Day Ticket Carping

Theres always an anticipation prior to arriving at a day ticket carp water as to how many anglers will already be set up on the banks and this is always confirmed with the number of vehicles present in the carp park.  As we drove through the entrance we could see there was just one other van parked up, excellent news, im not a fan of fishing over crowded waters.

My Father had booked a few days off work so we decided to fish a couple of different venues during the week as its been a while since we'd fished together.  Today we chose a venue which I hadnt fished for a couple of years, so we parked up and took a stroll around the lake looking for signs of carp or obvious carpy features.  We soon spotted a carp crashing at the windward end of the lake just off a tree lined island.  As this was the only movement we spotted, this seemed as good a place as any, with the added bonus that the swims also had good margin features, which is my favourite type of fishing.

Chunky Margin Caught Mirror

My margin swim had overhanging branches, providing fish looking to feed in the area, a little bit of cover, into this I fed pellets and broken boilies.  I really enjoy this close up fishing, setting little traps with accurate baiting.  Alot of anglers ignore the margins however I have had some good results by concentrating on them.  When margin fishing, back-leading, in my opinion is essential, everything is kept as close to the lake bed as possible giving the carp more confidence to feed.   My second spot was towards the island, about a 25 yard cast, my aim was to land the rig as close to the newly budding branches as possible.  I catapulted whole boilies towards the island, scattering them in an area about the size of a snooker table.  Ideally I am trying to create a feeding pattern where carp are searching out boilies and moving throughout my swim, picking up one boilie then moving onto the next one, giving me greater chance of a take.  This is my favourite method of catching carp unless Im fishing in the margins, when I use a carpet of feed over a small area combined with a heavy lead and short rig.

Always Back Lead in the Margins

Carp in this lake go up to 20lbs, so we were never going to break any records today expecially with the cold wind that was persisting.  I was using a 3FootTwitch test boilie on my "island" rod and a small bait on the margin rod.  It was the island rod that rattled off first and after an hour, and I was into my first carp of the season, as I played the fish towards me, eventually a lovely fully scaled mirror getting on for 10lbs surfaced.  The old man readied the net just as I got the fish under control, the lips broke the surface, a flick of its tail and the hook pulled - gutted!  It felt cold in the strong breeze as the sun flitted in and out of the heavy clouds and 10 minutes later I was into my second carp again on the 3FootTwitch Bait, the bites though were not screamers which tells me the water remained cold and bites seemed tentative as minutes later I lost my second carp of the day!!  I checked the hook and rig no obvious reasons for a hook pull!  I was using whole 14mm 3FootTwitch Boilie which I will be testing on a variety of carp waters over the coming months.  Maybe the carp were feeding on smaller food items.  I whittled down a boilie and recast towards the island.

The margin rod was the next to go, on a 10mm boilie, the bobbin danced tight against the rod due to the baitrunner being set tighter due to fishing into overhanging branches.  After a nice fight a chunky margin caught mirror was in the net.

8lb +

Lost 2, landed one.  In the meantime the old man had landed a brace, both coming from rods cast towards the island.  

The Island Swim

The next couple of carp were in the 6-7lb bracket.  Then the next take turned out to be the biggest of the day, caught on the island rod on a 3FootTwitch test bait, which I whittled down into a barrel shape as I didnt feel the carp where after larger food items.  It was now a little later in the day, with the wind subdued, it felt warmer and this carp made the bite alarm scream and the bobbin fall from the departing line.  The old man acted as gillie and after a decent scrap he netted another nice looking mirror.  It went 9lb+ and obliged for a photo before we slipped it back into the lake.  Between me and the old man we managed 11 carp and lost a few.

Never going to break records but good results on a new bait

It felt great to be back on the bank fishing again.  You dont realise how much you miss being around nature, I fed some ducklings, spotted several species of birds including skylarks and buzzards and watched bumble bees flying low to the ground searching for a new home.  

A few months ago my wife gave me the news I was going to be a Dad, so the last couple of months have seen me working every hour I can and when not working painting, de-cluttering and gardening to make things nice for when the baby arrives.  So as you can understand this is why my fishing has been limited, Family always comes first in my book, however I have many sessions planned for the coming warmer months, including fishing a lake that hasnt seen an angler in many years, im excited as to what it holds in its murky depths.  

Going forward I will be using 3FootTwitch baits in search of Carp, Barbel and Tench, and NO I do not recieve Free Bait, what I can say is they are a bait company with an increasing following, great catch record and the range is growing all the time, not just boilies they  provide pastes, dips and groundbaits.

Until next time, Tight Lines