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Today was my first true carping session of the season. For me a good session is arriving at the lake at about 3pm and sitting behind some buzzers soaking in the sunshine and generally chillin' until the light gives out.
The temperature was a good 27 degrees as I left my house at 3pm to make the drive to Edenbridge.
On arrival I saw there were a few cars in the car park but nowhere near what I was expecting. I loaded the trolley and made my way up the lake to the top end where the casting distance to the island is the shortest.
The vegetation on my favourite peg at the top is too high by the fishing platform so I parked myself in the next one along.
My set up today was 2 rods, both with 6lb main line to size 14 hooks and 15mm boillies. One had pineapple flavour and the other had tutti fruitti.
I made my first casts at 16:40 and then settled back and waited for the action to begin.
I had to wait just under 2 hours for the first take. When it arrived it was a good one. Because of the island the fish can only run right or left so the only snag to keep it out off was the lilies on my right. Minutes after the bite I had a lovely 7lb common on the bank. On this occasion it was the pineapple boillie that tempted it.
I only had to wait 35 minutes for the next bite. When it came I knew straight away that it wasn't a carp and sure enough when it broke the surface I discovered that I'd hooked one of the lake's small tench. This one fell to the tutti fruitti boillie.
Just over an hour later the same rod went off again and just like the previous run I knew straight away it wasn't a carp. Sure enough when it too broke the surface I was proved right when I saw it was a small barbel.
Less then ten minutes after returning the barbel to the water I was back in again on the pineapple rod. This was not a small fish. After struggling for what seemed an age I managed to land it and after a quick weight in discovered that it was an 8lb common.
The swims then went quiet for just over an hour before the silence was broken by the buzzer on the pineapple rod going off again. This was another carp but no monster as it only weighed in at a couple of pounds.
My last fish of the session came at 20:50 and yes it too fell to the pineapple boillie. Alas it was not a carp but another of the lake's small tench.
That spelled the end of my first carping session of the season. Six fish caught but only 3 of them carp. Pineapple won four against two so I shall be using that again.
For once a day trip to Nursery Fields on a Sunday.
Peg 3 was my target for today having been thwarted on my previous visit. As usual I arrived at the fishery just after 7am to find that there were quite a few cars already present. This did not bode well for my plan as most people tend to keep their walking short and peg 3 is one of the near ones.
I unloaded the car and made my way to the lake. As soon as I reached it I could see that the peg was taken. Second choice was one of the top swims on the far bank. On the way to the swim I passed peg 3 and discovered it was Peter the bailiff who had nicked it.
Anyway I carried on up the far bank until I reached one of the few pegs where you can fish to the lilies right handed as can be seen from the photo below.
Big tactical change for today was that I was only going to use maggots as loose feed. Hook bait today was going to be onlycorn, bread and meat. I was going for quality not quantity.
I mixed the usual ground bait and set up my two rods. The first, a standard 3bb waggler with size 16 hook and 5lb main line. The second a feeder rod with a small feeder on 6lb line with a size 14 hook.
Using corn on the waggler rod and monster crab 10mm boillies on the feeder rod I made my first casts at 8:10am.
My master plan seemed to stall in the first hour as I never got a tickle on the corn. The feeder rod though was alive producing a bream and a tench.
Roles were reversed in the second hour as I switched hook bait to bread. The waggler rod yielded a bream and a tench and the feeder rod, nothing!
Another switch of bait and the waggler productivity went down again. Just a solitary tench with a taste for meat came to the net. Another tench and a roach came in via the feeder rod.
With none of today's baits setting the world alight I went back to corn. The change was a success if only to bring the lake's barbel into play, two of them in fact. The feeder rod stayed silent and still.
As I was going through a quiet period(!) I decided to have an early lunch so in came the rods, out came the flask of tea and the food. I then took advantage of the sunshine to enjoy a very pleasant 10 minute break before resuming battle.
Another change of hook bait, this time to bread started the afternoon session. As it turned out it was the best of the day as far as numbers and variety of species were concerned. In no particular order there were 2 crucians, 2 roach, 2 tench, 1 bream and 1 barbel. The feeder rod joined in as well producing 2 further barbel. The bream was a good size, see below:
I realise now that I should have stayed with the bread however I didn't and opted to go for another session on the meat. This produced only two fish, a barbel and a tench. The feeder rod was active but only just with the capture of another tench.
The next hour was my best on the corn although to be fair it only resulted in 4 fish. One each of bream, barbel, roach and tench. The feeder rod produced yet another solitary tench.
Back to the bread and yet again the fish responded. This time primarily tench, 3 of them to be exact and a lone bream. The feeder rod chipped in with a single crucian carp.
From 16:30 to packing up time at 18:00 I went back on the meat. The result was a slow finish to a slow day. Just the two barbel made the net. The feeder rod producing nothing, apparently it had shot its bolt for the day.
So was the day a success? I did go for quality which meant a drop in the numbers of fish caught would be expected however I couldn't tempt any of lakes carp to come out to play. Bottom line, I did enjoy the day so that is all that really matters.
Another first of the season, a session at the club's beautiful Xmas Mill lake.
With only five swims available on the four acre lake, I had to make sure I was up and out early to ensure that I got one of them.
When I arrived at the very small car park there were no other cars there so my plan had clearly worked. I unloaded the car, and started to make my way through the dense swampy woodland to the lake.
I selected Botany Bay as my swim for today as it is the only swim where you can fish alongside the lily pads. Casting wasn't going to be far today and with the knowledge that I was only likely to catch small roach I chose my match rod and a very small waggler and size 18 hook.
Today's assault was going to be spearheaded by maggots and sweetcorn. Of course ground bait would come into it as an attracter, especially for any passing bream.
With a single maggot on the hook I made my first cast at 8:20 and true enough I discovered that the swim was full of small roach. Twenty two of them made the net in the first hour alone.
Buoyed by this success I switched hook bait to corn. Only three roach but they were of a better quality.
I switched back to maggot for the next hour. The roach hadn't moved or lost their appetite as it proved when my haul read 26 roach, 1 rudd and a bream!
Another hour on corn followed, the roach had no taste for it but two bream did. The time was around 11:30 and the weather had turned for the worse. Rain was falling quite heavy now so I had to put up the umbrella.
Just before lunch I went back to the maggot and normal service was resumed, 16 roach and a solitary rudd.
After lunch, I went back on the corn but they were still not having it with just two roach making the virtual net. Every hour I was topping up the swim with ground bait and every cast I was either feeding a few maggots or a couple of grains of corn.
A return to maggots brought 16 roach and another bream. A definite pattern was emerging here!
The next hour, which brought the time to 15:20 was the most successful for the corn. It yielded 4 roach and a bream. The roach on corn were generally bigger than those caught on the maggot.
I had another throw of the dice left, bread. Could a passing tench take a fancy to it? The short answer was no but in the sixty minutes that followed two bream did.
Here's one of them:
From 16:30 until I packed up at 18:00 I returned to maggots. Eight more roach made the net but sadly for me nothing of any quality.
So with 106 fish in the net I cannot say I had a bad day. It would have been nice to have got one of the lakes larger inhabitants or even a day without rain but hey that's fishing!
For this week's outing I decided to pay a return visit to the club's premier water, Nursery Fields.
When I arose from bed and looked out of the window I saw that yet again there was rain in the air. It was the fine stuff but rain all the same.
Undeterred I set off for the fishery around 6:30am. The car park was empty was I arrived so my plan to fish the first swim on the back stretch (peg 3 I think) was a go. I unloaded my gear, and started to make my way to the peg. As I got to the club noticeboard I happened to notice that swims 1 to 12 were booked for a juniors match! Drat foiled again. If juniors were at the bottom pegs I'd go for the top ones then.
It was still raining when I arrived at the swim so setting up was interesting to say the least. Normal tactics today for this swim, waggler rod about 1.5 lengths out and a small leger set up, fished by the island slightly to the left of centre.
Using single red maggot on the waggler rod and 15mm pineapple boillies on the leger rod I made my first casts at 7:55.
I had a cracking start on the waggler rod - the first hour seemed to be non stop fish, 8 roach, 1 perch, 1 crucian carp, 1 tench and a gudgeon all made it safely out of the water and back in again. The leger set up produced a tench as well.
Feeling optimistic I switched hook bait to sweetcorn for the next hour. I cast out and watched the float and continued to watch it not, except for the occasional re-cast move an inch! Total failure.
So I returned to the maggot. It seems to me that the lake always stalls mid to late morning and this was borne out by the fact that I only caught a couple of bream.
Back on the corn for the last hour of the morning resulted in a further 3 bream and a roach. The feeder rod also sprang into life, yielding one of the lakes barbel.
After I had my lunch I gave some meat a try. Sadly this only attracted a lonesome barbel. There was some decent action on the feeder rod though, a tench and a very nice 7lb common carp.
By 2pm I had chalked up another hour on the corn with the result that another bream and tench had made the virtual net. The feeder rod had also produced another carp, this time one of 2lb. By now the junior match had finished and there was only a handful left on the lake. The rain hadn't gone though.
Not much change in the next hour, corn for meat, that was just about it. The fish kept coming albeit at a trickle. One bream and another barbel. The feeder rod obliged with a tench and another carp of around 5lb.
The period between 3pm and 4pm we could call carp hour as both lines produced a carp. The waggler, a 2.5lb specimen on corn and the feeder another common, this one about 4lb.
Between 4pm and 5:30 when I packed up I thought I would try something different, bread. I really had no idea what would occur. As it happens I got a bream, a barbel and my one and only crucian carp of the day. The feeder rod went bananas too, four tench and a barbel.
So another rain filled day of the early summer comes to an end. In truth not a bad day, 41 fish of varying quality despite the weather.
Today was going to be yet another first for the season. My first visit to Holland Angling Society's lake in Holland near Oxted in Surrey.
I arrived at the pond around 6:20 to find that I had as usual got there first so would have choice of swims again. When I first started going to this pond about 4 years ago I always fished peg 1 in the corner but recently I'd left it alone in favour of peg 8. Today Imy intention was to revisit my old favourite.
Peg one is near enough to the gate that I didn't need the trolley so I unloaded the car and set off to the peg. It's quite tight in the corner so tactics today would be just the float rod with a small waggler.
It was about 7:20 when I made my first cast. I know from previous experience that this pond is full of small carp with a liking for maggots so today it was a single maggot on a size 18 hook as the starting line up!
The ground bait and loose feed I had thrown in prior to casting seemed to have done the trick as the fish were immediately onto the hook bait. Roach led the way initially, 6 of them to be exact, along with 3 rudd, 1 perch and one of the pond's small carp.
Buoyed by the success of the first hour I decided to up the ante by switching hook bait to corn to see if anything of quality had been attracted into the swim. The short answer was no. I did get six carp but they were all in the range 0.5lb to a 1lb. Good fighters on a match rod but not really quality.
I didn't really want to revert back to catching the small roach so I switched hook bait again for the next hour, this time to meat. Five carp followed, again the same stamp as before. I did capture the first tench of the day though.
Back on the corn for the next hour and back on the roach. Just the two plus another of the carp. It was at this time that the temperature picked up and I started to notice the larger carp begin to come and bask on the top.
For the hour before lunch I changed back to meat. Same as before, almost. Four carp and another tench. No change in the quality but I was having fun.
Had a cuppa and my lunch before switching back to corn. The pace slowed somewhat as only two carp made the virtual net. The next hour on meat was exactly the same except that the catch was halved. This time only 1 carp.
Mid-afternoon came and with a switch to corn so did the fish. One roach and six carp. I wonder where they had disappeared to? Still things were looking good for the late afternoon session.
The time was now 16:20 and a change of hook bait hadn't brought out the big stuff that I was anticipating. I did bag another 3 carp and a rudd with a liking for meat but they were still in the aforementioned weight range.
The next hour wasn't any better, 4 more carp on the meat but still no change in the quality.
I had one throw of the dice left for the last hour, bread. I opened my box and took out a slice. The 'heat' of the day had caused it to harden somewhat however I did find enough to use. The result another small carp and another small tench. I decided at 18:20 that enough was enough and packed up for the day.
All in all not a bad day. The small carp have obviously grown from the average of 3 or 4 ounces of a few seasons ago so that was pleasing as was the haul of 49 fish for the day.
For my second outing of the club season I thought I would try my hand at Chittenden, the club's premier carp water.
For once the early morning weather seemed to suggest a good day ahead as I headed towards Edenbridge. On the way I began to think of where to fish this particular water.
The reason why I had to give it so much thought was because there are very few features to fish to if you are intending to fish the waggler rather than the standard carp methods os cast it into the middle etc.
I arrived at the fishery just after 7am to find the car park empty. I was totally surprised. I loaded up the trolley and headed down to the bottom of the lake.
On the way down I noticed all the new fishing platforms. It certainly shows that the committee are serious about improving the look of the lake.
When I arrived at my intended swim I discovered that the nearest platform was 20 yards away! Now the dilemma I had was this, is it a club rule that you must fish from a platform or in this instance could I set up on the grass and fish next to the reed bed. Not knowing the answer I moved round to the first swim on the way back up the lake on the far bank.
The wind was blowing down the lake so in theory I had made the correct choice. The one downside was how to set up so that I could fish facing the reed bed. The water at the edge of the platform is too deep to use a standard rod rest so for today I would have to lay the rod on the platform.
As my days usually start off with a flurry of small roach or other silver fish I set my Shimano float rod with a 3bb waggler and a size 18 hook to 4lb main line. I intended to fish the reed bed about 2 rod lengths away from the platform. The leger rod I set up with a size 14 hook to 6lb main line and fished about mid way between my side and the far bank.
After feeding both swims with ground bait and boillies respectively I made first casts at 8am. True to form the first fish in was a small roach however a flood of these in the first hour didn't happen, all I got was one other roach and a small carp of about 4 ounces. I did however lose 3 carp, the last breaking the hook length. At this point I decided that an 18 was too small and moved up to a size 16. The feeder rod on size 15mm pineapple boillies remained quiet.
I also switched hook bait from maggot to corn. It appeared that I had made two good decisions as by 10am I'd had a further two carp, one common of 6lb and one mirror of 5lb plus a solitary bream.
For the next hour I changed hook bait again, this time to small cubes of meat. I was rewarded with 2 more bream and a carp of 3lb.
The period of non activity on the feeder rod was broken just before noon when the tip swung round and I was into what turned out to be a common of 7.5lb. The float road yielded a bream which took a single piece of corn.
Just as the Genesis lyric "It's one o'clock and time for lunch um de dum dee dum" went through my head the float shot away and I was into what turned out to be my biggest fish of the day. It took me all round the bay which was no surprise as I was only on 4lb main line! Eventually it succumbed and came into the net. A lovely 9lb mirror with a taste for meat.
The hour after lunch proved to be my most productive and scary part of the session. The feeder line yielded two mirrors, one of 6lb and one of 4lb. The float rod with corn on the hook gave a bream and three mirrors, one of 8lb, one of 4lb and a three pounder just for good measure. The scary bit was when the tip went round on the feeder rod, and as I went to bring in the float rod, the float shot away and I was into a good fish on that line too. I made the decision to play the larger of the two first which was the one on the float rod. Seeming like an eternity I fought the fish. I did get it in, after which I turned my attention to the other rod and miraculously I managed to get that one in as well! The first was the aforementioned 8lb mirror and the second the 4lb mirror. I awarded myself a cup of tea for my efforts!
For the next hour I thought I would try something different - bread. To be honest they didn't coming rushing in. In fact for the whole hour I only got one fish, a 2lb bream.
More serious battling on 4lb line started up again at 15:36 when an 8.5lb common took my meat bait. These devils can really pull however I displayed a lot of patience as I waited for the fish to wear itself out before gently slipping it into the net.
I went back on the corn for the next 90 minutes, which I shall now call bream time as I caught five of them in that period. The carp were still about because at 17:50 I had another 7.5lb common on a cube of meat.
I called time on the day at 18:45 but not before adding another bream and a 3lb carp on the last of the meat.
In conclusion I had a really good day, 28 fish, half of them carp. I lost 5 or 6 in the struggles but hey that's fishing.
Finally after a 31 day wait, the first two club waters were officially open. I'd already chosen Nursery Fields as today's venue as it being a Saturday I didn't fancy being mowed down by all the carp boys with their massive trolleys containing all their worldly possessions at Chittenden!
Being a Saturday for first day's opening I thought there would be a mad rush of members new and old eager to getting the season going. So to this end I decided to get out of bed early and be on the road by 4:30 in the morning. As it turns out miracles do happen as I was indeed on the road at this ungodly hour!
When I arrived at the fishery I wasn't too shocked to discover that I was the third one in the car park. It would seem that my initial fears of millions turning up might just be proving to be correct.
I loaded up my trolley and headed to the far side of the lake where in my opinion the best summer time swims are. After a good look (no one else had opted for this area as yet) I selected peg number 12.
My plan was to fish by the side of lily pads to my right with a waggler set up on my match rod and straight across the lake to the island on a feeder set up with my feeder rod.
I mixed a healthy amount of ground bait and then put the rods together. Size 18 hook to 4lb mainline on the waggler and size 14 hook to 6lb mainline on the feeder. I intended to switch to a size 16 sometime during the late afternoon as I knew that was when the carp were likely come out to play.
I made my first casts at 6:15. I initially used single maggot on the hook for the float rod and 15mm pineapple boillie on the leger rod. It wasn't long before the action started with the first of the day's small roach.
At the end of the first hour I had accumulated 10 fish all of them roach plus a 2lb carp on the feeder rod. I then made the decision to switch the feeder rod from the island to the reed bed on my left because to be honest it just looked very fishy!
The roach to be honest were small even by my standards so for the next hour I decided to swap to corn to see if anything of any size was lurking around. To my dismay only a solitary bream took the bait. The time was now 8:15 so the benefit of the early morning start was now over. I was into 'normal' time.
Back to the maggots then for the next hour and back to the usual suspects, roach (5) and rudd (2), none of them netbusters.
With maggots only attracting small roach and rudd and corn just the one bream I decided to try meat. Usually I go on meat late in the day when the carp show however today I thought I would try something different. I was rewarded with my first tench and perch of the day. Still only two fish in an hour though.
Another hour another throw of the dice, this time I was back on the corn. This change achieved slightly better results, 2 bream and a roach. Still not the first day stampede that I was expecting. Still it wasn't lunchtime yet.
Just before lunch I had another hour on the maggot which proved to be the most productive of the day so far. Nine roach and for the first time three perch, one of which was quite a few ounces.
While I was having lunch I went back on the meat. I only caught one fish but what a fish. A personal best Barbel of 2.5lb which I initially mistook for a carp because of the intensity of the fight! Very satisfactory indeed.
The next hour was a barren one on the corn. I began to hope that the afternoon and evening sessions might be the ones.
Back to the maggots for the hour which brought me up to 15:15. It was relatively fruitful, 4 roach and one each of barbel and perch.
For the evening session I decided to stop changing hook baits and stick with meat until the bitter end. A tench and a barbel started the ball rolling but what made it a good decision was this 9.5lb carp!
The meat kept attracting the fish until I packed up at 17:30. A perch, 2 tench and another barbel was joined in the net by an 8lb carp. Not a bad end to a very strange first day.
I managed to get two bites on the feeder rod late on in the day but unfortunately I lost both. The first spat the hook and the second buried itself on a snag on the far bank. Here is the swim:
So at the end of the day my tally was 50 fish exactly, not bad for a day that I thought wasn't going too well.
