UK Carp & Coarse Fishing

Local lake’s – Hampshire

Posted on September 12, 2018 by richardhandel

I get asked a lot about where to fish in Hampshire so I thought I would put a list of clubs together and a small bio about lakes I have fished on;

Portsmouth Angling

Sinah Warren – This is a lovely lake out on Hayling Island (right next to the sea), it has a good head of carp. Pete Springate has written about it in some of his books. I spent a few years on there and had some nice fish.

Bromwich Farm – This lake is situated out in the middle of nowhere, in the Titchfield area but you would never find it if you didn’t have the directions how to get there. It’s closer to the Solent than any road and holds some lovely fish.

Christchurch Angling

Over the years I have been a member of this club – along with the thousands of other members, which is the big reason why I didn’t get stay too long. Over the years the club has lost a few waters. Oddly, I now have access too, via another club. However, they do have a few good lakes and access to the Avon River & Stour Section

Ringwood Angling

For some reason, I never got round to joining this club, despite having a good few carp lakes. They now have Rockford Lake on their books and some great access to the Avon River & Stour Section

Test Valley Angling Club

This is a great local club and close to my heart, despite not being a member of over 15 years. This is where it all started for me when I moved down all those years ago. I have fished all their waters but by far the best two are.

Nutsey- Still has some of the old original fish that where there when I was fishing. Unfortunately, the Big Mirror & Common past away some years ago. However, there are lovely looking fish still in there.

Embey Lake – This lake is very close to where I live and I do get the odd hankerings to fish there again. But for the cost of the club, it’s a bit high just for one lake. Winter is coming and you never know…..

Eastleigh And District Angling Club

This is another great local club and has certainly a good number of lakes with big carp and a bit of history behind it.

Lakeside – The lake is situated in the middle of a country park with a model railway by it. It can be very busy and 24/7 access to the public – not my cup of tea.

Winnal Lake – This lake is situated just on the edge of Winchester. It is complex of lakes ranging from easy to hard. There are still a few classic looking carp hidden in there, unfortunately, some years back the otters had their fill.

Wickham lake – Stunning looking lake but it’s not the same lake as when I fished it. But it will be back up there again, I am sure.

There are a few more hidden gems out there and I will leave you the pleasure of searching them out. This for me is a great part of carp fishing and is a great past time over the Winter months. When there are no leaves on the trees, you can drive around looking for that glint of water and then the endless days tracking down the owner or just ‘guesting’ it anyway.

Hope this helps

Richard

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Posted on September 9, 2018 by richardhandel

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Trip 55 Carp Fishing – 2018

Posted on September 7, 2018 by richardhandel

This trip was a complete surprise, I had a few family things canceled, which gave me the opportunity to do a couple of nights on the lake. I am never going to complain about, as there is only 4 week’s left on here before it’s winter close down. I can’t believe 6 months have passed by and another winter is fast approaching, it will be time to get back on Meadow Lake.

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I arrived about noon time, after a long look Around and a few stops for some markering, I finally made my mind up. In all honesty, it’s easy to find carp on here – its the location of the bigger fish that’s the issue and very hard work this year.

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The downside of this swim was that I had not fished it for over a year and I also had not put the Deeper out before. This meant a bit of work has to be done.

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I found a couple of nice areas, I baited up with some Smokey Jack boilies and fished a wafter of each spot.

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We shall just have to see how the first night goes and then maybe move things about a bit.

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The first night past without a bleep, despite plenty of carp being around. The following afternoon, I pop out for a look around and decided to pack up about 3pm. I felt it best to come back another day.

Until next time

Richard

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Beginners Guide To Carp Safety

Posted on September 5, 2018 by richardhandel

This time I would like to cover carp safety on the bank when unhooking and using a sling + photography.

The most important part of this is the fish comes first at all costs. You have caught it and well done. There is no need to put the fish’s life in danger just because you need a photograph.

1. Be prepared, as all good Scouts say, this is so true with fishing. Part of the process of setting up my rod’s, bivvy etc, I always set up my unhooking mat, water bucket, weighing pole and have my scales in the bivvy door.

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I also have my tripod at the ready.

There should NEVER be a need to leave the fish unattended on the mat.

If you’re not ready just put the carp in a sling and safely put it in deep water. NEVER in shallow or hot water (like this summer has been), there will be a lack of oxygen. Always have the sling cord at the ready attached to a peg or spare bank stick, all set to clip on.

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These are all very simple things and should be organized immediately after, if not before you cast out.

In this day and age, self-take photography amazingly simple and there is no need for that 2am call to your best mate!

Just practice with setting up your camera stuff and doing self-takes with no fish.

Even if I do have a friend about, I generally still set up and do a self-take, that’s the way I have been doing things for over 30 years.

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Night shot

Day Shot

Hopes this helps

Richard

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Trip 54 Carp Fishing – 2018

Posted on August 30, 2018 by richardhandel

This weekend’s trip is a social one with my friend Ian. It’s been over a month since our last trip out together. After watching the fish last weekend and keeping an eye on the weather, we decided on a couple of swims we would like to get in. With this choice, we could also double up in and lucky for us, our the first choice was free. The swim of choice was the daisy field swim. The wind will be pushing all weekend long into this area, we were very hopeful of a fish or 2 each.

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We arrived just before 10am and I got to work on baiting the area very heavily with a mixture of Catalyst boilies and pellet (Betafin pellets, frozen krill, hemp, tiger nuts all soaked in Minamino of the past few days). We knew the noise would push the carp away for the first evening and night but we were hopeful by the morning they would be back in the area searching for food (and there would be plenty). The forecast for the next day was cloudy, overcast and windy, perfect for a few fish in the daylight hours. The pressure would also drop a bit, which will help.

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The afternoon and night did past with no fish but as dawn arrived, there were a few fish starting to crash about – ever closer to out spots. The conditions were looking perfect and fingers crossed the day would bring results.

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As I was up early, I took the opportunity to re-bait my rods as they had been out since 11am yesterday morning with not a touch. Once I had done this, within the hour, it produced my first take. Not the biggest fish but a blank saver and my first carp of the trip.

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I got the rod back out on the spot with another PVA bag filled with pellet and broken boilies.

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And was very hopeful of another carp today.

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It wasn’t long before the same rod was off again and produced another small common, can’t get away from them at the moment.

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I rebaited and we sat watching the lake and around 3pm, Ian had his first fish and yet another small common was on the bank.

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We then sorted all the rods out for the night, had some tea and a couple of glasses. As the night progressed, the conditions got even better with a good wind blowing our faces and on any other lake, this would bring the fish over but not tonight and I was up earlier to head home for a couple of weeks of family time.