Micklem Mere 'Fishing For Mysteries' Part 4

A few weeks had passed since my last session, I had a lot of work to do, even though I wasn't physically on the bank my thoughts were. I go through stages where I really do find it hard to curb my obsession, it's hard to strike a balance between work, family and fishing. If I'm not careful my angling has a tendency to bleed into every aspect of my life, when the weathers warm I start getting the itch, I picture the waters in my mind and mill over the spots I'd like to be fishing. 

At certain times of the year I get flash backs to years gone by and the baits I was using at the time. I think back to when me and my friend would cobble all our pennies together, we'd go down to our local tackle shop and buy all the ingredients we needed to make Nash 'Sting Fishmeal'. We'd gone halves on a bait making kit, we use to stink our parents houses out on a regular basis knocking up kilos of the stuff. We'd be furiously rolling, deep in conversation, nattering about the secret carp that lived in our local club waters.

During the summer holidays we'd go fishing for a week at a time, our only connection with reality was when we use to take a trip to the tackle shop or supermarket to stock up on supplies. We use to spend most of our time on a lake called 'Holts', which is now known as 'Stream Valley Fisheries' down in Crowborough, East Sussex. It was on this water that I learnt how to fish, it was magic, located deep within a valley surrounded by trees, it was like another world. I remember fishing it a few years back and I literally got a lump in my throat thinking back to the amazing times I'd had down there. There was a small group of us that use to fish all the local lakes for the carp.

One of my fondest memories was when my mates Dad would occasionally bring down fish and chips and a couple of cans of beer, we'd put the cans in a bag in the margin to keep them cool, we'd secure the bag with a bank stick and as the sun started to fade we'd crack-em open and sit back watching the day end. It seems a shame that I'm not in touch with any of these 'old friends' anymore. But as we know, life happens and we all go our separate ways, I feel blessed to still be fishing and all these great memories will never fade. My angling journey has been so great and I will continue it until the end of my days.

'Holts' 1994'

The day of my Micklem session I woke up early to bright sun and a totally blue sky, summer was in full swing. Opening the window in my bedroom, the fresh morning air came seeping into the room, I took a deep breath and inhaled the new day, exhaling yesterdays remnants. It was a fine day to be alive, an even better day to get out and get fishing. Gone was the calm demeanour of my last few sessions, today I just couldn't get to the water fast enough. I wanted to witness the mere waking up, the bird life, the dew on the grass, everything, the sense of clarity that it all provides is something that I need to soak up. 

All these things might sound rather fruitless to the "non angler", but for me, all these elements are vitally stitched into my journey. My fishing has three separate elements, 'the environment', 'the process' and 'the capture'. All three married together is what makes my carp angling so important too me, it's what motivates me to get out there and get stuck in, it's all about experiencing the finer points in life that are so often lost. It's taking the core elements of what fishing is about, and if you keep them at the forefront of your mind, your enthusiasm is always primed and the flame never seems to flicker. With this outlook, never once have I felt burnt out.     

Micklem's Awake

I pulled into Micklems carp park as the sun was rising, there was dew on the ground, the atmosphere felt so fresh, the bird life on the water, as usual, was extremely active. I took a few minutes to load the barrow and then made my way down to the waters edge, I had the whole place to myself. Taking a seat on one of the handy little wooden benches, I decide I'd sit and watch the water for a while. Just being by the mere at that time in the morning was special, the only souls for miles around were just me and Eric 'my dog'. To be honest, I was so content within the moment that I didn't feel the need to get the rods out at all.

I could feel by the sun on my face that it was going to be a really hot day, I decided to head up towards the back bay area, hoofing it round with the barrow, I started to feel energised, all of a sudden getting the rods out was of top priority, I was excited. Today I'd left the spod rod at home, I was going to focus solely on solid bags, I wanted to keep the fishing nice and clean with as little disturbance as possible. Arriving at the swim the wind was pushing nicely into the back margin, this was where I was going to put one of my rods. 

Micklem Back Bay

The 'make up' of the back bay is very interesting, you've got shallow margins that suddenly fall away to depths in excess of 10ft, there are a few spots that go even deeper. I've found that there are sporadic patches of weed in places, hence why I opt for solid bags, I can sit confident knowing that the bait is well presented.

Thinking back to my previous sessions, I always see fish show in and around this area at varying times of the day. My plan was to fish one bait just off the overhanging bushes that lined the back margin and the other, quarter of the way down the marginal slope, in my mind I'd have two different depths covered. In regards to rigs and presentation, as mentioned before, nothing was going to be changed other than the deduction of the spod.

Solid Bag Mix

My solid bag was made up of both Salmon Marine and Multi-mix pellets, added to this was some Hot Chilli Hemp method mix, porridge oats and a generous 'gulp' of Almond Oil. My hook bait was a single grain of imitation corn topped off with half a 10mil Pineapple Cream match boilie, this combo had pretty much produced all my fish so I decided I'd stick with it. This was going to be fished on a short 'trigga-link' combi, the lead I was using was a 2.5oz gripper, this was going to be setup 'semi-fixed'. As usual, there's nothing complicated, for me the most important aspect is where the baits were going to be placed, it's all about the right location. Images of my rig can be seen here Micklem Mere Part One

Before making the bags up I performed a few measured casts feeling carefully for 'the drops', I wanted a short drop on my margin rod and a slightly longer one on the rod that was to be fished on the slope. My margin rod was clipped up at 13.5 wraps, this put me perfectly under the tree-line, the 'slope' rod was clipped up at the same distance, theoretically I was fishing both bags in line with each other, the only difference between them was the depth they were fishing at. Both bags were tied as close to perfection as possible, each cast landed exactly where I wanted it to, I was happy and finally fishing.

A Neat Bite

A few hours passed and the heat started to kick in, Micklem has a tendency to become a sun trap, even with the brolly up, it's hard to find relief. I took both my shoes and socks off, rolled my trousers up and paddled in the shallow margins. I love doing this on really warm days, it brings back memories of when I use to visit my nanny and grandad down in Littlehampton when me and my sister were kids. 

We spent so many summer days in the sea paddling about, when the tide was out we'd run for what seemed like miles to get to the water, the beaches were empty in them days. I started to sense that I was on my own little sentimental trip this session, what with my memories of fishing Holts. When I think back it makes me feel like I've been on this earth a lot longer than 39 years.

View From The Swim

For the first few hours or so I was getting solid indications that fish were in the swim. Periodically I was getting liners on both rods but as of yet nothing translated into a bite. I was convinced something was going to occur so I just sat tight, I was only going to recast when and if I got a bite. A couple more hours melted away and the sun really started to beat down, I'd spotted a few carp showing towards the back of the bay. There were a number of shows all over the lake. The carp had obviously become active, from past experience, if you haven't had any early bites, chances are some action will occur mid to late afternoon.

Eric Seeking Some Shade

The day was steadily passing, I was still getting the odd knock on both rods, I was surprised that I hadn't managed to even pick up a few small carp yet. I toyed with the idea of a recast but I genuinely didn't see the point, I was confident in my approach, I just had to stick it out. For all I knew some carp had clocked the bait but weren't up for a feed just yet, my hopes were now pinned on late afternoon. To be honest it was such a lovely day, just being on the banks of the mere was a gift within itself, fish or no fish, it's all part of the process.

The day had evaporated, before I knew it, it was now approaching 3 o'clock, I felt the magic hour was a whisker away, the wind dropped, the temperature dropped and a few patchy clouds moved in over head, it suddenly felt pretty dam special. Now with the water like a sheet of glass I tried to clock signs of feeding fish. The binoculars came out and I started to scan around the bay, carefully looking for streams of bubbles, anything that gave me an indication that fish were in the vicinity. Towards the back of the bay I spotted a few patches, there looked to be more than one fish having a poke about.

This got my blood pumping, "surely they were going to come across my bait". I sat pinned to my chair, I found myself holding my breath, urging one of my rods to go racing off. A single bleep shifted my attention onto my left hand rod tip, the tip nudged and then, BAM!! it was away like a train. Lifting into the fish, it felt pretty powerful, this certainly wasn't one of the many scamps, this felt special. I was using my light rods so every pull and tug was translating through the blank directly into my soul, "I love players rods". There was no hurrying it, I grabbed the net and walked just above knee height into the water. I was now well and truly connected to both the carp and the mere.

It was slowly edging towards me but I had to be patient, it topped just a few yards out and I was met with a fleeting fleck of bright orange. I was somewhat stunned and for a split second I was wondering what the hell I'd caught. The shock subsided and I suddenly remembered that there had been whispers about a couple of 'koi' that had been spotted during spawning. If so, it was very clear that I had one of them literally yards from the net. The buzz had now turned from excitement into panic - "I had to get this fish in". I increased the pressure, slowly guiding her my way, inches turned to millimetres, just a little further, as the net engulfed her, the relief and the joy washed over me in equal measure.

Micklem Gold ... Literally 

It was obvious that I'd unearthed one very special jewel, I have no doubt that there are more surprise residing under the meres surface. I know I repeat myself but this is what angling's all about for me, it's the not knowing, uncertainty can be a beautiful thing. Amongst the many small fish you tend to catch, there's sure to be a few surprises amongst them. That's one of the reasons why I've decided to put serious time into the place. I look upon it as a journey of discovery and with each fish caught a little piece of the meres story falls into place.

With a few shots taken, I got back in the water to set her free, it was a pleasure to watch her slowly drift off back into the abyss. No time was wasted in getting another bag tied and back out, if fish had moved in and were now actively feeding, I wanted to cash in on it. With the bobbin now set I took a seat and got the binoculars back out, there seemed to be some signs of feeding in the deeper water, more towards the middle of the bay. I felt there was still a good chance of another fish, in the meantime I sat immersed in the memory of my previous capture, what an incredible carp.

The next bite came pretty quick, this time on my right rod, it all happened so fast, it made me jump. Leaning into the fish, it had already bolted clear of the bay and was heading out into the main body of the mere. Again, this was a powerful carp, it was rocketing along, I adjusted the clutch tighter to try and pacify its momentum. This failed, it just kept on going, it was at this point my mind started fragmenting my thoughts, could this be a secret monster? I was dying to find out. I was now in the water again with the net by my side, the fish had clearly 'blown its load', it was now just a case of gently guiding her my way. Soon enough a lump of common carp was resting in the mesh.

Another Surprise

This common was a proper brute, its huge mouth was full of living natural food. I doubt very much it had been caught before, I was so pleased, two good fish in a day from Micklem was a right result. It goes to show that I didn't need to be spodding bait out to pull the carp in. It also demonstrates that with perseverance comes rewards, I've be very determined about catching some of the better fish and I feel I'm finally 'breaking through'. 

After returning it I slowly packed up and made the long walk back to the car park, everything was calm, me and Eric were still the only souls around. Looking back over the water as the sun started to fade, it looked very different, all of a sudden the idea of hidden monsters was more than just a rumour, it appeared that they were very real, I was already looking forward to getting back down and giving it another go. Locking the gate behind me and preparing for the long drive home, I thanked the mere for providing me with another day to remember. 

Braxted Front Lake 'Carved In Oak'

I woke up from the most incredible angling dream, I can still remember it as if it were real. This has been something that has always interested me, some dreams we remember forever with amazing clarity, others are instantly erased shortly after waking. I hate to think how many carp are left swimming around through my 'neural pathways'. I think many carp anglers may suffer from this, maybe thats why we whittle away our days trying to make these dreams into a reality. 

I read a book by Robert Bruce called 'Astral Dynamics', and he explains his theory on this subject, we all have something called a "Shadow Memory", this functions when we sleep, it has the capability, shortly before waking, of "downloading" all that we've experienced during sleep into the physical\conscious brain. Simply put, the dreams that we remember have been fully downloaded into our conscious mind, all the ones we forget, which is usually a vast majority of them, basically had their "spiritual USB cable" removed before they could be fully downloaded. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, it's just like saving information from your computer onto an external hard drive, pull the cable out before its complete and then it's corrupt. 

You do find that you'll remember parts of your dreams for a few minutes, maybe you'll get the odd flash back, but they soon evaporate, lost in the mind forever. Moving this into an angling situation it's all very reminiscent of that 'possible' catch of a lifetime that ditches the hook at the last minute. You've seen it, felt it and very much lived the experience, only for it to evaporate in front of your eyes, you stand helpless watching as your dream drifts back into the murky depths. You wanted to hold it and touch it, but it just wasn't in your reach. Will we ever experience that feeling again? Some of us make sure they do by pursuing their dream constantly until it's been fulfilled, this can be a draining experience that can very easily turn into obsession.   

The Human Computer

In my dream I was on the banks of Braxted front lake, there was no wind, I don't recall there being any sky either, the landscape ended at the tree line. The water was crystal clear, I was watching a big long common carp feeding very cautiously tight in the margin, practically inches from where I was standing. Very slowly it was working its way over a small patch of silt, I watched as it was gently sucking and blowing, picking away very carefully at what it wanted to eat and ejecting the rest. It was so engaged, like a fine tuned machine.

The precision and care it took was so focused, as I stood watching, I started to wonder how the hell we ever manage to catch any carp at all. They're masters of their own environment, maybe it's just luck, or maybe they allow us to catch them, just to give us the impression that we have a fighting chance of understanding their inner workings. Before I even got close to answering these questions and trying to catch the fish, I woke up. You can imagine how happy I was when I opened my eyes to the real world and had a trip up to Braxted planned.

So, with my dream at the forefront of my mind, I got up, threw breakfast down my neck, inhaled a couple of coffees and then set sail on my usual journey up the A12. It was cloudy, warm and drizzling heavily, perfect for a bite. Having taken a break from fishing the place for a while I had a new found enthusiasm, that's the advantage of fishing a number of lakes at the same time. With every water that I visit, my perspective is continually changing and my enthusiasm is always primed.  

The journey flew by in no time and before I knew it I was pulling into the car park, peering through the trees, front lake looked rather sombre in its mood. The complex was quiet with only a few anglers pitched up on back lake, the rain was relentless. I decided to take it on the chin and walk very slowly around the perimeter of the water. The wind was pushing down towards the car park end, after a short while procrastinating I opted to fish on the front of the wind just a few meters up from the car park. I've always done well from this section of water and to be fair, the far end up by the buoy looked completely dead. The only thing that was missing was a tumble weed.  

For those of you who may not of read my previous Braxted blogs, the conditions today were perfect. The lake tends to go into limbo when it's hot, it seems to pull the fish into the upper layers. I have tried both zigs and surface fishing on these occasions but I'm yet to get a result. I do find though, that if the day has been especially warm, it always looks pretty good for a bite from 4pm onwards. But I would rather fish when I know the conditions are right, rain, wind, snow, Tsunami, if the fish are feeding I will make sure I'm on the bank, none of it bothers me. Some of my fondest angling memories have been when I've been perched under my brolly holding on for dear life as nature, once again demonstrates, that she is fully in charge of our planet.

First Things First

I really wanted to "get it right" today, setting my brolly up and getting my brew kit out, I sat back for another caffeine fix and started to think. Coffee is like engine oil for me, it gets my neural transmitters firing on all cylinders, it's amazing what comes to mind when a 'caffeine high' kicks in. I hatched a plan a few weeks back on how I wanted to fish this session. I know I can get bites on single hook baits and mouthfuls, this time around I wanted to try something different. I was going to fish solid bags with bottom baits on short hook-links.

I didn't want anything blatant though, nothing that stood out like a sore thumb. I was going to compact the bags with really fine boilie crumb, I wanted the bait to blend in with the colour of the lake bed as much as possible. There are three baits that I use that would fit perfectly, Coconut Fish, Pineapple CSL and Halibut & Coconut, I opted for the Pineapple CSL. This is a bait that I've always felt confident in, but since the "Chase Lakes" era, it had fallen by the wayside for me. I'd never tried it on front lake before so I was looking forward to seeing if a few of the majestic commons that were hidden below the surface, maybe inches away from where I was standing, were going to be up for something new. 

Pineapple CSL

Sitting under the brolly looking out at the water, I went through my usual visualisation process. To my left I had a tree lined margin that slowly dropped down to 10ft, opposite I had a lovely deep run that leads to a quiet sheltered corner. There were enough 'fish holding' features in front of me, I knew that there was a high chance of a few carp visiting them at some stage during the day. The rain eased up so I used the opportunity to get set up, there's nothing worse than trying to work with solid bags when it's raining.

As explained before, I was planning to grind the boilies down into very small fragments and compact them into the solid bag as tight as possible. I opted to use small sized bags, in theory I was still fishing a 'mouthful' but there was a hell of a lot more attraction. The only solid item in the bag would be my hook-bait which I'd decided to cut right down. Taking the outer skin off made it blend into the crumb perfectly.

Grind Them Up

I was using a short 'trigga-link' combi fished as a 'blow-back' with a 1.5oz ball lead. In my eyes, this was a really tidy looking setup that would conceal itself perfectly within the bag. Because I was using a light lead I was going to fish my clutch tight on the take. This would help to pull the hook home as the carp bolts off, again, nothing was complicated, there's just a few minor touches that help to make it all work accordingly.

A Short Combi Rig & Cut Down Bait

I made a measured cast on both rods, I had a few chucks until I got the "drop" I wanted and then clipped up. On the left hand rod I was feeling for a fairly short drop. I wanted to be half way down the slope, on my right hand rod I wanted the drop to be slightly longer, the marginal shelf is really steep and I wanted to place my bait towards the bottom. Taking into consideration how many carp I've had from this area, I was convinced that it was a regular patrol route, if fish are about I find any bait put there tends to get picked up.

Ready For The Cast

It slowly started spitting with rain again so with two delicately feathered casts, both rods were out and I was confident. Settling in for 'the big wait' I felt quietly optimistic, it felt great being back on front lake again and I was pleased to be fishing it in a slightly different way. Many of you have probably gathered by now that I like to mix things up, I'd rather have a series of different options on all the waters that I fish, rather than be locked into one way of doing things. As mentioned in my last blog, if I settle for "one size fits all" I really don't feel like I'm fishing well. 

View From The Swim

As I sat looking out over the water, I started to think about life, it's a dangerous topic that I tend to find myself milling over an awful lot. Times are changing fast, technology is slowly embedding itself into everything around us. Is it possible to live a life offline anymore?. We now have a tool at the tips of our fingers that provides a platform to practically live and create an alternate reality. I can't help thinking that in years to come this is going to prove to be a real problem, it already is. 

The internet in its many forms can be a useful tool, especially if you use it for what it was originally designed for, which is 'information'. I feel the problems occur when you try to use it to compensate for all the aspects of your life that you don't have 'offline'. You can't live an existence that you're unable to touch or physically/spiritually feel, you can't feel love staring at a JPEG of someone you've never met. The worrying thing though, in the wrong hands the internet and social media can be a weapon, love might not translate from your online activity but hate does. The amount of hate I've witnessed online is not only disgraceful but a problem that continues to multiply, hence why I now limit my internet usage.

  
I might sound like a hypocrite with what I'm saying, the fact that I'm using technology right now, as you read these words. But the one thing I promised myself when I started this blog, was, it's going to be real, direct from the heart, and I hope through the masses of wires and microchips that able me to be on your computer screen this very second, it translates in a way that communicates with you. That's what it's all about for me, life is a series of connections, be it physical or emotional, we grow as humans by connecting and trying to understanding the world that's around us, the only reality is your own, in the here and the now.

Back To The Session

Having now tied myself in emotional knots, I was pulled back down to earth instantly. My right hand rod raced off, the bite alarm was screaming and the spool was rotating at a crazy speed. Grabbing the rod and leaning into the fish, the front drag clicked in and proceeded to sing. The fish was a dead weight and I had to let it blow its load on its initial run before even attempting to put the brakes on, its power was somewhat overwhelming on my light rods. The adrenalin gave me a serious head rush and my legs were shaking, any take I get from front lake seems to have this effect on me. I think it's because most of the carp that inhabit it are real lumps.

A few minutes in I started to gain some control of the situation, I kept the pressure on and adjusted the clutch accordingly, the tip action in my rod was cushioning the carps lunges. I could feel every movement, it was amazing, very slowly the fish started to tire and as it came close I witnessed the back of a very large common, it looked special. I kept the net out of sight and very patiently waited, 'whilst holding on for dear life', for the fish to drift on its side. She soon did and I gently eased the net under her ... result!

 Carved In Oak

When I witnessed this fish I was lost for words, sometimes silence says it all, its coloration was reminiscent of polished oak and its proportions were perfect. Even better still, because my rods are so forgiving there wasn't any evidence of the carp having been hooked. For me that's what proper angling is about, we seek to catch these amazing creatures, we witness them, hold them and it's our job to take care of them whilst they're in our presence. The closer to 'untouched' that they stay, shows we've done our job well.

On returning the fish to the water, I took a few moments to take it all in, slowly collecting my thoughts I dunked my rig and lead in a bag of ground-bait, I find this soaks up any water. It's a real pain when you're just finishing tying a solid bag and it starts to melt because the end tackle is still wet. Clipping the rod back up I cast the bag out hitting pretty much the same spot. The bite had come pretty quick so I was hopeful of another fish, I didn't want to get greedy though. The carp I just caught was more than enough, anything else was a bonus.

Settling back under my brolly, the rain started again, it was chucking it down. My swim was becoming severely water logged, I was on a sinking ship and everything was starting to get engulfed in clay. My feet weighed at least two pounds more than when I arrived because everything was sticking to them like glue. Undeterred, I put the kettle on and sat back to welcome the wait. 

Clay Feet

Hours started to pass and as morning bled into afternoon I started to pin my hope on a bite later on in the day. I was confident in my rig placement so I continued to sit and watch the water. Even though all remained quiet I was really confident, the wind had now dropped and the atmosphere around the lake had become so still, I felt like I was sitting in a watercolor painting. Time continued and before I knew it 4 o'clock had come and gone. It was around 6pm when I got a single bleep off my left hand rod, all my attention was now firmly on the rod tip. A few seconds later it gave off another bleep, I witnessed the tip nudge round slightly. 

Within moments the rod was away, it was a proper heavy take, both the clutch and alarm sung in unison, it was strangely poetic. As I lent into the fish it took a major u-turn and headed straight towards me. I was reeling like a madman trying to pick up the slack, eventually I did and the rod bowed over, I was "in the game", the carbon creaked, the clutch was ticking and once again my bloody legs were shaking. The fish came in close and circled continuously making use of the deep margins. I couldn't do a great deal with it so I just let it tire itself out, after a fine battle a perfect looking common revealed itself from the murk, in the net she went. Looking closely I'd had this fish before, I was more than pleased to meet her again.

An Old Friend

As expected, the fish was perfect and yet another example of why I make the journey up to fish these waters. After a few shots I slipped her home, maybe I'd meet her again at some point in the future, time will tell. I thought I'd get the rod back out for the last hour or so, it appeared luck was on my side. Clipping up and casting back out, I slowly started to pack away all none essentials, it had been a great session. I was pretty tired, wet and caked in clay but it was all worth it. The remaining hour passed with no action, reeling the rods in and packing my kit on to the barrow, I thanked front lake for, once again, being good to me, I can't wait to get back on its banks. 

  

The Stock Pond 'Hidden In Plain Sight'

How many aspects in our everyday existence simply go unnoticed or unrecognised, without knowing it there's a danger that some of us could be living in a conscience trance. We leave school and slip into a system that, in my opinion, isn't really conducive to any form of real freedom or expression. We get stuck in ruts, worn out trying to scratch a living, and if we don't make a concerted effort to keep both our body and our mind in shape, we quite simply become a passenger of our own shrinking universe. It's as if we become 'automatic', eat, sleep, work, repeat, there's a danger that our whole perspective on life stops growing and expanding, maybe that's the definition of someone that's "stuck in their ways". 

For me the monotony of the 'everyday' is like an anaesthetic on my brain, there isn't a day that goes by when I don't think that "there's got to be more to life than this". Feeling this way doesn't mean that you don't appreciate everything that you've got, it's more the fact that some of us refuse to except that the "mundane" is as interesting as it all gets. 

Taking the above paragraphs into account, I've spoken many times in previous blogs about "fishing modes", these are periods of time when we can find ourselves just "going through the motions". It's very easy to adopt a "one size fits all" viewpoint. Putting it in the clearest way possible, we load the car, get to the water, get the bait in, cast your rods out, bivvy up, job done. And this is a procedure that, if we're not careful, is mimicked with every session, on every water. Without knowing it, we're in a rut, we're not really considering the individual angling situation that's in front of us. 

Imagine "going through the motions" all your life, right up until retirement age, only to look back on your existence to realise you've been asleep for most it and you made no effort to wake yourself up. For perspectives to grow and expand you have to be willing to learn and learning is something that should never stop. 
This brings me to the questions, what are we missing?, how many of the answers are hidden in plain sight? and how many times do we let others do the thinking for us? 

The Devil Makes Work For Idle Minds

Carp angling, more than any other activity lends itself to independent thinking, we are free to do exactly as we see fit. Like everything, there's a few fundamentals, but once you've got the basics down, the world is very much your oyster. From the bait you use to the tackle you choose, the rigs and the waters you fish, it's your own personal journey and no one is entitled to stand in the way. 

Due to the rise of social media many people do try and put a dampener on your journey, it seems to be a part of human DNA to ridicule those of us who stray from "the norm". I have to admit that this is the side of both life and modern carp angling that really gets me down. My advice to everyone out there who actually has a mind of their own, is to take no notice of the mindless clones, let them run around chasing their tails, whilst you quietly walk your own path with your head held high and your eyes and mind wide open.

This now brings me on to a little unassuming water that's situated down in the Isle Of Grain called The Stock Pond. I've done a few blogs on it in the past but recently I got a crazy urge to reconnect with the place. It's situated in a farmers field right next to a public footpath, you share its banks with horses, an army of coots and a shed load of geese. To look at it, it looks nothing more than a puddle that the horses drink from, and that's how its been described by some of the self appointed "carp fishing elite" that are members of the club. But to be honest, they couldn't be more wrong, "Never Judge A Book By Its Cover" and "Never Judge A Lake By Its Size". 

Sunset On The Pond

I've spent many a day fishing the 'stockie' and the amount that I've learnt from this small little pool is nothing short of astonishing. It's not easy fishing, it never has been and it's common to hear of 12 - 24 hour blanks. It contains some incredible looking fish, they're old, very moody and not easy to catch, they've seen it all. Very simply put, it's a pot of gold "hidden in plain sight". Many anglers don't entertain the idea of fishing somewhere so small, they have a preconceived idea that it's just "not proper fishing", that's a view I don't share, thinking about it, What actually is proper fishing?  

Stealth is needed to stand any chance of landing one of its temperamental residence and if one other person is fishing when I arrive, I will go somewhere else. I stand by my belief that pressured carp are so acutely in tune with their environment that it doesn't take a great deal to put them on high alert, which in turn can switch them off. You get one cast, anymore than that and I feel you've hindered your chances. Bizarrely though, I have caught well from casting singles at showing fish, on some lakes this doesn't seem to work but on the stock pond it's an easy gamble.

You might be thinking, surely that would spook the fish? but my thinking behind this is simple. Let me use a 'pick-pocket' as an example, they nearly always strike during a distraction, when their target is pre-occupied. When a fish jumps clear of the water this action alone will temporarily shift its awareness. If you can get your bait as close to the "show" as fast as possible, I doubt very much the cast will spook it, in simple terms, you're picking its pocket. Only, instead of taking something from it, you're offering up a bite to eat in spitting distance of where it is.

Troubled Skies

Because the water is so open and only a few miles away from the Rochester estuary, the weather can go to extremes. In the summer its a proper heat trap, there's no cover and you can find yourself burning up. In both the wind and the rain, it can be brutal, it's surrounded by flat lands so the sheer power of nature beats you to a pulp. In the early morning the sun rises over the far horizon, you can usually feel when a new wind is on its way, equally the sunsets are a sight to be seen. After dark the lights can be seen shining over in Rochester and on cloudless nights you can see every constellation. Without a doubt it's one of my favourite locations to fish.

29IB Stock Pond Surprise

I've gone around the houses to the point where I was tying myself in knots on how to approach the place, but finally narrowed it down to the simplest approach possible, single pop ups. I've never caught over big beds of bait, the minute I switched to singles, the game changed. The challenge was the weed, the pond gets seriously weedy and at certain times of the year it's pretty much unfishable. I personally have no problem when it comes to weed, I know that some people run a mile, if you don't learn how to tackle it you can find yourself very limited to the places you can fish. 

You're doing yourself out of a huge part of the adventure if you only fish waters that you feel safe on, to understand the bigger picture in anything in life you have to step outside your comfort zone. There's nothing quite like landing a carp with weed strung up your line and all over the fish and the rig. It's proof enough that you got your presentation correct and you deserve the reward thats seconds away from your net mesh. It was good that I was feeling so victorious over weed because when I turned up to the water on the day of my session, it was literally covered from top to bottom. 

I arrived on the bank for about 10:30am, I wasn't really in a rush to get fishing, my plan for the short term was to do two or three relaxed short sessions. Unlocking the padlock to the pond and squeezing my barrow through the exceptionally narrow gate felt good, its as if I'd never left. As expected, the horses came to greet me, they were the very same horses that have kept me company on and off over the past 8 years or so, they're old friends now. The army of coots where all huddled together on dry land and, as expected the geese started to make a right racket as I carefully skirt around the edge of where they were gathered.   

There was a light chop on the water and as I stood their scanning my eyes across the pond, I noticed loads of flat spots. These were weed beds, there were loads of them. Knowing I only had one cast on each rod, I was going to aim for the channels in between the weed. The more the breeze picked up, the visibility of the channels became more defined. As usual there weren't any real signs of fish so I opted to target a section of the water that I've caught from in the past.

"It's now going to get technical so please bear with me" 

There are a few different rigs that I use in these situations, today I was going to fish a short running helicopter system. Because the weed was so dense I was going to set it up on a leader, to make the whole presentation safe, I was replacing the 'back bead' of the helicopter rig with PVA tape. I was using a 1.5oz 'riser lead', these have a very flat profile and slip in and out of weed a great deal easier than any other lead shape.

Nash Cling On 40IB 

It goes without saying that any rig that you use has to be as safe as possible, no rig is 100% safe but you must take all the necessary precautions into account. If for some reason you get snapped up, all the components must release leaving only the hook-link in the carps mouth. You don't want a situation where a carp is left trailing a lead, leader, or even worst, 'leadcore'. As we know, fish safety is of top priority and I suggest if you're unsure of how to construct a rig safely, you take some time to research and find out exactly what you need to do. With all the DVD's and magazines out there, there's more than enough information on the subject. If you don't fish safely then you really shouldn't be fishing at all, I know that sounds harsh but it's true.

The Riser 1.5oz

Personally, I've never used leadcore and don't plan to do so, and to be totally honest I don't like using leaders either, but there are situations where you have to. Due to the nature of the weed in the stock pond, to stand a chance of landing a fish, I needed something that was really abrasion resistant, I chose the Nash Cling On leader in 40IB, I spliced them to 1.5 meters. Ditching the back bead of the rig would make it possible, that if I got snapped up, the fish would be able to pull the hook-link away from the rest of the tackle. If I was to keep the top bead and weed got caught behind it, it would obstruct the beads movement and prevent it from being able to pull free from the leader. Below is an image of my standard 'short running' helicopter setup.

My Standard Helicopter Rig

To hold my PVA tape in place I slide the middle section of an Avid flying chod bead onto my line or leader. This holds the PVA tape perfectly in place for the cast and due to it's 'tapered' quality, you can slide it up and down to set it at your required length. You'll see in the image below what I'm talking about, it's a nice little touch that's never failed me.

Avid Flying Chod Bead 'Tapered Gripper'

The hook-link was a 'Mantis' & 'Super-nova' combi fished with a single 'critically balanced' pop up, I find this combination to be very effective when presenting a bait over both weed and heavy silt. I've mentioned it before but I'm just not into the chod, its never appealed to me and as we know, fish were being caught from weedy waters long before it became known by the masses. I have about 5 rigs I use that pretty much cover any fishing situation, and I wouldn't class any of them as particularly 'modern' or 'fancy' but I know they're all effective when used in the right circumstances.

Mantis & Super-Nova Combi

Again, once you understand the few fundamentals of carp rigs, it's really just a case of experimenting and finding things that work for you. For newcomers to the sport I understand that it can be so confusing, it doesn't need to be though. I find tackle companies are trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to rig evolution but they're all just a variation of a theme, and are usually designed to sell as many end tackle components as possible. Find what works for you, master it, stick with it, find the fish and you will catch them.

Finished Presentation 

Back To The Session

Both rigs were set up, my chosen bait was Pineapple CSL, I made a measured cast with both rods, aiming for the channels. Both rigs gracefully fell in between the weed beds, I was finally fishing. There's no real set time on the stockie as to when the fish seem to feed, I've caught them on and off through all parts of the day. With bobbins set and the alarms switched on I now had the time to soak up an environment that I'd sorely missed. It's only when I was sitting there waiting for the kettle to boil, did I realise, just how much I loved the place.

View From The Swim

In the image above the wind had eased off so you can't make out the weed beds, they were basically scattered all over the place. I positioned both rods where it didn't seem to be as dense. Either way, I felt 100% confident in my presentation, the rig I've explained pretty much presents itself over anything, within reason. Preparing for my first injection of caffeine for the day, I started to think about some of my previous captures.

The 29IB mirror I had was one hell of a surprise and the fact that it was caught on a very brief afternoon trip made it a pretty special capture. I've had a fish known as "The Grey", the clues in the name, it's an incredible mid twenty mirror which is a lovely vivid grey colour. I caught this fish after dark, on my 1.5 test curve barbel rod, it was such a humbling experience. I was really wanting to catch her again during the daylight hours. I was desperate to get a shot of her that captured just how majestic she really is. These were two defining angling moments for me and to think that these fish are still dwelling in such a small 'microcosm' of water is what makes them all the more intriguing. 

A Single Pineapple CSL Pop Up

A few hours past me by, the world around the stock pond was existing perfectly, but it was as if time on the water had stopped completely. There were no signs of fish anywhere, no liners, nothing to indicate anything was going to happen any time soon. This, however, is a common feeling, the place has a habit of spitting out a prize when you least expect it. I sat tight, downed a few more coffees and sucked on my e-cigarette, the combination of caffeine, nicotine and prescription medication tripped me out, I embraced the feeling, anything that pacifies the sense of reality is always welcome. 

Time accelerated so I started to pin my hopes on late afternoon, it felt right for a bite, I could feel it in my bones, so I extended my patience and sat confidently knowing that something was going to happen, I welcomed the wait. Late afternoon was approaching and just when I was starting to consider that a blank was on the cards. A clue revealed itself from the water. A few meters off my righthand rod, a carp jumped, it launched itself a good few feet above the surface. Even though it happened within a matter of seconds I could see every detail, it's eyes, gills and underbelly. 

Show Location

I wasted no time and reeled my right rig in frantically, as fast as I could. There was a hell of a lot of weed where it landed so I made my rig "long running". Basically I slide the back stop further up the leader, tied the PVA tape on it, placed a PVA nugget on to mask the hook, and out it went. I cast it as close to where the carp showed as possible. This was going to be a true test of the presentation, deep down I knew that it was going to be 'sitting pretty', I'd done enough tests on this particular rig to last a life time.

The bobbin was set, the alarm was on and all my attention was fixed on the rod tip. All of a sudden everything felt very serious, I waited it out, the water had presented me with a gift and I'd acted on it straightaway. Time now stopped, both on the water and on the bank, it's amazing what 'expectation' can do to you, and the environment around you. It must have only been 20 minutes before the rod tip shot round and the alarm started yelping, I was in. I grabbed the rod at lightening speed, I was going to have to be careful, there was enough weed out there for the fish to bury itself.

And that's exactly what it did, straightaway, everything went solid, I didn't panic, I just kept the pressure constant, gently increasing it and then releasing it slightly. A minute or so passed and I felt something give, my heart sunk thinking it had come off, but the rod arched back around and the clutch came into play .. result !! the fish was still on, slowly and steady, I teased her towards me. Managing to keep her head up, she was unable to bury herself anymore, she did her best to try, but to no avail. Closer and closer she came until she was in arms reach, I spotted my chance, quickly slipping the net under her, she was in .... the relief was immense.

It felt pretty dam special to catch this carp after being away from the water for so long, "and what a carp she was", a perfect example of a 'Stock Pond' mirror. She was a right lump, dark, moody and had obviously been through a few wars in her time, but that's what it's all about. With each carp you catch you also capture their history, and on it's release you then become part of it. I felt honoured to now be part of hers. I did contemplate a recast but I felt happy with the result, as mentioned before, I was going to give the pond a few fleeting visits before heading back up to Braxted.

A Brute Of A Mirror

The stock pond is a perfect example of how easy it is to overlook things, usually because you have a preconceived idea about something. Sometimes the idea doesn't necessarily sprout from your own mind, it's from someone else's. The amount of fish I would of done myself out of if I'd listened to the opinions of others in regards to the 'stockie', would've been a great shame. My advice to you is simple, "if it feels right for you, then do it", and I'll repeat my main point "Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover" and "Don't Judge A Lake On Its Size".