The clocks go forward

Its that time of the year when the nights get shorter and the days start to get warmer, I was looking forward to my 3 nights fishing and couldn't wait to get back down to the lake to see what life this warm weather had brought.

Forecast was looking good with nice warm days around 16 degrees and mild nights around  6 degrees,
Fish must be on the move i thought.
Upon arrival i checked out the small lake to see if anything was on the move, when a big lump crashed out in the bog swim leaving a big ring of ripples on the water. I should of learnt from what i had seen in this lake but i didn't.

I had a chat with a few guys that had been fishing for a few night's, they said its still been hard fishing but one managed to get a 29lb mirror in the morning and had the white tip common out which normally comes in at 25lb the night before.

I was buzzing with excitement as i walked around the big lake with my stuff, Half way round i sore two fish poke their heads out over the spots i was going to fish (happy days i thought) So straight round to the pads i went (This was a bad move i found out three nights later)
Even though i blanked in this swim the last time i was down i thought i would of had a good chance of getting a bite from this swim.
Due to the warm days i set out to do some zig fishing and only having one rod on the bottom, Ive been dieing to try Nash's new zig bugs but they haven't hit the shops yet so i made my own to try.

All i had in my box to try was Two 10mm black monster squid and a artificial red maggot cut in half  with a hint of yellow at the end

Looks ok to me i thought so i started at around 13 foot about 30 - 40 yards out. No joy with that so i went down to around 10 foot for the night. not a beep. My right hand rod which i had placed in the pads was getting liner's late at night but resulted in nothing.
The next day was the same, i was starting to think that all the fish had moved to the other end of the lake as i wasn't getting any bites at all.
My Bottom bait was placed on a little gravelly spot among the weed, but for some reason it was remaining untouched also.

Alsorts were going through my mind but simply, you cannot make a carp feed where it doesn't want to feed,  regardless of how much bait you put in.
They definitely have their preferred areas and i wasn't on them this time.
I have learnt that they like to feed happily on the large silt gullies that run down the near side of the island and feel safe in the open water in front of the folly, this is were i will be heading on my next trip to try and out smart these carp.

The only fish to come out of the lake was caught by a good mate of mine jimmy who had a new PB at 38lb 9oz

Caught on a chod with a white pop up

Up and downs

Ups and downs would seem to be my theme in this introduction. For example, I've just fished my most unforgettable winter's for many years. This weekend's long nightmare came soon after possibly one of my best winter's ever.

Highs and lows, ups and downs, call them what you like, they are a part of carp fishing.
From the elation as the net is lifted to the gut wrenching feeling as the line goes suddenly slack.
My First visit early march was defiantly a low, 3 nights fishing and resulted in a blank.
I thought to my self "why has it all gone wrong?" Last trip the bait worked, The rig worked, fish showing over my bait. just this trip they didn't want to play ball in my area.
Don't no if it was down to the weather or angling pressure or what.
Perhaps it would be better just to tell my self, "Don't panic, keep doing the basics right, wait and your turn will come. Learn from all your sessions - the ups and downs.
Don't just ask yourself the question "why did i blank" and also "why did i catch" Carp fishing for all of us can be  easy at times but it also can be very hard.
After all, isn't it the bad times that make the successes all the more magic.

On a high note fish did come out of the lake while i was their.
Jason had a 27lb mirror on a short day trip and Mark had a real dark 24lb winter looking common, so good to see the fish were still feeding and moving about.
Even the small lake is starting to wake up, 3 fish out over the weekend - 13lb ghosty on a zig caught by Russ, first ever fish on a zig too so that made his weekend.
Mike did one night bagging a 15lb and a 23lb carp

Winter Action ( Part 3 )

Late February i decided to get back down the lake and have a bit of a social weekend with my mate Craig.

I knew the fish wouldn't be down the side of the lake i had been fishing so i thought it would be best if we moved round to the weedy part of the lake, as i new the fish would be holding up there.

The good thing was i had booked the Friday off so we got to the lake around lunch time plenty of time to put my plan together.

I was just using boilies this time as i couldn't be bothered to boil all my mix up.

Out went around 4 kilo of mixed boilies from 10mm to 15mm before i even got my stuff out the car

I knew the carp have been loving the bait ive been giving them so i thought i would get a head start and let them have a free munch.

After a few hours i thought it would be best to get my rod out, on went the white irn bru pop up again and a few more boilies.

It wasn't long before my winter experience just got better. The rod was only out 20mins before it screamed off, i couldn't believe my luck as not many fish had been out this year and i seem to be in the right spot every time.

Few mins later this second pb of the year was on the bank

36lb 8oz common

My Day got better an hour later when my rod was in action again with a lovely old 24lb mirror

I was over the moon and i didn't care if i didn't catch another fish all trip but that wasn't to happen as in the early hours of the next day i bagged another mirror.

These fish here are the reason I'm writing this blog i want to share my journey with you.

For my hunt for my UK 40lb carp

Winter Action ( Part 2 )

I Returned to the lake feeling very confidant after my last session and moved straight back to the swim i had been baiting. Conditions wasn't looking good again as it had been cold all week and i knew this wasn't going to be easy.

I baited up the swim like i did last time knowing the carp have been moving alone this side of the lake.

Out went the chody again with the same bait, didn't take long before i started to get liners again and i knew i could be in for a good night.

Morning came and the sirens stayed silent through the night, couldn't believe i hadn't had a fish but i wasn't going to be beat as i knew the swim i was in produces fish between 7am to lunch time, so i waited and finally it came a screaming run around 10am.

Nice 20lb+ Linear

The rest of the day passed without action. So i baited up ready for the night.

The next morning came with no results through the night, i had a walk over to mark who was fishing in the steps to see if he had caught anything when i felt my receiver bleep in my pocket, i ran over to my rod and struck and i couldn't believe it i was in again.

Another 30lb+ to add to my winter list  '31lb 6oz'  

I left the lake again a happy man, and knowing the cold was coming in hard i wouldn't be able to fish again for a few more weeks.

After the snow and ice had gone i was back for more.
I went back to the swim i was in as i thought it would be silly fishing anywere else on the lake as ive had 3 fish off this spot, But my first blank came.
My mate mark was fishing on the other side of the lake and he bagged his first fish of the year this gready linear i had the other week

Winter Action

There's no escaping the fact that once winter is upon us, blanking becomes all too frequent on the harder waters. This winter i had planned to spend my time experimenting with various bait and essential oils at my cambs syndicate. 'the folly syndicate'.

The lake i settled on can be hard at the best of times. I knew the lake like the back of my hand, having done a fair number of sessions over the years. The Mascal Carp lake is 7 acres in size, weedy one side of the lake and like a snooker table the other, depths down to around 20ft. It contains a good head of fish over 30lb and a few over 40lb, These are the ones I'm hunting.

My First Winter session was just a few days after boxing day. Conditions didn't look to well as the nights were down to -5 and i knew a few more weeks of this weather the lake would have a lid over it.

So i started baiting up my swim before i even had any of my gear out as i wanted the carp to start moving into my area as not many people was fishing on the lake at the time.

After i had put about 3kilo of boilies out and about 20 spods of my mix I started thinking about my plan to catch these crafty carp. If i caught one fish i would have been happy

Time wasn't on my side as the night was closing in, so i got my stalker rod out and quickly tied a small chody rig and placed a 10mm white pop up on that i had been soaking in irn bru for about a week.

The chod rig was placed in about 12ft of water on top of a small amount of weed and was baited up ready for the night ahead.

Confidence was high as i was getting alot of liners through the early hours of the night. Sleeping with one eye open waiting for the Nash sirens to light up the night.

Morning came without a run, i knew it was going to be hard so wasn't put down by this.

I took a walk over to the small lake to see flash had pulled up in the car park swim doing an overnight with his mate Russ. After having a chat with the guys i went back to my rods to think of a new plan to try and get me a bite. After sitting thinking about what i was going to do the line started to move on my rod, just a few bleeps and i sore that the rod tip was moving so i knew there was a fish on.

So down i went to strike my rod and could feel a fish on the other end, The smile on my face got bigger and bigger the closer the fish came in, as it felt like a big one. After a 5 - 10 min fight the winter carp was in the net.

New pb common at 35lb 10oz  

This was just the start to one of my best winter fishing experience.