UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

I’m out on the bank for a few nights, hopefully dodging Storm Franklin and Storm Gladys over the next 48 hours.

Richard

I’m back out on my syndicate water for a couple of nights. The weather is certainly looking a lot better, I’m very hopeful that there’s a good chance of a carp this session. It has been a lot harder this year, mind you, I was restricted by covid restrictions last year, and if I remember correctly I was only doing days locally and then straight onto the Airfield Lake.

I did have other plans, which unfortunately didn’t pan out. I will write about it sometime in the future – when I feel like bringing it up again. All I will say at the moment, it was a big kick in the teeth for all involved.

I’m all set for another year on the Airfield Lake. I’m getting my spring plans underway, with a slightly different approach to the lake this week. With any luck, I will bag that monster that’s been spotted numerous times over the past couple of years. I may even have a play about a bit more on Meadow Lake on the summer months.

Time to focus on this fishing trip. I arrived back down the lake at just before 9 a.m, and there were a couple of other members pitched up. I took a drive about and spotted a couple of carp showing over the far side. I quickly got back in the car and took a drive around to the nearest swim. I waited a couple of minutes and sure enough, it stuck its head out a couple more times. This secured my choice of swim. The weather conditions where very favorable, there’s a dip in the night temperatures on Friday and going up in pressure on Saturday, but there’s going to be a good blow coming to stir them up over the coming days. The daylight hours are getting longer as well.

My plan for the first day is simple: to fish singles and bags until about 4 pm, then get some bait into the swim and build it up over the coming days.

I spent quite a bit of time over the day, considering my options of where to place my baits for the night. I was also regretting setting up down the same end as the Canadian Geese were feeling the coming spring – lovely.

I was still going to wait until dusk to bait up and move my rods; that’s if I actually believe there’s a  more favorable spot.

Single sticks this time as I need to have a bit of space to play the fish, when (and not if) I catch one – let’s be positive about this trip. I didn’t move them in the end as I felt that I was in the best spots already, I simply spombed out six groundbait balls and a couple filled with boilies over each area.

Just after 2 a.m, the left-hand rod gave a couple of bleeps, I was up and quickly in my boots, touched on the rod, the bobbin was up and holding up. I got out and knelt by the rod just as the bobbin dropped down and quickly pulled up. Oh, joy! The bream have found my spot again, as I pulled into my first one of 2022.

With the rod back out, a rain shower arrived, which was lucky, it would’ve been a bit frustrating 10 minutes ago.

I had trouble dropping back off to sleep again. I heard another fish crashing out over the dark hours, and I was getting a real buzz; the conditions were just perfect. 

Ian is going to pop down again, in the hope of replicating last week’s result. Fingers crossed, he should be bringing the sunshine.

Ian arrived after the ran had passed. We spent the day chatting about the recent events and planning for another session after that monster on the Airfield Lake and how we can approach it differently this year when it opens up again in mid-March. I can’t wait for those long summer days, wide-open spaces and all that open water, it’s magical there.

I rebaited both rods and put 3 half-filled spombs of Catalyst boilies out. Fingers crossed that tonight will bring a carp and not another bream! Why do I keep catching them?

I really enjoy wildlife photography. I don’t carry a DSLR anymore, it’s less to carry as my phone does an adequate job.

The night was silent in many ways, no bleeps, no sounds of fish crashing out or even the birds. Probably due to the temperature drop.

The sunrise was amazing. It was hard to pick a photo that encapsulated the moment; the morning glow, wildlife, frost everywhere. People wonder why we go out there and just sit watching, a lot of people ask ‘what is there to see?’ ‘Oh, so much!’ I say.

I’ve decided that I will head home today, one of the wife’s friends has asked her if she fancies going out to the cinema. I think that would be nice for her to go out, as it’s been a long time. There’s always another day or night for fishing.

I am going to try and fit a day trip in next week on the club lake, but I’m not 100% sure I will manage to fit it in again. Arriving Thursday morning is a real bonus at the moment and generally, it gives me a great choice of swims.

I very much enjoyed my time out as I always do. Despite blanking on this lake, the scenery and the wildlife just keep me occupied.

Until next time

Richard

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After 7 days of looking after my eldest daughter, she caught covid 19 (no doubt from school). I knew at some point, it would grace our house again. She was pretty lucky with the symptoms and only had a high temperature one day with not much coughing. It was the lack of taste that really got her, everything tasted of cardboard or very salty. But we are all free of it, she has tested negative for a couple of days and can go to school tomorrow. This gives me the opportunity to get down the lake in daylight hours on Thursday evening, not sure if I would have had the motivation to set up in the dark, the lake fishing particularly hard this January.

I arrived about 1230 in the afternoon and was a bit surprised to only find one other day angler fishing. I popped in for a chat, and he hadn’t seen anything. I took a drive around the lake and a walkabout, looking for signs of anything and not a glimpse of a carp.

I settled for a swim which is close to the area where the carp had been seen, but a different swim this time and with a slightly different approach. I’d made up a bucket of ground bait balls and frozen them, I like them not to break upon impact, and I also tend to stick them in my spomb, I can’t use a catapult as it hurts my elbow these days!

I only baited one spot and was going to use the other rod with a single 12mm pop-up on. I would change it around during my session. I’d brought my zig kit and was going to set up a rod during the day tomorrow, I really think this is the way forward. Once I get to grips with how best to set it up.

I love my new Summit tackle distance sticks.

Over the next 48 hours, the pressure is due to rise and then drop again, tonight is going to be cold, but Friday night is going to be 7 degrees and with sunshine tomorrow as well. I’m hoping this will wake this carp up.

The stars are out again and the mist is forming over the lake again, it’s definitely going to be a cold one.

As the morning progressed, the sun came out, and Ian arrived for a few hours fishing, he brought me a pasty and a sausage roll. We sat chatting about things and it was soon his pack-up time. The rods were on the floor, he suddenly grabbed the right-hand rod and was into a good lump that was kitting right. The carp was clearly going to end up beyond the bush. Ian had his tip under the water, but it needed to be much deeper, so I quickly grabbed my waders and got into the water, the line had gone through the bush sticking out into the lake.

Ian passed me the rod, and I stuck the tip way down as much as possible. The line was over the twiggy bits at the end, I was still gaining line on the fish. At this point, I was pulling pretty hard, this was only going to end one of two ways – lost carp or in the net. I was hoping that as the fish got closer and pulled on the line, it would come free of the bush. By now, I was waist-deep and the rod underwater nearly up to the reel! I needed the line to pull free and finally, after what felt like a lifetime, it was out. I quickly handed the rod back to Ian and made my way back and sat on the edge of the swim. I was watching this lump of a carp trying its hardest to get back under there again. After another few minutes, it was wallowing on the surface, just as worn out as Ian! I slipped the Nsr50 under it.

He was over the moon and extremely keen to get back again soon, he nearly went Pike fishing on a different lake today.

I hadn’t got around to the zigs at all today and was planning on leaving my rods out until tomorrow when I packed up. The weather conditions were improving by the minute and thanks to Ian’s capture, my confidence levels were high.

Morning arrived and the wind had certainly picked up over the dark hours. The wind is forecast for the coming week and with that, the warmer weather. Next week’s trip could certainly have better conditions for catching carp.

Until next time

Richard

Use my code for 10% discount

The discount code applies to the entire order when purchasing the Deeper Sonars PRO, PRO+, PRO+ 2, CHIRP, CHIRP+, CHIRP 2, CHIRP+ 2. The code is valid in all countries.CODE = DEEPER-H-9OCSF