I so nearly headed to Airfield Lake, but decided to take a drive around Meadow Lake first. Much to my surprise, there were only two anglers fishing, so I thought I’d better take a closer look around.
My choice of swim was based largely on which way the wind was blowing. I hadn’t seen a thing, and generally, I prefer not to know how the other lakes on the syndicate are fishing. Otherwise, I’m too easily tempted, especially when I need to focus on one lake rather than two.
I like to make at least one trip to Meadow Lake in September and October, just to get an understanding of how it’s fishing before I spend the winter here. It’s all about building a picture, watching the water and getting a feel for what might be happening beneath the surface.
It’s been a struggle this week, and I’m not sure whether it’s the weather or the pressure that’s made the difference.
I’m back in the same swim, simply because of Rod Hutchinson’s bait pyramid theory. Along with that, the wind was supposed to be hacking into my face at least 75% of the time, unlike the 25% it’s probably actually done!
The only thing I did differently was use less bait at the start, as getting a Spomb out there in a full-on gale of a headwind proved problematic.
It’s the same approach as the past few sessions, so there’s one other possibility: perhaps I’ve caught all the carp tucked away in the deeper area of the lake. Who really knows, but something has affected my catch rate.
The final result of this week’s three-nighter was:
– 2 x Double – 1 x Twenty-pounder
Not quite as dramatic as the past few weeks, but that’s fishing!
From Wales to the Lake – A Weekend of Carp Fishing
I’d had a lovely week camping at our favourite site in Wales. The weather had been perfect, and everyone had a fantastic time. We had to head home on Wednesday, ready for my youngest’s GCSE results the following morning, which thankfully went very well. She was delighted with her results, so now it’s time to start sorting out colleges and what comes next.
My wife had suggested I go fishing for the weekend, as she’s off work for the week too. I certainly wasn’t going to argue with that, so I packed the kit and headed off for a couple of nights on the bank.
I arrived at the lake around 0900 hrs after a long drive. The usual route through the forest was closed because of a serious wildfire, meaning a rather longer journey than normal. I was surprised to find only two other anglers there, one of them being Ian, who was into the morning of his second night. He’d already had two carp and a few tench, which seemed like promising signs.
On the way to the lake, I’d also had a call from my consultant asking whether I was free to pop into Salisbury Hospital at around 1140 hrs. As I was already fairly close, it made sense to go. Once I’d set everything up, it was only around 20 minutes to the hospital, and with a ten-minute appointment, I should easily have been back within the rules of the venue. Perfect timing.
The left-hand rod was positioned just off a bed of pads, out in open water, where I’d found a lovely silty patch. If I went any closer to the pads, the bottom became considerably thicker, so this little area looked ideal. I decided to bait it with 24mm boilies and fish a hardened 24mm EnerGize hookbait, combined with Hobo Armour end tackle.
The right-hand rod was going to be somewhere along the tree-lined island margins or perhaps in one of the small bays. I eventually found a lovely clear spot and baited it with a mixture of Nutrabaits boilies, catapulted accurately onto the area.
Unfortunately, I’d made a bit of an error without realising it. There was a young family of ducks roosting on the island, and they had already learned how to dive. They proceeded to completely trash the area I’d baited. I had to wait until nearly dark before I could catapult some 24mm boilies onto the spot instead of using the 12mm and 15mm mixture I’d already Spombed over the other area. It was pretty obvious that I needed to change my baiting approach.
There was a stunning sunset that evening, but unfortunately, that was about the only excitement. The buzzers remained completely silent throughout the night.
At 0800 hrs, I put fresh hookbaits on both rods and got everything ready for some daylight action.
Ian came around at about 0930 hrs after losing a big fish. He wasn’t particularly happy, and I could understand why. The carp had kited left towards an overhanging tree, but with a large, thick bed of pads in his swim, he was unable to get his rod tip low enough to control it. He simply had no other option but to apply pressure, and unfortunately, it resulted in a hook pull.
At 1303 hrs, my left-hand rod finally burst into life. I’d had a tench about an hour earlier, so initially this felt very similar. Then the fish rolled on the surface, revealing itself to be one of the small Ghosties that live in the lake.
10lb Ghosty
It wasn’t the biggest fish in the lake, but with Ian laughing at the size of it, at least I wasn’t going home with a blank!
With a fresh hookbait fitted, the rod was recast, and I settled back down.
At 1413 hrs, the very same rod was away again. Once more, it initially felt very tench-like, but it soon became apparent that this was a small carp. Then, as it shed the weed bed it had managed to wrap itself around, it suddenly started giving a much better account of itself.
Eventually, it was under the rod tip and, as it rolled into the net, I thought, Wow, that’s bigger than I first thought.
21lb 5oz Common
That certainly wasn’t a bad result, especially after the quiet start.
At 0301 hrs, it was the right-hand rod’s turn. I’d moved it at around 2100 hrs, placing it parallel with the other rod after the afternoon’s action had come from that area. This time, after an entertaining battle in thick fog, I finally managed to locate the fish and slide the net underneath it.
25lb 8oz Common
I was very happy with that result. Both rods needed recasting afterwards, as I’d picked the other line up while playing the fish in.
By 0738 hrs, I could certainly tell I’d had a busy night. It had been a bit of a sleepless one, with a couple of tench bites and having to pick up the other line a couple of times, but it had been thoroughly enjoyable at the same time.
Once the sun poked its head above the bushes, I could finally get the wet kit dried out and start packing away. With the A31 now open again, I was hoping to be back indoors by 1000 hrs.
A lovely couple of nights on the bank, three carp including two twenties, and certainly not a bad way to round off the weekend.
A last-minute weekend session after returning from a week camping in Wales turns into a very enjoyable couple of nights on the bank. With the lake surprisingly quiet, I set up two carefully chosen spots, dealing with shallow water, pads, weed, diving ducks and some challenging margins. After a very quiet first night, the action finally arrived, producing three carp including a 21lb 5oz Common and a cracking 25lb 8oz Common, with the latter coming at 0301 hrs in thick fog. Add in a 10lb Ghostie and a couple of Tench, and it turned into a very worthwhile weekend session.
