The Syndicate 23-11-2013

Not a great start to the session, five miles away from the lake and I get a text from the missus telling me I left my mat, sling and sack on the line, gutted. I will have to go get them so I turn round and head home not a happy chap. Finally I get back to the lake will just over a hour of light left and find the lake empty, buzzing. Best place to start will be the middle of the lake then, I can spread the rods out and cover more area, plus I can see the whole lake from here so if anything decides to show its self I will be able to get straight on it. All three rods are out, one with Krill Feast 18mm boilie over a bed of 10s, 14s and 18s. The next rod is a single 18mm Krill Feast on its own with a little stick of EFG 661 Ready Krill Mix. The last rod is a Chod set-up on its own again. The temperature is starting to drop now its going to drop below freezing tonight so it wont be long before am in the bag. The night passed with no takes until first light, I was in the on the right rod. It was a slow fight with the fish just plodding along until she was finally in the net with minimum fuss. On the mat I was pleased to see one of the long Commons not quite a twenty but a lovely fish all the same.

 
I slipped her back with numb hands and got the rod back out before retreating to the warmth of the bag. As soon as I was warm I made breakfast and started thinking about what to do next. I sat and watched the water with not a sign of a fish so I carried on as I was apart from a couple of rig and bait changes for the first two rods. I put on a special hook bait, one which had been glugged for so time and coated to give a extra kick see if that got me a bite tonight. Nothing showed all day long so as the light started to fade on the second night I got some more grub down me and sat waiting. Its cloudy tonight so it wont be as cold as last night. I really hate just sitting there but I had no choice, I had most of the hot spots covered and with nothing showing there was nothing to move on too. Another night passed with no action. I was up at first scanning the lake hoping something with give me a sign so I move on to it. I couldn’t sit there any longer and moved up to the top end of the lake. I left the bivvy where it was and just took the essentials with me. I put two rods out on Chod set-ups and the other on a single chopped down Credence Fruit Spice. I gave it till last light with no takers and not a single show again, I have not seen a show since Friday when I got here. I would like to stay another night, its times like these when you could just get a double take as they switch on for a short period of time. I have found this to happen quite a bit in the winter and reason to carry a second net. Till next time...........  

Guesting 16-11-2013

Things are not to plan at the minute, the last two over nighters have turned out to be blanks. This week I was invited to fish a local pit which has been closed for the last three weeks. The has had three foot of water drained out of it, been netted and electro fished to remove all carp under 15lb leaving around 50 fish up to mid 30s. I didn’t arrive at the lake till late Saturday evening and had to set most of the gear up in fading light. This would have to be approached with caution as these fish were going to be right on edge but also wanting some grub. I decided to use a small amount of bait over each rod to nick a first bite and if things continued this way I would in crease the amount of freebies gradually. My first rod was using a simple Bottom Bait Rig with a Marukyu Credence Krill Feast boilie in 18mm, with this I will be using the new EFG 661 Krill Ready Mix in little sticks.

I also put in around twenty freebies a little mix of sizes from 10 to 18mm, the freebies were strategically placed in a line around the start of an bay with my hook bait being in middle. The reason I did this is I seen carp moving round this area I was trying to intercept one as it passed. The second rod was using a Chod set-up with a special Pop-up from a friend. The last rod was again using an Bottom Bait Rig with Credence Krill Feast in 14mm topped with an Pineapple flavoured Credence Change Bait, with this I put a little bag of crumbed Pineapple Boilie`s these are a high attract boilie so there would be no need for any freebies round this bait as there will be plenty of goodness leaking out.

After a few hours fishing with only one fish showing its self my middle rod roared off. Things did not feel right from the off and after a few minutes I could not longer get the carp any closer. I had hooked a trailer which got tangled around some trees on the other bank. I had to leave the rod on the alarms and walk round the lake to the other side and cut the line from the branches which released the fish. I rushed round the lake to get the carp in the net which by now was worn out and just slipped into the net. I had foul hooked this one just out the mouth so just had a quick pic and slipped her back in.

This was the only action I received in the session which was a big disappointment as this is now three blanks in a row I can only hope the next time I put some fish on the bank, so till next time...

Charlies first fishing session 22-09-2013

Today was my lads first fishing trip. Charlie is only three and has been wanting to go fishing for quite a while now. I took him to my local syndicate where I have been doing most of fishing this year. The lake is ideal as its full of Roach plus has Bream, Rudd and Tench all running to specimen sizes. Its was a nice day with the sun shining and a light breeze on the lake. As soon as we got out the car to look at the lake Charlie was jumping with joy to see the lake, we could see the Roach topping on the other bank just where the breeze was catching the water. I did put a couple of rods out on the far margin to try get a quick bite. We both sat and set the rod up Charlie helping to put the line through the eyes of the rod and thread the float on. I cast out quickly to check the weight was correct and the float just disappeared, I thought the weight was wrong until I lifted the rod up with a small Roach on the end. It had taken just the hook this was a great start the Roach were hungry and we had a pint of Marukyu Krilled Maggots to fill them up on. Things could not of gone better as soon as the float hit the water it righted itself and was then pulled straight under by Charlie`s first Roach.

His face light up while he was reeling it in and when he pulled it out the water there was big “I got one daddy” to say I was a proud father was an understatement. We carried on fishing with Charlie catching around 20 fish and each time his face was a picture. I was also very pleased he held all the fish he caught for a photo and gives a cheeky smile for the camera.

We had been fishing for around an hour and half when I got a call off the missus to come home as Charlie`s nannar was on her way. I did think he might get bored after a couple so I was over the moon he enjoyed it.

We packed up and Charlie feed the rest of the Krilled Maggots to the Roach using the catapult which he was very good with. I look forward to taking him again and it will be Ella`s turn next year. I cant wait the future of fishing is here....

 

Somerset guest session 16-07-2013

5 am start today with a 3 hour drive down south. We arrived at the lake at around 8.30 after a stop off at MacDonald’s for a breakfast, well, It would be rude not to! First look at the lake and am impressed, lots of big overhanging trees and even better there are plenty of carp on the top basking in the morning sun. It was nice to see a lot of the stock on the top but I knew it was not going to be an easy task, so first things first the stalking rod is out and am walking round getting a look at the stock and looking for likely places to put a bait.

After a few hours with no takers I started planning the attack for night time, this is when I thought I was likely to get a bite. I had a walk round with a rod feeling around in a few spots to build a picture of the lake bed, not much to go on feature wise with depths of 4 foot max; the margins seemed like the best place to start. I found a few clear spots in the slit and started putting a little bait in. The first rod was to be fished over the top of a bed of particles with Credence fruit spice boilies, the particle mix was made up of pigeon condition, hemp, tares and maize all from my local tackle shop Soar Tackle, in the cooking process I added a couple cups of sugar and half a tub of Horlicks, this helps to boost the natural aroma that comes from seeds. I also added to this mix a good helping of credence fruit spice some ground up and some chops plus the odd whole one these go very well with this sweet mix. The second and third rod was to be fished over small beds of boilies, I say a small bed because I don’t feel like the fish are going to really get their heads down tonight, if you think about its red hot at the minute pressure is high I don’t want to eat a big meal a little salad would be much nicer and easier to digest. Now am not saying this is the case all the time but the way the fish are acting today it doesn’t look likely I will get many runs.
I put 2 rods out on zigs for a few hours just to see if I could get a sneaky bite. An hour later I was in, from the off something didn’t feel right this one was foul hooked in the tail which after 5 minutes pulled out, I was not a happy man not for the fact I lost it for the fact of the damage this may of caused the fish and being un able to treat it. A couple of hours later I had a repeat on the other rod this time I did get it in and was able to treat a wound on the petal fin and return it. 

After this I bought both zigs in and changed over to my bottom rigs for the night. The left rod was fished with a Marukyu Credence Krill feast boilie topped with half a Credence pop-up, a good dose of Marukyu Credence liquid was also poured over the hook bait, this thick brown liquid sticks to the bait and will still be around my hook bait for some time. This was fished over a small bed of whole and chopped Credence Krill feast, the second rod was fished with a Credence pop-up over a bed of particles and the third was another bottom bait using Marukyu Credence Fruit spice boilie topped with a piece of Credence corn again with Credence liquid, fished over a small bed of Fruit spice boilies. All three rods were cast without rigs onto the opposite bank. I walked round with the three rigs and clipped them on, then I used a fourth rod with just hook to line, using a small piece of pva string I tied hook to hook and was able to lower my rigs in as if by hand onto the lake bed. Well the first night went by with no takers so it was back to the drawing board, the next day was the same as before most of the carp on the top basking in the sun all day long. I tried to get them on some floaters with no luck; I also tried stalking them with some free lined bread in the margins but still no takers. Again the night time is going to be the best chance of a take, so back out with the rigs on the baited areas repeating the process from the day before; I topped the areas up with a little bait. 

 At 10.30 just as the light had faded I was in with a drop back, a steady fight to get the fish under the rod tip and thankfully into the net. Not a big fish for this lake but a stunner all the same and one happy angler, I had to really work for that bite and my time was not over yet so the rig placing procedure was repeated once again and I sat back rubbing my hands hoping this was the start of a good night, but this is carp fishing and things didn’t quite go to plan there. That was the only proper take of the session well as they say it only takes one bite……..