The Big Blank

Swan Lake, Bluebell #1

Finally Friday the 26th of May was here, a day that had been marked on the calendar for a long time. I was so excited as we loaded up the car, I couldn't wait to get to Swan Lake on the Bluebell complex and wet a line. It was a two-hour drive to the complex and on the way, my mind would wonder with expectation, the hope of hooking one of the famous fish that reside in the lake. But at the same time reality would wake me from my day dreaming. I was heading to one of the country's toughest day ticket waters, on a bank holiday. The weather was scorching and venues up and down the country had been reporting that the fish had been spawning. I was just hoping they would hold off a bit longer on Swan. It was a straight drive there with no complications, as we arrived at the lake, the first sight we were greeted with was Sandmartin Lake to the left-hand side of the road, that led to the office and Mallard Lake on the right-hand side. The place was clean and beautiful, we reported to the office to get our tickets for our stay.

     

  This was the view from the car on arriving 

at the Bluebell complex.

Mallard Lake photo was taken from phone sorry camera 

was in a bag.

After getting our tickets we made our way around to Swan Lake. After the drive around and a quick walk around the busy pit, we choose to fish the south-west end of Swan, not quite where we wanted to be but four pegs down, from the swim I had in mind. I had done some research as anyone should if going to a new venue for the first time. This corner seemed to do a good deal of fish, although to be honest, they do get caught all over the lake. The swim I wanted was taken so as I said I opted for the fourth peg down from it. I got out my marker rod and started to lead around without the marker float on first of all. I cast around trying to find a clear spot in the weed somewhere I would be able to present a rig clearly. Whilst I was doing this Lloyd got on with setting up the bivvy, Lloyd is not really into his spot fishing, he likes to be able to see the fish feeding and try and catch them that way but I on the over hand have made it my business to know all things carpy, I love the sport and want to be able to catch them at whatever venue I visit. It took me a good hour or so until I had finally found two spots that were nice, clear and free of weed. Although the lake looked clear, the bottom was full of Canadian pond weed, but I had managed to find two clear spots among the weed. The right spot was about 18 wraps out and 14 foot deep, and the left spot was 16 wraps out and about 12 foot deep. Lloyd had finished setting up base camp just as I started to put bait out over the spots I had found. I clipped the spod at 18 wraps first then reeled the braid back on, I then went back round the marker sticks to 16 wraps and clipped up again, I would put bait over this spot first. Once I had finished spomming over the first spot I moved on to the next unclipping on my last spom, I moved straight on to the second spot without having to return to the distance stick as I had already clipped up to this spot prior.        

I finally got round to putting the rigs on the spots. I went to the distance sticks and wrapped two of the rods at 18 wraps, I then moved on to the last two rods and wrapped and clipped up at 16-rod lengths. I decided that I would put the rods to the right out first, I carefully checked the rigs in the margins adding and taking away rig putty from the stiff hinges I would be presenting over the spots when I was finally happy with the rig, I cast the first rod out hitting the clip and feeling the lead down. I was happy as the lead went down with a thud I was finally fishing. I continued this process with the other three rods. They all went down perfect except the last one that took me two attempts to get the drop right on it. By the time the fourth rod was out, it was starting to get dark, I was finally able to sit back and chill for a while and watch the water.

 I stayed up late just sitting there looking and listen to the water. By the time I got to sleep it was about midnight and I was back up by 5 o'clock  in the morning. The lake looked amazing, I sat there and watched the red kite in the sky looking for its pray its early morning meal. I stuck the kettle on and had a cup of coffee, I noticed some sprats jumping from the water, I made my way over to the edge of the bank to see what the commotion was all about, it was a pike causing the trouble, every now and then it would zoom out the reeds going for one of the small fry swimming around, the Pike was trying to get his morning meal too.

Bite time came and went, other than a couple of liners nothing really happened. Later that day the wind picked up, it was strong enough to make small whites on the water. I waited to midday then spommed some bait over the spots, the wind was still strong so I opted for the large impact spod this time round, I put another couple of kg over both spots.

By the time night come the fish were splashing over our spots, I sat there hoping and willing for a run, but nothing came other than a couple of liners. I woke up the next morning to the fish spawning, my heart sunk as I knew the chance of a bite now was slim. I went through the remainder of the time at swan lake repeating the same routines. Maybe I could have done things a bit different, but I do believe that if it had been a week later I would have had one of the beautiful creatures that live in the water to show you. The last day came around far too fast and I didn't want to leave, the fish had finally stopped spawning and the weather had gone overcast and mild with a nice breeze. I noticed an oil slick and fizzing coming from my spots but time had run out I had to reel in, pack up the car and head home to the kids. Swan is a beautiful lake but not for the faint hearted I will be back there very soon. Next time I'm pretty positive I will have a monster to show you.

A visitor from the last morning he or she was a delight to see.

Wet Nets Talk Soon

xXx

www.rbafishingbait.com

www.kaptaclothing.co.uk

www.the-last-yard.co.uk

The Return To The Forgotten Swim

After The Rain

It was not until the following Sunday that I was able to get back out on the bank.

It had been raining all week, this was a good thing though, as the past year had been very dry and the lake had lost a lot of water, throughout the year. However, with the heavy constant rain, it was once again back to its old self. The drainage inlets had done their jobs pushing any rain water from the surrounding area into the lake, helping the water level to rise back again. 

Saturday evening came, as soon as the kids were in bed I got the tackle box out and started to tie rigs. I had wanted to try a couple of rigs I had read loads about lately, so I got the bits out I would need to make them and sat there playing with the pack of chod hooks from www.the-last-yard.co.uk, thinking how and which rig I would attempt to tie first. I decided on "the reverse multi rig", I would follow this up with the "reverse combi". I had also read a lot about this lately, they are both pretty similar rigs, but with the multi-version of the rig, you are able to change the hook if u need to without having to tie a whole new rig. I tied both rigs with ease and was happy with how they both looked and started willing for tomorrow evening to arrive, so I could finally get out and try them on my local. Which was looking more like its old self once again thanks to the rain!

Sunday passed by pretty quick before I knew it the kids were in bed and the time had come for me to set off to the lake. I kissed Lloyd good bye and was on my way. 

On arriving at the far end of the lake I decided to fish "the forgotten swim" again. The conditions were pretty much the same as they were when I was last here with Floyd my son. The only difference was the water level was about 2ft higher than previously, this was down to rain that we had a few days prior. 

I flicked the rigs back on to the spot we had previously fished. The deep margin to the left of the swim, as I knew this was a place the carp liked to visit and they would be pretty much left alone by other anglers, as it was an awkward spot to fish. I felt both leads down, they clonked on a firm bottom I was happy I knew I was fishing.

I scattered a hand full of bait around the spot, crushed, chopped and whole www.rbafishingbait.com spicy krill. I love these boilies, they smell like everything a carp would want to eat. On the hook end of the rig I had Rba shellfish and garlic cork ball pop up, a prototype bait I would be testing at "Swan lake - bluebell complex" the following week.

I watched the water for some time getting the odd liner. It started to get dark but new it would not be long before I was on to a fish. The sun went down behind the tree's in the west, darkness was upon me. I sat there quite, listening to the lake, fish rolling in the margins to the left of me. It's nice to sit and listen to the lake. The carp become alot more careless at this particular lake of night, giving them selfs away with their play crashing around in the water. I sat there looking across the bank at a pair of glowing eyes from a fox that stared, he or she could smell the boilies in the air dry bag and be hoping for a free meal once I had gone. All was quite and then out of the blue the buzzer screamed out and the rod hooped round to the left, I jumped from my seat grabbing the rod... keeping the rod tip low as the trees are low in this swim. Crouching down I quickly picked up the right-hand rod and placed it tip down in the margin. I did this so the fish would not cross line me whilst I was playing it, this was a good call because the fish kited right away from the snags to the left, after applying steady pressure, it kited right into the open water. It passed over the top off the right-hand rod line free without any problems. After a short battle, I pulled her over the net. Not the biggest common in the lake but more than welcome anyway.

Wet Nets Talk Soon

xXx

www.kaptaclothing.co.uk

                        

                               

Fishing With The Son

Fishing With Floyd

These blogs are based around Lloyd's and my fishing experiences, but we can not forget to mention we like to get the whole family involved. Our son Floyd has really taken to the sport, he has even joined a carp team JK angling youth team. He is really happy to be part of the team he loves getting out and fishing for carp and every time he goes he learns a little more about the sport. Floyd is developing his skills more and more each time he comes fishing with one of us.

Floyd had been going on at me and his dad for a few days to get out fishing, so Sunday after dinner his dad took him for an evening session over our local lake. Lloyd didn't take any rods he was just there to keep an eye on Floyd and keep him company. They got to the lake that was quite busy, Floyd decided he wanted to fish to the right-hand side of one of the islands, a couple of foot from some snags. He decided he wanted to fish his second rod under a willow close in, He dropped the lead and rig just under the willow tree in the margin and scattered about 30 boilies around the area, to try and tempt the weary carp into feeding. He fired some bait with his catapult over the first rod, he put about six pouches off bait over the island rod near the snags.

Floyd sat back and watched the water. It was not long before he noticed some fizzing, coming from the area of the snags near the island, where one of his rigs was sitting. A trap ready to go off.
He patiently sat waiting for his trap to go off. About an hour or so past by with the odd liner setting off the bite alarm here and there, with each time this happened Floyd jumped at the rod in hope that his trap had been set. Before long the bite alarm went off, this was no liner this was the reel thing. A carp had taken the bait and now was snared to Floyd's rig, Floyd jumped forward to his rod and grabbed it as the tip bent over, he pulled up into the carp, the 2.75 lbs rod arched with a battle curve he was into a fish. He slowly walked back up the bank to bring the fish away from the snags, Floyd now had the carp were he wanted it, out in safe water he used the back whined on the reel and the flexibility of the rod to tame and wear the carp out. Once he could see the carp was beaten he slowly pulled it over the net, With the help of his dad they broke the landing net down and took the carp over to the already wet unhooking mat. Floyd was over the moon with his catch as you can see by the picture above.

After taking a few pictures, Floyd applied some fish care to the hook hold, he then sent the carp on its way back. He then returned home with his dad, asking if I would take him next time, so I have promised that one day after school I will take Floyd to see if we can manage a quick bite or two.

Talk soon until then

Wet Nets

xXx
www.rbafishingbait.com
www.kaptaclothing.co.uk
www.the-last-yard.co.uk

The Forgotten Swim

The Forgotten Swim

Floyd and Mum

I will start this blog where the last one ended. A few days had past and my son Floyd kept reminding me that we had a fishing trip to go on together. He really didn't need to keep reminding me as I was just as excited as him. I couldn't wait to get out on the bank. I was planning on taking Floyd fishing on Wednesday after he finished school, his dad Lloyd would be home early from work so it made perfect sense. Anyway, Wednesday came around quick, after Floyd finished school we got home as quick as possible got changed into our fishing clothes and of we went to our local lake. The lake is a short walk from our house across a field. When we got there I asked Floyd how he felt about fishing a swim I call the "forgotten swim", he was more than happy to fish this swim with me. The reason I call it the forgotten swim is because no one fishes it and it is very overgrown and the water in front of it is very snaggy, however at the same time this part of the lake is very quiet with little pressure if any at all. There was a slight breeze blowing down towards this end, so it just seemed the best place to go at the time as no carp had come out anywhere else on the lake that day.

I had been wanting to fish this swim for a long time as had found a deep margin on a previous trip. The margin we fished was surrounded by overhanging snags and was only accessible from this swim. On the previous trip, I had found this margin was about two foot deeper than the rest of the water out in front, so assumed it was a place the fish would come and feed and rub the parasites of there bodies. A spot naturally made by the carp we were fishing for. We got the rods ready, Floyd cast first, just missing the tight spot and landed over a snag. We were fishing close to the left-hand margin so he walked back up the bank to try to free the snagged rig, this worked as the lead and rig come free it shot back towards me. I stuck my hand up to protect my face which resulted in the hook being embedded in my hand. Not the best of starts to our trip but these things do happen on rear occasions.

The hook didn't cause much of a problem as it was barbless, so once it had been freed we could continue with the rest of the fishing session. Floyd cast his rod this time hitting the spot perfectly. He laid the rod on the bite alarm and attached his bobbin to the line, he picked up the second rod once again hitting the small spot perfectly, Floyd sunk his line and then put the rod on his second bite alarm and repeated the same action as he did with his first rod. I picked up a couple of hand fulls of RBA spicy krill boilies and spread them around the area Floyd was fishing. That was more than enough bait for a bite. I didn't want to put to much bait in as this can ruin a swim on a short session by spooking the wary carp. However, I do love to bait up on a long session we all know that big carp love their boilies.

Floyd sat patiently waiting, watching the spot. Forty minutes passed by without a bleep, then out of the blue the bite alarm screamed the stow dropping of the line at the same time, as the rod edged forward towards the Delkim, Floyd leaped into action grabbing the rod and pulling the rod low and back towards the bank, not letting the carp get to the snags it was heading towards. He managed to get the fish out into open water but continued to play the carp low with his rod as the tree line in this swim was quite low, so playing the fish this way helped prevent unneeded tangles at the rod tip with the low lying branches. After a short but epic battle with the carp, Floyd had one! he crouched low down and pulled the fish towards the net, minding not to get tangled in the low lying trees. The beautiful common slipped over the cord and into the net.  

    

The common was long and lean full of power, Floyd was happy as always with his catch, as you can see by the picture above. The carp went back to its home as did we.

I come to the end of this blog. 

Talk soon 

Wet Nets

xXx
www.rbafishinbait.com
www.kaptaclothing.co.uk
www.the-last-yard.co.uk

Going Against The Grain

The New Swim

I have been fishing a local lake near me, it's fair to say this lake has its on and off days and can be slow at times. The carp can be very shy but if you get things right, it can be productive and throw up a few surprises at times.

Let me tell you a bit about this lake. Its about 8 to 9 acres in size, but don't hold me to that! It's shape is like two bowls, with a narrow and shallow canal that connects the two. When the water level is up, the fish can swim between the two lakes. But as last summer was really dry and the winter has been dry too, the water level has dropped quite a bit and the shallow canal has dried out. This makes it in to two separate lakes at the moment. It has a good head of fish, mainly low doubles but as I said, it has been throwing up some surprises lately. This has got me fishing it again as I really don't know what secrets this lake holds.

This lake is very mature and beautiful.

However, it does have some really big down sides to it. There is no bailiff. This means it's not looked after by anyone apart from a few anglers like myself, who care about the state of it. As it's a park lake and there is no fee for permits, it attracts a fair share of bad anglers who like to misuse it as a place to get drunk and leave there litter, which in turn gives the rest of us anglers who fish it a bad name. But hay ho,  we will carry on fighting the losing battle to try and keep it tidy.

As the weather gets warmer, the more fair weather carp anglers will come out in force. This is when the lake starts to fish hard. Sometimes its good to go against the grain. As the lake starts to get busy, I will forever be thinking of ways to keep catching when the pressure starts to make the carp shy away. The picture left, is my latest way of trying to trick those carp in to feeding. Then I could snare one or two. It all started when I was fishing on the opposite bank and noticed that most of the water out in front off me was not accessible. This was down to the big willows that over hanged and made it impossible for me to cast to the showing fish I could see. After having a lead around, and found it would be near to impossible to land the carp. This was because some nasty sunken snag's between me and them and it would be mad to try and fish this safely.

The next day, I walked along the the opposite bank and noticed where the water level had dropped. I realised that with a bit of work, I could cut a small swim in the ball rush reeds that thinned out in-between two trees. I also gave these trees a slight prune back, so I had just enough room to cast and squeeze two ten foot rods in. I prefer to use the 10 foot rods at this venue as I feel it gives me a slight edge over other anglers. I can fit into places other people generally won't fish, due to lack of room.

Once I had made the small swim, it opened up the whole of the water in front of me. This was a place the carp felt safe. Gradually, I started to apply a little bait. Steadily, I increasing the bait before putting a rig in front of them. I wanted the carp to gain confidences and feed safely with out being caught. I done this stealthily until I thought it was time to put my plan into action.

The morning came. I walked to the spot I had hidden and kept a secret for the past week. I was so excited at the thought of fishing the swim. But at the same time I knew that after doing so, someone would see me and it would no longer be a secret. The weather was perfect, low pressure, cloudy, with the odd spot of sun bursting through the clouds. I put my bite alarms in place, got the rods ready and everything seemed perfect. I flicked my rigs out on the spots I had been pre-baiting. One of them being hard and gravely, the other being clay next to a snag- I applied a little bait. I sat back and watched the water- waiting with loads of confidence.

I had been in the swim for about 30 minuets and the rod screamed off.  After a bit of a battle this upper double common was safely in the net. I was well happy. So instead off being greedy, and recasting the rod, I decided to pack up quickly. I apply a little more bait to keep the carp coming back. This was to keep carp feeding with confidence in the area. As it was still morning and just got light, there was no one else on the lake. I covered my tracks so my spot stayed a secret for that little longer.

The next day, my husband decided that he would take the older two kids fishing with him. This is so they could play at the park. He asked if it would be OK to fish the spot I had been working on. I was more than happy to let him as I knew it would not be long until someone else noticed it. As Lloyd and the kids arrived at the lake there was already a couple of people fishing. Lloyd asked if they had caught anything and both anglers told him they hadn't even had a knock. Lloyd continued to the small swim I had been working on. He set up and flicked the rigs back on the spots I had been baiting in the same way. He put out a little bait over the spots and sat back watching the water while teaching our kids how to tie rigs. An hour past by with nothing but as he watched the water he noticed a lot of bubbling and fizzing over the clay spot next to the snags. Within moments the water erupted as the Delkim screamed off. After a good battle, he slowly gained line, being careful not too put to much pressure on the fish. He tried his best not to pull the hook as he knew this fish felt a little special. He slowly pulled her over the landing net. She was his! He was so happy as he had never seen this fish before. The the other fellas that were fishing down the other end of the lake came down to see the commotion. They gave Lloyd a hand to weigh the fish. She came in at 22lbs 6oz. Lloyd was over the moon with his catch. This fish had never been caught. To our knowing, it was in perfect condition- fat, deep and thick. A truly beautiful common.

But the capture of the common carp came at a price. The location of the swim had been compromised. The capture had massively disturbed the once un-fished part of the lake. Now the carp don't feel as safe at this location anymore. They have become too weary. 

However, I already have the next plan in my head. I'm ready to put the next plan into action.

 

WET NETS

XxX

www.rbafishingbait.com

www.kaptaclothing.co.uk

www.the-last-yard.co.uk

Of to Bluebell complex in a few weeks, fishing Swan Lake, keep an eye out for the blogs!!!