Readers Lake - 19/11/09

I arrived at the lake at 08:00 to find two other anglers already fishing but thankfully my favourite swim (13) was still free. I set up a small Porkies elasticated method feeder as usual but this time I incorporated a small piece of tungsten tubing into my rig to help pin the mainline down in the choppy conditions. The bait of choice was the ever reliable three grains of corn on a hair which has been responsible for catching me more fish than I can remember at Readers this year.

Because of the wind I set the tip so it was almost touching the water and waited for the inevitable wrap round bite that usually happens when fishing the method. Within half an hour of dropping my feeder near the island I was into my first Carp of the day, the Carp in Readers had certainly been getting themselves ready for winter as though it only weighed 4 lb it was solid and fought like a fish of twice its size.

For regular readers of this blog you may recall me catching a new personal best Crucian from Readers a few weeks back and my second fish of the day broke my P.B yet again with this 1 lb 6 ounce specimen.

From that point on bites and fish came thick and fast and I decided to call it a day at 14:00 having caught six Carp to 11 lb plus one Crucian, not a bad haul for six hours fishing especially when the two other anglers on the lake had only managed one Carp between them.

The one disappointment of the day was that I also lost a decent Tench at the net but that's fishing I guess.

Roosthole Pond - 14/11/09

Roosthole has definitely become one of my favourite waters this season so I didn't need to be asked twice when my friend invited me to fish there on the 14th of November.

I woke up Saturday morning to find the South East being battered by 50 mph winds and torrential rain as the first storm of the year hit the UK. After a quick glance outside and a text from my mate we decided to chance it, it should be good for a laugh even if we didn't catch.

No sooner had we arrived at the lake we were hit with a hail storm as well as thunder and lightening, it was hardly surprising to see no one else at the lake (only lunatics would fish in this weather!) but at least we would get our favourite swims.

I went with a standard bolt rig but as the weather was cooling down I decided to get away from the fishmeal boilie/halibut pellet combo and instead opted for a 15mm Mainline Cell on one rod and a 15mm Dynamite tiger nut boilie on the other, both rods had small PVA bags of chili hemp attached for each cast.

By now the wind was really starting to get up, thankfully for us we were quite sheltered but that didn't stop a huge gust causing my friends brolly to turn inside out and take off like something out of Mary Poppins. It was only when we looked at the trees higher up in the distance could we see how windy it really was as they were almost doubled over! I had to spend a lot of my time holding the sides of my brolly just to stop it collapsing and the torrential rain made it impossible to use PVA as a whole tube of mine turned to mush whilst trying to make up bags. The wind had also caused branches to fall from the trees and these were drifting around the lake and all over my lines giving me indications on my bite alarms and hampering rig presentation, if I could catch in these conditions I could catch in anything!

I filmed this clip on my phone just to show how wet and windy it was:



Over the course of the day I had six runs (all on the tiger nut boilies) and I ended up landing three Carp, two were around the 7 lb mark and the biggest just over 13 lb. For some reason I always get plagued by hook pulls at this water and today was no different, I suspect today it was due to me bullying the fish just so I could back under my brolly and out the rain!


My friend managed two Carp which meant another point to me in our match series but I sensed a severe lack of enthusiasm and competitiveness from him today, obviously it was completely down to the weather and nothing to do with the fact that the score now stood at a 8-3 and he was getting beaten like a drum.

Yateley Pads - 27/10/09

I only started specimen Carp fishing this year and the goal has been to catch a 'twenty' a feat which has eluded me in 15 years of general course fishing so when my friends asked me if I'd be interested in spending three days at the famous Yateley Pads I jumped at the chance.

Pads is a Cemex water at the famous Yateley complex, it's roughly 4 acres in size and costs £125 a day to book the entire lake, you simply divide the costs up amongst you and your friends. The lake itself contains somewhere in the region of 90 Carp which have an average size of over 20 lb, if I was ever going to catch my first twenty it was going to be here.

We arrived at the lake to find that all five anglers on the lake for the two days prior to us had blanked and not only that but the weed was absolutely horrendous. According to the bailiff the temperature roller coaster in recent weeks had caused to the weed to die and start growing again which meant apart from a few areas the size of postage stamps the bottom was thick with about a foot of weed.

I drew number one out of the hat which meant I had first swim choice so I opted for the legendary end of pads swim hoping the pads which were dying for the year would still attract some fish and I could also find some weed free areas on the outskirts.

I cast out and waited....


and waited....

Nothing, not so much as a beep for two days despite trying every imaginable rig and bait going, chods, slack lines, bolt rigs, free running, popups, naturals, they just weren't having it, none of my friends had caught either and unlike me they had even tried raking and spodding.

The last night I decided to take a massive gamble and go all in, I switched to a completely free running (and safe) rig and with an underarm lob dropped my PVA bagged rig and double corn bait right into a hole in the middle of the pads no more than two rod lengths out. The pads were nearly finished for the year and there was a clear 5 x 5 foot hole right in the middle so I was optimistic of being able to extract any fish I hooked, not only that but I was using strong gear and was more than prepared to go into the lake and rescue a snagged fish if need be.

I decided to fish my line completely slack and without a backlead, I waited until near dark and dropped half a kg of chili hemp over the top, anything bigger would of drawn the attention of the lakes numerous resident moorhens and coots.

Nothing, nadda, zip, not a touch even though I could hear fish crashing all around me all night.

We were due to leave the lake at 10 am that morning so after accepting it wasn't to be I began to start packing up my gear. Whilst taking my winter skin off the bivvy I had two short beeps on the bite alarm and I looked round and saw the bobbin was up tight against the rod but no line was being taken, odd, quickly picking up rod I felt resistance as if I was snagged. It was only when I slackened off the line and noticed a tiny twitch of the pads and the my line zipping away that I even realised I had a fish on.

After a little gentle pressure my line cut through the dying pads like a hot knife through butter and within 5 minutes my mate who had heard my screams of "GET IN THEEEEERE!!!!" from across the lake came running round and slipped the net under the fish. It's just as well he was there to help as I was fishing between two overhanging trees so I would of had trouble netting the fish on my own.

I could tell she was a definite twenty (my first ever!) but how high would she actually go.....

.....the scales revealed 30lb 15 ounces!

There can't be too many Carp anglers who's first 'twenty' is actually a 'thirty' and with it coming just an hour before packing up I definitely felt lady luck was smiling on me even though I'd waited 71 hours for just one fish.

My friends had found it equally tough going, one had blanked, another had managed just a 5 lb Bream, another a 32 lb Carp and the other Carp of 25 lb and 29 lb.

I definitely feel privileged to have fished such a historic water and we've already booked the lake again for April.


Happy days.

Readers Lake 09/10/09

After my recent red letter day at Readers I was itching to get back there and with the mild weather forecast I decided a midweek session was in order. The plan was to be at the lake by 07:30 and fish peg 13 just as I had done previously so it was a little disappointing to see the only other angler on the lake was already fishing that swim when I arrived.

I decided to fish the same island but on the north side which I've recently nicknamed the north pole because it's usually much colder due to the surrounding trees blocking out most the sunshine. I setup exactly as I had done on my previous trip and dropped my treble corn hook bait next to a set of lilly pads by the island.

In light of my recent trip you could forgive me for thinking sport would be relentless but in typical Readers fashion the lake was predictably unpredictable and I had to wait over an hour for my first bite which resulted in a small Carp of approximately 4 lbs ending up in the net.

As the morning progressed and the temperature increased the fish got their heads down and started gorging themselves on all the bait I had been putting in with my feeder, hooking fish wasn't a problem but the pads made landing them hard work and I lost two fish to hook pulls and one that managed to straighten the hook!

I decided to call it a day shortly after lunch as the chill in the air was starting to get to me, I had only managed one fish but I suppose I should just be grateful that I haven't blanked since way back in May, there can't be too many anglers than can boast that.

As I trudged back to the car I caught sight of a Kingfisher as well as a Grass Snake that was meandering slowly across the surface of the lake, a bit late in the year to be seeing Snakes I thought to myself (global warming?).

Readers Lake 25/09/09

After spending the day as a guest at Roosthole the previous day it was my turn to return the favour and I had arranged to meet Graham at Readers for a day on the method feeder.

The weathermen had predicted a scorcher but when we arrived at the lake at 08:00 there was a chill in the air and dew on the grass which my trainers soaked up like a sponge. With that in mind we decided to fish the right hand bank as that would be the first area to receive attention from the sun, I dropped into lucky peg 13 and my friend set up just to my left on peg 14.

I pretty much only use corn as bait at Readers these days and the plan was to fish three grains on a hair as tight to the island as I dared, thankfully for me (and my wallet) I could reach the island with a gentle underarm lob so I was optimistic that I wouldn't be adding to the collection of tackle and rigs that other anglers had lost to the island.

More by luck than judgement I dropped my feeder within 6 inches of the island, placed my rod in the rest and tightened the tip so it was just ever so slightly tensioned, no sooner had I sat down the tip wrapped right round and I was battling my first Carp of the day. I managed to add a further three more small Carp within an hour of setting up so I was definitely optimistic of having a good day.

By mid day the temperature was soaring, here we were just a few days from October and it was probably getting on for 80 degrees. It was good to top up the tan but at one point I had to set my brolly up for a bit of shade as I was starting to get a migraine from the heat and glare off the water.

I finished the day with 15 Carp up to 7 lb plus a new personal best 1 lb 3 ounce Crucian which was easily the highlight for me, well other than seeing my friend yet again nearly fall into the lake trying to stop his rod being pulled in (surely one day he will have to go for a swim?). I did lose a few fish (hook pulls) but that was to be expected when fishing so close to snags.

My friend managed 8 Carp which meant I took the point in our 'match' series (7-3 to me!) but to be fair he did catch the bigger fish with one Common topping the scales at 11 lb which fell to luncheon meat. At one point we even had three Carp on at the same time which took a bit of juggling with the landing nets but we did manage to land all three fish.

It wasn't until we had a chat to another angler on the way back to the car park that we realised how good our day had been, he had blanked!

Roosthole Pond - 24/09/09

In my opinion when it comes to fishing there's not a lot better than a lazy midweek day in the summer sunshine, not only do the fish usually respond but you normally also get the lake to yourself. With that in mind I had arranged a day at Roosthole on a Thursday and with the forecast predicting sunshine and mild temperatures I was hoping for a cracker.

We arrived at the lake to find it completely deserted, other anglers would turn up later in the day but it meant we could jump straight into our two favourite swims; 'the aquarium' (swim 18) and 'no fish corner' (swim 19).

I decided to start the day using the soft halibut pellets that I had so much success on last time but as always I had also brought along a variety of boilies just in case, as usual a small PVA bag of pellets was attached for every cast. Since the Pike season was now upon us I had also brought along a few Mackerel deadbaits to try a bit of cheeky Piking for an hour or two if the Carp action was slow.

For the first couple of hours it didn't matter what bait I opted for I couldn't get a run for the life of me, I even tried a popup boilie which is a rare tactic for me. My first fish of the day came in the form of a small Pike that snaffled up my margin fished Mackerel deadbait, the fish only weighed a couple of pounds but being so small was awkward to unhook so I decided to abandon the Piking for the day after returning the fish to the water. My friend on the other hand had managed a couple of Carp on tuna and chili boilies but it was definitely slow by Roosthole standards, we suspected the lack of rain might be having an impact as the water level was visibly down from a few weeks before.

A quick wander around the lake revealed a few fish showing themselves on swims 12 to 14 and there was plenty of feeding activity on display in the form of bubbles and silt clouds, they were probably from Bream but by now I was in no position to be picky so the move was made.

I dropped my baits in the area where I saw the silt clouds and eventually after an hour I was rewarded with a run that eventually resulted in a small Mirror Carp of approximately 5lbs being landed. After a few more hours I had failed to catch any further fish from the middle of the lake so I decided to drop my baits as close to a big overhanging tree on the far bank as I dared, not exactly an easy task considering the limited casting room the trees in my swim afforded me.

Within 10 minutes of casting the bobbin on my left hand rod fell, climbed half way and then stopped, rather than waiting for it to move again I decided to hit the bite and connected with something that initially felt like a Bream. It wasn't until I got the fish within a few rod lengths of the bank that it started to use it's big rudder to go on a series of surging runs. After a thoroughly enjoyable fight with the fish staying low and plodding I eventually had her lying on the surface and beat as my mate slipped the landing net underneath what I thought would be a new personal best. I didn't think she would go quite as high as the magical and elusive twenty but I was pretty sure she would be the biggest Carp I had caught, how wrong I was. Sadly for me the fish had the size but she didn't have the conditioning and with her big saggy hollow belly she could only move the needle on the scales to 16lb.

I finished the day with just five Carp and one small Pike, my friend on the other hand managed a much more respectable seven Carp. It definitely looked like the Carp were feeding in spells as more often than not me and my friend would either have fish on at the same time or within a few minutes of each other. Not exactly the best day I've had at Roosthole but I can't really complain, it certainly beats working.

Readers Lake - 29/08/09

Readers is rapidly becoming my second home this season and after arranging a days fishing with Graham I had no hesitation in choosing this lake as the venue. We arrived at the lake just after 07:30 and eventually decided to fish the far end, an area where over the years I've caught most my bigger Carp from. The weather forecast had predicted mild temperatures and sunny spells but unfortunately for us the sun spent most of the day behind the trees at our back so it was actually quite chilly. Our swims also appeared to be directly below the flightpath out of Gatwick airport so if nothing else we were in for a noisy day.

The plan was to fish the method feeder tight to the island just as I had done on my previous few trips to Readers. As the weather was still warm (allegedly!) I opted for Envy hemp and halibut method mix in the feeder with three grains of sweetcorn fished on a hair. Just in case the fish weren't having the corn I had also brought along some strawberry luncheon meat and soft halibut pellets as a backup.

I didn't have to wait long for my first bite and I use the term bite loosely, anyone that fishes the method feeder knows that bites from Carp are usually savage with the tip wrapping right round and the rod being nearly ripped out of the rests. Within two minutes of the first cast I hooked my first fish but unfortunately because I was talking I was slow to react and it made an immediate beeline for the island reeds and the hook pulled as I tried to turn it back into the open water, nevertheless an encouraging start.

Within fifteen minutes of recasting I was into another fish and this time I made no mistake, after a brief but spirited scrap I was rewarded with a small but perfectly formed Ghostie. Unflattering photo alert!

At that point I was expecting to have a good day but even though I kept catching throughout the day the action seemed to happen in patches with a couple of fish followed by a lull of a few hours, something I've experienced at Readers many times before. I did manage to catch a small Skimmer of about 4 ounces but how it managed to get two 11mm soft halibut pellets into it's tiny gob I'll never know. Another distraction was provided half way through the day when two bailiffs from the environment agency turned up and checked my rod license for the first time in ten years.

My friend Graham was having even less luck, by midday he had managed a small Bream and an even smaller Carp from the shallower water by the edge of the island. With two hours to go he decided enough was enough and moved swims so he could fish against the island like I had been doing, the move certainly paid off as he went on to catch four more Carp and the jammy git even managed a catch a Tench of approximately 2lb.

Now if you follow this blog regularly you know how competitive myself and Graham can get so at this point his Lazarus like comeback was getting me a little worried and only a single Carp now separated the two of us.

With just a few minutes to go Graham hooked into another fish but unfortunately for him he had wandered from his rods to try and wean the fish onto chickpeas with half a ton of them going into the lake as loose feed, by the time he'd ran back to his rod the fish which was obviously a lump had already taken enough line to swim to Fiji and was lodged in a set of pads only to be lost seconds later when the line snapped.

I finished the day with six Carp plus a Bream and a Skimmer, Graham had managed five Carp plus a Tench and a Bream with most his fish coming in the last two hours of the day. I definitely felt like lady luck was on my side, had Graham started the day in his second swim I have no doubt that I would of been destroyed and he would be the one gloating.

6-2

Roosthole Pond - 22/08/09

I've had some fantastic trips to Roosthole this year but when I agreed to fish there on the 22nd of August little did I know I would have one of my best days in 15+ years of angling.....

After arriving at the lake at 07:45 it was a relief to see there was only a couple of other anglers on bank, very strange considering it was a Saturday and the weathermen had predicted glorious sunshine and toasty temperatures.

I was even more pleased to see the now legendary swim 18 was free, this swim had recently been dubbed the aquarium by my friend because of it's ability to provide big weights of Carp despite being completely featureless. Being the diplomat I offered the swim to my friend but he politely declined and instead set up just ten yards to my right in the next swim.

I've always had success at Roosthole fishing boilies on semi fixed bolt rigs so the plan was to do exactly the same, the only difference this time I planned to experiment a little and opted for a much longer piece of tungsten rig tubing to pin the line near the lead down. I attached a Dynamite Baits spicy tuna & sweet chili 15mm boilie to both rods as well as a small PVA bag of trout and halibut pellets and dropped both rigs into the deeper water in the middle of the lake.

Neither me or Graham had to wait long before both of us were into fish and by 10:00 both of us had each caught four Carp with the biggest being around the 8lb mark.

It was at that point that the action began to slow a little so I decided to try something different by switching my baits, I swapped my boilies for two 11mm Sonubaits soft halibut pellets. I figured that since temperatures were still high the Carp would still be keen on fishy/oily baits plus considering the amount of halibut pellets I've put into this lake over the summer via PVA bags the fish probably regarded them as natural food by now. The change in bait paid immediate dividends as I was rewarded with run after run and fish after fish, something I'd never seen before in 15+ years of fishing. The action became so relentless that it got to the point where I couldn't make up enough PVA bags to keep up as my rods were screaming off every five minutes, worse still the bottle of beer which I had opened an hour before but hadn't had time to drink was now warm!

I filmed this clip on my mobile phone to show how fast the runs were happening:

The fish continued to be caught right up until we called it a day and by the end I had managed twenty one Carp for an average size of about 8lb with the biggest fish weighing in at exactly 15lb, definitely one of my best ever days and only the second time I had managed to catch a ton. Despite fishing the same bait and tactics just ten yards to my right my friend Graham could only manage ten Carp which is still well above average for Roosthole.

Other than changing my bait I think the key to my great day was nailing my cast as I managed to drop my rig and therefore PVA bags in the same spot each time without clipping up.

Whilst walking back to the car I had a quick natter to another angler who revealed that he had caught a couple of Carp, even though I was desperate to I refrained from telling him about my red letter day for fear of looking like I was gloating.

Even more importantly it meant I took another point in mine and Graham's 'match series' to give me a 5-2 lead even if it meant my shoulder was now aching from playing so many fish.

Wilderness - 13/08/09

My cousin is relatively new to fishing so after agreeing to take him and his friend fishing for the afternoon we decided Wilderness was our best bet because of it being a relatively easy water. The forecast was a scorcher with temperatures in excess of 70 and not a cloud in the sky. After a quick license quick from the bailiff we made our way to the main lake and decided to fish the bay because there was ample room for all three of us.

I started the day fishing sweetcorn on the float and on the first cast was rewarded with a small Rudd, it may of only weighed 4 ounces but what it lacked in size it more than made up for with it's beautiful golden colour and bright crimson fins.

It wasn't long before the Carp moved into my swim and within 20 minutes of the first cast I landed my first of the day, a small Common of about 2lbs. At that point I decided to go all in and put out several handfuls of halibut pellets and left over method mix from my previous trip to Readers to see if I could get a feeding frenzy going. Sure enough the Carp responded and at one point I could see at least twenty Carp tails in the shallow water as they got their heads down to munch on all the feed I had put in.

After my fifth Carp and a sun induced migraine rapidly developing I decided to reel in my rod and concentrate on helping my cousin and his friend by showing them how to tie different rigs and letting them fish my swim that I had been feeding heavily throughout the afternoon.

We fished on until 18:00 with both of them managing to land several more Carp as the day went on, I finished the day with five small Carp up to 2.5lbs, a solitary Rudd and an absolutely shocking headache.

Sussex Ouse Goldbridge Stretch - 10/08/09

It must be at least five years since I last fished a river and with me being a member of Haywards Heath this year I really had no excuses for not having a crack at the Ouse.

After a 20 minute car journey I arrived at Goldbridge and unpacked my gear, after a quick and cautious vault over a low barbed wire fence I was standing next to the river.

According to the guys in the tackle shop this stretch is rarely fished so it was a bit of a shock to see two other guys fishing, after a quick natter with one of the anglers who revealed himself to be the club secretary I made my way upstream to a slow bend in the river complete with overhanging tree and patches of streamer weed, a perfect haunt for the greedy Chub.

I set up my Korum Neoteric with the intention of trotting maggots and breadflake under a small chubber float and the first run through the swim rewarded me with a small Perch of about 5 ounces on double red maggot. It was literally a Perch or Roach a chuck for the first hour but nothing of any size so with that in mind I decided to take a wander upstream to the faster water.

Throughout the rest of the day I caught more Roach and Perch on maggot and also managed to induce a few savage bites on breadflake but I was unable to hit any of them because of poor line control on my part, the disadvantage of not owning a centrepin reel.

Readers Lake - 05/08/09

After my recent mixed bag at Readers two days previously I wanted more and despite the weather forecast predicting overcast conditions and possible showers I still fancied my chances of having a decent day.

I arrived at the lake at 08:00 to find there were already four anglers on the lake but thankfully for me the swim I had fished two days before was still free, I set up exactly as I had done previously (method feeder) and with a gentle underarm lob dropped my treble sweetcorn bait inches from the island.

After my previous visit I was half expecting the action to be instant but sadly it wasn't to be as I had to wait two hours for my first bite as a Carp hooked itself against the weighty feeder and wrapped the quiver tip right round. Unfortunately for me I was busy re-working my method mix groundbait and before I could get to the rod the Carp had taken enough line to get into the reeds that adorned the island, after a couple of minutes of me applying pressure the hook pulled and the fish was gone.

I had to wait a further two hours for my next bite but this time I made no mistake and after a spirited scrap I slipped the net under a pristine 5lb Common Carp whilst two children who were fishing with their dad in the next swim looked on.

With the predicted afternoon showers increasing and bites few and far between I decided to call it a day at 16:00 and made the short walk back to the car park. A quick natter to a few anglers on the way confirmed what I suspected that the lake wasn't fishing well as most had blanked or managed just a couple of fish.

Readers Lake - 03/08/09

After my recent success with the method feeder at Imberhorne the temptation to try the same tactics at Readers was too much to resist. I had originally planned to be at the lake by 07:00 but as usual I struggled to get organised and it was closer to 08:00 by the time I unlocked the gate and drove into the car park. Being a weekday I was half expecting to have the lake to myself so it was a bit of a shock to see at least a dozen anglers already packed out around the lake, I had to double check my club book to make sure I hadn't got my dates mixed up and there was a match on. After confirming it was ok to fish as well as having a quick natter I decided to fish a swim on the left bank opposite the first island where I could see Carp moving about.

Set up was very similar to what I had used at Imberhorne, Korum Neoteric quiver rod with 2 oz tip, 8lb line and a 28g Guru x-safe elasticated method feeder with a size 14 barbless Preston Innovations 4" hair rig.

I was still hoping to land my first proper Tench of the season so I decided to use Van Den Eynde Expo as my method mix, Tench are renowned for having a sweet tooth and this bright red molasses groundbait seems to drive them crazy, for bait I was using double corn. With a gentle underarm lob I dropped the feeder within a foot of the island and tightened up so the tip was just slightly tensioned.

Action seemed to come in spells throughout the day as I would land three Carp in an hour and then nothing for the next two, by the time I packed up at 16:00 I had managed six Carp to 6lbs including a couple of Ghosties, a solitary Tench of 1.5lbs (finally!) and a Bream of 3lbs.

Another guy on the lake made the mistake of leaving his rod unattended and had it pulled in, he did manage to get it back but it took him over an hour of casting to retrieve it.

There are some pretty big lumps in Readers and whilst walking back to the car I had a chat with a guy who the previous week caught a 21lb Common from the very swim I had been fishing.

Imberhorne - 30/07/09

I had planned to arrive at Imberhorne by 08:00 but after struggling to drag my butt out of bed it was closer to 09:30 by the time I got to the lake so it was no surprise to see my favourite swim already occupied. After a quick walk round the lake I opted to fish the far bank corner swim which looks down the length of the lake, it was the perfect swim to put my new quiver tip rod through it's paces with a bit of method feeder fishing.

I reached straight for my new Korum Neoteric and as the Carp don't run huge here I opted for the lightest of the three tips (2 oz). I'm rapidly becoming a big fan of the method feeder and part of that is down to how quick and easy the setup is, tie a quick double overhand loop knot in your mainline (I was using 8lb mono), thread the loop through the tail rubber of your feeder, clip the loop in your line onto the the feeder and secure the tail rubber in place. At the business end I was using a size 12 barbless Preston Innovations 4" method feeder hair rig that was secured in place by a simple loop to loop knot. The feeder itself was one of the new 24 gram Guru x-safe elasticated feeders that only hit the shelves a few weeks prior so it would be interesting to see the results. The bait of choice for the day was two Sonubait 11mm halibut soft hooker pellets, these things absolutely ooze oil so I had no doubt the Carp would be on them as soon as they hit the water, the method mix I had chosen was the new Bait Tech Envy hemp and halibut mix.

I cast out to the middle of the lake and within 30 seconds of setting the tip it wrapped completely round and I was into my first Carp of the day, it was only a few pounds but I don't think I've ever seen such a pristine fully scaled Mirror.

By now the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was well into the 80s, I almost felt sorry for all the people stuck at work, almost, thankfully for me the giant pine tree in my swim was providing me with plenty of protection or so I thought (more on that later.....).

Around about lunchtime I was joined by quite possibly the cutest and fluffiest baby fox that I've ever seen, he come bounding along the bank without a care in the world and got to within ten feet of where I was sitting before clocking me, freezing in his tracks and then slowly slinking off. The little scamp would return a further two more times throughout the day no doubt looking for a free meal.

The fishing itself was pretty relentless and after six hours and 15 Carp I decided to call it a day, I didn't manage any fish over 4lbs but when you consider the glorious weather and picturesque surroundings to ask for anything more would just be greedy.

It was only when I went to pack up that I noticed that the shade the tree provided had come at a price as my rod bag and rucksack were completely covered in bird droppings, when I got home I noticed my back and shoulders were covered too, oh well, I suppose it is meant to be lucky.

Readers Lake - 26/07/09

After being stuck up Sheffield for two weeks to renew my non destructive testing tickets I was itching to get back on the bank so when I got a text from a mate asking if I was up for some fishing this weekend I jumped at the chance. The aim was to meet up at 07:30 and be fishing by 08:00, the venue of choice was the always scenic Readers.

I absolutely love catching Tench and with the good old fashioned British summer still going strong I thought I had a genuine chance of a Tinca today. I decided to fish with one rod first and the setup was a pretty standard one for float fishing, Drennan Power Carp Waggler, Shimano reel, small waggler float and a size 14 barbless hook fished straight through on 6lb line. I'd brought a myriad of baits including maggots, worms, sweetcorn, soft hooker halibut pellets and luncheon meat and was confident that even if the Tench weren't going to play ball then the Carp would.

Readers responds well to fishing in the margins so with that in mind I plumbed up and decided to fish six inches over depth on the margin shelf which is where the Tench love to patrol. It was literally a bite a chuck with the usual suspects (Roach and Skimmer Bream) falling to either corn or soft pellet, with that in mind I opted to put down a bed of small pellets to try and entice the bigger fish into the swim. It didn't take long for me to hook into my first proper fish but I lost what I suspected to have been a foul hooked Carp so I decided to shallow up to dead depth. I was soon into another fish but again I lost it, from the nature of the fight and previous experience on this water I suspect it might of been a Tench as it felt more like a solid lump compared to the Carp which tend to go absolutely mental when hooked.

By this time my friend had already managed to bank a few including a fin perfect 8lb Common on ledgered luncheon meat and a 11lb Common on a fake dog biscuit so the pressure to salvage the 'match' was well and truly on. With that in mind I set up a second ledger rod and hair rigged two 11mm soft halibut pellets fished tight to the edge of the island a tactic which showed instant results with a small Carp coming to the bank within two minutes of casting out. Unfortunately there is a lot of debris around the island so not only was it difficult to present a bait but as soon as I hooked a fish it would immediately head straight for the reeds and I only managed to land one of the four Carp I hooked into.

Back on the other rod after having my float smashed to pieces by a Carp I opted to free line a cube of luncheon meat in the margins and just to confirm that it wasn't going to be my day I hooked and lost a further two Carp including a small Ghostie. Time to call it a day methinks.

For all my effort I could only manage two Carp and a few silvers, my mate finished the day with six Carp including a couple of nice lumps proving that everybody gets lucky at least once in life, it would of been a different story if I had banked every fish that I hooked.....

4-2

Curses!

Readers Lake - 11/07/09

Readers lake is without doubt one of the most picturesque lakes in the Isfield portfolio and the fishing is usually pretty good too so whenever I get the opportunity to fish there it's a no brainer. The plan was to meet my friend Graham at 07:30 in a nearby pub car park and then drive to the lake to hopefully be fishing by 08:00.

The best thing about Readers is you never really know what you are going to catch, Carp, Tench, Bream, Chub, Roach, Rudd, Perch plus some exotic oddities like Goldfish and Ghosties this lake has it all. After a quick walk around the lake we opted to fish in between the two islands which would give us both a feature to fish to, as an added bonus I also had a set of pads in the margins just to the left of my swim. For me there isn't a nicer looking fish in our waters than the Tench so that was the target for today, I've caught them to just over 4lbs from this lake but I know they go bigger.

Readers has a sudden drop off in the margins and this is where I've had the most success from, the plan was to float fish strawberry sweetcorn and worms in the margin and feed hemp and small strawberry pellets but I'd also brought other Tench favourites like prawns and luncheon meat to try. Setup was nice and simple as I was using my trusty Drennan Power Carp Waggler combined with Shimano reel and 6lb line straight through to a size 14 barbless hook. I'd also opted to use my brand new Korum Neoteric as a second rod which I would use to alternate between ledgering maize on a hair (boilies are banned) and fishing on the top with dog biscuits depending on where the Carp were showing.

The first action of the day was from Graham's swim as he lost two decent Carp early on, one of which almost dragged his rod in whilst I was doing my best to distract him by demoing my brand new rod. My first fish of the day fell to the float in the form of some small Roach, Gudgeon and Perch that all took liking to my corn and worms fished tight to the pads. By midday I had also managed this small Carp that was caught off the top on a dog biscuit fished tight to the island.

As the day progressed and with action few and far between I decided to swap my surface rod to a ledger so I could stick it on a bite alarm and focus more of my attention on the float. The bait of choice on the ledger was double maize fished on a hair, I was still holding out hope of a Tench or two but as I flicked the bait out to the edge of the pads and baited the area heavily with hemp I suspected Carp were the more likely quarry. Within an hour of casting out the ledger I had caught two small Carp of maybe a few pounds each but by the end of the day had also managed to lose four more fish (hook pulls) which I had half expected when fishing tight to the pads and having to bully them a little.

Meanwhile on the float heavy feeding the margins was starting to pay off as I added a further two Carp late in the day including this lovely Common which I estimated to be about 6lbs.

I finished the day with four Carp and some small bits and pieces but for the first time in a while it felt like I'd earned my catch. Despite trying every tactic, bait and rig going Graham managed just two Carp plus a few Roach and Perch.

4-1 baby!

Roosthole Pond - 05/07/09

By the time we arrived at Roosthole it was already 08:00 so it was hardly surprising to see our favourite swims already occupied, a quick walk round the lake and we eventually decided to opt for the two adjacent swims partly because of our previous success here and partly because I was too lazy to walk any further!

Setup was the same as always on this venue, 3.25lb test curve Free Spirit X.S.E rods, Shimano Baitrunners with 15lb mono and semi-fixed bolt rigs. I'd prefer not to use as heavy mono but the constant casting of heavy bolt rigs plus PVA bags takes it's toll and I'd rather be cautious than leave baited rigs in the water. Bait choice was, yep, you guessed it Dynamite Baits 15mm spicy tuna & sweet chilli boilies but this time I'd also brought along some Dynamite 15mm spicy shrimp & prawn boilies to try (they smell as bad as they sound) plus some fish based glugs to try (they smell even worse than they sound). A small PVA bag of halibut and trout pellets was attached for every cast.

In previous trips to Roosthole the action has always been instant but sadly it wasn't to be this time as I had to wait over an hour for my first proper run, after a half hearted fight I was rewarded with a small Mirror Carp of maybe 6lbs with the shrimp & prawn proving to be his downfall. By this time my mate had already managed to hook two Carp (losing one of them) plus a small Bream, as always with Graham his fish coming to the bank via every snag in the lake.

Normally the middle of the lake has always been the most productive for me but as it wasn't happening today I decided to change tactics and cast as tight to the overhanging tree on the far bank as I dared. This immediately paid dividends as within 2 minutes of my baits hitting the water I was rewarded with one of those screaming runs that every Carp angler loves and this double figure Mirror.

From that point on the action was relentless as I was rewarded with a series of runs that resulted in a further three Carp banked (none of any size) plus a solitary Bream of about 1.5lbs. The only disappointment for me was that I managed to pull out of a further five Carp, next time I plan to use slightly heavier leads to try and get a better hook hold when the fish bolt.

Despite fishing just ten yards to my right and doing exactly the same Graham was struggling to buy a bite and only managed to land one other Carp plus a few Bream to his earlier haul, that meant I ended the day with a commanding if not insurmountable 3-1 lead in our 'match' series.

Roosthole Pond - 25/06/09

Roosthole is rapidly becoming one of my favourite waters to fish so once again I jumped at the chance to fish it on a guest ticket with a mate from work. Whenever we've fished this lake before we've always arrived early and left by about 17:00, this time the plan was to meet at my mates a little later (10:30) and fish until near dark to see if the lake responded well in the evening.

Considering it was a weekday it was a little surprising to see six cars parked up on the side of the road that runs parallel to the lake, no doubt everyone had been brought out by the blisteringly hot weather that was gripping the country at the time. Thankfully for us a quick trudge round the lake revealed the swims we had success with the last few times (swims 18 and 19) were still free, better still both swims were kept nice and cool thanks to the shade of the trees.

Setup was the same as the last couple of trips, 13 foot Free Spirit X.S.E rods, Shimano Baitrunners, 15lb line, 2oz leads and short hair rigs fished bolt rig style, the bait of choice was yep you guessed it Dynamite baits 15mm spicy tuna and sweet chilli boilies which I noticed copycat Saddler no doubt in awe of my recent success was now also using. A small PVA bag of halibut pellets was attached for each cast.

In previous trips to this lake the action has been instant when dropping baits into the middle of the lake but it wasn't to be this time as I had to wait well over an hour for my first proper run, Graham on the other hand within the first hour had hooked and lost two Carp and landed a couple of snotties (Bream) which on the Carp gear needed to be within sight of the bank before we could be certain there was even a fish on the hook. Graham did manage one nice looking Bream that I generously agreed to be a 2lb fish although deep down I suspect it actually weighed 1lb 15oz and 15 drams, I just didn't have the heart to tell him.

As mentioned in previous posts whenever I go fishing with Graham our trips nearly always descend into friendly matches and by early afternoon the pressure was well and truly on as he had caught five Carp up to 15lb (the biggest fish of the day) and numerous Bream compared to my three Carp up to about 7lb plus a solitary Bream of just over a pound that had managed to pick up a 15mm halibut dumbbell boilie.

The Carp in Roosthole go like trains when hooked and at one point during the day Graham had to do an impressive impersonation of Superman whilst diving for his rod (complete with airborne chair) to stop a Carp dragging it into the murky depths. The fish took him all over the lake before managing to fight its way deep into a set of lillies and after ten minutes of trying various tactics without much success the fish became the first water skiing Carp in history as it was safely landed by hand-lining it over the top of the pads.

Despite running out of PVA (I grabbed the wrong tube when packing my kit) things picked up later in the day as I tried different things to get runs/bites, I made the decision to switch to bright visible baits to try and grab the attention of the fish and I was rewarded with two more fish on Solar 15mm pineapple and banana boilies including this pristine 11lb 10oz Common (my biggest fish of the day).

I also had a dabble on the float for about an hour with a worm and corn cocktail in the margins hoping to tempt a Tench or two but although it brought me a few bites I didn't catch any additional fish. My friend tried his hand at surface fishing with dog biscuits and came agonisingly close to adding a new personal best Mallard which if hooked no doubt the ultra competitive Saddler would of insisted on it counting towards his tally for the day.

Just as I was packing up for the day I had something happen to me that has never happened before in all my years of angling, whilst reeling in my rod at the end of the day it suddenly went solid about a rod length out, great I'm snagged, I gave the rod a couple of jerks hoping to try and free my rig and slowly the snag rose to the surface, only it wasn't a snag it was Pike that had grabbed my bright yellow bait on the retrieve. The Pike sat there in front of me for a few seconds completely dumbfounded with its big toothy grin and beady eye staring right at me, the fish was a definite double and I could see the boilie hanging from the side of its chops so it was hooked cleanly in the scissors, I might just get this thing in!. Sadly it wasn't to be as the Pike suddenly realised what was going on and took off, despite it being 'on' for the best part of a minute the hook finally pulled and I was left with nothing but a churned up swim.

By the end of the day I had managed five Carp and a solitary Bream compared to Graham's well deserved eight Carp and five Bream which meant the current score in the Seymour/Saddler World Championship Of Mediocre Angling now stood at 2-1 to the young challenger (me!) not that either of us is really keeping count.......honest.

Wilderness - 21/06/09

I had originally planned a session for Tench at Readers but because of a late night at the Dukes Head I could only manage to roll out of bed for 10am which meant a session at the ever productive Wilderness was a better bet.

By the time I got to the lakes it was midday and the car park was almost completely full, awesome, fortunately for me everyone was on the middle lake which meant I had the large lake all to myself. I wandered down to my favourite swim at the shallower end of the lake and took shade from the baking hot sun in the shadow of the viaduct bridge. I've fished this lake ever since I was a kid and for as long as I can remember it has always been a fantastic water for surface fishing so that was the plan today especially with numerous Carp visibly cruising around the lake.


Setup was nice and simple with my trusty 13ft Drennan Carp float rod, a Shimano reel loaded with 6lb line, a small bright red bubble float and a size 8 barbless specimen hook, the bait of choice was chum mixers held on the hook with bait bands but I'd also brought some 10mm pineapple popup boilies to try. I could of got away with not using the bubble float as I was only fishing a few rod lengths out but because I was fishing near lilly pads combined with the fact that the action is always hectic at Wilderness I thought it best for instant indication.

I don't think my bait had been in the water for more than three minutes before I hooked my first fish of the day and after a spirited scrap I was rewarded with a small Mirror of about 1.5lbs which is typical of the sort of fish in this lake.

Needless to say it was non stop from that point on, I fished for a further two hours and managed five more common Carp with the biggest being about 2lbs. My only issue was with my new batch of dog biscuits as Pedigree has loaded the new ones with so much meat for the benefit of our canine friends that after a short while they tend to sink, I had to resort to tipping my bait off with a bit of fake corn to keep it afloat, it didn't deter the suicidal Carp of Wilderness but it may be an issue elsewhere.

I had less success with the 10mm pineapple boilies which I tried by super gluing onto the shank of the hook, I even chucked a couple of freebies in to see if it was my presentation but they weren't interested in those either, as soon as I switched back to dog biscuits the water would start bubbling again like a jacuzzi as the Carp fought amongst themselves to get to bait.

Bearing in mind Wilderness is the stuff of legends when it comes to anglers tales about Carp being caught on bare hooks or being scooped out the water merely with landing nets I'm amazed I'd actually managed to find a bait that they weren't interested in.

Roosthole Pond - 07/06/09

After our successful trip to Roosthole in Horsham a few weeks back another trip was in order to try and catch that elusive twenty that is rapidly becoming an obsession for me, the plan was to meet at Grahams at 07:30 and hopefully be fishing by 08:00. The weather wasn't great when I left Grinstead as it was chucking it down with thunder and lightening (very very frightening!) but by the time I got to Horsham twenty minutes later the weather was almost tropical with blue skies and sunshine.

When we arrived at the lake it was a surprise to see only a couple of other anglers present so we jumped straight into the swims we fished last time. Setup was exactly the same as I've been fishing the past few trips (3.25lb Free Spirit X.S.E rods, 15lb line and bolt rigs with short hairs) and as usual I opted for the old favourite Dynamite 15mm spicy tuna and sweet chilli bollies (I might have to start buying these in bulk) fished in conjunction with a small PVA bag of trout and halibut pellets. Roosthole supposedly responds well to margin fishing but last time we were here I caught all my fish from the channel that runs down the middle of the lake so the plan was to do exactly the same.

To say Graham is competitive would be the understatement of the century as every time we go fishing our days rapidly descend into mini matches, all good fun and worth the banter, both of us pretend we don't care but I think both of us are secretly desperate to better the other. I hadn't even managed to get my second rod setup before Graham (or should that be Bob Nudd?) was into his first Carp of the day so the gauntlet was definitely down and the pressure on!. The first couple of hours were pretty frantic with both of us catching two Carp, none were huge but all fought like demons and then just like last time the lake suddenly went quiet for a couple of hours.

Around about 13:00 whilst chatting to the bailiff I had an absolute storming run that not only stripped took line via the baitrunner but also pulled the line clean out of the bobbin, after a good scrap I was rewarded with this cracking looking 13lb Mirror.

Throughout the rest of the day we both managed a few more fish including a couple of the oddest looking Carp you could ever seen, they had no length whatsoever and were as deep as were long. Originally I thought they might be F2's but they guys on maggotdrowning.com seem to think they are normal Mirrors of the 'Simmo' strain. My fish didn't weigh a lot but it was the shape of a saucepan lid.

Graham's fish was a much more impressive 13.5lb and he did well to keep the dustbin lid shaped Carp out of the pads in his swim, no doubt the beast had been drawn into his swim by the PVA potato sacks of pellets he had been using all day. With about an hour to go and despite a monster tangle that meant I had to setup both my rods again we had both managed five fish a piece so a diplomatic draw looked on the cards not that either of us was really keeping score.

I'm a firm believer in quality always shining through and two more runs on my rods resulted in two more fish on the bank to give me seven fish for the day up to 13lb, Graham managed five fish but his 13.5lber was the biggest and without doubt the nicest looking and toughest fighting fish of the day.

Overall an excellent days fishing in the sunshine with good company and plenty of laughs.

Thorpe Lea - 05/06/09

I've been itching to fish Thorpe Lea ever since I read about it on maggotdrowning.com, I'm relatively new to Carp fishing and still trying to catch my first twenty and this place supposedly has stacks of them. With that in mind I'd arranged to do a 24 hour session there with a mate from work immediately after we finished our shift on Friday afternoon.

When we arrived at the lake we had a quick walk round and chat to the bailiff who confirmed the fish had spawned but that it still wasn't fishing great, we could see plenty of fish rolling in the middle of the lake close to the bar that runs between the islands so my mate opted for swim 11 and I went for unlucky 13...

Thorpe Lea might be a lovely looking lake with a reputation for great fishing but it has far too many swims and a lot of them are angled towards each other which makes casting a nightmare, my mate was fishing straight out of his swim but his leads were landing in front of me two swims along!, not good when you are fishing at night and expecting big fish.

The setup was exactly as I had fished at Bluepool and Roosthole (3.25lb Free Spirit X.S.E rods, 15lb line and bolt rigs with short hairs) the baits of choice were a 10mm Mainline pineapple popup on one rod (a tip from the bailiff) and a 15mm Dynamite spicy tuna and sweet chillie bollie on the other, I've caught so many fish on the latter recently that it's rapidly becoming the first bait I reach for.

Just as I was baiting up my second rod my mate wandered over for a chat and managed to trip over my line which buried the barbed size 6 hook I was holding deep into my finger, my reaction was more of shock than anything else as there was no pain and no blood.

I managed to pull it back to the barb but despite much tugging there was no way I was getting this bad boy out of my finger which meant a visit to the hospital was in order. To cut a long story short my mate dropped me off at the hospital and returned to the lake to carry on fishing (I insisted), two hours later with the hook removed, a tetanus shot and much laughter from the girl in the hospital reception I got a cab back to the lake to see my friend had already managed a 12lb Mirror out of my swim on my rod, the cheeky poacher!

By this time the guy in swim 15 who had been kind enough to keep an eye on our gear whilst at the hospital was packing up so I decided to jump into his swim to give me more casting room. I whacked both rods out to just shy of the bar where the water was bubbling like a jacuzzi with fish activity and started to setup my bivvy.

I don't think I even managed to get my bivvy ground sheet down before the rod with the pineapple popup screamed off and after a fantastic fight I was rewarded with this new personal best 16.3lb Mirror.

In the next four hours I managed four more Mirrors of 16lb, 12.5lb, 12lb and 12lb all of which fell to the tuna and chillie boilies, at this point I thought I was in for a hectic night but it wasn't to be as the only bites I got during the night were from the mozzies and by the morning I had enough bites on my face to be mistaken for the elephant man.

To say Thorpe Lea is popular at the weekend would be an understatement as gradually throughout Saturday morning more anglers turned up until practically every swim was taken, the result was multiple tangled lines and heated conversation involving my mate and someone who was fishing three swims along. With that in mind combined with the lack of runs anywhere around the lake and rapidly increasing rain we decided to call it a day after 22 hours.

We finished the session with 14 fish up to 16.3lb but I don't think either of us will be in a hurry to return to Thorpe Lea as not only is the swim layout poor but a lot of the Carp we caught were in a sorry old state with tatty fins and bad mouth damage. I may consider another trip there but it won't be until October at the earliest and it would have to be in the middle of the week.

Roosthole Pond - 17/05/09

After my epic failure at Bluepool last weekend I was badly in need of a confidence boost and with that in mind I set off to Roosthole hoping to redeem myself, the plan was to meet at my friends house at 07:30 and hopefully have our lines in the water by 08:00. Roosthole is a few acres in size and the muddy water is home to many species including a large head of Carp most of which are low doubles. The water is owned by Horsham Angling Club so I was fishing on a guest ticket, my friend who fishes the water regularly had assured me that he thought we would have a decent day....

Having never fished the water before I turned up with a selection of methods and baits at my disposal including maggots just in case things got desperate and I needed to avoid another embarrassing blank that probably would of resulted in all my tackle ending up on ebay. What I really wanted to do was fish as I had done the previous weekend to try and boost my confidence and prove I wasn't doing anything radically wrong. With that in mind I set my two rods up exactly as I had done at Bluepool with size 8 hooks on relatively short hairs fished bolt rig style, the bait of choice was once again Dynamite baits spicy tuna and sweet chilli 15mm boilies fished with a small PVA bag of trout and halibut pellets. Roosthole supposedly fishes well in the margins so with that in mind I dropped one bait close in and the other rod was cast to the middle of the lake where there is a deeper trough and I could see fish rolling.

Within 40 minutes of my baits hitting the water I had a screaming run on the rod in open water (man, do I love the type of run you get on bolt rigs), this was my first Roosthole Carp and it fought like an absolute demon which I think had something to do with the increased water temperature in recent weeks and the fact the lake had been closed for a while due to work parties. After finally getting the fish on the bank my new digital scales confirmed the fish to be exactly 10lb.

At that point the heavens opened and we were treated to a torrential downpour so I retreated under my brollie for 20 minutes and waited for it to pass.

Within 20 minutes of putting my bait out again in the same area I had another run which resulted in another Mirror of 14.5lbs (my biggest fish of 2009 so far). At that point I decided to bring in the margin rod and fish both rods in the deeper water in the middle of the lake which paid immediate dividends as for the next two hours the action was non stop with a further four fish. At one point my bait couldn't of even been in the water for a 30 seconds when I had a run whilst I was still setting up my alarm and bobbin, I'm amazed the PVA bag had completely melted in that time. The pictures really don't do justice to how thick and solid these fish were:

A few of the fish were showing some battle damage (split fins & mouth damage) from being caught so many times which was a little disappointing but the Mirror in the middle picture was fin perfect and one of the best looking fish I've caught all season.

Just as quickly as the action began it ended and I failed to add any further fish the remainder of the day but I was still more than satisfied, what a difference a week makes, six runs and six fish landed (5lb, 9.5lb, 9.5lb, 10lb, 11lb & 14.5lb). If I wasn't already a member of so many clubs I would seriously consider joining Horsham to fish this water as I'm confident over the course of a season I could catch one of the twenties that are present.

Despite fishing the same baits in the same areas my friend was unable to bank any fish, the only difference being he was fishing free running rigs as opposed to bolt rigs and unlike me he was fishing without backleads and tungsten weighted rig tubing to pin the line down. No doubt he would also be quick to point out the bites/runs he missed whilst busy photographing my fish (sorry Graham!).

Burghfield Blue Pool - 10/05/09

With me not being a specimen Carp angler and considering I hadn't had a decent bend in my rods since I last went Piking at the end of 2008 I jumped at the chance to fish a water that is regarded so highly by so many Carpers in the UK.

For those that don't know the Blue Pool is a Cemex water that can be booked for £125 a day which allows up to ten anglers to fish it. The lake is about four acres in size with gin clear water but is weedy and unlike anything I have fished before and with it's big head of Carp which have an average size of 15lb+ and numerous 20lb+ fish I probably wouldn't have a better chance to catch a twenty this season.

As previously mentioned I'm not really a Carp angler so I spent the majority of the week frantically trawling the internet searching for info and also working with one of the guys I was fishing with to try and learn how to tie my own rigs. After taking advice I planned to fish short bolt rigs (size 8 hooks) with my three Free Spirit X.S.E 3.25lb TC rods and 15lb line. Upon arrival and after drawing number four out of the hat I opted for swim number one which was probably my first critical mistake.

Maybe it was the Pike angler in me but I was convinced the shallow bay at the end of the lake complete with two small islands, overhanging trees and clear patches of gravel amongst the weed would be a magnet for the Carp. I wanted to try and cover as many options as possible so opted for 15mm real fish boilies combined with 10mm pineapple popups fished snowman style on two rods and a single 15mm Dynamite Baits spicy tuna and sweet chilli boilie on the other, each rod also had a small PVA bag of pellets attached prior to casting. I cast one rod towards the open water, one rod in the margins to my right and one rod between the two small islands dropping my bait on a clear patch of gravel a foot away from the overhanging trees which meant it was a simple case of walking around the other side and literally dropping some freebies on top, all that was left to do was to sit back and wait.

Within an hour of putting my rods out I had my first touch on the rod with the single bait near the overhanging trees, it wasn't a good enough bite/run to hit but it was still an encouraging sign especially when this was a completely new way of fishing to me. Another hour later I had my first proper run as my screaming reel indicated that a Carp had made off with my tuna and chillie boilie near the overhanging trees but the fight was over as quickly as it had begun as the hook pulled and I contemplated what could have been. By the time evening had rolled around I'd had no further action but three of the five anglers on the lake had banked fish including a couple of twenties, all I could do was retreat to my bivvy for the night and have something to eat (my second critical mistake).

Just as I tucked into a cereal bar I felt a crack on my tooth as one of my fillings gave way and pain ensued. The combination of tooth ache (plus the migraine it caused), the drop in temperature, increased wind, lack of fish and lack of sleep due to everyone else catching made for one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life so by the time morning rolled around I decided to call it a day and get my tooth sorted but not before I was woken by a goose trying to get in my bivvy and then walking underneath my rods lifting them off the rests causing my alarms to go mental.

To cap it all off whilst I was packing up I had another screaming run on the single bait by the trees and yep you guessed it, just as I was getting the fish away from the snags and under control my hook pulled yet again. What with the tooth, scraping up my car on the Friday, losing most likely new personal best fish and Boro getting beat by Newcastle on the Monday the weekend was rapidly turning into one to forget.

It was an epic failure for me but the other guys ended up with 40+ fish between them which included numerous twenties, hopefully I'll get another chance to fish this water again someday as I'd definitely like another crack at it.

Mill Lake at Stubpond - 03/05/09

Thanks to it being a bank holiday weekend I could afford the luxury of a days fishing and after meeting my mate at 9am we made our way to Stub Pond, upon arrival the decision was made for us with regards to where we would be fishing as the specimen lake was packed out and Plantation was hosting a match. Mill Lake might not be anything to look at but I've been meaning to give it a go for a while thanks to the recommendation of one of the regulars on maggotdrowning.com. The lake is almost made for matches and pole fishing as its a long thin lake with an island in the middle that you could probably almost jump half way to. After a quick walk round and a chat to a couple of other anglers plus some serious cynicism from my mate we decided to fish two swims on the far bank which have access to the end of the island nearest to the car park.

Setup was nice and simple with my Carp float rod and small waggler fished straight through on 6lb line to a size 14 hook. I also had a sleeper Carp rod with a 15mm cherry boilie fished tight to the end of the island, I wasn't optimistic of any action on this rod considering the size of the water and the average size of fish present but I'd paid for two rods so I was going to use two.

I started the day fishing maggot on the waggler close to the island and the 'far' bank and was rewarded with a small Roach every cast, not exactly what I had come for but welcome all the same. I continued tiddler bashing for maybe 45 minutes until I noticed Carp on the move in the small bay/ditch to my left where water enters the lake which meant a change of tactics was in order. At this point I decided to switch to small soft hooker halibut pellets and feed a handful of sweetcorn every cast in an attempt to bag some of the lakes resident Carp and Tench. After 15 minutes of fishing just under the rod tip my float shot under and I was rewarded with this fin perfect Mirror of maybe 4lb.

I persisted with the same tactics for the next few hours and was rewarded with two more slightly smaller Carp (one of which looked heavily spawn laden) plus a small Crucian and Tench (my first of the year). By now the clouds had cleared and the sun had made an appearance which meant the Carp were cruising the upper layers and thrashing around in the reeds in the ditch to my left so I decided to have a go at trying to catch a few off the top (my favourite type of fishing). Setup was about as simple as it gets with a size 8 hook tied straight to the line, bait was chum mixer held in place with the aid of a bait band. Now Stub Pond is about as strict as it gets in terms of rules but I still wasn't aware dog biscuits are banned there which probably explains why the Carp were so happy to oblige with a further three fish in just over an hour of fishing, all of which fought like demons in such a small area of water.

I know some waters ban surface fishing because you get idiots striking and damaging the lips of Carp which is completely unnecessary, part of the thrill of surface fishing for me is seeing that line zip away on the surface as Carp take the bait and hook themselves.

By the end of the day I had finished with six Carp (the biggest being 4lbs), one Crucian, one Tench and a selection of small Roach, not a bad days fishing and I even managed to catch the sun a little, I was a little disappointed not to have caught on of the lakes stunning Ghosties that I could see cruising the lake. My mate who was fishing the feeder (aside from a little surface fishing late in the day) was less lucky, he managed one Carp, one monster Perch and few other bits and pieces but he was also snapped up by a bigger fish.