Braxted Front Lake 'Turning The Page'

Winter is now well and truly behind us and I can safely say that it was very productive for me, so with no time wasted I found myself looking towards spring and summer, and as usual my expectations were realistic, taking into account we have the "pre-spawning - spawning - post spawning" periods to get through. Once the warmer weather comes it's very easy to think that the carp will be on the feed instantly, but from past experience I know that this is not always the case. 

It's all so very weather dependent, if the heat comes quickly I find it can really kill the fishing outright, and if the temperatures climb fast over a short period of time the carps inner system starts to sense reproduction. Taking all this into account I felt that I needed to still be subtle with my approach, especially when it comes to my bait application.

I was now treading water until I could get back onto my Chelmsford waters, I participated in an out of season work party up on the Braxted complex, this would allow me to start fishing from the 1st May. It felt great to be back on the banks of Braxted, replacing the rods with a set of secateurs and a rake. I spent a few hours trimming back the swims and raking the paths, the water looked rested and very inviting. 

Spiritually I felt great, I was giving back to a venue that had provided me with so much adventure and some pretty special carp over the previous season. I talk so much about connecting with the waters that you fish, helping to maintain them connects you in a completely different way, "respect the waters that you fish and they'll reward you in more ways than one". 

Braxted Front Lake, Resting Out Of Season

During this time I was still doing the odd session on Burrows but fishing was terribly slow, I wanted to use my time wisely so I'd made the decision that I was going to focus solely on 'adjustable zigs', at least until my Chelmsford ticket started. It's an approach that I'm desperate to understand and like everything in life, you have to commit and dedicate a vast amount of time to something that you have little understanding about. I knew that if I didn't do this now, it would be a style of angling that would always take a back seat. 

I look upon zig fishing as a "discipline within a discipline", I compare it to jazz drumming, jazz is a completely different style  of playing, it involves a completely different mindset and series of techniques to master it. Zigs are exactly the same, in my mind fishing for carp on the bottom and the top are two 'main stay' approaches. Zigs can be a grey area for a lot of anglers, mainly because they've never really committed to them. 

There will be many future blogs dedicated solely to zig sessions so I won't go into anymore detail just yet, but whilst giving them a good go down on Burrows, I managed a lovely mid-double mirror, proving that they do work, and in the period before writing this blog entry I've had a great deal of success on them, I look forward to sharing what I've learnt with you in the not too distant future.

A Mid-Double Mirror Caught On A 7ft Zig

So here we go.... the page has turned, a new season, new dreams and a sense of expectation glimmers on the horizon line, there's fish to be caught, waters to be conquered and many more blogs are yet to be written, my journey is infinite and with each month that passes in my life, my quest to catch carp is forever prominent, there's no time to rest, it's an itch that's always there to scratch and in my mind it's forever open ended. 

As usual I have no real targets or desires to catch 'big carp', I just want to continue to maintain consistency everywhere that I go. Any fish that graces my net, no matter what size, is all part of a vast angling portrait, catching is what it's all about and I know that, once in a while a special fish will pay me a visit and each will be respected, admired and sent back home safely. All my waters are like unfinished stories, I've had a modest introduction on all of them but I'm eager to explore new chapters. 

Because of how 'modern carp fishing' has progressed in recent years I seem to feel inclined to periodically mention that 'bounty hunting' type angling is as far away from what it's all about for me. I must admit that I do find myself somewhat stumbling when I'm surrounded by 'the catch at any cost mentality' and I find that I have to keep on separating myself from it. The challenge that I find hard at times is to keep away from the ever growing conflict and stupidity that seems to be steadily plaguing our sport. 

Opening Day

The start of May finally arrived, with my tackle cleaned, fresh rigs tied and a knot of nervous excitement in my stomach, I loaded the car and journeyed on up to Braxted front lake. This session was going to be relaxed, I knew on opening day there was going to be a high chance that the complex could be packed out with eager anglers wetting their expectant lines. I had no set plans, on arrival I would scope out the situation and fish accordingly. My main motivation on how I would be approaching the session would be based solely on my past experiences.

As I arrived at the water the car park was rammed, back lake was full, obviously the reservoir was busy, front lake seemed to be fairly quiet. Most of the anglers were on the nearside bank, I opted to fish the far bank well away from the crowds and made the decision that I was going to fish only a few yards out from the rod tips. The water was surprisingly clear and the usual marginal cover was just starting its process of growing back.

It's Good To Be Back

I walked up the margin of the bank I was planning to fish, staying off the sky line and being as quiet as possible, I looked to see if I could spot any fish close in. Just over half way up I saw a small shoal of about three carp cruising within yards of the bank. They were three good looking commons, this was enough evidence for me and witnessing them was more than enough to light the flame of excitement. Rushing back to get my gear, I felt inspired, it still never ceases to amaze me how excited I still get at the prospect of casting out.

With the barrow now loaded I stumbled back to the nearest swim to where I saw the cruising fish, I ended up setting up where the 'life buoy' was. This put me directly in the middle of the water, my plan was to move if I was lucky enough to get a bite. Today wasn't going to be a 'heavy' session, I just wanted a relaxed afternoon reintroducing myself to place. There was going to be plenty of time in the future to really knuckle down to things. 

The bait I'd chosen to use was a mix of Honey Nectar and Raspberry Ripple, they've both worked really well on front lake in the past so I decided to combine them. I was going to be fishing mesh bags with 4 freebies in, 5 baits on each rod in total including my hook bait. I was going to be fishing semi-fixed rigs on both rods. Looking closely in the margins, a lot of the dying weed had turned black, there were strands scattered all over the place. Because of this, I decided that I would use all black components, leads, tubing etc. Aesthetically I wanted my traps to sit as natural as possible in their environment.

Dark Components

  

PVA Tape On The Hair To Stop Tangles

Finished Presentation

Thinking back, I've never been one to over-complicate my rigs, I have about four that pretty much cover any angling situation and I wouldn't class any of them as being particularly "modern". It's been said thousands of times but it still rings true, "rigs don't have to be complicated". On review, the times that I have tried to get over technical, it's nearly always resulted in tangles and hook pulls. Developing your understanding of both the waters you fish and the carp that live within them is a far more productive outlet to expel your mental energy, if you're not careful, too much focus on rigs can detract from your watercraft, as we know, it doesn't matter what rig you're using if there's no fish out in front of you.

Back To The Session

With both rods rigged up and ready for the cast, two sly underarm swings saw both my baits enter the water with not so much as a faint splash. I felt both rigs down, each communicating to me a nice soft thud, I was on clay, which was exactly where I wanted to be. With back leads applied and lines now semi-slack, this gave me the chance to sit back, spark the kettle up and once again soak up the reasons why I love the Braxted complex so much. 

Everything looked clearer and richer than what I remember, as I focused my eyes through the trees over on back lake I could just about make out a few bodies fidgeting from swim to swim. Every so often a slight murmur could be heard from the adjacent anglers, it was busy but everyone seemed to morph into the environment really well, it was clear that all of us were very happy to be fishing the 'CAA' waters once more.

View From The Swim 'Right Rod'

View From The Swim 'Left Rod'

As you can see in the images above, I wasn't fishing very far out, this is because most of the margin drops down really close in. You're in 10ft of water a couple of rod lengths out, fishing a bait near the top of the slope and another towards the bottom can be very effective, the slope itself is very steep.

A few hours ticked by and I sat content knowing that I was in with a good chance of a bite, as the afternoon passed, the anglers on front lake thinned out until I was the only one left. It was perfect, quiet and approaching "the magic hour", bite time was upon me and my focus was concentrated on both my rod tips, I didn't take my eyes off them. 

Before I knew it the left rod arced round and the clutch was whizzing, I grabbed it, as I applied the pressure the fish took off tight down the margin to the left of me, I held on, let it tire and steadily eased it my way. As it approached my landing net mesh I could see two fish, the one that I'd hooked and another just behind it, pretty much following it into the net. It was bizarre, I'd heard of this happening but had never actually witnessed it myself. Maybe they were best mates sharing a bit of grub together? once my fish was in the net the other one soon bolted. I found myself gazing at a common carp that screamed perfection, scales fell to 13IB.

First Of The Season From Front Lake

The fish was scale perfect and yet again another prime example of why I'm prepared to whittle away my days on front lake. After a few shots I got her back and upped sticks to a swim two spaces down to my left. My reason for this was, because I'm fishing so close in I knew that I'd most probably spooked any other carp that might be mooching around. Moving swims gives me a clean slate and rejuvenated confidence that I could steal another bite.

I adopted the exact same tactics, the only aspect I changed was my rig positioning, it was clear that the fish were moving around in small groups so I decided to fish both baits close to each other, doing this might get me more than one bite, especially if more than one fish comes across the bait at the same time.

View From The Second Swim

Again, both rigs entered the water with little disturbance, bobbins were set and I sat back feeling confident that another carp might come my way. Afternoon had now melted into evening, it was 6:30pm, I was going to give it another hour and then call it a day. Shortly before I was just about to reel in, the right bobbin twitched, there were a few bleeps then the rod was off. 

The minute I lifted into it I knew it wasn't a carp, it felt frantic but there was no real power to the fight. As the fish got closer I could see through the clear water a bright orange eye, I'd caught one of the resident tench, and by the looks of it, it was a pretty good size, it gave a good account of itself and as I slid the net under its smooth green frame, I felt it was the perfect way to end my first session. Scales sunk to 7IB.

A Welcome Tench 

What a tidy little result, I've always had a soft spot for Tench ever since I caught my first big one from Piltdown pond when I was about 15, it was the first proper fish that I had on my feeder rod, I have so many great angling memories and with each session that passes, a set of new memories will be created and drawn upon many years down the line. Like I've mentioned before, our angling journey never stops, it's constant, mine will end when my last breath leaves me - that's a pretty poignant thought.

All in all I was really pleased with my first session back, I had a lovely carp and a bonus tench underneath my belt and its put me in good stead for my future sessions. I feel so optimistic about the coming months, I don't want to rush anything, I'm going to take it all in my stride, keep my expectations realistic and continue to aim for consistency, and as we all know, consistency can bring with it a few larger surprises.   

Fox Stalker Pod Plus Review

Before I start this review I'd like to point out that I am in no way associated with Fox International, there seems to be a lack of reviews about certain tackle items and I hope this will help you out if you are considering a new rod pod. I had been on the look out for a new pod for quite sometime before I stumbled upon the 'Fox Stalker Plus'. Some of the lakes that I fish just don't have suitable banks or swims for my carbon sticks, my Matrix patriot pod is a majestic bit of kit but can be a pain in certain situations. There are days when I just want something that is simply setup, and away you go.

My love for 'the rod pod' goes way back to the early 90's, I have fond memories of my 'Fox Compact', it was the first pod I owned. Then came the 'Fox Euro', they lasted me for years, and for their time, both were pretty much cutting edge bits of kit. The downfall to both their designs was the locking mechanism, everything was solid when straight takes occurred but if you were fishing tight to either the right or the left, then the front support would collapse in whichever direction the fish bolted. Both have now been retired to the loft after providing me with years of trusted service, collapsing or not. 

The Stalker Pod In Action

There came a point in time when it appeared that the humble pod fell out of fashion, along came carbon and stainless steel sticks, crossbars, stage stands etc. Rod support took on a new image, it all became very 'BLING'. For me, it's about getting the right tackle for the job, be it in or out of vogue, every tackle item I own serves its purpose, I was never one to purchase something because "it was the latest or trendiest buzz item".

So this brings me on to the 'Fox Stalker Plus Pod', so far I'm really impressed with what Fox have pulled out the bag with this one. It retails for around £84.99 but I'm sure that if you shop about you'll be able to pick it up cheaper, either way, you get a hell of a lot for the money. It comes in a handy little carry bag that has tidy velcro and elastic straps, these house all the vital parts. Once the carry case is opened you are presented with a very organised storage system, it reminds me of the footage I've seen when a sniper rifle is being constructed, but instead of targeting people we are targeting the carp.

Handy Carry Case

The Main Shaft

The Other Components

The first thing that struck me was how robust everything looked, especially taking in to account how light it all felt. Assembly is very straight forward and it all fits together in super quick time. It has a nice jet black finish - gone are the days of Fox using a layer of paint on their pods that seemed to start to flake off straight away. One of the main selling points for me is the fact that it contains a set of both two and three buzz bar setups. After extensive research, there aren't a great deal of pods on the market that give you these two options.

All Four Legs Are On Heavy Duty Threads

Once the legs are up they screw down nice and tight, you have an option to change the height and the angle of each leg separately. The first setting is very low profile and streamline, the second setting is far more traditional allowing the legs to spread out to a wider angle, this helps with the overall stability and I believe this leg positioning would really come in to play when you are using three rods. Again, the locking system design floors of the Fox pods from years gone by have well and truly been rectified. 

Main Shaft

Leg Setting One

Leg Setting Two

The buzz bars themselves slot into two 'heavy duty' locking joints that are positioned on the front and the back of the main shaft, this mimics a 'goal post' setup. Because of this design, there's no chance of the pod tipping, when everything is locked down in place it's rock solid. Because of the plastic locking mechanism, it takes away the worry of over tightening small diameter threads. Some might argue that the plastic parts of the pod are a weak point and slightly cheap looking, but, I'd rather have this than lots of fiddly screws that could possibly get 'cross threaded' or lost. The plastic itself is very hard wearing and I don't see it posing any real problems over the long term.

Heavy Duty Plastic Locking Mechanism

Once the buzz bars are screwed on to their legs you simply slot them into the locks and you're done. Once again the buzzers can be set at different heights depending on your angling situation. Which ever way you choose to set them up, the overall adjustments you can make on the pod as a whole gives you a huge amount of versatility. This was another one of the main selling points for me, I wanted something that could adapt, be it a super steep bank, rock etc, I wanted rod support that I knew was 'good to go' where ever I took it.

Goal-Post Style Buzz Bar Legs

Lock The Legs In

Low-Profile Complete Setup 2x Rods

All four legs have sharp pointed tips, for extra stability, you can push them tightly in to the ground by simply extending the legs to your desired lenght. Once I'd done this I gave the pod a good shake and there was no real movement, it all felt pretty spot on too me. I'd like to add that back rests don't come supplied so it's your choice what you want to use. I've gone for a slightly 'retro' look using some old Fox back rests that I've had for years, the alarms in the picture are my old Micron SX's, the swingers are from the new black label series. 

Looking at it whilst waiting for a bite makes me feel rather nostalgic, thinking back to my early days of carp fishing. Don't get me wrong, I love my carbon and stainless setups a lot but I really like the ease that the 'stalker' provides and, as mentioned before, on swims that are awkward for standard sticks, it really does the job brilliantly.

Maximum Height 3x Rods

The above image gives you an idea of how high up the pod can go, this is with the legs fully extended. It passed the 'wobble test' with flying colours, the middle shaft is also extended to its maximum limit. There are many angles and variations that you can mess about with. The image below shows another example which would be perfect if you want your rods tips low in windy conditions, the main shaft is as short as it can go.

Tips Down

Tips To The Skies

There really isn't a great deal more that I can say, it's a great bit of kit and a fair price, taking into account everything that you get. The only minor negative point I have is the fact that it will scratch, it's just the nature of the finish and being black, marks will show, but we are talking about rod support here, not a Ferrari. There aren't any other negative points, it's simple, light, versatile and destine to be a fine work horse. If you're a self-confessed 'tackle tart', this might not be the choice for you. But if you're the kind of angler that wants good, practical gear without the "BLING" price tag, then the 'Fox Stalker Pod' might just be the bit of kit you're looking for.

Rating : 10/10

Burrows 'A Ghost In Winter, Released'

So we've finally arrived, the journey has been winter long, painful at times but diamonds were unearthed, glimmering bright in their winter colours. Some days were dull, others, pure electricity, bright and vivid. But now I'm finally starting to feel the warmth of the sun, the trees and shrubs around me are starting to reach for the skies and every so often the smell of a faint 'spring promise' brushes past my cheeks and nose. It appears the clamp of winter has finally started to loosen its grip, and, almost perfectly married to all these moments comes the closing to this series of blogs. 

'A Ghost In Winter, Released' is going to document my final two sessions before the spring. It's now time for the ghost to retreat, there is no place for such a lifeless entity when the world both below and above the water starts to live once more. Even though I love the isolation that winter angling can provide, I find the general feeling of the season, when off the bank, pretty hard to deal with. Thankfully this winter I worked a lot, and slotting my angling in between seemed to keep the gloom at bay.

The first session of this blog was at the tale-end of winter, it was a bright day with almost gale force winds, it was still very cold. The second session was a fair while later when we had a freakishly warm day, the temperature was up in the high teens. It created the impression that the spring had come early, it was almost like a false start, the sun was beating down and I was sitting on the bank in a t-shirt with my trousers rolled up. 

I found that these conditions began to change my thoughts about my angling, I started to think ahead to summer, I considered  adopting more of a 'summer approach' in regards to my baiting application. But I abstained from falling into that trap of prematurely piling it in, deciding to stick firmly to the approach I'd been applying over the previous months. The conditions were a real "Red Herring", and in the past I've read them wrong and blown the session before I'd even begun. 'Trigger Happy Hands On The Baiting Front', we've all done it. 

On my first session I arrived at the water for about 9:30am, surprisingly there were a fair few anglers up the top of the lake, they were all targeting the calmer water behind the wind. I decided to stay away from the pressure, opting to fish 'the spit' swim again. Due to the fierce chop on the water I felt pretty dam confident that fishing in the deeper depths with both my rods was the way to go. Both baits were going to be fished practically side by side. Fishing tight to the back leads would stop any dangers of severe tangling, if I was lucky enough to get a pick up.

In my mind I was trying to visualise what effect the wind might be having on the world below the surface. I started to see images of chaos, debris and bits flying all over the place, the undertow pushing and pulling backwards and forwards, very similar conditions to what I was having to deal with on dry land. I started to think, "If I was a carp seeking shelter from the storm" where would I hide? I would go deep, maybe try and find a trench or channel that would provide me with some kind of relief. After stitching these thoughts together, I had no doubt in my mind that I was fishing in the right place, and despite the conditions, I felt an overwhelming sense of assurance. 

View From The Swim

As you can see in the image above, I was fishing literally a few feet out from the rod tips, nowadays with so much focus on distance casting, the nearside margins are very much ignored. All these years later I'm still surprised just how close in carp can be caught, not just in the summer but through the winter as well. Fishing at the bottom of marginal drop offs has continually caught me carp from all different types of waters, it's going to be an approach that I will continue to focus on this coming season. 

My bait of choice for this session was 'Strawberry Mivvi', it's made up of a 60/40 sweet birdseed base mix and has a habit of producing a bite when things get tough. All the boilies, including my hook baits, had been soaking in water since the previous evening. This washed them out perfectly, I wanted all the baits to look like they'd been on the bottom of the lake for quite some time. Over the top I was going to scatter a few heaped handfuls of multi-mix pellets, these would break down after an hour of being in the water, hopefully leaving a light dusting of attraction.

Strawberry Mivvi Over A Scattering Of Pellet

My rig was a simple knotless knot bottom bait fished 'blow-back' style, it's super easy to tie and as simple as you can get. It's the exact same bottom bait rig that I've been using through this blog series, "for those of you that haven't read the earlier parts of this series, you will find details and images of the components used to make the rig". As we know, there are a good few variants in the way a simple bottom bait rig can be fished, the main point for me to make the presentation as effective as possible is the hair length. Over recent years I've experiment with this specific element and I've had the best hook holds when I use a longer than average hair.

So, both rigs were ready to go out, with one tidy underarm cast the rigs found themselves landing perfectly on the spots. Both back leads were gently slid down the lines and I tightened everything up, I wanted any slight occurrence to register. Once done, the brolly was up and the kettle was on, I knew that I was going to have to really wait this one out, deep down though, I still felt like I was in with a good chance. 

View From The Spit

The hours passed, I drank coffee, listened to the wind whistle and wrote poetry "which will be included in some of my future blogs". I practised being as quiet as possible, slowing my breath down and imagining myself both locked and contained within the environment around me. Winter by the water is a different world to any other time of the year, you simply can't imagine the warmth of summer, the prospect seemed like a world away. I tried to imagine the warmth from the sun on my face and started to recall some of the most amazing days I've had on the banks of Burrows with no shoes and socks on, paddling in the margins. These are memories I hope to renew once the summer comes round again, it's in these moments that I feel truly grounded and connected. 

When The Words Come, They Have To Be Written

It was late afternoon when I was alerted to my right hand rod, it gave off a single bleep. From where I was sitting I couldn't see anything out the ordinary, so I continued my day dreaming. Just for a second I thought I could see my right hand rod tip knocking, I tried to focus my eyes, I could see a small movement. I got up and as I approached the rod, the tip was very clearly bending, I scrambled and gently lifted into it. I could feel that I was connected to something, at first I thought it was a bream, there was no fight. 

I applied a little more pressure, still no fight, then all of a sudden a big common surfaced and on doing so, rocketed off, I was in a state of shock, I really wasn't expecting it at all, it looked like a really good fish and playing it on my small rods was a pretty nerve racking experience. The relief that came over me when I eventually netted her was immense, it was looking like I was going to finish the winter on a 20+ fish, it was so poetic, it appeared that the biggest diamond was waiting until last to reveal itself. Scales fell to 24IB 6oz, a truly magnificent creature and I felt honoured to be her witness.

24IB 6oz A Winter Diamond

After getting a few shots, I admired her one last time and then sent her on her way. It was the perfect way to bring winter to a close, looking back I feel that I'd really pulled out all the stops to try and make things happen for me. Focusing on one lake helped a great deal, it abled me to be a lot more systematic in my approach and ideas. As I've stated throughout this series, I didn't want to fish the water in an obvious way, I really wanted to try new things, focus on different spots and try to catch some of the better fish, I think as a whole it was a successful journey and I'm in full stride as spring approaches.

Final Session On Burrows 

Since my last session I'd been working flat out and a good few weeks had passed me by in a blink of an eye. Winter was gone and the world felt like a much better place. I started to think that the best way to bring this series to a close was to account for a session at a point when the lake was slowly resurrecting itself from its winter sleep. All my posts up to now have been somewhat cold and bleak in their presentation, however, this next session is going to be different.

The Ghost Has Gone

The depression that I was carrying way back at the beginning of this journey has momentarily evaporated, I have feelings of hope for the future and a great excitement for the new angling year ahead of me. The ghost I was in the winter has now departed, my heartbeat is revitalised and my thoughts are flowering like the newborn buds that surround me.

On the morning of the session I left the house at 6am, as I opened the front door I was met with a dry heat, the temperatures were going to reach the low 20s. I instantly had visions of sessions past, long hot days, warm evenings, and the smell of fish-meal boilies on my hands, it's so strange what your angling memory can recall by just a simple feeling. I was so excited, no more hunching under a brolly and cupping my hands around a hot mug of tea, today was going to be the start of the warmer weather. 

On arrival I took a slow walk around the water, I could see evidence of feeding fish almost straight away. There were marginal spots that were clouded up and carp where briefly showing all over the lake, it really was a different world compared to my last visit. Still opting to use my stalking rods I decided that I was going to margin fish underneath my rods tips and rotate between three different spots. It worked in winter so I was pretty convinced that it would work to good effect now.

A Very Different World 

My chosen bait for this session was the classic Bio Cp2 Amino, it  is a mixture of summer fruits with a lovely hint of fish-meal, because the water was warmer, it was the perfect choice. I wasn't going to go crazy on the baiting front but I was going to apply a fair amount more than what I had been using. When using fish-meals I find that they work very well over medium to large spreads and from the evidence I'd seen, the carp were certainly on the feed, I wanted to maximise on this.

Bio Cp2 Amino

I applied three handfuls of bait to three separate marginal areas that I liked the look of, all were very close in and would allow me to pretty much lower my hook-baits down in the water. This was going to be proper 'stealth' fishing, throughout the day I would continue to top each spot up with another handful, hoping to hold any fish that might of moved into the areas. 

Once again, this was going to be fished on my standard bottom bait rig, the lake bed is clean so this rig provides a presentation that's perfect, as usual, all rig components were constructed so the rigs 'concealment' matched the bottom I was fishing over. This was very important because all my spots were fairly shallow and the water was still clear, with the sun shining down it pretty much illuminated the bottom.

Simple Blow-Back

The first spot that I targeted was a margin where, on my walk around, I had seen that the bottom had been kicked up, the water was still very murky and as I sat very quietly, low to the water, I could make out a few fish still milling around. I carefully lowered my rigs in position and eased the rod tips in between some overhanging bushes, I stayed off the skyline and crept into a position that would allow me to grab the rod the second it went. 

As soon as the bobbins were set I was getting wild liners, there was no doubt that fish were literally a feet or so away from me. Within a few minutes the left rod was off, it was real "hit & hold" stuff, I kept the pressure on due to the snags that were in close proximity. I soon had the fish in the net, it was a small mirror and a very welcome visitor indeed. The size was irrelevant, the process of catching it was the key here, 'proper margin fishing, you just can't beat it'.

A Monster In Its Own Right

So the first spot had produced a bite already, it was now on to my second swim, once again I'd picked a marginal area, this time it was slightly deeper, between 5/6ft. I knew fish visited the spot because I'd caught from it before, I decided that I was going to sit it out until I got a bite, however long it took. During this time I would be priming spot three, which was the next swim up to my left. Before lowering my rigs in, I introduced five heaped handfuls of bait, spreading it evenly all around the area. This time I was fishing slack lines, I wanted to get indications as to when carp had moved into the swim. Again, because there were snags around me, I needed to be on the rods the second I got the bite.

View From The Second Swim

The heat was really starting to kick in now and the sun was shining directly onto the margin that I was targeting. I took my shoes off, stretched my toes and laid on my back, obscured by grass and bushes, I stared up at the sky, the clouds where moving so fast and as I laid there, I started to think about what it would be like if we could feel the world as it rotated, would we get dizzy? I pictured the human race slipping and sliding all over the place, desperately trying to maintain a balance. Could you imagine if the world was really flat? we'd have no oceans because they would've washed away, and we'd be able to walk up to the edge of the earth and look down into infinity. What would happen if we jumped off the edge? I'm guessing we'd just descend forever more.

Rod Spots

A few hours past, I was trickling small amounts of bait in every hour or so, this process continued for a good five hours, during this time it was surprising how much the weather had cooled down, hopefully this might help to get the fish searching. Convinced something was eventually going to come from it, I sat tight watching for any kind of indication to tell me that fish were in the proximity. 

Approaching the sixth hour, I got the sign that I was looking for, the left hand alarm gave out a series of bleeps, I sunk down slowly next to my rods and watched both the line and the rod tip. The line was gently fidgeting, pulling forward gracefully and then falling back. Along with this, the right hand rod started to do the same thing. It was pretty clear that a group of fish had moved in and were mopping up my bait.

My pulse started to beat so hard, my head was pounding and I could feel the nervous excitement starting to erupt through my body. Any second now I was sure I'd be in the grips of a 'close quarters' fight, and sure enough ... the left hand rod was away, and as it went I counted at least 6 vortexes, I was on it quick, side strain stopped the carp from diving into the snags, once she was in the open water I managed to calm myself down, my legs were shaking though, catching carp from under your nose is a magical experience. Once in the net, I was looking at a lovely plump mirror, scales fell to 16IB.

From Right Under My Nose 

Once I'd got a few photos, I sent her home, now it was on to my third spot. Once again, I'd be introducing bait continually throughout the day and I had a feeling if I was going to get a bite then it would come quickly. I shift my gear over, got everything in place, re-baited the rigs and, using an under arm cast, gently feathered both baits into position. I opted for back leads and I fished really tight to them, reason being that there was a set of reeds to my left and I really didn't want the fish bolting for them, I had to be on the rod quickly, if I was to fish slack lines, the few seconds prior to indication could cost me a fish.

View From The Third Swim

I settled in anticipation, perched low to the ground semi expecting some action quick, within 10 minutes the right hand rod screamed into life, with the tip bending right around, I lent into a very heavy lump. It was desperately trying to get in the reeds and snags down to the left, I kept the side strain on and finally turned the fish towards me. It was frantic, fast and very exhilarating, all the pieces of the days puzzle fitted so perfectly together, and compared to the previous sessions, today had been a wild ride. I eventually netted a lovely looking common, scales slid to 19IB.

A Quick Common

What a way to end the session and what a perfect way to end this blog series. Looking back through it all, it really has been one hell of a journey, not just finding the time to get out there on the bank but also recalling it and presenting it in a way that was honest, I really want people that read this to feel like they were there on the bank with me. 

I find to keep consistent with your catch rate throughout the year, you have to be prepared to move out of your comfort zone and stand firmly by your decisions. Any new ideas that you have regarding your angling and your approaches, stick with them, see them through and take all the positives away from each session, blanking or catching. No time is ever wasted on the bank, it's all experience gained, experience is something that can't be given to you, you've got to get out there and graft for it.     

Every lake you fish has a story to tell and it's the anglers choice if they choose to skim through the chapters or really take time to read the sentences, understand the nuances and fully immerse themselves in the tale that's being told. The story is forever changing, it's a book with no real end, just a series of new beginnings. For me, like a lot of the lakes I fish, Burrows is a special story, so much of it has been read, but there are plenty more chapters yet to be written, and I've got a feeling they're going to be the best yet.