A week in Devon.

We slowly drove up to the farm, through the trees a pristine, yet weedy lake presented itself to us.
A cavalcade of snags and overhangs, rushes and pads, bays and bars, but most importantly, Carp.

We booked one of Wagland cottages for a week, my family and my girlfriend, with the intent that it was one of those 'family holidays', but we all knew that I'd be fishing for the whole week, especially when there was a two acre lake full of big Carp, literately thirty seconds away.
The surroundings certainly did have character, the cottages were old, converted barns, built on thick slate hills, surrounded by the patchwork fields of Dartmoor.
We arrived mid afternoon on a Saturday, and we were to leave the next Saturday about the same time, so after un-packing and settling down after a brew, I was down the lake with the Polaroids looking for any signs of Carp.

One of the regular syndicate members was fishing in the so called ' Dug out swim', a quiet little corner, surrounded by heavy weed and pads. Obviously I picked his brains for a while, trying to squeeze as much information about the lake as possible, before resuming my patrol around the lake.
The Carp were there, I was standing on 'the point', a fairly new swim by the looks, and to say the Carp were everywhere would be an understatement.
The Carp patrolled their way through the thick maze of Canadian pond, rarely sinking down with an explosion of bubbles and fizzing in tiny holes in the weed. Clear spots seemed to be a rarity, with a majority of the gravel spots being very deep, ten foot in some places.
Memorizing where I planned to place a few rigs, I rushed back to the cottage to grab my gear, and was back like a flash.

I still had my old rigs on the rods, about a foot of anti-tangle tubing, a fox lead-clip, then to my preferred fluorocarbon hook-link, but i knew this wouldn't cut it, it was far too obtrusive, and way more likely to get tangled up in all the thick weed if I were to have a fish.
Taking on board the advice I had received from the Syndicate member, I decided to fish an inline lead setup, with a long length of tungsten anti-tangle tubing, a 2oz in line lead, and a  short rig compiled of JRC Cocoon clay braid, and a Size Eight Korda Krank topped with an 18mm Creamy Nut wafter.
The presentation was neat, camouflage and subtle, and my confidence was high.
I tied a stringer of chopped boilie onto both rigs, and a simple underarm cast placed both rods exactly where I wanted them, both in gaps in the weed where I regularly saw fish fizzing.

This was fishing on the point, the left had rod is positioned in a gap on the weed to the left, and the same for the right hand rod.

It was a matter of hours before I had my first run, the left hand rod arched over, and a swirl immersed from the gap in the weed! I was buzzing, especially after members have said how un-productive and difficult this lake was, I was almost certain i'd blank for the whole week.
I saw the Carp gliding among the weed, thrashing desperately trying to escape my net, but after a strong and hairy fight, the Carp subsided into the net, where he sulked as I panicked to sort my scaled and sling out.
Ten pound, nine ounces of lean, hard fighting Mirror, with bursts of dark, oak scales.

Un-fortunately I had no camera, I left it at the cottage with the impression that I wouldn't catch, plus I wanted to get down as quickly as I could, so I took minimal gear, damn!

My confidence was immense, I felt that I already knew the feeding characteristics of the Carp, I couldn't wait to fish the next day, I was happy to pack up, safe in the knowledge that I'd catch a Carp tomorrow.
And thus began the first pack up, interrupted by a small Tench, greedy bugger.


I woke up late the next day, and it certainly was a scorcher. The famous Devon sunshine had made an appearance, and as I overlooked the lake from the garden, I decided to setup a stalking rod, and spend the day stealthily worming round the lake, hoping to pick up a Carp.
The day was frustrating to say the least. I've never met Carp so timid, even trying to gently open the bail arm resulted in the fish simply turning away, combined with the high, afternoon sun turning the Carp lazy.

But what felt like the 60th walk around the lake with a rod, net and pocketful's of bait, I saw a thick, murky cloud of clay and silt being churned up with a frenzy of bubbles, no doubt a Carp.
I was so determined to catch a Carp, I was even crouching behind rushes, paranoid that the Carp would spook. But with my Polaroids, I filtered through the water's glare, and just my luck.
Two Carp, they looked decent too, both feeding heavily, and confidently in a small bay, tucked away in the corner of the lake. Being greedy myself, obviously I wanted to catch the bigger fish, so with precision, stealth and pure skill, I lowered the trimmed down Creamy Nut boilie just out of the Carp's vision, and stood with utter lack of motion, just like a Heron.
In seconds the fish took the boilie, and I struck with a rush of pure adrenaline.
The fight was hairy, negotiating past pads, rushed weed, and even Carp!
He fought like a brute, and I had to sacrifice a foot to the lake to land this Carp, but it certainly was worth it.

Sixteen pound on the dot, of thick, Devon Carp. I was over the moon.

Apologies for the poor camera quality, taken with an Ipod.

Again, the next day was very slow, the heat resulted in the fish becoming reluctant to feed, even the silvers retreated to the shade for the day. So I took a day of the fishing to visit Dartmouth, a recommended place to visit, it was a beautiful day out!

The last Carp I caught was on Monday, and both Tuesday and Wednesday I blanked.
But on Thursday I changed my approach, I scaled down completely.
I changed to a more camouflage braid, smaller hooks, ( Krank size 10) and 15mm boilies.
I also changed my baiting approach, as before i'd use a pva stringer of boilies and and maybe a handful over the top. But now I went all in. Four handfuls of boilies on both spots, and It certainly worked!
Within the first hour, I saw multiple fish, cruising and meandering over my spots.
I spotted a ghostie, the biggest fish there for certain, I really wanted to catch that fish.

I said to my girlfriend, "I reckon that left hand rod's going to go off any minute", and no more than 3 minutes late, the double tone of the Delkim broke the silence and the clutch screamed.

Due to the weed situation, I had the luxury of landing fish from a floating platform ( A boat)
This made playing and landing fish a lot more easier, and safer.
I saw the fish roll on the surface, it was the ghostie!
I was both ecstatic and scared that the fish would come off, but after a hearty struggle, the fish was ghillied! 

My expression says it all.

17.1 Lb of immaculate Ghost Common.

The fishing was slow after this Ghostie, with another angler arriving on the lake, causing me to loose my focus and also my confidence, I fished for the whole night, loosing a Carp in very early hours, and landing a Tench at near sunrise.
It was Saturday morning now, and the final pack up began.
Fishing in Devon certainly was an enjoyable experience, and a massive thank-you to Warwick and his wife who made the holiday, and the fishing even more enjoyable than it was.
I certainly recommend a trip to Wagland Farm Cottages, not only for a smashing holiday with stunning views of Dartmoor all around, but also a great bit of fishing.

Although my blogs are very centered on Carp, like most are these days, I'd just like to point out the amazing Coarse fishing at Waglands. Only half an hour on a float saw me beating my Roach personal best, and also my Rudd, both at about the two pound mark.

Back in Hampshire now, and it's back to my usual Club lake and hopefully the publicity ban water for some bigger Carp, still hunting those elusive Southwick bigguns.

http://www.waglandfarmcottages.co.uk/index.html

All the Carp were caught on - Severn Baits 'Creamy Nut' wafters.

http://www.severnbaits.co.uk/