Road trip june

THE ROAD TRIP | ALAN BLAIR

ALAN BLAIR | THE ROAD TRIP

Alan hooks into his first Rayleigh AC carp of the day…

The water is warming ALAN BLAIR continues for carp with a bag and a stal

S

pring has sprung and is swiftly evolving into summer and brings with it, in my opinion, the best kind of fishing – surface fishing. Fish get into the upper layers and they can be caught using my favourite tactics, zig rigs and floater fishing.

With the final destination being an open day at Shelton’s of Peterborough, I set off with Max Hendry to our first venue, a small intimate club lake, part of Rayleigh AC. Lined with reeds and festooned with lily pads, it’s brimming with a stock of dark, old carp. Even in winter these fish are up for a floating bait.

up and a hyperactive his relentless pursuit of floaters in hand king rod.

I arrived and immediately disembarked from the van with a bag of Riser Pellets and Slicker Floaters and started spraying the water with bait on the back of the wind. No sooner had it hit the surface than there was a shoal of carp taking floating baits with gusto. I frantically got two rods out and rigged one up with a standard Bolt Machine setup and the other with a freelined hook bait. It was then a simple case of getting a hook bait among the feeding fish with as little disturbance as possible.

I cast the Bolt Machine to the back of the swim where a group of

larger fish were circling. I loosened the clutch and put the rod on the deck, with a view to watching for the spinning spool to notify me of a bite. With copious amounts of carp mouths slurping baits, I rigged up the freelining rod and nicked on a pair of soft Hookable Floaters. I chose two baits to allow me to get the required distance when casting to the ravenous carp.

The highest amount of feeding activity was evident around a thick area of reeds that had almost formed an island of their own.

ALAN BLAIR AGE: 32 UK PB: 55lb 4oz OCCUPATION: Operations director SPONSORS: Nash Tackle & Bait INSTAGRAM: @urbanbanx FACEBOOK: Urban Banx with Alan Blair

German consultant Thilo Schulze came over to fish for a week and with floater fishing being a rarity in German he has now seen the light.

078 TOTAL CAR P

… which was soon drawn close to the net.

As the fish fed on the floaters the reeds knocked, giving away their presence.

I made my first cast to the quivering fronds with the aim to stop it in the path of a feeding carp. Within a second of the bait hitting the water a fish took it and I struck, only to have the hook bait fly straight past my head… oops.

The second cast went back out in the same area and I soon had another inquiry. I must admit I was getting a little excited with all the feeding activity and it took me until my third cast to connect with my first fish.

As expected, it made a break straight for the reed bed, but after a little coaxing it was soon away

from danger and making runs into open water. It put up a spirited fight before I got it in the net. The mesh folds revealed a lovely leathery mirror of just under 10lb. That’d do for the first bite.

I kept on feeding a mix of Riser Pellets and Slicker Floaters and within minutes I had a bite on my Bolt Machine, a small common making an appearance. It was jet black and with a perfect mouth it looked to be rarely caught. I was well happy with my hour’s fishing but with a tight time schedule, I needed to get on the road.

Next up was Chigboro’ Fisheries in Maldon. The lake holds some stunning 20lb commons and mirrors that I was keen to net.

Like a sailfish, the carp made a final break for freedom.

TOTAL CAR P 079

THE ROAD TRIP | ALAN BLAIR

ALAN BLAIR | THE ROAD TRIP

This dark, oldlooking carp was the final one before we moved venues.

Unlike the fishing at the Rayleigh AC water, I was stalking using floating baits, choosing to feed just a few in a specific area to try and arouse interest. It didn’t take long to get a fish feeding, albeit right under a snaggy canopy of trees. After a couple of side casts I managed to whip a bait right under them in front of the carp.

The action started to come thick and fast.

“

A simply stunning venue to spend the night.

Before long, mouths were slurping down the baits and making the most of the free food.

”

To cut a long story short, I spent two frustrating hours flicking baits in front of carp with little in the way of positive bites. It’s a prime example of how frustrating floater fishing can be.

With time ticking on, I decided to get off and make the most of the daylight at another venue.

A golf course in Bedford was our next destination. It’s a place that I have fished before and it contains stunning ghost carp. I went through the same method as when fishing the Rayleigh AC water, spraying the surface to locate carp.

Before long, mouths were again slurping down the baits and making the most of the free food. I got the rod, net and unhooking mat from the car and pursued the carp for the next couple of hours in a bid to nick one before it got too dark.

Creeping around the overgrown banks of Chigboro’.

The fish were proving wily but I had a brace of lovey ghost commons in quick succession from a floating hook bait placed in the margins. We photographed them before I took a walk round.

I noticed carp carcasses on the bank. Unfortunately, it looked like the lake had seen otter predation, an unfortunate reality of a lot of lakes up and down the country that aren’t fenced these days. It was sad to see such a prolific lake see dark times.

Light feeding with Riser Pellets helped get the carp going.

A pretty little leathery character.

080 TOTAL CAR P

Flicking the rod under the marginal vegetation ensured success.

With the mood somewhat soured, I made haste to the last venue of the session, a lake in Cambridge.

Owned by Fenland Fisheries, at around eight acres it has two islands and is completely reed lined.

The fishery team had made a big effort to maintain the aesthetics by creating swims only where necessary and making sure they weren’t over-landscaped. I would describe each swim as a poke hole as opposed to an actual swim.

We arrived an hour into darkness. Rather that set up in the first swim, I decided to take a walk round and listen. After all, the lake wasn’t going to get any darker and I was in no rush to get the rods out.

Between the islands is a wooden bridge and I stood on it listening for splashes. The sound of a carp crossing seemed to reverberate on the base of the bridge, giving its presence away even easier.

After making a coffee on the bridge I had heard two shows, one definite and one not so.

An hour and a half of listening later and no other signs to tell me differently, I headed to the area where I’d heard the definite show.

Once I arrived it was clear it was an intimate area that I would be fishing. With a rough idea of where the fish showed, and not wanting to cause too much disturbance, I decided to fish my rods staggered up the thin channel, setting subtle traps along the way. Because it was all short range I sprayed Key Cray pellets and 12mm boilies in small areas and cast a hook bait and matching PVA bag over each rod.

On each spot I felt a dull thud, suggesting I was fishing on a silty lake bed with the presence of silkweed. It was still well fishable with my long hook links and Ronnie rig presentations.

The rods were in position and with it set to be a dry night I simply set them up on the buzzers and unfolded the SS3 sleep system and shroud and slept a quiet night under the stars.

The lake was quiet at first light, with nothing in the way of shows, so I slowly packed away and got myself into a presentable manner to talk to a host of anglers at the Shelton’s of Peterborough open day.

It was a great day and I chatted to lots of enthusiastic anglers, both young and old, about the sport we all love. With a rave booked in London that night, I was soon on my way home to get changed for a night out with the Nash lads.

It was a great few days and I can’t wait to get out for next month’s Road Trip for more carpy action.

I hope you are enjoying reading them as much as I am creating them. Until next time, good luck and enjoy your fishing.

TOTAL CAR P 081