Seventh Session

With the next session being not so far away, I thought it prompt to take a look at my problematic bottom rig. Two dropped takes may not sound a lot to anyone else but it irritates the hell out of me. I have always been a firm believer of playing the percentage game to try and improve the catch rates of any rig. During the course of fishing, dropped rigs are inevitable as there are so many variables to take into consideration. 

However, if my tweaks just make 1% difference or result in that one more catch then its been worth the effort. 

All I have really changed on the multi rig and hinged stiff rig are the hooks, just changing to a size 6 instead of an 8, I have done the same on the bottom rig but I have also included a length of rig tube and which is also line aligned. This encourages the hook point to dig in a bit quicker than the original set up.

All three set ups are fished with a simple running inline lead, although it is slightly fixed over the tail rubber. I want the fish to feel the full weight of the lead but when it tries to shake out the hook the lead just simply slides up giving no anchor point to work with.

The 3 rigs I use

A very simple but effective lead set up

The weather as always was looking pretty decent with highs of 12 degrees, and according to the forecast earlier in the week it was predicted to be quite a nice day. In fact Saturday was very pleasant indeed, my two year old son had spent much of the day outside in the back garden in his sand pit, for the first time this year.

At 9 o'clock Sunday morning, I was off, trundling down the motorway, the thermometer registered 8 degrees, it was cloudy and I could even see the odd streak of blue in the sky, but the temperature change was very noticeable from the day before. It just felt colder, and looked like it was going to rain at some point. 

I set myself up on the back of the wind, after seeing a couple of swirls in the area, the wind was pushing up into the north east corner and it was significantly colder at that area.

As ever, one cast per rod with a smattering of pellets and a few chopped boilies were introduced and the wait began.

There were another two carp anglers present who were recasting every 20 minutes or so which would only help me out as I was lying in wait at the quieter, calmer end of the pool.

The day pretty much passed uneventful, Huw had popped down for a friendly chat and a laugh, its always nice to see friends as I do a lot of fishing on my own.

The wind had completely changed direction and it was now feeling a little uncomfortable in my swim, but I was here now, and just sitting it out until dark.

I did get a take on the left hand rod which quickly came off, to be honest it felt like a tiny fish and I think it only grabbed hold of the bait and quickly let it go, I just knew after dark would be my best time.

The weather levelled off and it began to warm a little with darkness falling. 

Then at 6 o'clock I got my first full blooded take in the left hand rod, the fish really scrapped hard under the rod tip but I soon coaxed it into the net.

I must apologise for the picture

The improved rig had done it's job and nailed the fish in the bottom lip, there was no way it was coming off.

The common was 9lb 8 oz's and I could finally relax as I hadn't blanked.

Nothing else happened for the rest of the night and I was soon all packed away and ready to go home by 8 o'clock. 

As ever I did put in some more bait, only a little more this time as the temperature had stayed a few degrees warmer lately, and the fish were now feeding.

I think intensifying baiting is an important move as the weather starts to warm up, so much so, I only usually put in a handful during the winter sessions but now it would be 2 pound of pellets per spot with a pound of 12mm boilies.

The pellets I have flavoured myself with the very ingredients I use in my boilies, so even when the pellets are broken down after a few hours there's still the flavour label lingering around throughout the water columns.

Instead of my usual weekly 2 egg mix I would now be making a four to five egg mix, and putting in a few pounds of pellets.

This would get the fish used to feeding in the areas confidently and they would soon start to recognise the food signals. 

As ive said before, whenever im fishing a water I like to think long term and stick to one water.

Well, that's the plan anyway

Thanks for reading and as always good luck until next time 

Sixth Session

The week leading up to this session felt quite special, Id had a new air of confidence about me now I could fish well into dark. These busy little pools usually respond well to this move and I really was looking forward to making the most of this new edge. 

Sunday morning was quite sunny to begin with, id gotten myself setup on the back of the wind after seeing a few fish milling around. I was absolutely adamant to keep noise and any bankside disturbance to a minimum. One cast only per rod and a light scattering of pellets and boilies and that was it, leaving me to sit back in the quietness of this pool. I was determined not to recast or move a muscle, I even went to the extent of setting everything up right behind the bankside vegetation to obscure any sighting of me. It's a tactic which has paid dividends before and is always my starting point on such small waters.

I had seen the same oil slick coming up from my left hand spot a couple of times during the day, id even seen a few fish move in and out, checking out the area. I just knew, if I could keep out of sight and not disturb the spots I would be in with a good chance by night fall.

The first fish came from the right hand rod, not 10 yards from where I was sitting, just as the rain was in full flow, I just knew if I was to have anything it would be during the showers. 

Bizarrely the rod did register a pick up but nothing materialised and I was half way through tying a Hinged Stiff Rig when the rod bounced round.

Nevertheless I was soon coaxing the little fish to the back of the net, and now, at least I hadn't blanked.

The second fish came to the same rod about an hour later to the Hinged Stiff Rig, half way through playing the fish the left hand rod rawed off, but that soon came off, which left me questioning the rigs hooking potential. 

Another little Common of 7 to 8lbs was soon brought under control and quickly returned.

The fact that id lost the fish so quickly on the left hand rod irritated me a little, but thats just the way it is sometimes, but if it happened again I would need to take a look at the presentation.

The left hand rod did produce a fish for me a couple of hour's later, a little Mirror this time, which was a nice surprise, a lovely little Mirror.

It was now getting dark, the skies had cleared, the temperature dropped and the pool looked like a mirror, you could clearly see all of the detail of the moon in the reflection of the pool it was that calm, just a lovely sight.

It was now dark and I was starting to pack up slowly, when the left hand rod signalled a bite with one bleep, I froze and waited, then it bleeped again and again, gaining momentum all of the time. I could tell it was a bigger fish from the bite alone, but when I leant into the fish i was greeted with a slower moving heavier weight. 

I knew it was bigger, then all of a sudden the line went slack, the fish was off, which just left me standing there totally perplexed. 

Thats two fish in a day that had gotten rid of the bottom rig, so something needed changing.  I wasn't to disheartened though, id had a few and now I just needed to perfect the bottom rig and at least I knew my bait was starting to work.

Of course I baited a couple of handfuls of bait to a few chosen spots, and I left feeling maybe things were starting to come together at last.

As always thanks for reading, and until next time, good luck.

Fifth Session 

This was going to be the last session of February, and conditions were looking far from pleasant.

The week before was mainly spent receiving goodies from the postman in preparation for the oncoming Spring.

Nev had sent me 10kg of basemix, Squirrel had made me some top notch pop ups, and the rest of my surface gear had arrived.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday looked absolutely ideal for a spot of surface fishing, bright sunshine, ideal temperatures and I just knew my day would be completely different, if I am honest I couldn't help but feel a little envious. 

The weekend was spent making another small batch of baits and I really was looking forward to being on the bank.

Sunday soon came around and looking outside of my window the weather was indeed looking unpleasant, grey skies, cold gusts of wind and rain look eminent. 

The journey was pretty uneventful, but at least there wasn't a lot of traffic about.

On arrival in the car park, I could see another two anglers present fishing the pole, the weather looked really dark and grey, so I set up on the mid point section of the pool quickly as I suspected it wouldn't be long before the rain came.

The owner had pulled up in his car and after a quick chat he very kindly offered me the chance to fish after dark when everyone else had gone.

This was music to my ears, I had surmised many times that the fish could quite easily just wait during the course of the day and start feeding during the darker hours after everyone had left and now I had the chance to exploit this situation.

No sooner had I set up I decided to move to the bottom end of the pool as the gusts of wind were really cold, biting cold, to my thinking the fish would be more comfortable in the calmer water.

I had just moved my rods round when the heavens opened, but now I was committed to the move so I just had to grin and bare the rain and get moved in as quickly as possible.

Finally I was in position, all set up and ready to go, the rods were very quietly placed, with just a handful of loose feed scattered around the spots. Both rods were cast into the margins either side of my swim. I could set the shelter up right out if sight in this swim and I was a bit more comfortable now, and I knew I was on fish as I had seen a couple of grey shadows moving around to my left.

The rain was relentless all day long, the bank resembled the somme, all of my gear was soaked and to top everything off a had to ration my coffee as I had forgotten to top up the pot.

If I am honest the day was a real struggle and I remained bivvy bound for most of the time, hoping I would get a take, I had even contemplated going home at one point, but I was here now, I might as well stay.

A plump little Robin frequented my swim and offered a little break away from the appalling conditions, letting out his song every time he perched upon my rods, I scattered a few broken boilies out to keep him occupied and fed.

The hours slowly passed by without any sign of activity, then I saw the water flatten to my left, right over my bait, something was feeding sending up the oils from the bait and I knew this may be my only chance of the day.

5 minutes later, the left hand rod sprung into life and I was soon netting a very welcome little common.

I was so glad id stuck it out and it made the weather all the more bearable.

A few shots were taken and the fish was returned to its watery home. 

By now I was absolutely soaked and I couldn't see myself hanging on a lot later but I did, I stayed until dark. 

Nothing else materialised that afternoon but at least id had a fish and at least now I knew I could fish well after dark in the sessions to come.

As always thanks for reading and until next time, good luck.

50 Shades Of Carp

Just for a bit of fun I asked the carp twitter community to display their favourite caught carp, and these are the results. I must warn you though, if you are easily excited, you may need tissue as there are some stunning fish in this collection. I actually had no intention of putting all of these pictures together into a blog, but once the photos started to roll in, it dawned on me, on how privileged and grateful I was that the anglers below wanted to share their proudest moments with me, so here they are in all of their wonderful glory.

Some of these anglers I know, some of them I don't, regardless of whether we know each other or not, irrespective of what method, bait, tackle, age, gender or aspiration, we are all brought together through one desire, and that is, to catch carp.
These fishermen and fisherwomen are specialists in their own right, as they have chosen to fish for one particular species and accomplished what they set out to do, a feat considered an impossibility just 70 years ago.
Some of us wait days, weeks, months even years nearly driven insane in pursuit of these elusive creatures, and yet, all of that anguish, all of that waiting, all of the moments of self doubt just simply fade away the second a carp slips over and into the landing net.
We are the fortunate few who see and experience every season of the year, from the depths of Winter to the scorching heat of the Summer, we see, feel and breath it all.

Every one of the photo's above are special moments that have been frozen in time and will be remembered by each and every angler responsible for the capture, and it is only fishing that provides these moments. In fact I would even go as far to say, we do not choose fishing, fishing chooses us, and takes us all on a life long journey.

This is what fishing is all about and this is what we are all a part of, I thank you all for being gracious enough to share your priceless moments with us all.