Recently I booked sometime off work, in belief my new syndicate was to open, but this was not to be due to on-going legal reasons with the lease. With this throwing a spanner in the works, I decided to re-join the water I concentrated most of my winter carping last year, where I managed seven bites. The fishing was challenging, with many testing cold blank nights. However, the stamp of carp made it more than worth the effort.
After securing my ticket I made a start on the lake and the first few nights were extremely testing, despite the carpy conditions. The park life was out to get me, swans, coots, tufties, mallards, sea gulls and crayfish to name just a few. The fishing had been hard going for most apparently, even in the going swims. I needed an edge or something that was different to what the other anglers were doing.
I decided to fish from an unused area of the lake where a bit of finesse and accuracy was required, but with a little forethought it was achievable. I thought long and hard about how I could keep a bait in the water and one I thought could reset itself ready for a browsing carp should it get picked up or interfered with by the ‘park life’. I placed my faith in the ever successful ‘hinged stiff rig’ made from a size 6 Covert Chod hook, 20lb Trip Wire and a boom section made new Trick Link in 25lb which ties beautifully. The hookbait was something a little different, a section of orange Zig Rig Foam that I shaped and attached with a 6.4mm Latex Bait Band through the centre. I added a hair stop after being glugged in Leon Bartropp’s Day Ticket Coconut Krill for a couple of days to match my free offerings. I dispatched the rig on nightfall to a firm sandy area under a treeline which covered an island margin at around 65 yards range, where I fished two rods about eight feet apart.
At around 8.30am the following morning the silence was broken by my left hand ATTs bite alarm and then after a short yet spirited fight, I soon slipped the net under an immaculate dark linear mirror. Fortunately for me an early morning dog walker assisted with the photographs and I was soon safely returning my capture. Although it was far cry from one of the real biggies, its appearance and mint condition far outweighed just a number.
This was to be my only carp of the session but one of two carp were caught by the syndicate members that week. Sometimes it’s the tiniest of detail or change that gets you the bite you are looking for. As it turned out I kept that rig in the water despite the birds being all over the spot diving. I think alternative hookbaits will feature a lot in my angling on the park lake and the possibilities are limitless…
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