John gets his 1st carp of the year!

Well, what a day.

My son Gareth had been nagging me for weeks to go to the Club Lake at Orchid lakes. It cost a tenner for a day or £20 for 24 hours. As we were only going to be there for a day we chose the cheaper option!

We got a lift round to the lake (still £3 per angler) and set up in what is known as the high bank. There was already two blokes fishing, one of them definitely fishing for the catfish that are resident there. The other were small fish anglers.

The Club Lake is not very big, being only 2 acres in size so finding the fish wasn't a problem. They were literally yards from your bait! I was using plastic corn on one rod and a pop up on the other. I was fishing across to the other bank as we'd seen a carp jump near there earlier on, while we were setting up.

It was a pleasant day, not too sunny, but at least it was dry. Gareth was fishing with one bait runner and one quiver tip. His quiver rod was set up to cover the small bay to his right. His other rod was covering the far bank opposite his swim. The bloke to my right packed up around midday when 2 young lads came and setup 2 pegs down. They thrashed the water trying to cast out, their bite alarms didn't have an on/off button (or if they did, they didn't know how to work it). They were casting out literally every 10-15 minutes. They were only around 12 -14 years old. I thought our chances of catching had been severely curtailed thanks to the young lads antics. Eventually, they settled down and then I began to get line bites, bleeps and the odd aborted take. A few times I'd reeled my baits in to find that the hook was bare or the rig was in tangles. These were wary fish and had seen most tricks.

Then at around 15.45 my alarm sings out and I'm into a fish. I'm on lighter gear than I am normally used to, so I probably made a meal out of landing the fish but after my last dismal record I didn't want this to go tits up. I finally manage to land it and it turns out to be a common of 15lb 7oz.

I was ecstatic. My first carp of the year. Now maybe I can get on and do some proper fishing and not have to worry about blanking!!!



The fish looks great but don't be too critical of me please, I bruise easily (as the song goes!)












Here's another piccy, taken on Gareths phone


Its a shame the pictures don't do the fish justice as its a really pretty fish, in pristine condition and well proportioned. You'll just have to take my word for it!

All went quiet for a while and then I had a take on the quiver tip. I reeled it in and it was a small skimmer bream. All slime and snot. Needless to say it was unhooked in the water and put straight back. That was it for our session but around 6pm the heavens opened. It lashed and lashed it down. Luckily I'd brought my brolly so we were quite dry although everything was spattered in dirt from the rain splashing on the ground. Luckily it managed to stop raining before the gates were shut so we packed up and went home around 18.55 pm.

Right, time for bed and to dream of my next fish - hopefully at Newlands!

CYA

John

Another Good Nights Sleep!

Evening all! John Here.

Well , I went fishing at Newlands on Monday night. Quite an eventful session, I can tell you.

It all started badly when I couldn't be arsed to get my act together. I'd planned to get up around 5.30am and get to the lake around 6.30 - 7am. As it happened I didn't get up til 8am, hummed and aarrrred, eventually getting to the lake at 1pm - reluctantly!

I set up on the road bank, 2nd swim in. I'd seen a fish top in the middle of the lake, opposite the swim I was in, so that decided me. I'd heard on the local radio that rain was forecast for that afternoon so I put up my bivvy first thing, along with all my luxuries. It seemed to take forever! Two hours later the bivvy was up and I was finally ready to cast out. Then it took me ages to set up my rods.

My LH rod was fished about 50-60 yds out, about the same distance as the sticks but 10-15 yds left of them. My RH rod was only a short distance out, into the entrance to the bay. I spodded out some boilies to my left rod and some pellets and a sprinkling of boilies to my right rod. Ok, now we're cooking on gas.

While I was looking at the lake a fella came and had a chat from further down the lake. He was studying at Brookes University and was fishing Newlands during his time off from his summer job and the start of next term. He'd already spent 2-3 nights at the lake but only had a mid double mirror for all his efforts. He had been taking a walk around the lake to see if he could see some carp, as they'd apparently moved from his area (top half of the lake). While we were talking, a few fish crashed out, right in front of us. It was like a display, the fish were topping, jumping and doing lots of carpy things. I thought I might have a fish or two here! He said he'd definitely be moving down to here but didn't know where I was fishing. He didn't want to interfere with the area I was fishing. I explained where I was and he went and set up on the high bank. You don't see much of fishing etiquette nowadays, so it was quite refreshing to see that at least some of the younger carp anglers (he was 20 ish) are considerate of other anglers.

After about 40 minutes my right hand rod screamed off. Fortunately I was stood right next to it and picked it up straight away. Alas, it was on for around 10 seconds, then - boiinngg - it came off. By this time, the lad from Brookes had set up on the high bank and had already cast out his rods. Now, after that run, all activity seemed to stop. No fish showed, no fish jumped. no sign of any fish on the top. It might have been coincidence or it might have been that losing the fish scared them off. It might have been the extra lines in the water upset the carp coming in towards us. I don't know. All I know is that nothing happened after and I woke up next morning fishless, even though I'd been so confident of catching a fish the previous night.

I made breakfast and recast the rods. After spodding out some more boilies and pellets to the respective rods I settled down to wait. It wasn't long before I had a run on my left rod. I struck into it and it felt like a really good fish. As I was getting my landing net to hand I suddenly felt the rod and line go slack. NO, please no! But it was true. The damn thing had got off again. I threw down my rod in a hissing fit and walked away. I came back after a while and reeled in the line and examined the end. The line had parted above the clear leader and looked as if someone had roughed up the end with a bit of rough sandpaper. I'd been done. I had been using the Korda leaders so that the weight could be shed by the fish should the unthinkable happen. I text Steve and Vic, who were quite sympathetic about it all. Steve's been fishing for decades so knows what it feels like and Vic is a ex match angler who has got the carp bug.

That was about it until around midday when I noticed a lot of carp activity heading towards my swim. The wind was blowing into my face again and it seemed to excite the carp as they were jumping, topping, etc. I held on for as long as I could but I had to call it a day at 13.30pm. Somebody would have a good session soon.

Thats it for now,


John

Hello again,

I went fishing at Newlands Specimen on Monday for 2 nights.

I set up in the middle Point swim. My RH rod was fishing about 60-70 yds towards the right of my swim. I checked out where the marker float was in relation to the next swim to my right and discovered that the marker was slap bang in the middle of the swim! I decided to leave it there and move it if somebody moved into the swim.

My LH rod was fished to the far side of the gravel bar, around 15-20 yds, straight out. Both rods had boilies around them as freebies, the boilies being spodded out to the RH rig and catapulted out to the near bait. The reason I spod out the boilies is because its more accurate and it attracts less attention from the local wild birds.

The RH rod had a running rig with a 8-10" hooklink and a square 3oz lead. Bait was a Bait and feed Co mixed boilie, as were the freebies.My LH rod had a fish-oil boilie, along with around 15-20 freebies. The rig and weight were in a PVA bag full of pellets.

Monday passed quietly, with only a few beeps on my alarm. It rained a lot in the afternoon, sometimes quite heavy. I went to sleep around 11pm and woke up at around 6.30 am, the weather damp and miserable.
Another fishless night.

Vic had turned up by this time and was busy setting up his rods in the LH Point swim. Vic has been fairly successful on his home made crayfish boilies, catching several tench and bream but sadly, no carp yet. Mind you, a couple of the tench were crackers - 6lb 12oz and 7lb 14oz.
Both were caught using his crayfish boilies. The action has died down now though and Vic joins us in the "...sorry, no fish - yet" club!!

Tuesday morning passed quietly although I did hook a fish for around 5 secs then I had a hook pull.

Gutted.

Vic and I managed to do our bit for the nature watch people by releasing a swans leg from a branch that it had got tangled up in. At least it wasn't attached by a anglers line. Somehow the stupid swan had managed to get one of its legs stuck in the V of a fairly large branch. It could only use one leg and don't ask it to turn left!!!

I started to get a few beeps and liners during the day, even managing to hook another fish for approx 10 secs! I received a few beeps on my alarm so I gently lifted the rod and felt some resistance. Fish on! I lifted the rod into the fish and watched the rod tip as it took up its fighting curve. Suddenly - BOING! - it came off. The rod tip straightens and the line comes in easily. Somehow the damn fish has shed the hook. When I reeled in I immediately took off the offending hooklink and chucked it in the nearest bin. A new rig was assembled and cast out but with no result. Its been raining most of the day ranging from light drizzle to thunder, lightning and monsoon weather. Unbelievable.

Around 8pm I recast my rods for the night and topped up the baits.

I was awoken at about 3am with my alarm emitting 3-4 beeps from my LH rod. I sat up in bed and prepared to get out. Nothing more out of my alarm. I couldn't see my indicator and thought that a rat may have knocked it off on its way past to the rest of the lake. As I drifted off to sleep a thought came nagging into my conciousness - "hang on, my indicators are about 18-24" off the ground. The rat would have to be using a trampoline to reach my indicators."

So I decided to get up and check the rod. What you have to bear in mind is that its lashing down in the monsoon season outside and I'm not keen to get wet. I take the bull by the horns and pick up the rod and immediately get soaked. I notice that the line is at a totally different angle than when I cast in earlier. I reel in slowly but nothing happens. Its snagged on some weed. I gently apply some pressure and eventually the line starts to move, albeit with a heavy lump on the end. Before I could drag the weed in it drops off and I reel in a baitless rig. I rebaited the rig and cast back out. I had got soaked for nothing.

C'est la vie, as the French say.

Around 10 am I thought my luck had changed and that I had hooked a carp. My alarm screamed for a bit and then stopped. As I was running to my rods I noticed a big bow wave between my rod tip and the hooklink. I'd had a line bite of good proportions! The line pinged off the fish's back as it settled back down to its normal position.

I packed up around 12pm and made my way home

Hopefully the next time I post something I'll be writing about the fish I landed.

Until then,

Cya

John

Hi, its Steve again.

A quick report on a session at Yeoman's Guys syndicate.

I was at the lake in question on Monday 2nd August. After an extensive look at the other lakes, Yeoman's looked and felt right.

I set up in my chosen swim, which is pictured right.
The wind was blowing from my left across the lake with plenty of cloud, so the conditions were were OK.

I was all set up and I was just looking for something in my bivvy ( the new Trakker Crossfire, excellent bit of gear), when the guy in swim next to mine popped by. We had a chat, as you do, discussing whether we would spod some hemp out or not. We both decided it might be worth a try. He shot off to cook a late brekky and I got the spod rod out and put 8 -10 spods out to the tree line.

At 1pm , 2 hours after spodding out, I had a bleep or two on my right rod, 1 of two in the spodded area. I got to the rod and felt the line, which was solid , so I hit it. At first it seemed snagged, then I felt some movement so I kept the pressure on and sure enough, it started moving right and eventually kited into the reeds on my right. I was not losing this one, so after taking a deep breath and using steady pressure, I managed to moved the fish through the reeds into my waiting net.

What a relief!

Not a huge fish but very welcome after my last episode. At 14lb, as I said not huge fish, but a carp nonetheless and hard earned. I gave the swim another 24 hrs and then went home, quite pleased with myself . I'm sure bigger fish will come, now I know how to do it!