Wick Mere 'A Royal View'

I hadn't really been in a rush to get back down to Wick, mainly because, with the woods closed, the going swims were pretty much on rotation 24/7. When I think back to the previous year doing 'days only' I literally drove myself insane trying to bank my first carp, I must of done at least 25 sessions before breaking through. It was really very simple in the end, you had to be on the fish to catch them and because the woods were closed, they grouped up in that area and pretty much stayed there. Two swims gave you access to where they were hauled up, when I managed to get into either of these swims, I caught. For those of you that keep up with my blogs, you'll know that it all came good in the end, but it was a very frustrating journey.

The Day Closing Over Wick 'Summer 2015'

There were some whispers that the woods would open up again once the water had drained so the trees could be felled. No one was certain exactly when this was going to happen, I felt that once the carps 'safe zone' had been taken away, it might start to push them back into actively patrolling the whole water again. Having spent so much time fishing elsewhere I suddenly had a 'calling' from Wick to get back on its banks. Instead of planning a long drawn out session I made the decision that I'd do a half day visit, sometimes a quick, short, sharp, shot does the trick.

One of the things that always gets me excited about Wick is the stamp of commons that it holds. They're dark, long and really hard fighting, actually, as I sit and write this, it's been reported that a 42IB common has recently graced someones net. It doesn't surprise me at all, the mere is fairly large and has so much weed and natural food for the carp to feed on. Give it another few years and I think it's going to hold a very large head of big fish. It's a water that I will always visit and I believe there are still a few surprises ghosting around in its depths.

A Memorable Wick Capture

On the day of the session it was humid and muggy, partially overcast with patchy drizzle. My carp senses were in overdrive, it felt so right for a bite and I couldn't wait to get the rods out. I had a feeling the 50 or so miles ahead of me were going to feel very long. My mind was stitching together so many different scenarios, I was really hoping that one of the 'going swims' would be available, if not I knew I'd be having to fish in 'no mans land'. It's a proper head-ache when the swim you're in is as dead as a dodo, but you can clearly see the carp partying in an area of water that you just can't reach. 

This can be a common experience on Wick, they're not afraid to show themselves, more times than not, they put on one hell of a display as they leap continuously out the water. I've counted up to 30 shows in the space of a few minutes, it's as if they're laughing at you. Times like these I have very little going through my mind other than, Carp-1 Paul-0. Today was going to be different though, I could feel it, and I was going to do my very best to get one of those lovely dark commons in my landing net mesh.

On arrival I was very surprised to be met with an empty car park, it was looking like I was going to have the whole of the mere to myself. The adrenaline kicked in, I proceeded to get the barrow loaded at an alarmingly high speed and headed down to the waters edge. I was afraid that my excitement was going to cloud my judgement so I took some time out and slowly walked the whole of the water. Everything looked so perfect, the clouds were moody, there was a light drizzle and the world around me appeared so vivid. Standing alone with only my dog Eric as company, I really felt like I was stood within a water-colour painting. 

As expected, the carp were putting on a show, a few leapt clean from the water just by the island. I counted four shows along the back end of the woodland bank. It was pretty clear where I needed to be, so I headed round to a swim that gave me access to both the woodland margin and the island. Once in the swim it suddenly hit me just how heavy the weed growth was, this was going to be really tricky, not just getting a bait in but also sinking my line properly without it getting embedded in all the surface weed.  

Swim Position

Before even contemplating getting a bait out I wanted to have a feel around the spots that I was planning to fish. I didn't want to dedicate a great deal of time to this, solely because I didn't have a great deal of time ahead of me. Also, if there were fish in the area I didn't want to be spooking them away. A couple of measured casts later I'd found a few spots where the weed wasn't too bad. Usually in these circumstances I'd fish a 'safe' helicopter system but this time around I opted for my 'pop up claw' rig.

Pop Up Claw Rig

The above rig can be fished on both a rotary system or a 'semi-fixed/running' lead arrangement. Today I was going to use a 'POM' lead setup, this is similar to the 'COG' but without all the 'bells & whistles', simply put, you have a secondary running swivel on your hook-link that connects to a grommet in the lead. The hook-link is a lot longer than usual and I find when fished in combination with a perfectly balanced bait, it presents itself perfectly over low lying debris and weed. 

Secondary Swivel Pressed Into Grommet

The advantage to this setup is simple, if you have to ditch the lead then you're able to do so. I don't endorse ditching leads at all, but on the occasions where it would be detrimental to the fish not to, then I'm all for it. Dropping the lead on every take just for the hell of it, in my mind, is bad angling practice. Due to the amount of weed in front of me I was going to need all the help I could get to land a fish safely. 

The actual claw of the rig is produced by simply steaming a curve into a full length of heat shrink tubing, how aggressive that curve is, is entirely up to you. The final element in my mind which makes this rig so effective is the micro swivel on the hook, this creates what I call "a safe 360" effect. Meaning that whatever direction the carp comes on to the bait from, it allows the hook to spin around and hopefully take hold. 

Micro Swivel In Place Of A Hair

The image below shows the finished presentation from above, if you can visualise the water being nice and murky with weed and debris fluttering around. From a 'carps eye view', it sits proud offering a tasty little treat that any passing fish would find hard to resist. It always takes me a little time to balance the bait perfectly, it's key to get the hook-bait to sink super slowly so it rests on whatever is on the lake bed, you don't want the bait burying itself and disappearing into a mass of debris. Finally this will be fished on a leader, again, I'm not a fan of them but with the amount of shelves and swan mussels that are in Wick, it has to be done.

A Carps Eye View

So, now with all the technical waffle out the way, it was time to get on with some fishing. With both rods rigged up it was now a case of getting them on the spots. The left rod was wrapped 13 times, this put me directly under some overhanging trees right at the start of the woodland bank. Due to the crazy weed out by the island, I found a clearer spot directly out in front of me, 10 wraps placed me perfectly on this. My bait of choice was Strawberry Mivvi, I decided I was going to put out two fairly large spreads. I wanted to try and attract some fish in, taking into account a fair number of freebies would fall into the weed.

View From The Swim

The rods were out, the bait was out and now it was time to sit back and take it all in. There's nothing quite like sitting back and putting your feet up when you're 100% confident in what you are doing. The coffee came out and so did the sun, here I was alone on the mere with a proper "Royal View" in front of me and one of those long dark commons that I always seem to dream of could be moments away from making its presence known.

Too my surprise the left rod flew into action whilst I was enjoying my coffee mid-gulp, I shot up spilling it all over me and lunged for the rod. The fish took off up the margin at crazy speed and managed to shoot headfirst into a lovely thick weed bed. I kept the pressure on, there was a slight jolt and as quick as it was on, it came off. I took the positive "there were fish in the swim". So I brushed myself down and got the rod back out, followed by three modest handfuls of bait. This time I was going to 'lock up', this would hopefully put the breaks on the take, giving me a better chance of avoiding the same thing from happening again. 

Eric Keeping An Eye On Things

The afternoon progressed and the carp activity increased, there were fish showing all along the woodland bank and around the island. My expectations were through the roof, I knew it was just a matter of time before I received a gift. As I sat clocking the activity around me a carp jumped within yards of my left hand rod, it looked like a good fish. I was willing it to find my bait, in preparation for what might occur, I hovered close to my rods, I really didn't want to lose another fish to the weed. Perched, striking hand at the ready pure poetry ensued. The rod arched round and it was away, I was on it like a shot. 

The carp tried to take the same route as the last one, immense side strain stopped it in its tracks. I kept the pressure on, the fish was giving me some serious stick but I held tight adjusting the clutch accordingly. Very slowly she was coming my way, weed was strung all up the line and I sensed that there was a fair clump attached to the end tackle. The rod was creaking, carefully I continued to guide her my way, quarter of the way out, the fish surfaced, I briefly witnessed a long dark back cut through the surface layers. The adrenalin kicked in, I had to land this fish.

The closer it came the thicker the weed, it was 'touch and go' but with steady and gentle pressure I managed to tease her over my net, what a relief!. Parting the abundance of canadian that engulfed everything, I was met with a beautiful dark common, a classic Wick mere specimen. I didn't bother weighing her but I guessed she wasn't far off 20IB. Size is irrelevant, it was once again the process of this capture that interested me. The presentation was right and so was the location, once again, a short, sharp session had produced the goods.

A Classic Wick Mere Common

The rest of the day retired itself to evening, no more bites came but I was more than happy with the result. I made my way back to the car as the sun was setting, the world felt somewhat perfect for the first time in a long while. Now I'd had my 'Wick Fix', my mind was already thinking about where I was going to head off to next. I was feeling that my next trip might be a little closer to home, it appeared that Burrows was now calling me back and it was a calling I wasn't going to pass up.

Wick Mere 'Karmic Rewards'

My last session on Wick was a while ago now, I was eager to get back but I knew that if I couldn't get the toilet swim or the back swim by the woods, I'd be wasting my time, during the day at least, Wick is pretty much a two swim lake. My thoughts had become very obsessive about the place and having a little time away from it felt like the sensible thing to do. I am not sure what it is specifically about Wick that took hold of me, I can't recall any other water that has caught my imagination so much. I know the challenge is something that appeals greatly but the rumours of long dark commons was something I just couldn't let go of. On this specific day I had originally set out to do a session on Boreham Mere but when I arrived at the water it was full of anglers and I didn't see much point in squeezing on. I thought I'd shoot down to Wick on the off chance that one of my favoured swims might be available, if not I'd shoot over to Braxted.

As I pulled up to the front gate I was met with an empty car park, my heart started racing, today might be the day I finally got to fish the water the way that I wanted to, if the theory of EFFORT=REWARD is correct and karma is kind to me, then I am due for one hell of a payout. As I drove down the long and bumpy track I could see that the toilet swim was free .. result!! I wasted no time and got all my gear out, dropped the van back up in the car park and legged it back down to get sorted. The time was 12:30 am and I was planning to leave at 6:00 pm, I didn't have a huge amount of time but I felt confident that I could get a result.

The weather was perfect, it was sunny, overcast and the wind was violent, almost gale force. I love conditions like these, it's so exhilarating being on the bank, it blows all your cobwebs away and you feel well and truly alive. The wind was blowing directly into my face so it was a good job that I wasn't going for a long chuck. This specific swim controls a lot of water, out in front of you are a few scattered weed beds and some gravely areas. To the right you have the mouth of the bay that I was planning to target.

To hit my spot my plan was to wade out and set my rods up in the water, doing this would give me the angle that I needed to get up in to the small bay by the woods, this zone of the lake is pretty much untouched and I knew that the fish held up there, I'd seen so much evidence of it on previous sessions. Fishing from the bank didn't allow you to get anywhere near where I was planning to put my baits. The whole of the woodland bank has been shut off, it's been like this for along time now and I knew the carp were fully aware of this.

Positioning

I waded out up to chest level, my rods were set up on storm poles so they were nice and high. The cast was a little tricky but perfectly doable. It's a strange sensation wading out to fish, you feel so connected, like being plugged directly in to 'the source' of nature, completely immersed in your environment, it can really change your perspective on things. Being by the water is one thing but actually being in it is a different experience all together.

High On The Sticks

My chosen bait for this session was Honey Nectar, its caught for me so well this season, I was planning to really pile it in, if the fish were milling about the bay area I wanted to keep them there and get them competing for food, the more competitive they get, the higher chance you have of them tripping up on the hook bait. In regards to rigs, as usual I was going to keep it simple, I was going to fish a slow sinking pop up, I decided to fish leaders on both rods to protect my line from the weed and the swan mussels. From past experience I know that the carp are expert escape artists and I don't want to be losing any of the fish that I hook.

Honey Nectar Pop Ups

Starmer have been working on a new 'Ultra Buoyant' pop up that I've been helping to development. I've been putting them through their paces with positive results, close attention has been paid to making sure they look identical to the matching bottom bait of the same flavor. They've managed to get it spot on and side by side you'd be pressed to tell them apart.

Bottom Bait vs Pop Up

I've been experimenting with a presentation where I make the bait hover slightly off the bottom. It's been working very well for me over thin weed and debris. It's a bit of a fiddle to set it up but it's an approach that I am becoming very confident in using. It consists of hollowing out the pop up and replacing it with zig foam, this makes the bait 'super' buoyant, thus making manipulating it a lot easier. As well as performing minor surgery  on a boilie it also requires just the right amount of tungsten putty to counter balance both the hook and bait. When carp are actively feeding on your spot I have no doubt that the disturbance causes your loose feed to rise and fall in the water. The ultimate goal with this presentation is to make the hook bait act as natural as possible, rising and falling with the rest of the free offerings.

Hollow Out The Pop Up

Gently Ease The Foam Into The Hole Made

Before casting anything out I decided to load the swim up with at least two kilo of bait, I spread it all over my chosen zone. I left it a good half hour before casting anything out. I gave myself one feathered cast on each rod to keep the disturbance to a minimum. I had a gut feeling that the action was going to be pretty instant so my weigh sling, scales, tripod and carp care products were all set up prior to casting out.

View From The Swim

Baits were placed and I stood solid by my rods, the wind was really beating on me and the water was almost pushing up over my chest waders. Within five minutes my right rod shot off, I was on it straight away and proceeded to try and tame what felt like a wild beast on the end of my line. I could see I was in to a long dark common, she fought hard until the end and was pretty dam reluctant to get in the net. Scrambling back to dry land I could see it was a pretty good fish, once in the sling, scales fell to 18IB, what a beauty she was.

A Dark Wick Beast

After I slipped her back I put another 100 or so baits back in the zone and got the rod cleanly out, no fuss, first cast. I stood in anticipation, I really felt like I was doing everything right. Twenty minutes or so later the same rod was off again, this felt like a better fish, taking line slowly, it felt solid as it lunged around, I was using my lighter rods for this session, the blank was pretty much bent double. Slowly she started to tire, I caught a glimpse of another dark common, it looked like a good twenty for sure, easing the net out and teasing her over I knew I'd caught a beauty, scales fell to 24IB 5oz, she was an incredible creature.

24IB Pure Beauty

This fish blew my mind, it was perfect in every way and it was a real pleasure to watch her slowly swim off, it's these poignant angling moments that people that don't fish will never understand. For me the release is as much of a buzz as a capture, as they swim away and fade slowly into the depths you can only wonder where they might be heading.

"Try To Bare With Me On The Paragraphs Below, I Will Try To Explain The Best I Can"

After a moment of quiet reflection I got a fresh bait rigged up and cast it right back on the spot. Again, I topped the swim up with more bait, I wanted to keep it going in. What happened next was a moment of pure madness, thirty minutes passed, my left rod was off again shortly followed by the right, it was a double take and I didn't know what the hell to do, I grabbed my left rod letting the right one run, at one point I was trying to frantically play both fish at the same time, it was actually working in some goofy way. 

The left rod felt like it had the better fish on it, I placed the right rod on the rests having tightened the clutch up, this approach seemed to work. It bought me enough time to land the first fish which was placed in the cradle, I filled it right up with water so the carp was comfortable. I grabbed the right rod and netted the fish, it looked about 13IB, I slipped her straight back and went to take care of the other carp bathing in my cradle. Obviously having time to rest, it was full of energy, a minor fish slapping occurred, I got soaked and hit in the face by its tail, it was worth it though, scales sunk to 20IB.

Another Dark Common

I slipped her back, with both rods now out the water, I was eager to get them both back as fast as possible. Before the cast I changed hook-links so the hooks themselves were nice and fresh. One thing I'd noticed, with each fish landed, there was a lot of weed on both the rig and leader. It confirmed that my ultra balanced bait presentation was working a treat. In the image below you will notice that the tungsten putty is sitting a couple of millimetres off the bottom, readying the hook to catch hold easily. 

Hovering Bait Presentation

Things slowed up for a while, I landed a small single figured common that I returned straight away, the mouth was in a sorry state. I don't like seeing this, it's completely avoidable, I have a strong belief that if you have to use your Klinic, then you've done it wrong. Of course damage can occur, sometimes it's unavoidable but the mouth damage I have come across in the past is unforgivable really. We have to respect our fish, look after them, play them and handle them with care. That's the first rule of angling for me.

The afternoon evaporated, I had about an hour left, during 'last knockings' my left rod was away, I was on it like a shot, the rod bent double and it felt like I was connected to another special fish, the fight was immense, the fish weeded me up a few times but with gentle, steady pressure I managed to get her out. It wasn't long before I had another bar of black gold in my net, scales fell to 24IB. I was buzzing, the sort of commons I was obsessing about do exist and I have been lucky enough to have a few of them grace my net. After a few photos I slipped her back and watched her slowly glide into the murky abyss.

A Perfect Fish To Close The Day

What a session it had been, it exceeded all expectation and has, without a doubt quenched my thirst for the venue. I knew what I had to do to get a result and I believe Karma had rewarded me for the long run of blanks that I'd gone through. I don't mind blanking, it's part of the process, as long as I am learning along the way. Constant observation is the key, without it I wouldn't of been able to gauge what I'd have to do to get a result. Observation is hard to master, to me it's an important element included in your overall watercraft. I am done on Wick for awhile now, next stop Boreham Mere.

Goodnight

Wicks Mere 'New Ways Of Thinking'

This blog is a condensed account of my thoughts feelings and approaches that I adopted on Wicks Mere, it's been a humbling and enlightening journey.

Little did I know that from the first moment I laid my eyes on Wick Mere a new obsession was in its infancy. The minute I took the long walk from the car park down to the waters edge I wanted to unearth it's mysteries and get acquainted with the carpy residents that resided in its vast depths. I was eager to get my head around the place as fast as possible, in many ways that was my mistake, trying to rush the process of learning.

"Some of my views within this post might be somewhat abstract but please bear with me because it should all make sense in the end."

As I have stated in the past, I don't do night fishing anymore, overall my fishing and catch rate has improved because of this. I have learnt that it's not how much time you put in but more about how you use the time that you have available to you. I work and have a family life, I don't want to be camping out for days on end. I find the night fishing approach 'can' harbour a very one dimensional way of angling, basically... you put your bait out and sit on it for three days, this isn't what carp fishing is all about for me, it was once but not anymore.

Afternoon On The Mere

The older I have got there is one aspect of existence that has become very clear to me, that being 'the process'. What I mean by this is, the same building blocks are needed to be fixed into place to get the desired end result, this is relevant in whatever activity you have chosen to do.

My example of this would be the almost perfect symmetry between 'the process' of tuning a drum and tuning yourself to a water. There is no set way to tune a drum, they're all different just like lakes, each drum has individual regions, regions are tuning areas where the drum will sing and resonate perfectly, each drum has a different number of tuning regions. Just like different waters, they all have different feeding areas and hot spots which will produce better than others, they all have holding areas and zones that the carp feel safe in, to me these spots equate to drum regions. Drum tuning is a sense, you know when you've found its sound, just like water-craft, it's intuitive, you start to know when you've begun to suss a water. Both drumming and angling are very different but the process of getting to the end result is the same.

I approached Wick like I was tuning a drum, I had to find its sound and understand it's regions/feeding zones. Because it's very different to anywhere I have fished before I was well aware that for the first month or so I would be operating way out of my comfort zone. I can equate this to tuning large drums, the larger the surface area the more sound there is to control, the only way I mastered this art was by doing it. In regards to the water, even if I blanked, as long as I'd gone away at the end of each day having learnt something, then I knew that I was putting those building blocks in place and eventually I would get the end result that I wanted. Can this process be rushed? No, I don't believe it can, if things are to grow correctly then they must grow naturally.

View From The Bowl End

My first few sessions were based around starting to understand the make up of the lake. I focused my efforts on the bowl end, this is the deeper part of the water. Lots of anglers always seemed to be up the other end of the lake so I thought avoiding the pressure could work in my favour. After having a lead around it was clear that the marginal drop offs were extreme, literally falling down to 10ft a rods length out. I instantly felt, considering the warm weather we have been having of late, that this part of the water could make for good winter fishing. The depths might be to vast to target in the warmer weather. 

Wick has a varied bottom, there's weed, clay, silt and gravel, out in front of me the gravel was at the very bottom of the marginal slope. Being a lover of margin fishing it felt like the perfect place to start. I would adopt my usual tactics, a few handfuls of bait, one rod fished on the slope, the other at the bottom on the gravel. I knew nothing of feeding times so I had to just sit it out blind, I knew my presentation was spot on for where I was fishing.

Rough Layout Of The Bowl End

On my first few sessions I received a few 'ghost runs' where there was nothing on the end of my line. I thought that it might be trailing fish. After speaking to some regulars, it was in fact trailing fish, apparently there are some savages bars towards the island and the woodland area and home to a lot of swan muscles so a lot of fish are lost and left trailing line. I clocked this information for future sessions, especially if I ended up fishing near the woods and island. If I was getting 'ghost runs' then it showed there were some fish in the area so I was hoping for a few pick ups, they never came. A good six sessions were spent moving swims around the bowl to try and get some kind of response from the carp.

During these sessions I religiously watched the water and after a few visits I started to see patterns emerging. The carp would start to show themselves from about 4 o'clock onwards, it appeared that a majority of them shoaled up. Nearly all the shows were up the other end of the lake around the island and along the margin of the wood land area. This now explains why most anglers were up that end of the lake. 

The woodland area use to be fish-able but hasn't been open for a few years now due to flooding. It was very clear to me that the carp knew this was a safe zone, there were only two swims on the lake that you could get a bait to them.

Wick Aerial View

The image above shows where I believe the safe zone to be, it also shows the two swims that allow you to get close to this area, it goes without saying that both swims are nearly always taken. After talking to the locals about the water, it started to become clear that the majority of the fish held up there. A lot of the guys that do nights would catch, this told me that the carp felt safer under the cover of darkness to venture out around the lake. 

I started to feel that during the day on most of the water available to you, you'd be fishing for a bite at a time, hoping to pick up the odd carp that has ventured away from the woodland zone. This was a somewhat frustrating prospect, if I wanted to stand a chance at catching during the day I would have to get myself in either of those two swims.

Symmetry 

My next bulk of sessions were focusing on both the margins and the open water. I was slowly moving up the lake and covering the majority of the swims. During this period I'd found plateaus, soft spots, drop offs, channels, you name it, I found it and fished to it. Lots of bait, minimal bait, pop ups, solid bags, stringers, every approach possible, including zigs. 

It was around this time that perseverance turned into obsession, I had to get carp out of this water and I sure as hell was going to find a way. Through all these sessions the anglers that were in the two main swims were catching, this solidified the theory that the carp are hauled up in the woodland area. It struck me that it didn't matter what my approach was if the fish weren't in front of me to catch, the result would continue to be nil. Because I don't have a night permit it was as clear as day that I had to get to where they were. I didn't have the luxury of catching them when they spread out at night.

Realistically I'd done around twelve sessions without landing a single carp and I'd used everything in my armoury. We've all been in this situation, the problem screamed 'location'. I decided to step away from the water for a few weeks and concentrate my efforts somewhere else with the plan on coming back to Wick with a fresh perspective.

The Break Through  

On arriving at the water, there were only a few cars in the car park, I thought I'd get loaded up and make my way straight round the wooded area to see if 'the going swim' was available. Much to my shock and surprise it was, I was buzzing and got myself setup as fast as I could. 

To get right up in the 'safe zone' I would need to cast in excess of about 100 yards, I felt this was doable. My chosen bait was a single Octospice pop up topped off with a small bit of yellow zig foam, I was going to fish it on a helicopter system. From the google-maps image I could see there was weed out where I wanted to fish. Through the winter I have perfected my helicopter rig, I use a very slow sinking pop up, I have found fishing a rotary setup with a balanced bait pretty much presents itself over anything. The other reason I opted for a helicopter system was because I was having to cast a long way and with the weight being on the end of the line, this would lend itself to casting well for distance. 

View From The Swim

The hook-link I like to use for my helicopter rigs is a coated braid stripped off at the point where I put the putty to counter balance the bait. The main points for doing this is, the stiffer materials are less prone to tangles plus the coating helps to kick the hook-bait away from the line/leader.

The Business End

The most important component to make this presentation fool poof was a lead free leader. Take note that this is included because I found out that the carp can cut you off on the bars - that proves the importance of the learning process, without that knowledge I probably would of fished the rig bare. For those of you out there that don't think it's safe to fish a helicopter rig in weed, I would like to point out that I replace the back bead with PVA cord, this alleviates the problem of the bead getting clogged up with weed and not being able to run free in the case of a crack off. 

Rig Marole Lead Free Leaders

It took me a few casts to get the rods exactly where I wanted them, I had to compress the carbon big time, in the end I was hitting the clip and both baits fell poetically underneath the branches. I opted for singles because I knew 100% that the carp would be mooching about. Hours passed and just like always fish started to show along the wooded margin, my baits were in perfect positions so I just had to wait, sitting comfortable with the knowledge that my presentation was correct.

Out of nowhere my left hand rod tore away, I paused for a second because I was almost in disbelief. Leaning into the fish I could feel that it was a lump, I kept the pressure on, easing it my way. I was a bag of nerves, I just hoped that the leader was going to do it's job and protect my business end from the carps usual "get out clause". After what seemed like a year the fish was starting to give up the ghost, I caught a glimpse of a lovely long, black common, weed was strung all up the leader and line, the fish was also caked in the stuff. The game was soon up and I slipped the net under my first Wick Mere carp. I was numb, totally blown away, I had done it, after a considerable amount of blanks I'd finally broken through. Scales sunk to 20IB exactly, what a feeling!!

My First Wick Mere Beauty

Side On

It goes without saying that I was over the moon, perseverance is an art, a driving force that you must work with. I've still got a long way to go though and this fish is just a small piece of 'the process'. I feel that my views on the carp activity are thorough enough and I am just going to keep on chipping away at the place. There is something about Wick, I can't quite put my finger on it but to me it is a very special water and I feel that it's going to take me on one hell of a journey, I look forward to sharing it with you. 

I Will Return