to the angle of my line it started pulling against a section of reeds that were down to the right of me, I couldn't get the angle to apply the pressure properly. I held the rod out and up to give some side strain but unfortunately the angle was so tight the fish came off. I was gutted because this was another big fish for sure.  

The Reeds

After that everything went quiet for a few hours, I recast a few times and continued to put bait out. Because I had now moved all three rods along the margin leading into the channel, I thought I'd move my left hand rod back out onto the island. Because I had baited up there in the morning I thought there might be some carp sniffing about. I hammered the rod out to get maximum distance and managed to get it right underneath an over hanging bush. 

A few hours went by before out of the blue my island rod burst into life, I lent back into the fish and it was instantly taking line, putting up a really scrap. I was starting to get the fish closer in underneath the rod tip when my middle marginal rod started screaming. There was no one around to take it for me so I just had to let it run. I was trying to rush the fish I was playing but it wasn't having none of it. 

Eventually I got her in the net, legged it over to my other rod and lent into it, it had gone into the reeds but I managed to tease it out. I got her in towards me pretty quickly and ended up slipping her into the net, I'd bagged two carp. The rigs were tangled and it was all a real mess.

Double Take 

The bigger of the two weighed in at 18IB, I didn't bother weighing the smaller one, they were both beautiful looking fish.

18IB Chase Lakes Common

After slipping both fish back, my rigs were a total birds nest, I cut the lines, this signaled the end of my day, and what a day it had been. The back lake at Chase is by no means an 'easy' lake. It's very big, has a few weedy areas and a load of places that carp could be hiding. With a little bit of observation and careful baiting, results can come in abundance, I will be heading back there soon to see if I can bag another big girl.