UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

Location – Airfield Lake

Hours Fished – 65 hours

I’m making the most of the wife working from home, the home schooling work is being done more or less by Thursday.  So, I get 3 days off as well as well as the kids, they just need to check if the teachers have snuck anything else on the website.  So, the Mrs gets the kids started on Friday before she gets to her work and I get to go fishing on Thursday.  So, until things get back to ‘normal’ and the wife is back in the office once again, I will be doing this.

I arrived at the lake by 1130 and there were a few people about. After talking to a couple, they had done a few nights already.  The lake had produced some carp and a fair few had been lost on the boulder, which hopefully I will not find this week.

With the winds due to push over 30 mph from the South West this weekend, conditions were looking better than last week.  I was at a bit of a loss as to where to go.  The few areas that floated my boat were already occupied.  It’s also hard to look at a lake on a hot flat calm afternoon and set up in the right spot in anticipation of the change in conditions.

By early evening the cloud had arrived and the wind was nicely pushing from the South, I was feeling the love again and felt like I had picked the right swim.

I had baited an area where I’d done well from (on occasions) in the past, however, not for some years.  I was hoping with the wind from behind me, I will be able to gain some distance in my casting and get closer to the island margins, also into a gap towards one of the sanctuary areas.

The night as always passed peaceful for me.  This morning I’ve chosen to stick a rod along the right hand margins but not very far,  I am making sure it was right at the bottom of the shelf with a lovely pva mesh bag on.  I’ve also adjusted my rods, as I like them to point at the spot I’m fishing as it gives better indication.

Also less chance of losing a rod, I’ve done that twice in all the year’s I’ve been fishing.  Not a very happy moment and even after a lot of effort, I never got them back.

The other spot I’m sticking to and have topped up with my lovely mixture of stuff.

Can’t go far wrong with that.

With yet another night on the Airfield Lake going by with no action, it’s going to start to become harder to stay positive. You just have to take the rough with the smooth on this place.  There was a removal of a lot of carp a couple of years back and the dynamic of the lake has changed.  I think I need to start treating it as though I’ve just started fishing on here for the first time and forget about past times.  These have certainly gone and the big fish hauls are not as frequent as in the past.  The ones we caught in the past have all gone and we are now fishing for a different strain (or at least carp who don’t behave in any way similar to their counterparts).

My personal belief is that the netting programme was struggling to capture anything in the past, succeeded one day to net the shoal that accounted for all the big hits over the year’s.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of carp in here.  I just have to relearn the lake, forget about past captures and areas that have produced carp for me (and other members).

I reeled in for a couple of hours, had a long walk around the complex and a brew.  I then got the rods back on onto the spots where they were going to be, both on the baited area I was building up.  With fresh wafters on, I was all set for the night.

Morning arrived sooner than expected and pack up time was on me yet again.  I would be back soon, with a new plan and full of anticipation and confidence as always.

Until next time

Stay safe

Richard

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