I’m out for 3 nights with Ian on the Airfield Lake, after a lot of walking and discussion, we finally settled on a swim.  The big issue we had was the lack of seeing fish, the cold east wind but we feel that this is our best option.  We did finally spot a couple of carp, one close by and the other one, some distance away.

We’re going to approach this session very slowly, not put too much bait out (or even just use bags at first) and then build the swim up with a mixture of 12mm Smokey, Catalyst and a load of hemp.

Around 6pm after the day time feeding period was over, we set about finding a few perfect spots.  I opted for one to my left, along the margin shelf, right at the bottom in 7 ft of water, with a very dramatic rise up in a matter of just over a rod length.

The other area was on a 7.5ft Plato with 9ft over water surround it.  This just had to be a feature they would visit.  Both areas were baited with boilies, hemp & tigers with a Ronnie rig injunction and a 3oz & 2oz Zipp lead.  One rod has a Smokey wafter and the other a Catalyst wafter.

We then sat back, soaked up the view and had a couple of glasses of wine.

Over the night I heard plenty of big fish crashing out, but couldn’t locate their whereabouts, it’s pretty dark out here!  As there is no light pollution, it’s a great spot for stargazing – too much cloud cover tonight.

Morning arrived with no action in the night for both of us!  This wasn’t much of a surprise at the cold east wind blew most of the night and there was a good drop in temperature first thing.  As the night progressed, it did warm up, the pressure was starting to drop.

The lake does produce fish in the day time, I wasn’t planning on reeling in until noon time.  The Tufted Ducks had moved in on the Plateau rod, which as long as there is only a small amount activity, I feel will cloud up the water and encourage passing fish to investigate.

Just before 10am, the very same rod ripped off and I was attached to my first Airfield Lake carp.  After a pretty straight forward fight, the carp was safely in the Nsr and we began to organize the weighing/photographing kit.

23lb 6oz Common

That will do me.  I hope a few more grace my net over the next few days.

The morning passed with no more action, around noontime, we set about locating some more features with the Deeper and always with the marker float.  We certainly discovered some very interesting things out there!

The beauty of the Deeper is that it was all done with a minimal disturbance on the 4 casts we did, we simply let it drift in the wind and it recorded away.  As the baited rods were still in the water, we had analyzed the data and quickly sorted out the rods for the night.

I moved my margin rod as after 24 hrs of no action, it was time for a change.  The first night I clearly heard fish in open water, Ian moved one rod out of the bay onto a nice spot we found.  We topped up the swim with some more bait, being very mindful, that the Tufted Duck was on the munch!

The second night passed by with no night-time activities!  The discussion was made to not recast until after 7pm tonight unless we really needed to.  The rain which had been on and off all night was due to stop by mid-morning and the pressure was nicely dropping down still more.

With no signs of any carp in day, I redid my rods and was hoping for a last night capture.  The wind and pressure had dropped and we were expecting a warm night ahead – it was certainly looking more favourable.  Just before midnight, the left-hand rod was off and I was into my second carp of the trip.  It was off down the left-hand margins hoping to find one of the snags down there and it came close, I felt the line twang a branch or two, but with a bit of added pressure, it was under my control and in the margins in front of me.  I was feeling a little bit more relaxed and it soon slipped into the Nsr.

18lb 13oz Common

Very happy with that and especially after all the effort I’d put in to find the right spot and getting the bait application right.

Let’s hope there are more to come before I am off home tomorrow, to spend the rest of the week with my family.

The rest of the night passed very quietly and a misty morning soon arrived, with the odd fish showing.  This was a real change from the last few days and a boost of confidence for the last few hours of my trip.

The weather had finally changed for the better (after the cold snap and very frosty mornings), the night temperatures are looking better from now on and the trees are more full of colour.  We heard the first cuckoo of the year, no signs of the swallows or swifts yet, but I am sure they will be heard by next week.

Ian is staying for a couple more nights and with the change in the weather, I think he will be in with a real chance of some nice carp.

I’m off just after noontime and it’s time to have some family fun in the sunshine with a BBQ or 2, the Easter weekend is set to be a real hot one – makes a change for a bank holiday weekend!

Until next time

Richard

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