Rugby Lake "Finding The Key"

Every so often a water comes along that really catches the imagination, for me Rugby is one of those lakes. It's in a woodland surrounded by trees, it has long reed beds and lovely overhanging branches and bushes. After some marker work I have found it to be very deep in places with a few really interesting little drop offs and channels. The water contains a lot weed and can make presenting a bait some what of a challenge. It has a very impressive stock, with the rumour of five fish in the thirty pound bracket with lots of fish in the twenties.

Rugby

I do rotate a fair few waters but over the past months I have made the decision to focus my efforts on Rugby. It hasn't really been a kind water to me, I always manage to get at least one bite most sessions but something nearly always happens that prevents me from landing the fish. If I fish near the reeds they always seem to manage to get in them or bury themselves in the weed beds, last winter I managed a real nice looking twenty pound mirror. There was a part of me that always felt like it was more luck than judgement. 

A Room With A View

Once settling on the water, watching and really thinking about how I was going to wire myself into the lakes workings. I decided to eliminate a few things before I started my time on the place. Firstly I was going to avoid the far margins and any of the obvious features, all of these spots get continually hammered and through the years I am positive the carp, at least some of them have wised up. I believe when a fish is caught enough off of a certain spot, it could be very reluctant to continue feeding there. 

There's a metaphor in life that has always interested me and I feel it walks hand in hand with a specific fishing approach - "You can spend your whole life looking to the horizon for solutions, when more times than not the answer is right under your nose". When I think of the amount of times I have incorporated this in to my angling, it's spooky. The amount of good fish I have had out of the near side margins greatly outweighs fish I have had from visible features. 

With all this fresh in my mind I thought fishing underneath my rods tips might just be the answer. The beauty of Rugby is that in some swims it drops off down to a really good depth less than a rod length out. So in theory there is a possible patrol route right under your nose. For this approach to work I would have to set my rods up so they didn't hang over the margin and from arriving at the water I had to be very quiet from the moment of setting up, being silent was something I felt was going to help this approach work. Silence is something some anglers overlook.

Sometimes when I am out fishing it really surprises me how loud other anglers talk, sometimes I can hear guys so clearly and they are fishing way up the other end of the lake. If I can hear them, I am pretty sure the carp can to, learning to be quiet is a discipline, it is ironic really, I have spent my whole life making a huge amount of noise with my drums, angling for me is such a polar opposite. 

Regarding rigs, in the past I had been using long running helicopters, replacing the back bead with PVA cord and making sure the bait sank slowly and was perfectly balanced. After having a think I decided to try something a little different, I took the concept of the Withy Pool rig and combined it with the chod. I got a lot of stick from people when I posted this specific rig up on my Facebook feed. I didn't really understand all the animosity, the great thing about angling is that you can try and experiment with whatever you want to. Once you understand the basics and basis of rig design, it can open up a whole new world of creativity.

My Chosen Rig

As you can see with the rig above, the silicone is long and when it sits up it creates a 'claw' type presentation. The micro swivel on the hook allows the bait to rotate 360 degrees, this means that whatever direction the fish come from, the hook can spin and nail them. Because Rugby is weedy I don't want to spend ages trying to find clear spots, I am confident that this rig will present efficiently over pretty much any lake bed, I wouldn't use it on gravel though. The hook link material is Krystons Snakeskin, it's stripped back to just under the silicone tubing, the hook length itself is very long. On the cast I will wrap a PVA nugget round the hook, this ensures that once the lead has settled, the hook link will stay suspended in mid water, once the nugget dissolves the rig will flutter down and perch on whatever is beneath it. 

How The Rig Sits

View From The Top

The hook I am using for this rig is a Size 8 Nash Fang Twister, the silicone tubing is ESP, the stops are from ACE tackle and the micro swivel is made by Fox. Below is a short demonstration of how a PVA nugget pauses the decent of the rig. The more balanced your hook bait is, the slower it will drop through the water. Doing this allows the lead to settle nicely before the hook bait comes to settle, ensuring that you are giving it the best chance to present properly.

Rig Demo On Entry To The Water

Moving onto the subject of bait, I have been mixing it up a little, baits that have delivered me bites have been Starmers Garlic Sausage, Tangerine Fish, Banana Cream and Honey Nectar. Because winter is starting to set in I'm going to scale down on the amount of bait that I introduce. This time of the year I go for 'maximum attraction', making sure that the solid items that carp can pick up are at a minimum. 

Instead of using beds of boilies I favour fast dissolving pellets and method mixes. Because the carp aren't feeding as much as they were earlier in the year, using this approach can really help produce. Method mixes and pellets breakdown leaving a nice scent on the lake bed, I believe this helps to draw the carp into the area. If there are only a few solid food items then it ups your chances of getting a pick up. If I am pre-baiting a spot then I will use boilie crumb, again, the reason for this is because I don't want to fill them up. I really want to try to keep them active and feeding.

I have a very strong belief that carp feed all the way through the winter but it's just for shorter periods of time. That's what makes location and bait application so important, also during the winter I rarely take my eyes of the water, some days it's as if no carp are in the lake, other days they might give themselves away with the odd bit of bubbling, or the smallest of shows, more times than not the water will tell you everything you need to know, you just have to be listening.

One approach that I often use when I am fishing close in is something I call 'burying the bait', I have covered this in an older blog post. For those that may not of read it I will explain it again. One of the great advantages of fishing close in is the fact that you can be so precise with your baiting. 'Burying the bait' is an approach that I wouldn't recommend for fishing at distance. It's a very simple method of moulding a ground bait or method mix ball around you hook-bait.

I have been using Starmers Green Lipped Mussel method mix with some ground up boilies thrown in, to this I will add some salmon oil and a few whole boilies so my actual hook-bait doesn't stand out to much. The mix itself is relatively stiff, I want it to be solid enough to grip to the bait on entry to the water and on the landing. I find that it slowly breaks down giving off a nice level attraction, once it's fully broken down the pop up just rears its head above the mix. Before casting out I throw a few handfuls of boilie crumb over my spot.

Boilie Crumb Selection

Ground Up For Maximum Attraction

Getting The Mix Right

Mould The Mix Into A Small Circle

Place The Rig On Top

Roll Into A Ball 'Burying The Bait'

As you can see by the above pictures, it's a very simple process, you can make the finished ball as big or small as you see fit. I opt for a larger size because I feel it drops to the bottom at a good rate, I need this for my chosen spot because it's a good 9ft deep, there can be advantages to it breaking down before landing, the spread of the mix would no doubt cover a large area. The firmer the mix the longer it will take to breakdown. You can get as creative as you want regarding what you include in your mix, in the past I have combined Starmers 'Carp Red' ground-bait, tuna, anchovies, anchovy paste, 10mm boilies, crushed sardines, the list is endless.

The rig I use to fish this particular method is a simple pop up presentation, I make sure the boilie is nice and balanced so when the carp come in and start hovering, my bait flies up into it's mouth easily. With all my pop up rigs, I like the bait to be touching the hook, I don't opt for any free movement when using a popped up bait.

Burying The Bait Pop Up Rig

View From Above

Anyway, that's enough of my waffle, I think I have pretty much covered my main approaches, I am looking forward to getting stuck in on Rugby. I know it's going to be a ball breaker but it's fishing lakes like this that makes me feel my angling is heading in the right direction. I know that my catch rate is going to drop but I also know that when I do get a fish, it's going to be something pretty special. I'm looking forward to sharing this new journey with you all.

Chase Back Lake 'Baring The Brunt' Part 2

After the minor success of my last session I felt inspired to do a little bit more searching. I spent a few hours one afternoon feeling about in a few of the less popular swims, I found a few features that I liked the feel of. The main one being a 4ft plateau about 25 yards out, the swim was pure open water. To the right was a steady drop off down to 7ft which led into a corner. The drop off and the majority of the bottom that fell into the corner swim was soft sand and silt. The margins were predominately gravel with the exception of a few small areas, the margins shelved up close in.

I really liked the look of the gravel plateau and in the past have seen fish topping at the sort of range it was situated at. I made up my mind I was going to concentrate at least two rods on this spot and it was going to be a 'slow burn', a long term concentration. In regards to baiting approach, I decided I was going to fish a single over a fairly large bed of free offerings. I wanted to pull the fish in and get them digging around and in future sessions, even if I wasn't fishing this spot I would make sure that I'd add at least a kilo of bait to it. I wanted it to become an area the carp associate with food.

The Spot

I had a slightly more in depth search about and when I finally reeled my marker in I had a pretty good idea of what was in front of me. This is a process I have to do when starting a new swim or a new water. As I have said in the past, I can't just "Chuck For Luck", I have to feel that I am fishing correctly and have a better understanding of what I can't readily see.

The basis of my approach on this specific water was pretty systematic, I would keep two of my rods on the main spot and then have the third as a roamer, with the roamer I wanted to search out other areas in the swim, I was basically fishing for a bite at a time. If I started to get takes off the main spot then I would cast the roamer on the edge of the area. If the main spot was slow, I would remove one rod and have two roaming. By doing this I felt I was giving myself the best chance possible to pick a fish off.

View From The Swim

The baits I'd chosen for this session was Garlic Sausage and Honey Nectar, amongst them was a light scattering of Green Lipped Mussel Crab. I was fishing two bottom baits on the main spot and a pop up on my roamer, the areas I was recasting to with this rod contained a fair amount of debris on the bottom, popping my bait up gave me piece of mind that it was sitting proud.

My pop up rigs have gone through a few changes over recent months, I wanted something that was quick and easy to tie. My chosen hook for my pop up rigs are the size 6 Nash Uni, I really like this hook pattern and naturally starting using it for my pop ups. I have ditched the rig ring for rig tubing, it can be really fiddly trying to get the hair length right. I like to have my hook bait touching the curve of the hook, this ensures the carp is nailed the second it mouths the bait. 

The problem I found with using silicone to pin the hair down was the fact it would split on the take. Carp Craze rig tubing solved this issue for me. I don't use leaders or lead-core, I never have, I am a big fan of tubing. Carp Craze has a selection of three, Camo, Translucent Green and Silt, not only are these very versatile as a rig component but they are great on the hook to trap the hair. My favoured one is the translucent green, this is softer and slightly more flexible than the other two. 

Carp Craze Tubing

The diameter fits perfectly on a size 6 uni pattern, it grips just right and still allows the 'blowback' effect to happen when a carp picks the bait up. Because the material is a lot more resilient than the silicone, it will last until the rig/hook is dead.

Rig Tubing Replaces The Ring On My Pop Ups

Back To The Fishing

Once I was happy with the spread of bait, I marked my rods up to the main spot and got them bang on the money. My roamer rod was cast at short range in the margin. The wind was blowing straight in my face so I was feeling pretty confident that a few fish might be following it. It didn't take to long for some action to happen, my left hand rod shot off like a bullet train...fish on!! after a modest fight I banked my first carp of the session, it was a pristine little common. The size was irrelevant, the capture signified that the spot had the potential to produce. 

A Scrappy Little Common

I got the rod straight back out, topped the swim up and sat back to wait, the weather took a turn for the worst, it started hammering down and the wind really started to pick up, about an hour or so ticked by and the same rod took off again, I banked an awesome looking little mirror, it gave a great account for itself.

Serious Scales

I topped the swim back up and got the bait back out, I thought it was about time I gave my 'roamer' a recast. I moved it to more of a medium range position, this time I chucked a handful of boilies around the area. Another hour passed before I got some more action, this time, off the middle rod, I lent into the fish and it was kiting all over the show, I had a feeling I had hooked another scamp, after a short fight I netted myself another perfect looking common.

Munching The Honey Nectar 

Once again the size was irrelevant, it was about banking some fish and working with the spot I had found. It felt great because in the right conditions they are obviously confident in feeding in the area. 

On my next cast I decided not to put anymore bait in, I felt there was probably enough kicking around out there and I wanted to see if I could get a quick bite. Shortly after setting the bobbin my other rod was away like a rocket. When I hit into this fish I instantly knew I was onto something a bit bigger. It was really giving me the run around and there were a few times I thought that I was going to lose it in the 'invisible Chase snags'. Luckily enough I managed to land her, the result being a chunky 22IB mirror.

22IB Chase Lakes Mirror

I was really happy with this fish and I was also happy with the mixed bag I was managing, I must admit that it's always nice when a surprise picks up your hook bait.

When the weather turned I was starting to get a lot of false bleeps from the wind, I had turned my sensitivity settings way down but I was still having problems with false alerts. Whilst I had my head down sorting my rig out, the receiver in my pocket started reacting very strangely. I didn't really think anything of it, assuming it was the wind. But as I turned around I noticed that my roaming rod was absolutely screaming, line was being taken at such a rate that the bite alarm signal to the receiver couldn't register it. I dived for the rod, lent back and the blank just arced round like a whip, the weight and power was crazy and something I have never experienced before, before I could compose myself ...... PING!!! the blank shot up straight and there was silence. I couldn't believe it, it had tethered through 25IB braid, I was gutted, I don't know what the hell it was but it was big, maybe a catfish. I just stood there for a few minutes thinking about what I may of lost, that sick feeling came over me, it signalled the end of the session.

I started to break my rods down one at a time and then .. bang ... the middle rod went, the fish put up a great fight, the fair scrap resulted in another spotless little common, I was pleased but still kept thinking about what I'd just lost.

Consolation Common

The positives of the session out-weighted the negatives, the bait was working the spots were producing and I felt like I had broken through a little more into the workings of the water. I feel the wind played a huge part in the results. The fish do tend to follow it and I had a feeling if I was to fish the same place when the wind is behind me, I could be dealing with a tumbleweed of a swim. Like I have mentioned before, back lake is a 'slow burn', I want to chip away at it and get to the point where I have a series of swims that I know will produce in different weather conditions.

side note

You will notice my hat changes in the photos, this was because there was broken sun and heavy downpours, I am very specific about my head wear : ).

Chase Lakes 'Summer Days'

So much can change in a few days, this session was the first time I felt like summer had finally arrived. After my soaking last time it's as if everything accelerated, the bank side is buzzing, almost everything in the water is doing their business and I have received the first mosquito bites of the year. 

Arriving at the lake I could see some carp in the reeds thrashing and throwing themselves around so I knew this would be my last session for at least a few weeks so they can be left in peace to do their thing. I avoided all spawning fish and opted for the quieter spots.

I was on the water earlier than usual today, my rods were out by 9:30am and it felt good to know I had at least 12 hours ahead of me. That was plenty of time to make something happen, when looking at the lake for a while it struck me that it was quieter than other days, no fish were showing and nothing was jumping, apart from the few spawning it was pretty desolate. I decided I'd fish the swim that is on the point of the bottleneck, well it was a good place to start, I'd play it by ear throughout the day.

As I have stated in previous blogs, the spots in this swim are very clear so I made a few more minor changes to my rig to try and make it really sit on the bottom in the best way possible. Firstly I changed the lead, their are two that I feel really confident using in these situations. One is 'Carpy Chris's' inline weed lead and the other is his inline pear 'ballast' finish. Both look awesome on the bottom and I think they're very tricky for the carp to detect.

 Inline Weed Lead 

I know there's lots of speculation over how effective camo leads are compared to all the generic shapes and colours, I personally think they work better.  Anything that blends naturally into the environment is a winner in my book and I pay close attention to all the components I use, making sure that I have the rig looking the best it can for any fishing situation that I find myself in.

Inline Pear 'Ballast Finish'

In regards to my hook-link, I was using Krystons Supernova, I really rate it because of how supple it is. I took a small amount of mud and wiped it thoroughly into the braid until it had dulled the finish. When I checked this in the margin it really made a big difference, this only really works on uncoated braids because the mud/dirt has something to soak and grip to. 

As stated in earlier blog posts I have really taken a likening to Carp Crazes 'Translucent' green tubing, it's very easy to thread and with a little bit of friction and heat it straightens and molds itself to the contours of the bottom. I am an avid 'tubing user' I never use lead-core or any type of leader like that, I don't think they're safe. Through the years I have caught many fish trailing meters of the stuff.

Carp Craze Translucent Green Tubing

Get Your Hands Dirty

I was feeling quietly confident and I had three solid spots to go at. The only niggling feeling I had was with my right hand rod, directly opposite there were three anglers constantly casting in and out, with lots of casting going on I didn't think the swim was going to have the chance to start working for me. 

Both left and right rods were a simple underarm flick out, the middle rod, I decided to fish it directly in the middle of the channel, I was hoping to pick off a few as they made their way through. I was using Starmers Coconut Fish and Pineapple CSL, I have great confidence in both of these baits and have done well on them in the past.

Right Hand Rod Spot

The carp do seem to respond well to a fair bit of bait, for a change I decided to try three different approaches. My right hand rod had a generous scattering of bait around it, my middle rod was a PVA mesh bag containing crumbed boilies and my left hand rod was a single hook bait popped up and topped with yellow, two handfuls of free offerings were thrown directly on top of it. 

Because the bottom is very 'uniform' in this swim, I was fishing 2oz back leads on all three rods, fishing very tight to the lead. I feel this tactic used in conjunction with a tightened clutch, helps to aid hooking. All fish caught when using this method have been completely nailed.

Middle Rod Spot

My middle rod was positioned in slightly deeper water, it gradually shelves up into the margin directly underneath my rod tips. My bait was in the deeper part of the channel, because I had two rods covering the margins I thought it would make a nice change to target the open water and during past sessions I have seen a fair few fish show in the centre of the bottleneck. 

Since my last blog entry I have done some marker work and I am very surprised to find out that in most of the swims I have fished in, there really isn't much going on in regards to underwater features. Surprisingly it seems to shelve up really close in though. 

I personally love marker work, sometimes I will dedicate a good few hours to it on days when I am not actually fishing. In recent years the magazines and on the DVDs, marker work is almost being shunned with the overused term 'thrashing the water to a foam'. This to me is bollocks, you can learn so much finding out about what's going on below the surface. I actually have two marker rods so I can really pinpoint the more subtle features. 

Very rarely will I throw it around before casting out at the start of the day, more times than not I'll dedicate half an hour or so after reeling in at the end of a session to check out the movement on the bottom. Without making an effort to understand what's going on in front you, you're really just 'chucking for luck', and for me that isn't fishing.

Carpy Chris 'Donk Kit' 

Left Hand Rod Spot

With all three rods now in position I sat back from the waters edge with my eyes firmly set on my rod tips. I had made the decision that I was just going to sit on my hands and wait, I knew the spots produced, it was just a case of seeing if the carp were up for it.

The morning came and went without any positive signs of fish in my area, the buzzers remained static. Midday approached and the temperature was really starting to kick out some heat. Again, it was dead, a few fish were starting to show themselves in the middle of the channel. Come mid afternoon it was baking hot, my confidence level was dropping pretty fast. Then out of the blue my left hand rod arched round and the bite alarm gave out an almighty scream. I rushed up and lent into the fish, line spewed off the spool at a crazy rate and I could feel I was into something heavy.

I really started to give the fish a fair amount of pressure but it wasn't having none of it, it was a good fifteen minutes before I even got a glimpse of it, it was a big fat mirror that was easily pushing twenty pounds. It slowly started to tire and after a good thirty five minutes or so I teased her over the net, scales sunk to 27IB 6oz, I was over the moon to say the least.

27IB 6oz On Starmers Coconut Fish

She really was one hell of a fish, she was clean and her mouth was perfect. It still surprises me how close in you can catch and it seems that the better stamp of fish stick pretty close to the reed lines and margins, I personally think, specifically in this lake they tend to shy away from the main features. I got the rod back out on the same spot and topped it back up with a couple of handfuls of boilies.

The hours crawled by and before I knew it evening had arrived and it was time to reel in, nothing else happened, everything stayed quiet with not even a liner. I was more than happy with the result. I kind of made my mind up that I was going to knock the fishing on the head for a while so the fish could spawn, rest and have the chance to adjust back to normal. 

We have to respect our quarry and I feel this is very important for the future of the sport and our waters. Going down to the lake when fish are spawning can be as equally exciting as fishing for them. I always use this time of the season to consolidate my results and approach before getting back on the waters after the spawn.  

Chase Lakes 'Higher Sights'

So it all starts here, I waited patiently for April to pass, my membership for Chase Lakes started on May 1st. Prior to joining I had done a few day sessions on the back lake with some success, landing fish up to 27IB. During April I fished my club waters and took a few trips to Chase on some sneaky reconnaissance missions. I learnt a lot just watching the water and looking at how other anglers approach the lakes. First impressions were that all the main features get extreme pressure, the islands have lines off them 24 hours a day. There are also a lot of overgrown swims that seem to be ignored.

I have no interest in fishing to the obvious spots, the margins and the quiet little bays are the places I am really interested in. I started by walking around clocking all the swims that were overgrown and awkward to fish, these are obviously places that don't see much pressure, I decided I was going to start to concentrate my efforts on these areas.

In regards to the lake bed, it's pretty clear with a mix of gravel and clay, the margins and spots near overhanging trees seem to be pretty silty with a fair amount of junk on the bottom. Any spots I choose in these specific parts will be fished using a simple pop up, everywhere else I am going to stick with basic bottom baits. I am not sure of the depths at the moment, I plan to dedicate a few short sessions just marking up the areas that I will be fishing, once I get an idea of how much movement there is on the bottom I'll be able to focus on some interesting features. My approach is going to be very straightforward, simple rigs, boilies, find the fish and feed them.  

Where To Start

For my first session I chose mid afternoon through to early evening, it amounted to about 4 hours fishing time. I arrived at the lake and before I made up my mind on swim choice I sat and watched the water for a short while to see if any fish gave themselves away. There were a lot of anglers around the islands and there was a choppy wind racing over the lake. Nothing showed itself so I opted to get on the front of the wind and fish a back margin that had a great set of reeds for me to go at. 

My chosen bait was Starmers Coconut Fish topped off with a small piece of fake corn, I was fishing combi-rigs on two rods and a 2ft Zig on the third. My combi rigs consisted of Rig Maroles skin-full and Nash Trigga-link. I was using a 'Carpy Chris' flat pear lead 2.5oz, I really favor these leads when fishing on hard bottoms, the rig was finished off with 2ft of 'Carp Craze' Translucent Green Tubing. 'Example Of Hook-link Below'

Bottom Bait Combi Rig

Carpy Chris Inline Pear 'Gravel Finish'

I like the above rig because every element comes into play when the fish picks the bait up. When using Trigga-link I don't go below 2.5oz with the lead size, the heavier the lead the better because it increases the spring effect that Trigg-link provides. Skin-full is coated, I strip just enough off so there is a tiny section above the hook eye that is nice and supple, this allows the bait to sit proud and move naturally.

Before casting out I had a lead about and I was getting some heavy donks on each cast, it was pretty clear, the bottom was hard with no weed or silt. I got a fair amount of bait in on both spots, spreading it in a good 5 meter radius around where I was planning to put my hook bait. I estimated that I was probably fishing in about 6/7 foot of water, the margins do seem to fall away pretty quickly and I think if approached correctly, the margins will be where I get most of my takes.

View From The Swim 

I got all my rods out with as little disturbance as possible and then sat back to relax. My eyes were firmly set on the water, from past experience the fish do tend to give themselves away and as it's such a big lake and if it's possible to move on them, then I will. Also because I'm only fishing for a short period of time it's important to stay mobile. I have decided to scale down on the tackle, keeping everything to a bare minimum. This way I can be on the move all day without the dread of carting loads of gear with me.

Forty five minutes past and I was starting to get restless, there were no signs of fish in my swim whatsoever. I reeled in and took a walk around, the point that leads into a back bay was showing signs of life, I noticed a few fish topping in the narrow channel and no one was fishing there, I legged it back got my gear and made the move.  I put both left and right rods along each margin and fished my zig out in the open water. My margin spots were barley a rods lenght out.

Second Swim 

Margin Position 1

Very Close In

Margin Position 2 

Within a few minutes of moving swims I saw evidence of carp holding in this part of the lake, once all my rods were sorted I sat quietly back from the waters edge and waited. Sure enough within twenty minutes my left hand rod tore into life at great speed. I lent into the fish, it felt heavy and was putting up a real scrap, she surfaced and I was met with the sight of a real old looking warrior. after an intense fight I slipped her over the net, scales sunk to 20IB on the button. 

I was very pleased, unfortunately the fish had real bad mouth damage, not from my hook hold but obviously from past captures. This is the part of the sport that I really hate, I am very forgiving when I play carp and nine times out of ten you can't see where my hook hold was. In these situations I make sure I treat the effected areas the best I can and focus on getting the fish back having been treated thoroughly with as little stress as possible.

20IB Old Brute

I got my rig straight back out on the same spot, threw a few handfuls of bait around the area and sat back. It was about 30 minutes and the same rod went off again, just like the last fish, it was powering around pretty dam reluctant to give up. After a frantic couple of minutes I slipped a long looking common over my net, scales sunk to 21IB 5oz, once again I was very pleased.

Big Old Chase Common 

Chase back lake is a very big water and it goes to show that you must never ignore the margins, like I stated before, I was barely fishing a rods length out. I have grown up carp fishing with a very ingrained sense of the margins and through the years that has been where most of my good fish have been caught from.

After getting the fish back I decided to pack up with the plan of coming back the next day to fish over the baited area from the first swim I set up in. I put a lot of bait out and I felt there was a strong possibility I could pick off a bonus fish, from past experience I've also learnt that I shouldn't have to wait that long if they're holding in the area.

The Next Day

I had work in the morning, once done I shot down to the lake, it must have been around 4:30pm when I arrived at the water. Luckily the swim I wanted was free, the wind was gently blowing onto the reeds and it looked perfect for a bite. I got both rods setup and out quickly, both were fished over the spots I had piled the bait in the previous day. The swim was pretty hard to fish with a steep drop down to where my rods were, the upside was I could walk my baits along and just drop them over the edge, I scrambled through the undergrowth to bait up both rods with accuracy.

Jungle Warfare

A Real Uncomfortable Swim

Because so much bait went in the day before I literally put a few handfuls over each rod. I was thinking if any fish were present it shouldn't take to long for them to get stuck in, especially if they've been holding in the swim from the previous day.

Left Rod

Right Rod

Realistically my rods had been out about 45/50 minutes, I got a few beeps on my left hand spot which soon developed into a ripping take. I skidded down to my rods and lent into the fish, instantly I knew I was into something of a fair size. It was propelling around like a submarine, surfacing briefly, it was a big mirror with a fair gut on it. I kept the pressure on and eventually teased her over my net. It was a quick result but part of me wasn't surprised, I had a gut feeling that carp may have moved onto yesterdays bait over the past twelve hours or so, scales sunk to 23IB 8oz.

A Quick Mirror From The Margin

After a few pictures I got her back, I didn't stick around I felt that I had pretty much concluded my first few sessions and I feel already that I have learnt an awful lot about the place. 

I must move when I see that I'm not on the fish, using big beds of bait to draw them in works well, I must not ignore the margins and the quiet little bays and if I'm fishing real close to trees and bushes I have to use a pop up and adjust my presentation slightly.

I am looking forward to what future sessions hold for me, there are some real nice fish dwelling in the water, I have heard whispers of a low forty. 

I also really want to get stuck into the front lake but the place is rammed 24/7, there are some beauties swimming around in there. I have been told many times that it's a hard lake and you're lucky to catch but that doesn't bother me, I am already hatching a few plans in regards to my approach and I am keeping my eye on the water each time I am down. I am in no rush to get on there, I will know when the time is right and when that time comes I'll follow it through.

Be Lucky !!