UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

My gear was trimmed down, but I could carry so much more, there was no opportunity to barrow it, so I just hauled it all in one go. But then I moved on to the lakes again after the carp and the ability to park close by. The tackle levels grew again, which was fine for a few years until I needed to start doing two trips backwards and forwards to the car. Again, it was ok at the time, except when it was raining. A couple of the swims on the lake, you could load the car directly from the bivvy, which is great, but also encourages you to take yet more kit and moving swims soon became a thing of the past. In conjunction with age (no doubt), the thought process that the carp aren’t far away and with the knowledge that moving swim doesn’t always pay off – unless they are really going for it (that’s for another article).

A few year’s ago, I started to limited the size of the bag (carryall) I took and simplify what I took to only what could fit in the bag. This sort of worked for a time, but extra kit would creep back and an extra bag would end up on the barrow at some point. Then another cut back would be needed. One issue that needs to be taken into account; the older I get, the more comfortable I like to be. Gone are the day’s of fishing under a brolly all year around. I finally realised that being comfortable made me a better angler, simply because if I’m tired or cold I just don’t fish as well as I would do if I’m warm and well rested.

Comfort is a real must these days for me. I like to use a bivvy with an overwrap that extends the size of the bivvy enough to sit on a day chair and where possible I use a small two man bivvy in the winter. This makes fishing in these months a lot more productive, as I’m enjoying my time and not stuck under a brolly freezing cold – probably an age thing again!

This lead me to many months of trying to get the right balance between what I used and what was there for that ‘just in case’ moment. For instance, how many spombs do you need? For me, it can be all sizes, as I like to be prepared and there’s always that unfortunate chance you may lose one. I know is rare and you can leave any spares in a bag in the car tucked away out of sight. My spare kit bag on the car was born. I know I can’t get too carried away and end up with a larger carry all full of kit.

I started to break down how much of every bit of tackle that I take and I use regular. I then reduced the volume of each item, e.g. how much end tackle do you need? Leads are another thing I take to much of and spares can easily be in my car bag.

My tackle box was broken down into three separate boxes (bags), which for me makes it easier to use on the bank. I really only need the baiting up bag out, this makes packing up and moving swims a lot faster.

This just contains the essential items that I need to bait up and keeps things simple.

This bag contains the remaining essential items, plus my head touch and a battery pack changer and cables .

I deliberately reduced the quantity really low and had a lot stored in the car for a few weeks. I filtered out a lot more and surprisingly never needed anything, so, reduced down the bag in the car to a small one. I rarely need and could leave at home (and probably will do at some point). I don’t carry a rig board anymore, as I haven’t used one for years. I like to make a fresh rig when needed and I sharpen my hooks each time I bait up. I found that my rig board just got in the way and were always filled up with the wrong sort of rig that I needed at the time.

Hook baits were another thing I carry to many of and just don’t use them. Why would you, when you know that you have upmost confidence in what you are catching on? It would be different if you were on a new water or day ticket water.

I now only carry what I’m using and a couple of pots in the car just in case. Which, I’ve yet to get out. This all really goes to show, we carry way to much kit.

I like to use a fold away chair on my bedchair as my back can’t take sitting on the bed all day without it, this easily fits in the bedchair.

My cooking kit is kept in a Ridgemonkey bucket including all the food I’m going to eat.

If it doesn’t fit in then I don’t take it. I keep extra food (if needed) in the car. I’ve found a very good food company that make self life nice meals that can be stored with out the need freezing them, this simplifies things a lot. I like my noodles a lot, at one time I was into cooking some amazing meals on the bank, but these day’s I just can’t be bothered for a few night’s fishing. If I’m going for longer (as I do a couple of times each year), I have no other option than to bring a cool box, I’ve even started to drink black coffee to save on the weight of the milk, bit extreme but it all adds up.

Bait wise I only bring down to the swim what I’m going to use and if necessary I can go back to the car or pop by when its time to head to the toilet.

I have a barrow with a small bag, if there was the option for more panniers, I would simply overload it. It’s like a shed – the bigger the shed the more stuff you put in it, but if you had a smaller shed it would still be full up, but a lot less junk would be stored there.

Looking from the outside, it still looks like I carry way too much kit and I’m always looking at ways to reduce the amount of stuff I need. I’ve found that I don’t need the bag in the car after all, as I’ve never been to get anything from it. Which certainly goes to show that we all bring to much to the lake.

I hope this was helpful to your fishing.

Until next time

Richard

I was loading my car when I heard the news about Spotted Fin closing down. My post about this is available on my website. I’m glad I’ve got about 60 kilos in the freezer. I’m going to put some thought into which direction I go next. I’ve always said I would stop all my sponsorship work and take a break. I’m turning 60 next year, and after having my heart attack, I do feel it could be time to say goodbye to social media. Between now and January, I will give it some serious thought. I still very much enjoy making videos and writing, so we’ll see.

Back to this trip

My original plan was to go via The Airfield Lake, but I wasn’t in the mood for that anymore. However, at the junction that would take me to Meadow Lake, I decided to take the Airfield Lake option. I had promised myself I would take a look, and since I was running early – why not?

I drove around to the island, which seemed like my best option given the wind direction.

The first swim didn’t appeal to me, but my favorite, not-so-secret swim, certainly looked and felt good. A carp topped right on cue, so I thought, “Let’s give it a go.”

I set up the bivvy first and then proceeded to get the tackle ready, which turned into a nightmare. I had to unload half the kit from the barrow twice to stop it tipping over. By the time I got to my swim, the air was blue.

Luckily, I know this swim very well, but I still got my marker rod out to check things, and yes, the spots were still there. I filled them in with my ever-faithful Classic Corn Boilies. What will I do when I run out?

I’m sticking to my tried-and-tested method from this spring and summer, and hopefully, it will pay off.

2001 and the right-hand rod was away and attached to a very agreeable Airfield Lake common. It behaved pretty well and came in via underneath the other rod after a quick fight under the rod tip.

10lb Common

The rod was soon back on the spot, and I’m not going to complain too much, as I haven’t blanked. I just need to improve on the size.

0634 – The right-hand rod was away again, with another classic Airfield Lake common. You can’t choose what grabs your hookbait, but something bigger would be nice, please carp gods.

10lb Common

It was a lovely morning. You could tell autumn was settling in, with plenty of dew and a chill in the air for the first time. The forecast even suggested the possibility of frost in the countryside.

The sunshine was out, accompanied by a good north-west blow on the water. Unfortunately, the air pressure is building up over the coming days.

We’ll have to see how the coming nights pan out—fingers crossed for something special.

Steve arrived around 1400, and we had a quick chat before he set up in the first island swim. I put out more bait and then popped over for another chat. I came back around 1630 and cast the rods out. We had a heavy downpour around 1800, and from then on, it felt very cold. I made my tea around 1900, which warmed up the bivvy, and soon I was in my sleeping bag, watching TV.

2053 – The right-hand rod was away again, and this time it felt better. In the margins, it wasn’t given an inch, but it finally slipped over the cord.

18lb 3oz Common

They are getting bigger.

0015 – The right-hand rod was away again, but unfortunately, halfway in, the hook popped out as it sometimes does here.

0253 – The right-hand rod was away again. This one came straight in and started to fight under the rod tip, but after 5 minutes or so, I slipped it into the waiting net.

15lb 7oz Common

I’m still hoping for a 20 or a 30. Unfortunately, not fishing this spot for a few months seems to have pushed the bigger carp away. The margin rod hasn’t produced a bite yet, and I’m thinking I might move it out into open water if that’s still the case tomorrow afternoon.

0522 – The same rod was away again. This time, the carp was on a mission to my right, searching for old weed beds. I had a few carp do this on previous trips, which usually resulted in a hook pull. I had to take things gently, especially with the water levels a good foot and a half down. I hoped that my chances were more in my favor, and as luck would have it, I guided the carp away from dangerous spots and around the overhanging trees to the right of the swim. Then I slowly played the carp out under the rod tip.

20lb 7oz Common

Perfect—a lovely-looking carp with a massive tail. No wonder it fought so well.

By the time I had everything sorted, it was close to 0600. I thought it best to try and get some sleep as you never know what might happen tonight. I was woken by the gentle vibration of my phone on the table around 0845, with my wife checking in on me (Editor’s note – he normally messages me by 7.30 am).

I’ve been thinking of moving the margin rod to open water since it’s not producing anything at the moment. I’ll give it until the afternoon before making a final decision.

A few rain showers are expected today, so I need to get my swim topped up without getting wet. Lol.

1154 – Would you believe it, I finally got a bite on the left-hand rod after considering moving it. I’ll probably just leave it there. After an extremely entertaining battle, I landed this lovely golden one.

12lb 6oz

Now, what to do? I reeled both rods in and sat chatting with Steve. I concluded I had no alternative but to stick with it. I baited both spots and flicked the rods back out, then started to prepare lunch.

1715 – The right-hand rod was off again, only for me to pick up the rod and find the carp bumping it off—just the joys of the Airfield Lake.

The rod was quickly back on the spot, and hopefully, it wouldn’t take long to go off again.

1840 – The margin rod was away with a lovely, small but stunning-looking carp. It certainly gave me a runaround and picked up the other line, causing a few issues along the way.

10lb Common

0200 – Disaster struck. I woke to flashing Delkim lights—some sort of carpy silent disco going on. I picked up the rod that was taking line, which had become entangled with the other line. I didn’t have my glasses on, and my brain was still asleep. I decided to put that rod down and gain some line, enough to put the rod back on the pod so the tip was close to the bank. I then picked up the other rod to figure out how to untangle them. This was soon sorted, and I started to gain line. I have absolutely no idea how long the rave lights had been flashing or how far the carp had gone out into the pond. It turned out the carp was probably stuck in a weed bed and had wrapped itself around a boulder. Unfortunately, despite leaving the rod on the rest for about 45 minutes and making a brew, I ended up pulling for a break—something I never like to do.

I checked my buzzer, and they were working perfectly, so I’m totally perplexed as to what happened.

That was my only action of the night, and it was now time to pack up and head home.

Until next time,

Richard

 

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