Carpaholixx Magazine Issue 7 by Carpaholixx Magazine

ISSUE 7 CONTENTS 02. Making a day of it - Day Ticket Success by Mark Mann Mark Mann says that with so many

day ticket waters to choose from, whether you are looking for a bend in your rod from a scamp or large a specimen carp, there’s something out there for everyone. Day ticket waters can offer you cost effective carping, and you won’t have to explain to the other half why your bank balance is a few hundred quid lighter than it would be if you had just forked out for a syndicate ticket. Another bonus is the abundance of very large carp. For instance; a possible British record resides in Elphics North Lake - a day ticket venue which is open to all!

09. Observation and Application by Jerry Hammond Jerry likes to target his fish in a pragmatic way. Forward planning, mobility, and obervation are the key words.

13. KEEP IT SIMPLE - JAMIE SMITH

Jamie focuses on consistency and simplicity.

19. Edging Your Bets.

John Elmer talks feeding habits and margin tactics.

23. NIGEL SHARP’S DIARY PART 3

Nigel Sharp continues his excusive diary for Carpaholixx

29. Carp Fishing Video - Warm Water Tactics Part 1 featuring Martin Pick 30. Carp Fishing Video - Warm Water Tactics Part 2 featuring Martin Pick 31. Carp Fishing Video - Venue Spotlight Bradleys Lake

Editorial News

Videos Features

Learning Zone Notes from the Bivvy

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Making a day of it - by Mark Mann

With so many day ticket waters to choose from, whether you are looking for a bend in your rod from a scamp or large a specimen carp, there’s something out there for everyone. Day ticket waters can offer you cost effective carping, and you won’t have to explain to the other half why your bank balance is a few hundred quid lighter than it would be if you had just forked out for a syndicate ticket. Another bonus is the abundance of very large carp. For instance; a possible British record resides in Elphics North Lake - a day ticket venue which is open to all! On the face of it we have never had it so good.

lake has been fishing. Depending on what information I have gathered (online or by phone) I can then make an informed decision as to what venue/s to fish and then flit between them if need be! This would be costly if I was to do the same on syndicates though. On site bailiffs are always more than willing to put you in the right direction.

4. Learn from your experiences I cannot lie, fishing day ticket waters can be hard work compared to fishing a syndicate where I’m familiar with the rules, what methods work well and the people who fish there. But after I’ve fished a day ticket venue a 1. Where do you start – Day Ticket or Syndicate? few times it’s much the same, as long as you take away One major difference between a day ticket and a with you what you have learned on the day and then syndicate venue is the amount of angling pressure. build on it. Slowly you will start to reap the rewards. It is likely to be far more aggressive on a day ticket water and in some cases every swim will see angling 5. Be tolerant pressure seven days a week 365 days a year! You could Be prepared to fish along side all levels of anglers. It’s argue that day ticket waters are some of the hardest all too waters in the country purely because you are angling against your fellow anglers more so than the fish. If easy to get frustrated by the angler beside you who you are relatively new into the sport I would lean is thrashing the water to a foam. You will witness towards a day ticket venue because they will give a all manner of things while on the bank, but try to better grounding. remember that we all started somewhere. Education is better than condemnation. It’s not all doom and gloom though (surprisingly). Such waters have a high turnover of anglers, baits, rigs 6. The approach and methods etc… which definitely keeps the carp How I go about fishing day ticket venues greatly on their toes, which in turn will force you to sharpen depends on the water in question. It pays to take a up your tactics and do that little bit extra on the day, variety of different baits and in most cases I’ll have rather than just follow the crowd. Day ticket waters a small selection of pop-ups with me. Fluros have have been the training ground for many a professional done well for me in the past. Kevin Nash now sells angler – take it from me! pots of “rainbow” pop-ups which give me endless options but at the same time keeping my kit down to 2. Set your alarm (clock!) a minimum. I’ll almost certainly have all 3 rods on If you’re a weekend-only angler then expect to have to different methods (If permitted to use 3 rods). One get to the venue very early. There are occasions when will be a bottom bait rig, one on a fluro pop-up and the if you are late other on a zig-rig. It will then be down to working out what method works best throughout the course of the because you grabbed that extra bit of kip, all the swims session. If fishing with a mate what really works well may well have been taken – SIMPLES! is pooling your efforts. By this I mean having as many different baiting/rig situations out there as possible. 3. Jungle Drums If one method proves to be more successful than the It pays to keep your ear to the ground and with most other then you can change all rods over to capitalize. day ticket venues allowing you to rock up and pay your money on the day, you can almost plan what water 7. Staying Mobile to fish depending on the catch reports for that given Unless I’m on a venue where you have to book the week. The information is readily available on the web swim in advance I’ll try and keep as mobile as possible. or a quick call to speak to the venue’s bailiff will keep If I see fish showing and the circumstances permit, you up to speed on what’s been out and how well the I’ll move swim on the flip of a coin. A PVA bag full of goodies, including a few Chain-Reaction’s, placed amongst showing fish is a great method for a quick bite. When fishing prolific waters this method is very

Making a day of it - by Mark Mann

10. Incoming…When spodding (or spombing) accuracy can be the difference between a big hit or just the odd enquiry! Once you have found your feature walk the lines out to the same distance as the spod and mark the line with a small piece of electrical tape. When you have a run it’s then just a case of walking 8. Keep your eyes & ears open When fishing day ticket waters time is at a premium. I the line back out to the marker on the line, clipping want to make the most of every second and will spend up and re-casting. BOSH!!!! Your back on the money. the majority of my time watching the water looking Like I said before carp anglers have never had it so for signs of carp. One bait in the right place is a lot good. better than 3 in the wrong place. I like to be ready for any given situation and having a few buckets in the car I think it’s only fare that I give you a little insight into containing different baits and tackle etc… gives me an a few of my favourite day ticket venues so here goes... extra edge. Sandhurst Lake, Yateley: Sandhurst or Sandy as it’s affectionately known is 9. Bait Variation If I feel the need to, I will change baits. I have found approximately 14 acres in size and has plenty of features to keep you busy. There are gravel bars, silt particle baits patches and weed beds with depths ranging from 2 to particularly effective on day ticket waters. It’s such a 10ft. There are 28 swims around the lake including an cheap, diverse, method which can give you endless island swim. The lake is stocked with approximately options. What carp can resist a bed of hemp, corn and 400 carp with a large such like eh! If using parti-blend try to make the mix over wet, almost like a soup. This lends itself well to amount in the high 20’s and every chance of a 30 or fishing both bottom baits and zigs as the mix will hang even a 40lb carp. I have found fishing the silt patches the most productive method, but the carp do give at all depths throughout the water column. themselves away and a bait placed amounst them will Parti-blend and spods go hand-in-hand, and it’s often get you a bite (I’ll second that Mr Mann – ed!). Zigs also turn up the goods on the right day and a cheap too! good quality bait will always hold you in good stead! useful because it can be regularly cast around to likely looking areas, and with little disturbance. A simple rig and a few chain reactions in the right place can be all you need to buy a bite.

Making a day of it - by Mark Mann Should you wish you can also book the lake exclusively all year round apart from Christmas and Boxing Day for the weekend for around £1500. We did so, and (Even fishery owners are entitled to have time off!). between 15 of us it worked out at £100 a head. Not bad when you put it like that is it! At £25 for a 24 hour session it’s great value for money, and a crazy experience that will keep you coming back Fishing at Sandhurst Lake is Day Ticket only for more! So there you have it day ticket carping in a with tickets purchased in advance from the nut shell. Day ticket venues are not for everyone, but Yateley Angling Centre on 01252 861955 – if you’re pushed for time or not wanting to spend a lot ask for Ruth, she will be only too glad to help. of money on a syndicate ticket, then what have you got to lose? Thorpe Lea: Thorpe Lea is approximately 18 acres in size is situated Be lucky near the M25 and M3 motorways. Mark Mann The lake contains approximately 2,500 carp, the majority of which average 15-17lbs. There is a very good chance of bagging a fare few 20’s and if lucky a 30 to boot! You know you’re going to be in for a fun session. The stock was originally from British Waterways Drayton Reservoir and moved over to Thorpe Lea in 2003. It really is an any method water and on the right day can see fast action, even double takes! In a 24 hour session it’s not uncommon to catch over twenty or more carp. It’s not for the faint hearted though, and can totally knacker you out. It’s a great place to get a bend in your rod and try out new methods or simply brush up on your casting and spod skills. Booking is on a first-come first-served basis so make sure you get there early to avoid disappointment. The gates open at 7am and close at 7pm. The venue is open

FORWARD PLANNING You never know how long it will take to track down and trap a target fish and you certainly can’t catch them to order, so planning ahead and preparation is crucial. That way I’ve always got somewhere to move onto when needed.

OBSERVATION & APPLICATION - JERRY HAMMOND

I like to target my fish – a hit list if you will, but Unfortunately my first target fish from my chosen venue had already been caught this year (not by me unfortunately) at a staggering weight of 51lb. Returning to the lake so soon after the capture, in the hope that she might slip up again, may have been a little foolish. But where there’s a will, there’s a way and in carp fishing anything is possible!

WATCH AND LEARN Piling in lots of bait isn’t always the magic answer, but when conditions are right and you know how to apply bait it can give you a massive edge. Using lots of bait just recently definitely hasn’t been the answer although it might be on a heavily stocked or runs water. I’ve fished a water recently where the birds have been continually diving on some spots that looked to have seen a fair amount of bait on them, the carp obviously were not eating it so I didn’t see the point of putting any more in. The Tufties and sea gulls were having a constant battle squabbling over the bait that was being picked up off the bottom. Because of this I only fished a single bait on one rod and a zig on the other. I received a few liners then later a take. At first I thought it was a Tench but thinking back maybe it was a carp, the fish produced a boil up and took a bit of line and then disappeared! Angling for that first bite - different rods different tactics. ON THE MOVE Approaching things in a different manner often works for me, not many anglers fish zigs. If anything interesting or a potential food item is presented in their path they will usually investigate, so for me, zig fishing will be very much a big part of my armoury from now onwards. My two main venues for this season are too far away to keep a regular supply of bait going in, if I was however in a position to do so I would have already started to trickle a little in. My bait for this season has been Monster Squid, it’s an awesome bait that has been put through a thorough and extended period of testing over several years and it has come out as a top fish catcher.

ESSENTIALS The other item in my back pocket is Chain Reaction made by Nash, these are rapid break down high on food, high on attraction discs with a preformed hole through the centre. You can thread them on to your hook link to create a kind of PVA free stick mix. They have caught shed loads of carp this year and are really worth a try. I have already caught loads of carp on Monster Squid and the Chain Reaction will help to catch plenty more, I already have the confidence to use it wherever I’m fishing. As pre-baiting is not an option for me the Monster Squid boilie really is the perfect choice because it is instant. All I need to do is find the fish and get some bait to them and I’m sure I will catch. ANGLING FOR A BITE But sometimes even the best baits and proven tactics don’t always bring instant success, I recently endured a three day grueller on Kevin Nash’s Church pool. To say it was a hard trip would be an understatement, it was one of those sessions when everything including the weather was against me. ON THE BANK I spotted some carp milling around some weed beds.

I was very soon sorted and sat behind two snowman rigs which were placed nicely on a couple of clear spots between the weed beds.

It was all getting too much for me so I had to get down! I just couldn’t understand why they would not fully commit to taking the bait but thought it might be something to do with the yellow pop up toping I had not yet switched the alarms on as I was waiting the rig foam, it was all I could think of that might be for the line to settle down, I had just put the phone spooking them out. down from talking to the Mrs and when I glanced at the rods I found the right hand tip was bent right Anyway instead of reeling that one in, I cast another around with the bobbin stuck at the top! I had a fish further down to the right but this time with just a on and it was weeded solid. black hook bait, I was sure this would work so I sat poised waiting for a response from the fish but despite When ever you get a take on the Church there’s always my optimism nothing happened. a good chance that you have hooked into something special but whatever it was, the fish hadn’t moved too As the light started to fade in the evening I was hoping far and had buried itself. that in the changing conditions the second black hook bait would induce a bite. I think it must have been I gave it some pressure to see if I could persuade two hours or so after night fall when the rod with the the fish to get moving again, I felt as if I was getting black hook bait finally ripped away, a funny old battle somewhere when suddenly it fell off. Despite being commenced it was as if the fish really did not know really disappointed, it was a positive sign and I what was going on and eventually a very welcome thought at least they are feeding, but after two days of carp slid into the net. trying everything I could think of, I hadn’t caught and was really wishing I had landed that fish! It really was I was pleased as punch to land one and I knew I now bleak and with no further signs of action it seemed a had the right method sorted so hopefully there would blank was on the cards. be more to come. The fish was a stunning carp at 27.10 and had made the whole trip worth while. By the With just the rest of that day and night to go, I had to morning I had taken another two more mid twenties try and save the session. So I set up my zig rod with on the zig, I did however change the second yellow black foam tipped with a tiny piece of yellow pop up tipped bait at 1am as it was playing on my mind and and walked down the windward bank looking for immediately received a take on that rod too! How can signs. I was sure the carp were well up and moving, carp see or differentiate between different colours in but for some reason they were just not dropping on the dark, that’s a strange one? my spots. Well that’s it from me, if you are out on the bank this I shinned up one of the little willows for a better look weekend, remember that the more effort you put into before I cast out my zig. The wind was picking up your fishing the more you will get out, make the effort and it was an easterly, it took my eyes a while before to find those fish and get on the zigs! they adjusted and once I had I was amazed, after just a short while I had seen plenty fish moving back and forth only a rod length or so out from the margins. My zig hook bait was set at a depth of around 3ft and flicked into the margin, back up the tree I was able to witness some amazing goings on. Massive carp were regularly visiting and inspecting the hook bait, and numerous times I nearly fell out of the tree as huge forty pounders looked as though they were about to suck it in. As they moved past, the hook bait would literally bounce along their backs as they played with my rig!

OBSERVATION & APPLICATION - JERRY HAMMOND

THE FISH WERE PUMPING IT OUT LIKE TOOTH PASTE! TIME TO PILE IT IN - BUT BE WARNED, IT’S NOT ALWAYS THE BEST APPROACH!

! ! L L E H G IZ GGIN ER ONE ON H T O N A AT!! M E H T

He seemed to prefer to focus on watercraft and fish observation, taking the bare minimum along to hook and land his quarry. As I read his piece, a chord was struck in respect to how myself and my friends go about our fishing too. I’ve been carp fishing since 1987 and after all these years, I’ve come to the conclusion that you might as well keep everything nice and simple. Maybe not quite to the extent that Chris Yates does, with his rod, line (or is it cat gut?!), hooks, reel bait and a small bag! More like simple in terms of LOCATION, tackle, rigs and bait. Nowadays, I don’t really feel confident unless I’m on the fish. I remember hearing a phrase which says that you might as well spend a good part of the day walking round, looking for signs of fish, be it bubbling or crashing, and chatting to other anglers, finding out where fish have recently come from, gradually building up a picture of where the fish might be. Then you can set up accordingly, rather than have a preconceived idea of what swim you want to head to, based on internet reports from two weeks before.

On the point of tackle, if your rod, reel and line are up to casting where you want to cast and up to landing a fish from that area, then you’re sweet!

NigelITSharps KEEP SIMPLEmemorable - JAMIE SMITH capture

I Remember reading an article by famous carp angler - Chris Yates, in which he described why he fishes the way he does. He outlined that he prefers to simplify his fishing to the point where it’s basically down to just him, his very antiquated tackle, and the fish.

The hook and hook link will be tailored to the water I’m fishing at the time. At the moment, I’m using a size six Atomic Tackle ‘Grabba’ hook and twenty five pound hook link material with an 18mm boilie, which is nice and balanced. But on Sandhurst lake, I’d fine it down a bit preferring to use a twelve or fifteen pound hook link and a smaller hook with a slightly smaller It doesn’t matter if it’s a day ticket water or a rarely bait. The principle is always the same: a rig that forces fished big pit, the principle is always the same. You itself downward in the carps mouth, allowing the have to be on the fish to be able to catch them! Once hook to flip and hook in on the bottom area of the you’re on the fish, then all the other things seem to fall mouth, as the carp moves off - simple! into place. I’m a great believer in keeping it very simple when it comes to rigs. A very accomplished angler from Norfolk, called Kevin Woodrow, once said that on the kind of waters he fished (lightly stocked, weedy, big fish waters) the conditions dictated what you used i.e. a big strong, sharp hook, strong hook link and strong line. Nothing else would do!

Some of my friends have had success on this rig incorporating 20mm baits and size four hooks right down to size ten hooks, ten pound hook links and small baits. It’s a set up that I’ve got total confidence in when fishing hard on the bottom. If I’m using a pop up, then I’ll either use a Chod rig or a hinged stiff link on a rotary set up, depending on the kind of area that I’m fishing. As I described in my last article, you can cast out a chod and if you get a solid drop, then you’re fishing and it’s a simple as that!

On the water I’m fishing at the moment, if I’m fishing a bottom bait then I’ll only use a Kevin Woodrow style set up, because to do anything else would be frankly irresponsible! I always fish it the same way, with a small If it’s slightly clearer, then I’ll put out a hinge stiff link piece of pvc tubing, trapping the hair on the bend of to allow a bit more play. If you don’t know how to tie the hook and a half inch piece of shrink tubing pushed one, watch the ‘Terry Hearn ties the Stiff link’ video, over the eye and then shrunk and cranked over, to create the flip over effect.

on you tube. I can’t see the point of me wittering on about how to tie it, when you can watch the video yourself and get it straight from the horses mouth. One bit of advice is that you MUST tie it EXACTLY as he does for it to be at its most effective; either using a cork ball pop up or standard pop up. TIP: If you’re having problems with the birds stealing your baits, always go for a standard pop up (from a reputable source). These are generally tougher than cork ball pops and stay properly popped up for well over twenty four hours. DT Baits sell a quality range of pop up baits which contain only food value ingredients and no horrible powdered glass or other such things! Always beware of other ‘so called’ pop ups, which may only stay up for a short while which diminishes the overall effectiveness of the rig. I remember buying three pots of pop ups from a well known company at one of the shows. I asked the geezer how long the baits stayed up for to which he replied “Indefinitely”, “That’ll do for me”, I thought. First time of using them, over at ‘Frimley’ a couple of weeks later, I whacked a couple of hinge links out in the middle, to some bubbling fish. After a couple of hours of inactivity, I reeled them in for a recast. Upon dropping them in the margin, I was gutted to see that my pop ups, were now nothing of the sort and were lying just off the deck. I was unhappy that I’d been fishing ineffectively for a while near feeding carp, and I was really unhappy that the bloke had blatantly lied to me. Finally if I’m using a balanced or ‘wafter bait, then I’ll use a ‘wafter rig’. Basically it’s like a normal ‘no knot’ but instead of whipping seven times up the hook you whip two or three times, trap the hair back and then whip another five or six times, depending on the kind of hook you’re using at the time. If you use a balanced boilie with a big hook and heavy hook link or a maize ‘stacker’ rig with smaller hooks and lighter presentations, the principle is always the same in respect of the separation qualities of the rig. The hook and bait always work independently of one another, allowing the hook to catch anywhere in the mouth; either when they confidently pull the hook into themselves or on the ejection.

friend mentioned that a well known magazine editor had asked him to write about some other rigs, to which he replied, that he couldn’t because he didn’t use any others! The point that I’m trying to get across, is that after all these years of carp fishing, we have all come to the conclusion that there’s no point using anything else because these are the rigs that do the job when fish are out there and feeding. The trouble is, that you could stick on an all singing, all dancing, brand new ‘bling bling’ chod mark seven as bandied around by the press as the next big thing, and it wouldn’t catch you any more than a properly tied chod rig - less in fact! The press seem to have an obsession with promoting the next wonder rig, but it’s all a load of nonsense really, designed to drive up sales and sell more magazines. Most of the anglers, I know, tend to concentrate more on observation and watercraft , after all, you could have the best rig in the world out there but if there’s no carp in the swim, then you’re obviously not going to catch them! On the point of tackle, if your rod, reel and line are up to casting where you want to cast and up to landing a fish from that area, then you’re sweet! My rods are ‘ESP Paragons’ which cost me sixty pounds from ‘Yateley Angling Centre’, and they can wang a three ounce lead over one hundred yards and are also forgiving enough to zig fish with size ten hooks and light mono. I’ve had them for four years now and they’re blinding rods! On the reel front, I use a set of ‘Daiwa 5000ts’, which I bought second hand from a mate. They are real workhorses of reels that if looked after correctly, will live forever. Line wise, I still use fifteen pound ‘GR60’, for most of my fishing, because it’s the best line around. I’ll drop it to twelve for my winter fishing on less weedy ponds. Bait-wise, I will always use something that I’ve got total confidence in. Be it an HNV boilie or a single Tutti Frutti flavoured boilie. I’ll fish a different one (type/flavour) on each rod until I get a bite and swap them all over to that particular flavour/bait. The bait on the day and all that!

These are, hand on heart, the rigs I use for ninety five percent of my fishing and the same goes for most of my mates. We might use slight variations on the There’s no point trying this bait or flavour one week theme but, the point is, that these are rigs that we have and something else the following week because you’ll TOTAL CONFIDENCE in when casting out. One just end up confusing the issue. Use something that you know works and use it with confidence.

NigelITSharps KEEP SIMPLEmemorable - JAMIE SMITH capture

I’ve had experiences on Sandhurst where I’ve cast out three maize stacker rigs with tiny ‘Tutti’ bags attached onto showing fish and not caught a thing. Now I know that it wasn’t the rig or the bait because it’s a method that I’ve caught a fair few fish on. It was simply that the fish were showing over loads of particle bait left there by someone else and at that point, I wouldn’t have got a take, purely because of the level of bait out there in the area. A couple of days later and I probably would have got takes. The point that I’m trying to make is that it would have been pointless putting anything else out there because that wouldn’t have hooked them either. The time just wasn’t right! I hope that I’ve given you a good insight into the reasons why I like to keep it simple. Like Chris Yates said ‘It’s all about just me and the fish”. Although I expect he said it in a far more eloquent way I tend to agree! If I’m on the fish with a proven bait that I have total confidence in, attached to a rig which I know works and tackle which is up to the job, then that’s all that matters. This is not to say that I pig headedly use these rigs irrespective of developments in rig and hook design, because it always pays to keep an eye on what’s going on. Someone might bring a hook or hook link out ,which lends itself even more readily to your favourite rig, thereby, making it even more effective. But, until that time, I’ll just stick to what I KNOW works. Jamie Smith

NigelITSharps KEEP SIMPLEmemorable - JAMIE SMITH capture

To put this in context, here are some of the lessons I have learnt when margin fishing at Yateley Car Park Lake... I began fishing the Car Park in 2010, but due to getting married and setting up my bait company, I wasn’t able to get there on a regular basis. I do, however, tend to treat the first year on a lake as an important part of the learning curve for that water. I try to learn as much as possible about the fish and their habits. Fortunately the Car Park is very well known, so information about the water and its inhabitants is easy to come by through various books, magazines and of the course the internet. I did also rely on the experience of my good mate Nigel Sharp, whose ear I have bent relentlessly. Slim Pickings There are only three originals left to fish for in the Car Park, as the other six have sadly past away. That means there is one original carp for every three acres of water! There are some additional ‘stocky’ commons present, which takes the stock number of fish in the lake into the low twenties. These fish have been subject to every trick in the book and are very wary.

Nigel Sharps EDGING YOUR BETS memorable - JOHN ELMER capture

Margin fishing is not only enjoyable it is also a quick way of learning more about carp behaviour. It helps you learn fundamental things like: how a particular fish feeds, which way it approaches the margins (whether from the left or from the right of the swim you are fishing) and if there are particular areas that it prefers to others at certain times of the day and so on. These are all important things to learn when fishing margins. These facts will help you to build a picture of the carp’s behaviour and it’s environment, which in turn helps you to create your own fishing strategy.

handful of Scattered Baits 4mm anchovy pellets mixed with some “deadly” boilie chops. It wasn’t long before these margin spots became cleaner and cleaner, and those old originals began visiting the areas I had been baiting. The three originals left in The Car Park are The Baby Orange with a top weight of 42lbs, next is The Big Orange, which has weighed up to 48lbs, but today it weighs in at approximately 45lbs. Then you’ve got Arfur, the king of the pond. He weighs up to 51lbs during the autumn months.

I had all three of these fish feeding in the edge During the spring I began fishing the Carp Park lake throughout the spring. The fish that fed consistently seriously. I spent a lot of the springtime fishing up on on all of the spots was The Baby Orange; this fish the North Lake or the Copse, with the idea of treating was up for a feed nine times out of ten. To see a forty them as a base camp. This allowed me to spend the plus pounder feeding half a foot from the bank was a day’s walking the Car Park and trickling bait into revelation to me. various margin spots and observing the fishes reaction as they came in to feed. It took just a couple of weeks All three of these fish have different feeding habits; to get these margin spots going. At certain times of the something you can only observe when feeding fish in day, I could get these fish visiting most of my baited the margins. areas around the lake. Variable feeding habits Let’s begin with The Baby Orange - the most aggressive Quality bait, consistent approach The areas that I’d prepped during the close season were feeder of the trio. On one particular day I spent two those that had either been successful in the previous hours perched in a tree watching this fish feed. She’d season or simply looked promising (sometimes it push other fish out of the way trying to get to the chops pays to follow your instincts). All I used was a small and she was the only one of the three that

would actually top and tilt to feed. She kept up ending until every food item had gone - feeding as if it was her last meal.

hook bait. I’ve scaled down to a size 10 before and still landed large carp on them. I would recommend any of the ESP hooks, as they have never let me down.

Nuts I will mess about with different hook baits, depending on what I’m fishing over as free feed. Among my all time favourite hook baits are peanuts. If you prepare these properly, they can be devastating. The benefit of using peanuts is that you only need to fish over a small handful at a time. To make the perfect bait, I soak the nuts in cold water for 48 hours and then boil them for The next fish I managed to find and feed was ‘The Big an hour. You then tip into a bucket and leave them for Orange’. His approach was to lay flat on the bottom a further 48 hours. sucking and blowing on every food item (as if he was checking for rigs). I watched him do this for an hour Used in the right hands, peanuts can be a devastating or so until he’d eaten everything and then he moved off alternative to the boilie. As I said earlier, if you have the spot and drifted away. It was interesting to watch something that works then don’t change it. and see how these two forty pounders fed differently to each other. On one particular occasion, I watched her come in and feed voraciously, but then suddenly she came up off the spot. She then proceeded to swim under a nearby snag in a full circle motion and then swam back at full pelt, flanking the spot and sending the chops all over the place before settling down to feed again. It appeared as if she was testing for something; perhaps rigs!

All set up in The Back Bay

King Arfur It was May before I got Arfur feeding in the margins. I hadn’t seen him since he had been banked in September 2010, weighing in at about 42lbs. I find it incredible that a fish can disappear for that amount of time on a 9-acre lake. By now, he looked a lot bigger - more like 50lbs – and this was probably due to being ready to spawn. As he drifted in to feed alongside The Baby Orange, I was amazed by his size. When he dropped down and fed, his upper lip stayed glued to the lake bottom drawing every bit of food towards him. His mouth was big enough to swallow a tennis ball. One apparent thing about his feeding habit was that he preferred the marginal shelf, with his big old belly rubbing against the bottom of the lake. Was he testing for lines? Who knows? I hope that you now understand why I find it important to observe fish feeding as it provides crucial background information that can help to solve the puzzle of actually catching them. Rigging good fishing People do ask me about the rigs and lead arrangements that I use for margin fishing. These can vary depending on the situation, but I tend to stick to using the helicopter rig as it has served me well over the years. It’s a case of if it aint broke then don’t fix it! I may also use a smaller hook, depending on what I’m using for a

One rod tactic.

John Elmer

Proof that it works...

Nigel Sharps EDGING YOUR BETS memorable - JOHN ELMER capture

It doesn’t seem to me that we have had much of a summer at all this year. Our weather is affected by the jet stream and this year we seem to have had the same weather pattern since the middle of May.

24hours for the ideal opportunity, the rod bent round violently and the fish ran me through an unseen snag on the bottom. For a minute or so, I still had contact with the fish, but after taking to the water, I retrieved a bent out hook from the bloody branch. What made it This pattern brought us plenty of southwesterly winds worse was the fact that my wading around had ruined and a little too much rain for my liking! To some of the swim and there was very little chance that I’d get you these conditions would seem perfect for carp another bite from it. fishing, but for me it was disastrous for the swim I was fishing. After that cock up I went for a chat with Richie in the Lawns and had a quick look in the neighbouring It took me a few blank sessions in that swim before I Slipway snags. While I did this, a few of the same realised that all of my takes had come when there was group of fish started to turn up. Again, a good start a bit of easterly in the wind. to another night of fishing, but by the next morning I couldn’t have been further away from the carp if I’d If my memory serves me well, my last fish from tried. They were repeatedly showing in the mouth the Lawns swim came at the end of May, when the of the Motorway bay and by 8am I was set up in the morning breeze had a slight southeasterly in it for a nearest swim and waiting for the ideal opportunity to few hours. After landing a 31lb mirror known as The cast three choddies with light leads to the area. Because Thick Wristed, I realised something. I had fallen in to I’d tried casting at showing fish before on this lake the rut of spending too much time in one swim. I call without success, it seemed the best thing to do was be it a rut because when I invest a lot of time, bait and patient and let them have unpunished morning feeds effort in one swim or area, I almost begrudge moving before casting out. True to form, the next morning, out of it in case someone else moves in to benefit from other than a couple of fish crashing out in the bay, the my hard work. Therefore, to be certain I had to spend bulk of the fish were again showing elsewhere on the a fair few more blank nights in that swim before giving lake. I decided to stay put and do another night in that up on it. swim in the hope that the rest of the fish would come back. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as I blanked for The decision to stop fishing the swim was made for yet, another night. me when another angler got there before I could. Although I knew he was coming down to the lake, I Never underestimate wary fish didn’t make any effort to pull out all the stops to beat After leaving the lake, I felt that I’d fished well but was him to the swim. It was as if I wanted him to force me I completely done in by the fact that the fish just bugto move to another swim, as I’d already thought the out as soon as you get on them. This year has been a lawns were fished out. little bit different to other years on the lake and it’s been weed free all spring. With no weed in the lake I was so convinced of this that even when I was and very few snags to hide in, the fish haven’t held heading to the lake; I was hoping that he would be in particular areas, instead they’ve tended to move in there so that I’d be forced to look for a change of around the lake. scenery. So it was that I had to change my plan and go to chase the fish about like I used to on other lakes. I did think, however, that by picking my times to cast Indeed, for the first time in what had seemed like ages out after the morning feeds I might gain a little edge, I actually felt like I was fishing again and not going but these are very cute fish that have been fished for through the motions of trying to bore the big’un out. by good anglers over the last few years. What hadn’t helped matters was the spanking that they took Cataloguing disasters during the spring. I can’t remember exact numbers Over the course of a week, I fished at least four different but from a rough estimate there were nearly 80 bites swims. After a good start to the start of the session in the spring, which is quite something when you it soon turned into a catalogue of disasters. The first consider the lake holds at the most 40 carp. So, you disaster struck after I had found a large group of fish can pretty much say that most of the fish have already feeding next to a bush. They were troughing some bait litter left over from the weekend. Minutes after putting a rig on the spot after patiently waiting nearly

A non smoker, one of many that kept my fingers occupied

I became confident enough to concentrate my efforts on the bi felt cold steel twice this year; therefore, it’s hardly surprising that they are wary. However, I’ve managed to get some commons feeding regularly next to the bushes they live under. I know for a fact I could have caught a few of them but I decided to leave them be in the hope that if one of the mirrors turned up on the spots, they might induce the bigger fish to feed with confidence. After all said and done, it’s nice to catch a carp but having grown up catching commons I don’t want an album full of them and they aren’t really what I’m fishing the lake for anyway.

Reading brutalisation

It hasn’t all been doom and gloom on the Reading water though. I did manage to score a low twenty early one morning after moving onto fish showing among the first weed rafts to hit the surface. The weed seemed to change the

behaviour of the fish and they don’t seem to shy away from the leads hitting the water. All they seemed to do when I was marking and baiting up was back off into the weed for a few hours until the water settled. With the weed up and the fish behaving like this, it was more my kind of fishing. I became confident enough to concentrate my efforts on the big one around the weed rafts out in front of the Slipway swim. After just two sessions in that very swim, the Brute grew more aggressive as it came across baits in the margins and it was showing regularly out in the ever-increasing weed rafts. It looked like the Brute was up for another capture. On the first weekend in July, the inevitable happened and it came out to a lad called Tom. He certainly made short work of the lake this year and now he’s gone off to another water so I doubt I’ll get to congratulate him personally so I’ll do it here. Well done fella, good angling. With Tom’s successful capture of the Brute at the beginning of July (and a time of the year I’m not too keen on), I decided I needed a much earned break from the water. Earlier in the year, Richie French

Nigel SHARP’S NIGEL Sharps memorable DIARY - PARTcapture 3

Hopefully i’ll score again soon

ig one around the weed rafts out in front of the Slipway swim. caught the fish, but it was the start of spring and all sorts of things could happen. For example, I’ve seen fish come out again the day after they’d been caught and I’ve carried on regardless, but this time of year is the start of the ‘scratching-time’ and so it was time to regroup and do something else for a few weeks.

Although I’ve been catching mainly doubles, I’ve had some great fun doing so and the plus side of floater fishing is that it’s helped me do what I’d been meaning to do for a few months (since taking my sister in law to St Luke’s cancer unit for her radiotherapy) and that is give up smoking. I couldn’t see me quitting smoking if I was sitting in one swim for days on end, so some Over the few weeks leading up to Tom banking the good has come out of the ‘scratching-time’ for me and Brute, and when the sun had some warmth in its I’m looking forward to the boilie time of year again. rays, I’d tried my luck at floater fishing on the lake. The local gulls made this an absolute nightmare and From past memories this tends to kick in around they would wreck a swim before I could even get a few the end of August and so I’ve recently restocked pouches of mixers out, let alone fish taking them. I the freezer ready for the autumn. I hope that I’ll get think in total this year I’ve managed to get the Pinge amongst those big autumn feeds and if I do I will let residents to take five mixers. One of them was taken you all know. just as the fish where exiting Weedy Bay and the other four were taken, one after another, by one fish that I’d Nigel sharp already caught. I could have tried to catch it again but I thought I’d leave it be and hope it would encourage the others to feed. Well the poxy gulls put pay to that exercise. Since then, I’ve been having a bash at surface fishing on some easier lakes.

Last one from the Lawnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, The Thick wristed 31lb14oz

Nigel SHARP’S NIGEL Sharps memorable DIARY - PARTcapture 3

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