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 Back Lake 'Baring The Brunt' Part 1

This blog entry is part one of two, I have been spreading my wings a little on back lake with some interesting and yet frustrating results. I have not been able to get on my favoured spots because an angler has been doing a 10 week session, 'and counting' in the opposite swim. The commotion being caused has put my plans on hold regarding this part of the lake. I am going to explain a few different approaches that have been helping me put fish on the bank. Back lake isn't as easy as you first might think and you are faced with a huge body of water, I am slowly weaving myself into the lakes system.

We have been experiencing some lovely low pressure of late, I for one am really happy to see the back of the summer, I love Autumn and Winter fishing so much, the bank side thins out and you are left to get on with what you need to do. As I recall this years summer has been one of the toughest in regards to banking carp, the heat has been up and down like a yo yo and there were times when, whatever I tried just didn't produce. During these periods I find I review certain approaches and consider little tweaks to my presentations. The reward for this effort usually starts to show itself when the carp start to feed up for winter. Even in theory if you're not doing anything wrong, the little extra thought you put into what you're doing when suffering a blank, can shift your perspective on the situation in front of you.

The Expanse Of Water

The more I have fished the place the more I wanted to explore it in a little more detail, I love marker work and I decided I'd have a quick feel about in some of the swims I was interested in fishing. The first thing that has started to become very apparent is how snag ridden the whole water is and worst of all you can't actually see any evidence of them, they're everywhere and in the past I have lost good fish to them, it doesn't matter what you do or how much pressure you give on the fight, they seem to find something to get around. 

It has been so frustrating because you take time to find something of interest only to fall at the last post trying to net the take. From the power and weight of some of the fish I have hooked, I am thinking a few of them were something special. A few weekends ago the weather had really turned, the wind was heavy, it was overcast and raining. Through past experience I have come to realise that these are perfect conditions for this specific water. It was Saturday afternoon, I grabbed my gear at around 1:30pm and got down to the lake with the intention of leaving at sunset. 

As expected the lake was deserted and I quickly had an idea of where I wanted to fish. As I have mentioned before, I tend to shy away from the main visual features because all these areas get hammered 24/7. It's the stuff that I can't see that really interests me. The swim I chose was one of the more popular ones, it's a double and two islands sit directly in front of you. 

The wind was blowing really heavy in my face, instead of going at the island, I decided I was going to fish the channel between the bank I was fishing and the island itself. I wanted to try 3 PVA bags, one long range, one medium range and one close in. In my mind I thought that it would be pretty hard for any fish making their way through to not come across one of my baits. My bait of choice was Starmers 'hooker pellet', these are dumbbell shaped and have a lovely soft centre, the flavor was Salmon Marine and I had glugged the lot in pure Salmon oil, they stunk real good.

As I was only down for a short time I didn't put any loose feed out, I concentrated on making my bags as attractive as possible. They consisted of green lipped mussel and monster squid pellets, to these I added some crushed hooker pellets, crushed Bio Cp2 Amino Boilies and some dry hot chilli hemp method mix. I tied the bags big and tight, they looked pretty clumsy but I had a feeling they might just do the trick. Before casting out I attached a small stringer round the end of the funnel web, this had a mixture of fishmeal based boilies on it.

The Blend

A Big Bag Of Stench

Regarding rigs, I was fishing the blow back with a size 6 Nash twister, my hook link material was Rig Marole Hydro Link Micro. Those that follow my blogs will be aware I shift and change my hook-link materials on a regular basis. There are a few key ones I like to stick to, it all depends on the situation. I like this specific one because it's slightly stiffer and still has a suppleness to it, it comes in a pale green and is very abrasive resistant, I will add a few flecks to dull the colour with a rig pen if I feel I need to.

Hydro Link Micro

To finish off the presentation I cut a tiny slither of yellow zig foam and top the bait off with it, I find it adds a nice little visual effect. In places, the bottom of the lake is pretty much black so anything to help catch the carps eye is always a good idea. On certain lakes I tend to shy away from imitation corn, I find it can be a little bit to blatant. On occasions I sometimes rub a little mud into the foam just to dull it down a little. Because sweet corn has been used to catch fish pretty much since the beginning of time, I feel there is almost something inherent within the carp that attracts them to the colour. 

Just A Slither 

I tied up my three bags and whacked them out making sure I have the range of the channel covered. By this time the wind was really kicking in and I had a feeling I wouldn't have to wait long for a pick up. The average depth of the water out in front of me was 5ft, it was a mix of soft black sand with very fine debris on top. I would usually use a pop up in these situations but because the blend in my bags was so potent I decided to stick with bottom baits. 

View From The Swim

Once all three rods were out it didn't take long to get my first take, it was about 30 minutes in when my middle rod tore off . It came in pretty easy, it was only a scamp of about 5IB, I didn't bother taking a picture, I got her straight back, chucked the rod back out and within minutes of it hitting the water it shot off again, resulting in a carp of a similar size. The size of the fish was irrelevant, the important thing was the fact the approach was working. A little bit of time ticked by and then I got my third take, again off the middle rod. This felt like a much better fish and when I eventually got her in, I was pleasantly surprised to be face to face with a nice long common, I weighed her, scales sunk to 19IB.

Long Common On The Hooker Pellet

I was really pleased with this capture and it confirmed that in the right conditions and the right location my chosen approach works. I wouldn't opt for using it if I was fishing the open water. On this lake big beds of boilies seemed to be the way to go on open spots. By this time a couple of anglers had turned up wanting to do a night in the swim so I packed up and went home.

Short Session Thoughts

One of the advantages of being a 'short session' angler is how you can make the process of trial and error a lot shorter than if you're doing regular long stints. On short sessions I like to try an approach and maybe a spot that I usually wouldn't go for. If you are adopting a specific approach for only a couple of hours and it works, you can then incorporated it into the longer sessions you do. Also when you have limited time I feel you become a lot more proactive in your ideas. For me a fresh and clear perspective can be the difference between catching and blanking. The minute I feel I am losing perspective, I have to pull off the bank-side for awhile, it gives your brain time to process things and then you can get back down with a fresh set of ideas and a healthy dose of enthusiasm.

Part Two To Follow Shortly 

The Stock Pond 'Breaking Through''

This blog is a record of two sessions totalling 6 hours fishing

Over the past few weeks I have started to think about the waters I fish in a different way. For me, each lake is a system and has a series of systems within it, as anglers it is our goal to unlocked and gain access to the workings of our chosen water. The beauty of the sport is that we all find our own ways of doing this. It takes me a long time to figure out, sometimes a period of blanking can start to make you think about what you're doing in a more constructive way.

In previous blogs I have mentioned my fishing modes, these are kind of like 'ruts', you can really get stuck in them. I am always aware of when I'm in a mode. The best example I can give is when you turn up to the water, put your boilie on, cast out, throw some bait around it and then sit there and wait. 

When I was learning to play my drums, 'an art I have sacrificed my whole life for', I was taught that practice is only beneficial when you focus on the things you can't do, practising the easy techniques over and over again might make you feel as though you are getting somewhere but in theory you're not. 

I adopt this school of thought within my fishing. When I find an approach and a spot that works for me, I am eager to find another, some of the best sessions I have had is when my 'favourite' swim has been taken and I have been forced to fish elsewhere. More times than not I've never felt very confident in these situations but countless times this has produced some great results. I think what I am trying to say is 'you don't know until you try'. This is a mantra I keep firmly in the front of my mind regarding carp fishing. 

Always think bigger than just one swim, one bait and one approach. It doesn't have to be complicated, one of the best fishing seasons I had was when I fished crust on the surface, I didn't get my bottom baits out until the winter, it's amazing what you can make happen with an 8IB line, a crap rod, reel and a hook.

All the above points are very relevant when it comes to the stock pond, this is a water that I have sat by through every season, hot, freezing, snowing ... the lot. It's not a particularly big water and it's pretty shallow but it isn't as easy as you first might think. I have really been around the houses with this lake, lots of baiting ideas, lots of spots, presentations, everything, and it became clear to me that I had to strip everything away and go back to the bones. A simple single pop up.

All the fish I have had out have been on singles popped up a fraction off the bottom with very little bait around it. Because the water is very clear I paid close attention to my rig components, making sure they blend and mould into the colouration of the bottom perfectly. I have opted for striking coloured bait finding that yellow and orange seem to do the business.

Subtly Popped Up

The weed in the water seems to come and go, it has presented a few problems in the past but I have now learnt to embrace the stuff rather than run a mile from it. I use PVA nuggets and mesh to manipulate the rigs actions, I am always confident that the bait is presented well once cast out.

Side View

The hook link I seem to sway towards when fishing a pop up with an inline lead is Rig Marole 'Hydro Link'. This material has fluorocarbon running through it. You can create great combi link effects without the use of tying to materials together.

A Supple Hinge 

For my pop up presentation I cut a tiny piece of rig tubing to replace the ring, the Carp Craze rig tubing is perfect for this. It slides onto the hook trapping the braid perfectly, I make sure my bait is touching the hook, I don't leave a gap. I want the fish to be hooked the second it mouths the bait. To enhance this effect I use a nice heavy bit of tungsten putty. I use a lot of putty on all my hook links, after doing a lot of tests in my rig tank, I favor using a fair amount because it really pins the hook link down and I also feel it aids in turning and setting the hook.

My first session on the stockie was the morning, I wanted to try to get my baits in the water before the sun started beating down. My plan was to fish whilst it was cool and leave when the heat came. Over the past weeks a lot of surface weed had developed, I decided I was going to use this to my advantage and fish directly under it, I thought if I could get a bait safely through it then I stand a good chance of a bite. 

There is no cover on the water at all apart from a few reeds. I sensed the fish might be holding under the weed because it makes them feel safe, also taking into account a lot of natural food would be falling through the water from the weed itself.

View From The Swim

Before casting out I took a walk around to look in the reeds and there were loads of carp making there way through the back of them right under the bank. They seemed to come through every twenty minutes or so. I wanted to get my bait out but I refused to do it until I knew the carp had moved on. I knew they would be back, I wanted to make sure my bait was sitting proud before they returned.

To make sure my rig landed soundly I put a PVA nugget masking the hook and made a small "PVA Funnel Web Sock" which I slipped over the baited hook and tied at the top with PVA tape. This would ensure nothing attached itself to the hook as it pelted through the surface weed.

PVA Trickery 

Step 1 

Step 2

Finished 

The process above can be pretty time consuming so for me it's important to get the cast right first time. Before getting the rig in, I walked back around to behind the reeds just to check there weren't any carp in the area, it looked quiet so i shot back to my rod and flicked the bait out, I got the cast spot on. Because the bottom is pretty uniform I opted for a heavy back lead, I wanted to be alerted the second a fish was on.

Sure enough about thirty minutes later the rod shot of, I was on it like lightening, luckily the fish bolted forwards away from the reeds so it was a real easy and pleasurable fight. I netted a lovely long looking mirror, scales sank to 19IB, I was very pleased. The heat was really starting to kick in now so I knew I'd nicked one just in time.

19IB Mirror On A Single Popped Up Honey Nectar

I got a couple of nice shots and got her straight back, I decided to pack away, the stock pond is so open, it's a sun trap, wind trap, very uncomfortable at the best of times, and I didn't feel like burning up all day on the off chance of another bite. It would be four days before I return.

Session two, Sunday afternoon

I don't usually head out to the water at weekends mainly because of the crowds, luckily I am blessed enough to be self employed so I get the chance to fish week days. This particular Sunday just felt different. It was lovely and overcast and I really felt like fishing. I find a lot of the Saturday night anglers seem to shoot off around midday, most probably to tuck into a good old roast and take a shower. 

I arrived on the bank for 2:30pm and was pleasantly surprised to find it practically empty, apart from a couple of guys camped up on the far bank. This was perfect because I could fish the same spots as my last session. It was looking great for a bite, loads more weed had gathered along the reed line and a hell of a lot of carp were showing at short range in front of me. My plan and approach was the same as before, single pop ups fished directly under the surface weed.  

I went through the same process as before, making sure the hook was nicely masked so I could cast my bait through the surface weed. I managed to get it in position on my first cast. It was slightly behind the reed line, which was a bit of a worry but I decided to leave it, I just had to make sure I was on the rod as fast as possible if it tore off.

Topping Carp

My Spots

Carp were continuing to show themselves just out in front of me, and after the cast it was good to see I hadn't spooked any of them. The rods stayed static for a good hour or so, until out of the blue the left had alarm screamed into life, I rushed for it and applied the pressure. In the time it took me to get to the rod, the fish had tore right round the back of the reeds, by the sound of all the thrashing, it appeared to be a big fish. 

I kept the pressure on but it was solid, I took a few seconds to logically think about what I was going to do. I decided I would walk around the back of the reeds and slowly reel in my slack line. Once at the reeds I managed to lift my snagged line over the top of the stems. After doing this I was once again in contact with the carp, but it managed to wrap the line around some of the front reeds again. I walked back to my swim and decided the only way I was going to stand a chance of landing this fish was to try and cut through some of the stems I was tangled in.

I cupped the spool and walked backwards very slowly, increasing the pressure with every step. It was getting tighter and tighter, because I use a five turn grinner as my knot I felt confident that I wasn't going to snap off. Sure enough after applying the steady pressure, the line sheared through the reed stems and the fish came kiting towards me, I was so relieved, it was a tough gamble which could of gone either way but I came out on top.

The fish still continued to race around, kiting all over the place, I got a glimpse of her, at first I thought I might have hooked into the grey lady again because she looked very similar. It was only when I got her in the net I realised I'd hooked one of the big girls, it was a very big fish. I got her in the sling, scales sunk to 29IB, I couldn't believe it and I was in a state of delirium for a few seconds, to think I was practically pulling for a break on a 29IB carp, I felt very very lucky that it all went according to plan.

A Well Deserved 29IB Mirror

I got a few shots and then slipped her back, I had a mix of emotions, when I think of how much time I'd put in down the stock pond, I really felt I deserved one of the big girls, but in the same breath, carp angling isn't about what you deserve or what you feel you are owed. It will be a very memorable capture, that's for sure and when I think of the journey and how many great fish I have had out of the lake on the way, it's been brilliant. I will continue to fish the stock pond with the same level of enthusiasm as I always have, you never know, there may well be a few more surprises swimming around in its murky depths.

I would like to finish this blog entry with a poem I wrote on one of my more quieter sessions. Blanking can inspire more than rethinking your approach.

Back Down Burrows 'Dreamy Summer Days'

In this Blog I will be accounting for three short sessions.

Every so often you come across a water that really connects with you, Burrows is one of these places for me. I have done a lot of blog entries about the water and no doubt I will continue. The stamp of fish is pure quality, I have never come across such clean looking carp. I have mentioned before, carp fishing isn't a numbers game for me, it's all about the process.

I haven't fished it for quite a while because I was focusing my efforts elsewhere. Since the fish have spawned all the waters seem to have slowed down, I have suffered a fair few blanks of late and with the extreme increase in temperatures I knew things were going to get harder. 

I have literally been scratching for a bite, fishing for a bite at a time. I did have some success the other week down on the stock pond, I managed to tease a fish out before it got to hot, I will be writing that session up shortly.

I arrived at the water mid morning and the sun was already beating down, for the first time in ages I noticed shoals of carp just under the surface. I was actually surprised to see some really big lumps, I think there are still a few secrets swimming around in the depths. The bank side was so different to my last visit, everything was overgrown, insects buzzing and the water was an amazing green/blue color, instantly I felt back home.

The bowl end seemed to be showing a lot of activity so I chose to fish the first double swim on the lake, this commands a lot of water and some great far margin features. I was planning to fish a 5ft zig on one rod and whack a bottom bait over to the far margin making sure it was tucked nicely in the shade. 

Regarding my bottom bait rig I kept it pretty simple, the hook link material was Rig Marole 'skin full' stripped back just behind the hook eye. My chosen hook was a Nash Fang X size 6, I was fishing a blow back rig with a medium length hair and a Fox rig ring pear. The pears suit a thicker hook and give the 'blow back' effect a nice little kick. I was using a 'carpy chris' black inline weed lead finished off with carp craze 'translucent green' tubing.

Business End

Rig Presentation In The Water

My chosen bait was Raspberry Ripple topped off with a small piece of imitation sweet corn. To help the hook-link blend in I used some rig pens, matching the colour to the lake bed. I am a huge fan of rig pens, they're a bit of a confidence booster for me.

Before I got my bottom bait rod out I put around 200 baits spread in about a 4 meter radius of where I was planning to fish my rig. From past experience when the fish move down this end of the lake you can get a big hit if you keep the bait going in and get your rig back out quickly. The approach I've adopt is pretty systematic, I unhook the fish in the net and then cast the same bait out. Many times this has produced before I even managed to get the first fish back.

I cast my zig rig over tight to the far bank, there was a nice scum line developing and I could see a few fish groping around just under the surface. To be honest I wasn't expecting a quick take, I felt I stood the best chance late afternoon when it started to cool off.

View From The Swim

On my bottom bait rod I was using a 2oz back lead tightened right up, this was to make sure the line was nicely out the way and I was in complete contact with the bait, when fishing so close to the opposite margin you have to be on your rods very quickly to stop the fish from driving through the snags.

After a few hours the sun really started to beat down and it became very hot, luckily I was able to sit in the shade but it didn't help on the confidence front regarding a bite. There were plenty of signs of fish in my swim. After a few hours I decided to recast my bottom bait even closer to the opposite margin because fish were showing tucked underneath the marginal growth.

Burrows Carp Showing Themselves Which Is Rare

Interesting To See Them Grouped Up

It was really interesting for me to see the carp grouped up, I always thought that they moved around in shoals. The bigger fish seemed to be in ones and twos, seeing this made me understand why big beds of bait can work well. It's obvious the fish move in and start competing against each other, quick takes can occur after a recast if the group are holding over the baited area. Also the wind seemed to play a big role in which direction the carp were heading, I will log all these points and bare my findings in mind when I fish the lake in the future.

The hours were ticking by with no real action, I had a few liners which was promising. Come late afternoon the far margin was now in complete shade and fish were starting to top and jump very near my spot. Late afternoon came and went, come 7:30pm my bottom bait rod took off at lighting speed breaking the silence with a scream. I lent into the fish, steered it out of the impending snags and held on for dear life, she tore around left, right and center. Eventually she tired and I slipped a lovely looking common over my net, scales sunk to 16IB, I was very happy, this fish had broken my run of blanking and I felt really inspired again.

16IB On The Raspberry Ripple

I had about an hour or so left before I was going to pack up so I got the rod straight back out. This time I didn't put anymore bait in, I was thinking that if fish had moved in and munched what I had put out, there may be a few milling around which could produce a quick take.

The remains of the day passed with no more action, I was pleased with the common, she was a beauty. I can't wait for the temperatures to drop a little and for things to stabilise, it's been a tough year for the carp with the extreme cold, then crazy heat.

I planned to come down in a day or two and try to fish the same swim, a lot of bait had gone in and I was hoping the fish might pick up on it between now and then.

Second Session, Breaking Through

I arrived at the lake at 2pm and was really happy to find the same swim free, before casting out I got a good amount of bait back in the water. This time around I had modified my rigs slightly. I was using a longer hook-link and a longer hair, I changed my lead to an inline pear 1.75oz and added a heavy flying back lead to my setup. This rig arrangement really sat well on the bottom and the braid and lead were pretty much undetectable.

Modified Rig

Gardner Flying Back Lead

Again, I was fishing Raspberry Ripple on one rod and Bio CP2 Amino on the other, both were topped off with imitation corn. Starmers Bio CP2 Amino is a very effective bait, it's a green lipped mussel base mix with a natural high betaine level combined with vitamins and amino acids and it does the business everywhere I take it.

Starmer Bio Cp2 Amino

The spots were pretty much the same as the previous days session but this time I really concentrated on getting the baits as close to the opposite margin as possible. I had opted to move both my spots slightly over to the left, these areas seem to be free from underwater snags and I seem to land fish from these spots without any problems.

View From The Swim

So my traps were set and the bait was out, it really was just a waiting game now. It didn't take long to get my first fish, the right hand rod tore into life and I soon had a little mirror staring at me from the net. It was only small but a real joy to catch. It was around 6IB, spotless and obviously had 'big fish' potential, every small fish has 'big fish' potential. I unhooked her and cast the same bait out back on the spot, topped the swim up and took care of the fish, this tactic can work really well in this specific swim. 

I put the fish back in the net to lower her into the water and set free, when all of a sudden the same rod tore into life literally two minutes after being cast out. This felt like a better fish, it was heavy and powering around like a nutter. Eventually I slipped the net under a lovely looking mirror, I now had two fish staring at me, scales sunk to 22IB.

Mother And Daughter

I really enjoy catching smaller carp, it shows the lake you are fishing is progressing in the right way, all the new scamps coming up our the future of all the waters, never disregard a carp just because it's not a big one. Like I have mentioned so many times before, it shouldn't be a numbers game. It's all about the process and where there are small fish there's usually big girls hanging around somewhere near. 

Taken On The Bio Cp2 Amino

22IB Mirror Taken On Bio Cp2 Amino

I got both fish back and cast the baits straight back out, I had another take on my right hand rod but unfortunately this fish took me into some snags and came off. The day evaporated into evening and the swim went quiet. I had in mind coming back the following day to fish the same spots, before I left I put a good kilo of bait out covering a vast majority of the water in between were I was planning to fish. Hopefully the swim wasn't going to get taken before I arrived tomorrow.

Third Session, Coming Clean

I arrived at the water just after midday and was happy to see the swim I wanted was vacant. Before setting my rods up I got another load of bait back on the spots. I was hoping the fish might have moved on to what I put in yesterday. The wind was blowing nicely down into the bowl and whilst I was setting up fish were showing themselves all over the swim. Just like the day before, I was fishing Raspberry Ripple and Bio CP2 Amino, both topped off with imitation corn. 

I got my rods out both on the first cast, it didn't take long for me to get my first run, roughly about 45 minutes in. The left hand rod tore away and before I knew it I had a nice carp in the net.

A Quick Take

The fish couldn't have been much more than 6IB but it didn't half put up a fair scrap. All the commons in this water fight a lot harder than the mirrors. I slipped her back, got my rod back out and topped the swim up with a load more bait, I wanted to keep it going in. If the fish were here I wanted to keep them here.

Again, it was only about 30 minutes before the same rod went ripping off, this fish was heavy and was kiting around in the open water like 'there was no tomorrow'. I caught a glimpse of a long dark mirror, it looked like a good fish. Once in the net I was pretty sure I'd landed another twenty, scales sunk to 22IB. I was very pleased. The fish was a nice long shape and had a lovely dark color to it.

22IB On The Bio CP2 Amino

I slipped her back, got the rig out quick and again put at least half a kilo of bait back in. It couldn't have been in the water more than twenty minutes before my right hand rod ripped into action. This was a very powerful fish, I instantly thought it was probably a common due to how aggressive the fight was, she just didn't want to come in. Eventually she tired and I found myself looking at a long lean common, bang on 18IB.

Long Lean Common

Awesome Torpedo

I got her back and repeated the procedure, the fish were obviously really on the bait and holding nicely on the spot. Things started to slow down a little. I did get a screaming take on my right rod and it felt like a really good fish but after a long fight it kited down to my right and tethered my braid on some rock. Evening came and whilst I was in the process of packing up my left rod gave out a  battle cry which resulted in a lovely looking mirror and one of the prettiest fish I'd caught for a long while.

With Last Knockings Comes A Bonus Fish

This fish signaled the end my session, and what a session it had been. I think fishing the same swim for a few days can really payoff, especially when the lines come out the water at nighttime. I was really pleased with the results considering we are still coming out of a real warm spell.

Every so often things come good, everything seems to fall into place, I have learnt from past experience that you need to make the most of these spells because they can be fleeting. There are so many variables in carp fishing, so many reasons 'why' and 'why not'. It's this process that keeps me interested, once again I'll say, it's not about numbers or size, it's about consistency, and furthering your understanding, and of course 'enjoying'. 

Never let the chase ruin it for you.