UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

With Lockdown restriction eased, I had a lovely walk around my new syndicate, as part of an induction and getting set for the 8am draw for swims.  This is something very helpful and gives you a good understanding of the do’s & don’ts before you accidently do something stupid! and then I was free.

I also took this as an opportunity to take some photography, so I can formularise myself with what I’d seen, in the future. 

There any many sorts of swim; from open swims to small intimate swims.

There are boats available which cover certain swims.  This will be a great help for weedy waters & will help to maintain the stunning look carp. 

The induction was very informative and gave you a little insight on the carp’s behaviour, but didn’t give anything away. 

I’m certainly looking forward to getting the rods out later on today.  And hopefully, at some point soon bagging my first carp. 

Fingers crossed, that i can get a few nights on here before another lockdown.

I really can’t wait to see how stunning this place look as Spring progress. Summer & Autumn will be pretty stunning and I’m sure even the depths Winter it will look amazing and at some point Intime I will give its a nick name as I always do, even though some people will know exactly where I’m taking about, I’m currant thinks of the bird lake as it is absolutely stuffed with them. 

Until Next Time

Richard

I’ve heard a lot of negative comments about people using the Deeper as they believe it’s cheating and it takes away the fun of the unknown of fishing.

Well here are my thoughts on the matter.

I’ve used a marker float since I can’t remember when and have always spent hours flicking it around the lake and recording depths.  I still do this but in conjunction with the Deeper.  I have a few issues with markering.

1. Unless you pop the maker float up every 1 or 2 feet, you can easily miss a feature like a 6-inch hump/indentation in the lake bed.

2. Unless you recorded the number of wraps at each point of interest, how can you accurately map out the lake bed?  It’s all down to you as to where you make this spot on your map.  I found over the years that it was never that accurate.

3. In the case of understanding the complete topography of the whole lake, you would need to transfer your findings to a master copy.  This was a pain until Google Maps came along.  If you were lucky enough to know someone with an A3 printer, you could get a much better copy.

4. You would always need to carry this around with you and I’ve had the odd disaster with water/rain damaging it.  However, with modern technology, this has been made easier.

5. With the number of maker floats I’ve lost over the year’s, the deeper with pay for itself in the long run.

Then along came the Deeper which records all this information.  It’s so much more accurate.  The lake book feature on the website brings all your hard work to life (in the same way as it has been done in the past but much simpler and with much more options), take a read of my blog on this feature.

This is why I think the Deeper is a step forward and not a cheating tool.

1. Unlike a marker float, the deeper maps out the lake bed, depth and features all in one go.  There is no need to keep putting it out and disturbing the fish around a feature you’ve seen.

2. You don’t need to drag it through your swim and past feeding fish as it floats on the surface.

3. Once it’s recorded the information, you can play it back as many times as you like without the need to put it out again.  Therefore, creating less disturbance.  Some people think this is a problem – you would be doing less time marker floating and its only on the surface.  I see the real issue here is the amount of spombing which goes on these days.

4. The lake book feature (that I have mentioned) is perfect for mapping the whole lake and has the ability to measure the distance out to each feature.  It’s on Google maps so you can see the features and the horizon marker when you switch to satellite mode.

5. By mapping the lake with the Deeper, you will build up a better understanding of the water you fish.  You can see the bigger picture a lot better than with a hand-drawn map.

6. I fish all through the Winter and with the night mode switch on, I could carry on mapping the lake and finding features.

7. I’ve not mentioned the fish icon feature which can be turned on and off, this also appears to be also a problem with some people.  Well, it’s just an icon for a fish to help you distinguish what the sonar is picking up.  It’s only let you know where the fish are, it does not tell why there are there or what they are up to.  This is still down to you to work out, not much difference at all.

8. The amount of time it can save you is such a great help.  We are always rushing around everywhere these days.

9. The most amazing thing I have discovered, is that the information I thought I knew about the lakes I fish (and I even have an old hand-drawn map of the lake), is very wrong.  The most surprising one was the gravel bars are not bars, they are just cleaned areas of the lake bed at the same depth as the rest of the area.  There are a few humps which are indentations and some areas that we thought where up and down all over, are just flat.

In regards to the cheating part.  I am not sure where you can draw the line.  This can only be classed as a technological advance in fishing, in the same way as we have moved onto carbon rods.  The money spent on the development has helped in the advance of these, far beyond the original cane rods.  And with the introduction of buzzers and remote systems, would all this not be classed as cheating?

In my opinion, any tool which is going to help the modern carp angler catch a fish in this day and age, who clearly has a lot less time to fish these days, has to help – don’t you think?

I believe a lot of the negativity is born by the lack of understanding of the product.  If some time was taken to read and watch a few blogs/vlogs people may realise the Deeper is a great bit of kit.  For the money, it’s an amazing bit of technology, which will help you bank a lot more fish.  It will save you time and give you a greater understanding of the water you are fishing.

Hope This Helps

Richard

10% discount code – DEEPER-H-ADHVIO – on the Deeper Sonar website

We find are selves in yet another full lockdown.  Which you could see coming our way from mid-December and it’s predicted it could last into March.

This one I think is going to be a lot harder than the last one as it was all new and a bit of fun for some – sheds were be sorted, tackle was being stock checked (what was needed fixing, what was missing and what maybe upgraded), making the garden look good and the weather was just perfect.  You could sit outside and do your work, listen to the birds and get into the groove of home schooling.  Home schooling did come as a shock for a lot of people (my family included).  I found it easier then to unwind, as I was able to sit and relax in the garden.  I was able to put aside all the other worries that come along with this worldwide pandemic.

This time around it’s a lot harder, with the first lockdown when we had come out it, we where able to enjoyed the summer and when the tiers came in during the Autumn, we still had some freedoms (we were in tier 2), the kids were still in school.  So, with some normality, you could try to put your worries into the back of you mind.  Unfortunately, it all came crashing back over Christmas and New Year and with the weather conditions not being another like how it was before – Winter.  At the present, most days are more likely to be wet and windy and not the cold crisp, sunny Winter days.  Even down South we did not avoid the snow, however, it was only a light dusting.

One positive, at least we could go fishing this time; but only locally.  Which for most meant not on your syndicate.  For me this meant, the new syndicate I had just joined in early December.  This new syndicate was opened for me on the 1st January, was this was a no go area and I was left with 3 local club lakes and a small part of a river.  I feel lucky I have this opportunity, but the downside for me is that I’m pretty paranoid of catching and passing on the virus to my wife and kids.  I’ve locked myself down from before Christmas and once we could get out onto the banks, I was looking for places that are angler free and with less possibilities for catching the virus.  However, there are still some stupid people out there who don’t quite understand that 2m is not 2ft and I’m sure that this is a major contribution to the virus being transmitted.

The weather put pay to my river trip planning as it was flooded every other week  and with the continuous rain, the river taking a few days to drop.

The lakes have poised a problem as most of the local ones to me are off the beaten track and they involve a few gates which can easily be the perfect place to pick up the virus.  And therefore, you are relying on others to be as safety conscious or paranoid like myself.  Which I know will not be the case.

So, home-schooling is back again and the wife is working from the front room again albeit a couple of days a week now, the broadband service is being its temperamental self, it’s been hard going yet again.  My free days are taken up considering with how the day’s weather will be (mostly is shockingly bad) and can I go for a quick couple of hours.  I’ve only managed to get out 3 times since before Christmas and we are now heading into February!

I shouldn’t complain really considering the situation the NHS is in and how bad other people’s situations are.  But it’s my mental health that affects me and that’s where my focus needs to be right now and keeping away from the possibility of picking up this evil virus.

I’m for ever hopefully that something may change by mid-February, in some shape or form, to help everyone start feeling that we are getting somewhere and that the end is insight and we can get out the other side.  I’m sure things will never be the same, but we can adjust and adapt to changing times, move on and get back to work, school and be back on the banks.  This is in a purely selfish way for myself to think, but that is how I keep my mental health under check and I’m sure many others will feel the same.  The thought of getting out on the bank again, will bring a lot of normality back into their lives and help them deal with the future much better.

Until next time

Stay safe.

Richard