WIN!
EXTREMIS CORK RODS THE ORIGINAL AND STILL THE BEST
inside
LOZ EAST
THE SANDHURST SESSION TIM PAISLEY
C E L E B R AT E S T H E L I F E A N D T I M E S OF CARPING LEGEND ROGER SMITH FREE PRODUCT GUIDE FROM
AUG – 2019 Issue
347 £4.99
DARRELL PECK
D AV E L A N E
JONNY FLETCHER
S H O O T S FO R A FO RT H C O M I N G KO R DA F I L M O N A
RECOUNTS HIS QUEST FOR THE EYE FROM THE
LOOKS BACK ON THE PERFECT END TO HIS
VA S T 1 0 0 0 - A C R E P U B L I C V E N U E I N F R A N C E
MIGHTY SONNING SOME 20 YEARS AGO
R E C E N T S P R I N G C A M PA I G N
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: IAN CHILLCOTT MIKE KAVANAGH PAUL FORWARD DAVE LITTLE TONY ATKINS JULIAN CUNDIFF JON ‘SHOES’ JONES CHRIS BALL ALAN ATKINSON PAUL MALLINSON OZ HOLNESS ROB HUGHES
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Pecky’s
Progress
As Darrell mentioned last month, following on from his annual assault on Orient, he was due to set his sights further afield in pursuit of some more monster carp for the cameras alongside Korda’s main man, Danny Fairbrass. This month’s piece focuses on the first few days of their session...
Darrell PEck
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DIFF’RENT STROKES
Jonny Jonny Fletcher Fletcher Jonny Jonny has has continued continued his his good good run run of of form form on on his his syndicate syndicate lake, lake, catching catching aa few few more more special, special, old old carp carp as as spring spring turned turned in in to to summer summer CARPWORLD
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T
he spring had been kind to me, but while I was catching a few fish, I prayed that the weather would gain some consistency and hopefully encourage them to feed on the bottom. It was becoming quite obvious that the air pressure played a huge part in where they wanted to be. Anything below a thousand millibar and it was game on for the bottom rods, but much above it and they seemed to loiter over the deep water and virtually right at the surface too. It was handy though, as I could almost forecast, if you’ll pardon the pun, what I was going to be faced with upon arrival and prep my gear beforehand. If the sun was out and the pressure high, I arrived at the lake with three rods made up with adjustable zigs. If the weather was coming on strong, with big winds and low-pressure, then I would glug up a few boilies in preparation. I arrived on the Thursday to find the lake really busy. After a quick lap I still found a few undisturbed fish on the surface in a quiet corner. I flicked a few zigs out to where the fish appeared to be entering and exiting the little bay and left them be for the night. The following morning, I had a funny, stuttering pick-up, knowing full well that on an adjustable it was a bite. I lifted in to it and we began the battle in the early morning light. Playing fish on relatively light tackle in deep water can be a long, drawn out affair, but this one gave in fairly soon and before long I had a lovely 28lb mirror in the net. Shortly before leaving for work, I managed another bite too, this time a much smaller one of around 18lb. Content with the morning’s action, I packed the gear up and knew it wouldn’t be until the following week that I would be back. On the Friday afternoon I arrived to be met by only one other angler on the lake. I wasn’t sure how long this was going to last, so I hastily did a lap and noticed quite a few fish showing in front of a swim known as The Bog. I dropped my water bottle in there and quickly ran back to the van to get the gear. The pressure was nice and low and I had in my mind that I was going to be fishing on the bottom. As I assembled the gear, I kept an eye on what they were doing and it was clear they were on a couple of particular areas, showing regularly. In the past I hadn’t really fished to any spots here, preferring simply to cast at showing fish in the knowledge that even a soft drop would mean I was fishing. I cast all the rods out to areas that I had seen the fish show, each with a different colour Signature pop-up and I scattered some Krill boilies around the zone. It is something that has worked well for me in the past, being able to get rods out quickly with minimal disturbance. The night passed quietly,
but the fish continued to slosh out in the darkness. I got my head down and before I knew it, the sun was coming up and the surface was littered with frothy bubbles, the carp had been here during the night, but nothing had happened. I flicked the kettle on and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t going crazy, when the middle rod just went from nothing to everything, stripping line on a tight clutch. After another short battle, with just the occasional spirited surge, I landed a nice 29lb mirror. I did the pictures and slipped it back, before making some breakfast and packing up. The fish were active, and I had caught one, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling it. I quite often do that, if I plan to fish the weekend but catch on the first night, it is like I have done what I set out to achieve, I have got my fix and I can go home to the family and so that’s exactly what I did. The following Thursday I was back down again for the night and the lake was busy. We were in to May now, which is traditionally the best month on a lot of lakes, but with this place being so deep, I felt like it was still a little way off from kicking off in any way. It was hammering it down with rain, but the fish were still up in the water, virtually on the surface. The bulk of them were out in front of The Bog swim again and after a quick chat with the lad in there, I found out he was off that evening. I decided to wait for him to go as it would put me right on the main bulk of the carp. With them being on the surface, I decided to rig a couple of adjustable zigs up and the other rod I was going to fish on the deck, casting to the island’s marginal shelf. I felt that the fish could easily drop down to feed at any point and if there were ever a place to do it, then the shallower area would be the one. I waited for the chap to pack his kit away and leave the swim before getting sorted and got on with the plan straight away. Two zigs went out to the area the fish were cruising around. I then flicked a Krill pop-up to the island, got a good drop and that was that, I was fishing. I then scattered 50 or so baits around that rod and settled down, content with my efforts to get everything sorted with the minimum of fuss. Next I got all the gear set up and organised, made a brew and looked out at the lake. I couldn’t have been looking for more than a few minutes when all of a sudden the island rod pulled up tight. I picked the rod up and it was just light lunges, erratic head shaking and all the tell-tale signs of a tench. A couple of lads were now stood with me and as I played it back to the bank, I gave them my thoughts on what was responsible. I chatted as I reeled in this fish slowly so as to keep the disturbance to a minimum, not thinking too much of it, until this huge mass of a fish rose up from the depths! I couldn’t believe it; this was a carp and a big one at that. I shuffled the net in to position and by
A couple of lads were now stood with me and as I played it back to the bank, I gave them my thoughts on what was responsible. I chatted as I reeled in this fish slowly so as to keep the disturbance to a minimum, not thinking too much of it, until this huge mass of a fish rose up from the depths!
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Loz East
Sandhurst Lake
Loz has worked tirelessly to bring you reviews from around the country over the past year and a half and this month he gives us the low-down on one of the UK’s best known day-ticket waters and gets a nice reward for all those efforts
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Dave Lane
A Trip Down Memory Lane
SONNING
A few years after Dave had finished on Wraysbury, another mammoth piece of water cropped up on his radar, although this time it was nearly twice the size. At the time he only knew of two fish present in the lake, but one was a mid-fifty. The hunt was on... CARPWORLD
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t’s hard to believe it is, but it’s true. I remember the year perfectly as it was the turn of the millennium, the year 2000, almost 20 years ago. My good friend Keith Jenkins and I had had a little heads up from the guys at Carp-Talk about a news story that was coming out the following week. Apparently a huge lake in Sonning, near to Reading, had done a 51lb mirror, not only that, but it was backed up with a 40-plus too... This was huge news and we needed to act fast. Bizarrely enough, we had looked into this very lake a few years earlier after a tip off of a massive common, but we had either been tactfully dissuaded or didn’t find any real reason to follow up on it, I can’t remember which it was now. Anyway, I quickly discovered that it was run as a club water and, if I was quick, I could drive up to the local tackle shop and grab a couple of tickets before the news broke out into the general carp scene, so that is exactly what I did. As it turned out, however, we couldn’t get a night ticket until the following June anyway,
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ABOVE
Returning a nice Sonning common
RIGHT
A big south westerly piling into the Ski Club corner
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Alan Atkinson
Walking in a Weston wonderland Alan Atkinson spends a week on the stunning Weston Park fishery alongside his good friends, Bev and Tom, plus new hound, Kaizer, for their annual, week-long social
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Next Month
In the September issue Kyle Tyson Kyle recounts a memorable session on a French venue that is steadily gaining in popularity for UK anglers, Etang Negreloube Darrell Peck Pecky’s Progress finds him winding his way a little further east than usual, as he takes on a water in Germany
Rob Greening Rather than risk the M25 on a Friday afternoon, Rob decided on a spot of channel hopping for a journey of a similar length to Abbey Lakes in northern France
On sale: Friday 23rd August 2019 | Subscribe now to have next month’s issue delivered to your door! www.gifts4anglers.co.uk
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