I was due to have a couple of nights fishing my new water around my birthday and I planned to arrive before daylight to watch the water as the sun rose. I arrived at 3am and walked round to the point swim, which has got the best view of the whole lake to wait to see if the carp were willing to let me know their whereabouts. I sat on my bucket and all of a sudden I heard one to my left, I jumped up and with that saw another stick its head out at around fifty yards range. I walked round to a swim that gave better line lay and whilst sat there I saw a further two. I rushed back to the car to retrieve all my gear and get in there and have a go for them.
Whilst setting up I carried on watching the water for any signs on where I could position the rods. There was one spot that screamed carp as a fish had showed twice and patches of bubbles were erupting from the bottom. I needed to place a bait as close to the area as possible without spooking them. I was using the ever faithful 16lb Mirage fluorocarbon main line, 25lb green Plummet Leadcore, green Covert Lead Clip and a small 1.5oz lead, which I hoped would reach the area with little disturbance. My choice of hook length was 25lb green Trickster Heavy braid. I have had great success using this hook length as everyone seems to be using the coated braids, its suppleness is a great edge and I think the fish find it hard to deal with. Hook wise I tied on a size 10 Covert Incizor, a small yet very strong hook and curved a piece of Covert Shrink Tube over a steaming kettle to create an aggressive angle.
I had also had great results using my favourite boilie from the Dynamite stable which is Monster Tiger Nut, I wanted to use half a pop up and half bottom bait on the hair to create a critically balanced bait. I chopped a few baits in half and made a small Micromesh PVA bag, adding some Rigwise Dissolving Foam nuggets into the tube, followed by some more chopped baits. I cut the PVA stocking leaving an inch tag, where I nicked the hook through and added another foam nugget to protect the hook point. With the rod ready I lined it up with the tree opposite and punched the rig out to the area where the fish had been bubbling. It landed in the zone first time, so I marked the line with marker elastic and let the Mirage main line settle and sink flush to the lakebed. I waited for the Dissolving Rig Foam to pop to the surface and fired thirty baits around the area. As there was obviously fish in the area, I quickly set up my left hand rod, which was going to be a single pop up cast the similar distance but positioned at the side of the baited area. The rig components were exactly the same apart from I added a small split shot sink the pop up. I positioned the rig with minimal disturbance and marked the line so I could reposition it if needed. It was now time to relax set everything else up and put the kettle on.
The day past uneventfully and the fish stopped showing, I thought I had blown it. My mate turned up around 6pm with a bag full of McDonald’s and we both got through it with gusto. My mate left around 11pm and I put the kettle on for my last cuppa, the kettle had just boiled when my right hand rod was away. I was on it in a flash and bent into a fish which was motoring to my right, I managed to turn her and gain control and with steady pressure and a few scary moments I led her into my waiting net. It looked a cracking fish, so I quickly secured the net and phoned my mate who was driving home to see if he could come back to do the pictures and he kindly agreed.
My friend arrived and after parting the mesh we were greeted by the sight of a cracking mirror weighing 27lb 12oz. After returning my prize, I recast the rod back out there and got in the bag buzzing. During the night I had a few liners and thought it might happen. My alarm woke me at 4am and I got out and put the kettle on. Whilst drinking my third cup of tea I saw my first one, it was opposite me about 120yrds away. I kept my eyes on the area and saw a further two show and that was when I decided to move round there. It took about thirty minutes to get my barrow to the swim and once in there it was just a case of watching again to see if I could pinpoint where they were. Whilst I was doing this the swim that I had just moved from was quickly snapped up, so I hoped I had made the right decision. It seemed like ages before one gave its presence away and once the area was located I carried out the same process as before with the rods and then it was just a matter of time. I watched the water all day and saw no further shows, but I was convinced that they were still around. As day turned into night, I had some dinner then after a few more teas called it a night around 10pm as had to be off early the next day. I woke at 5am to see if anything showed and try and convince myself to stay for a few more hours. I saw little in the way of activity, so I surrendered and packed away chuffed to have caught one on my birthday session.
Be lucky Peter
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