From the second I woke up, I knew fishing would be hard.
That feeling of a high pressure was in the air, and I could feel the warm and mild breeze through my window.
It was cloudy outside, but the forecast predicted some 'light showers', I hoped this rain may bring a drop in the pressure, and may bring the Carp on the feed. I still felt confident in my baits and rigs, and i still had high hopes for catching.
As I arrived on the estate lake; large, dark and gloomy pillars of rain appeared over the distant hill, and a distant rumble of thunder rolled across the lake, I was eager to get set up and in shelter in as little time as possible.
I decided to fish up the "top" end of the lake, although it's much shallower, it's been known for some of the bigger fish.
Southwick park is not a particularly prolific water, but yet it's not the most complex water to target.
The lake is fed from a small river, creating a gravel channel across the bottom of the lake on one side, this is a regular catching spot for the bigger Carp, and so i decided to target this area in my swim, along with a baited marginal spot.
That feeling of a high pressure was in the air, and I could feel the warm and mild breeze through my window.
It was cloudy outside, but the forecast predicted some 'light showers', I hoped this rain may bring a drop in the pressure, and may bring the Carp on the feed. I still felt confident in my baits and rigs, and i still had high hopes for catching.
As I arrived on the estate lake; large, dark and gloomy pillars of rain appeared over the distant hill, and a distant rumble of thunder rolled across the lake, I was eager to get set up and in shelter in as little time as possible.
I decided to fish up the "top" end of the lake, although it's much shallower, it's been known for some of the bigger fish.
Southwick park is not a particularly prolific water, but yet it's not the most complex water to target.
The lake is fed from a small river, creating a gravel channel across the bottom of the lake on one side, this is a regular catching spot for the bigger Carp, and so i decided to target this area in my swim, along with a baited marginal spot.
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| (You can see the trench the river had engraved along the course of the lake, this session; I am fishing towards the right of the image.)
From the second I got my brolly up, it began to rain, but i managed to catapult about two dozen Creamy Nut Fusion boilies over my desired spots, and managed to get my simple, yet very effective rig out.
The rig is a simple 'bolted' hair rig, using a size ten Gardner Target Specimen hooks, on a 9 inch length of ESP Ghost fluorocarbon. Personally I prefer to use the lightest lead I can get away with, so a small 3/4 ounce lead did the job.
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A Creamy Nut Fusion Wafter was used on my rig, 18mm but trimmed down to an unusual shape to lure the fish to an irregular object, in hope they'd be intrigued to bite. And then to this I added a stringer of 15/18mm boilie chops to create a small handful of bait around my spot.
To nearly all of my boilie fishing, I add a Tiger nut extract, by Sensas. This makes the boilies sweet and sticky, and really gives them a sweet, creamy smell, it's perfect too for stick mixes and spod mixes in combination with Creamy Nut boilies. A perfect edge to anybodies fishing.
To nearly all of my boilie fishing, I add a Tiger nut extract, by Sensas. This makes the boilies sweet and sticky, and really gives them a sweet, creamy smell, it's perfect too for stick mixes and spod mixes in combination with Creamy Nut boilies. A perfect edge to anybodies fishing.
As the day progressed I was feeling confident although I managed to miss a bite, the worst of rain had cleared up, along with the thunder and lightening, and there was an immense pressure drop. A cool breeze created a gentle ripple on the lake, pushing the fish onto my spots, and within ten minutes of this weather change, I began receiving bites on the Delkim.
I began to boil the kettle when the alarm screamed into action and the rod tip arched over.
A simple fight, yet trying to keep the fish away from plunging into a nearby tree was a challenge, but as i netted it, it looked a very small fish for the lake. I didn't bother weighing it, but it looked and felt about six, maybe seven pound.
I fished both my marginal and gravel spots intermittently throughout the day, both producing a bite every few hours.
But now the wind had died, and there was a blazing sun. A few began to cruise, but an occasional gust of wind kept them down. Bite time on this lake is around two/three o'clock depending on the conditions, but there was certainly no bites for me, as I sat under the brolly, pondering upon my technique.
The Stow bobbin remained static up until about 30 minutes from packing up, when it ripped off the line, waiting for me to strike. It felt a slightly better fish than the other stockies, and made a real effort to find sanctuary within the fallen tree. But a tight clutch, a sharp angle and plenty of persistence eventually pulled the fish away, and he slipped into my net without a fuss.
Certainly the fish of the day, a long dark Common, maybe licking ten pounds, but i know for sure there are fish nearly three times the size in the lake.
A simple fight, yet trying to keep the fish away from plunging into a nearby tree was a challenge, but as i netted it, it looked a very small fish for the lake. I didn't bother weighing it, but it looked and felt about six, maybe seven pound.
I fished both my marginal and gravel spots intermittently throughout the day, both producing a bite every few hours.
But now the wind had died, and there was a blazing sun. A few began to cruise, but an occasional gust of wind kept them down. Bite time on this lake is around two/three o'clock depending on the conditions, but there was certainly no bites for me, as I sat under the brolly, pondering upon my technique.
The Stow bobbin remained static up until about 30 minutes from packing up, when it ripped off the line, waiting for me to strike. It felt a slightly better fish than the other stockies, and made a real effort to find sanctuary within the fallen tree. But a tight clutch, a sharp angle and plenty of persistence eventually pulled the fish away, and he slipped into my net without a fuss.
Certainly the fish of the day, a long dark Common, maybe licking ten pounds, but i know for sure there are fish nearly three times the size in the lake.
A slow and disappointing pack up commenced, I knew I was doing everything right, and I was certain big fish were in the area. The gentle cool of the evening christened the whole lake, and I began to load up the barrow, still hoping the rod may still rip away, but it remained stationary. Fish were still topping over the top, and if it wasn't for my dad's request to pack up, I would've fish up until dark.
The same methods will be applied next session, maybe next time a bigger bait, a bigger hook, and a heavier lead, just to try and sift through the smaller Carp, and target a specimen.
I'm still very confident in my tactics, and hope it's just a matter of time before one of the lakes elusive specimen Carp induces my Creamy Nut hookbait.
The same methods will be applied next session, maybe next time a bigger bait, a bigger hook, and a heavier lead, just to try and sift through the smaller Carp, and target a specimen.
I'm still very confident in my tactics, and hope it's just a matter of time before one of the lakes elusive specimen Carp induces my Creamy Nut hookbait.
Nicely done Barney. Keep plugging away, I'm sure one of those specimens will slip up soon.
ReplyDeleteRegards
SK