Winter 2018

Well the year has turned and it’s time to reflect on the first part of my winter fishing. To be honest I am only counting from November as October 2018 was really a continuation of summer, temps up to 19 degrees C during the day, sunny and warm so not like winter at all. November found me on the Waveney around Bungay. Pike up to 6 pound were in abundance using a wobbled deadbait. A session using a light quiver tip produced plenty of roach and dace. December I did a night session for carp in Essex on a gravel pit and was happy with a fully scaled mirror carp of ten pounds. Not a big fish but so beautiful. At the end of December I had a couple of sessions at Ellingham Hall lakes Norfolk. I fished with punched bread and worms as bait and fed liquidised bread. Plenty of roach and rudd along with small perch were caught as well as some small carp up to three and a half pounds.

I feel that in winter it’s really important for me to catch fish. In the summer I may take a risk and try some challenging waters as even if I don’t catch at least it’s pleasant and warm. Winter when you are not catching is hard for the soul. I am now planning to try rivers again and deciding what to go for is part of the fun for me. Happy New year everyone and tight lines.

John Wilson – A Tribute.

The world of angling has dimmed somewhat with the sad news that the famous angler, writer, TV presenter and ambassador for the sport of angling, died at his home in Thailand aged 75.  For me along with many anglers, John was a major influence on my love of fishing through his TV shows, articles and books. Along with Izaak Walton and Dick Walker it’s hard to think of someone who has had a greater influence on fishing.

We will probably never see his like again. When he started his TV shows in the 1980’s there were only four channels, there was no internet or video games no box sets of TV to watch. Kids were still going out on their bikes to play football and go fishing. Adults would go fishing, enjoying the peace and being out in nature.

The afternoon I read the news of his passing, I went down to the river Waveney in Bungay to fish for roach in his honour. Since moving to the Waveney valley earlier this year I have often thought of John as I fished many of the places his used to fish. His autobiography gave an insight into his life and it seems to me he was a man who lived like he fished. If there was an opportunity he would embrace it. He gained knowledge and skill and was not afraid to take a risk and would therefore reap great rewards. He was always positive and viewed the natural world in almost childlike wonder while at the same time having a deep understanding of wildlife. RIP John Wilson thanks for your life well lived and thanks for sharing part of it with us.

Should we stop talking down rivers?

I remember about 20 years ago reading John Wilsons Book 50 years a fisherman. In the book he charts his career as an angler. In his young years he would travel up from Enfield to fish the river Waveney around Bungay in the 1960’s. He talks of the glorious deep river where there were roach to over two pounds and the flow allowed long trotting to be the most used method for catching these wonderful fish. Even the side streams were full of water and full of roach to specimen sizes. Along with the roach were pike willing to be caught. He talks, in the book, about how changes to the river caused by water abstraction and the appearance of cormorants and other predators totally denuded the river of its roach. The river was now little more than a trickle and unsuitable for fishing. The message I got from the book that its not worth fishing the river. 

This year I moved to Beccles near Bungay and joined the Bungay Cherry tree angling club, the same club that John Wilson joined all those years ago. It is true that it is not as deep and as fast flowing as described in John’s book.  Many side streams are only ankle deep. During the long hot summer of 2018 I noticed that it was getting very low and clear. However, I spotted many large chub among the fronds of reed and even caught the odd one late on in the summer. 

As autumn kicked in I started to target the river around Bungay and to my joy and surprise I found large numbers of roach and dace along with perch chub and pike. Of course the roach are not specimen size the largest being only 8 ounces but there are lots of them. After autumn rains the river is now carrying a tinge of colour and decent flow. While it’s true that rivers and their fish populations are under pressure is there an issue that angling writers are talking down rivers and that adds to their decline as people don’t bother fishing them?  With participation in angling now in decline I think that it’s a mistake to just talk about catching carp in gravel pits. We should be encouraging people to give rivers more of a try. For me the more people that care about river fishing the more likely it is that we can help protect them. So my message is rivers are great, yes they are under pressure but they are still worth it. Carp fishing takes up time and in our busy, on demand world, we often don’t have much time for our leisure. Yet a few snatched hours on a river in the morning or evening can be very rewarding. Give it a go you know it makes sense.

New fishing, new me

Well that didn't take long. Finally I've semi-retired. And guess what. I have been able to rediscover my love of all things piscatorial. Four days after walking out of my work place for the last time and I was fishing with Pat on Soapers syndicate for my first proper session of the year here. I discovered that, the mixture of high pressure and the usual heavy weed accompanied with the fact that this is a hard lake, had resulted in very few carp over the recent weeks. Some very large Catfish have been out but carp were spooky and coy. They were not keen to put in an appearance. Needless to say we all blanked. 

My next trip, two days later, was to a private stretch of the river Stort for float fishing with maggots. Very old school to watch a float bob and weave down flowing water. The dip of the float resulted in nice small silver fish. I had mostly small chub but a few roach and perch also put in an appearance. I also had a surprise pike that decided to grab a small fish that was on the end of my line and ended up in my landing net. It was nice to be reacquainted with this old river and the fact that the owner has a café nearby doing great all day breakfast was a bonus.

Well it’s late in the year to do my first night session but that is what I did a couple of days later. The bivvy was set up on Soapers, which was doing its level best to pretend it was devoid of carp. It was an unseasonably warm still night and the lake looked great in the gathering expectant gloom. I did manage to catch a large bream which took a liking to my coconut boilie. There is nothing better than the first cup of coffee in the morning after a night on the bank and Pat duly provided this so thanks mate.

A few days passed and I had a day session on Broads Green Lake near Chelmsford. Part of the Chelmsford AA portfolio of waters. I used a snowman rig to good effect casting to where carp were showing themselves, with the other rod casting short to over-hanging trees to my left. In all I had three carp all low doubles (one mirror and two commons).  Andy popped down after he finished work to see how I was getting on.

So now it’s about planning my fishing trips with the occasional day working. Whatever happens this first couple of weeks has been about getting back in groove as an angler. Looking forward to more trips to venues near and far. And even Soapers must give up her carp sometime soon shouldn’t she?

The In and out group phenomenon

I am struck by how anglers are not immune to the phenomenon that human beings have in deciding who is in the IN group and who is out of it in the OUT group. I expect it of football supporters. If you support a particular team, you’re part of a tribe that other supporters are not in, they are in a different tribe. What I am often surprised about is exactly how deep this stratification goes in fishing. Match Anglers v Carp/Specimen Anglers is an old chestnut that goes back to the 1950’s. Fly anglers v coarse anglers goes back to 19^th Century.

Recently I have become more frustrated about this as different groups seem to claim they have the “soul” of fishing.  For me the “in group” are Anglers and the “out group” are non anglers, yet we seem to stratify ourselves and downplay other branches of the sport. Recently I read the first chapter of a Diary on traditional angling. The whole first chapter seemed to me a tirade against modern Carp fishing, outlining that with all the mod cons and obsession with size, Carp angling as now practiced has, in some way lost its soul. Only cane rods centerpin’s and floppy hats should be considered. It’s almost like these anglers are part of a historical re-enactment society. If everyone fished like them the tackle industry would have gone belly up years ago. And if there are no tackle shops anymore because you are still using your 1962 Grice and Young centerpin where the hell are you going to buy your gentles from.

On the other hand I abhor the attitude of some Modern Carp anglers that every other angler who fishes for ‘lesser species are not ‘proper anglers’ and I have heard the term Noddy used to describe anyone who does not chase big carp with silly names. In my experience while there are some very expert Carp anglers there are plenty who have all the gear and no idea. It’s not rushing out to buy matching Delkim alarms to go with your 3.5lb test curve Infinity rods that makes you a carp angler, its old fashioned things like time patience and watercraft.

The term fluff chucker is often used to describe fly anglers and so it goes on. For me, as an all-round pleasure angler I cannot understand this attitude.  As long as you are a considerate angler and competent enough to not cause damage to the environment, it does not matter what you fish for or how you do it. It must be remembered that Izaak Walton no less did make these arbitrary  distinctions and with his friend and co-author Charles Cotton, describe the beauty of fishing with bait and fly for many species of fish that they found in the rivers of old England. Do what feels right for you but please don’t slag off those who, find their own path to piscatorial heaven. 

When just being there is enough

After a winter of wind and rain a brief respite in the weather coincided with some time off. Over to the syndicate lake I go with pike gear and dead baits. To be honest it was really too bright for any real chance of success and I started too late. However, sometimes it’s all about being in with a chance. Small silver fish broke the surface and I was sure that this was caused by a pike or a perch.  The bare trees swayed in the gentle breeze and bright sun caused me to feel drowsy. Further down the bank Pat and Tyrone were carp fishing and I was called by Pat early afternoon to see Tyrone land a beautiful mirror carp. Maybe I should have been carp fishing.

I moved up to the end of the lake where Pat and Tyrone were fishing. Pat later moved to where I had been earlier as he was told, by another member who was walking the lake with his dog, that there were carp moving down the bottom of the lake. I sat in the swim and huddled against the strengthening wind. Tyrone came into my swim for a chat. This was interrupted by the sound of his bite alarm and a smaller dark common carp was soon in the back of his net. Tyrone has put in the hours over the last few weeks so really deserved to be rewarded with two such lovely fish.

I left late afternoon although I probably should have stayed until dusk. I had a nice day and as I had not been fishing for weeks it was great to be back. Next time I might even catch a fish.

Fishing Review of the year 2013

January started with a trip to the Brentwood carp show. So much stuff it was hard to resist throwing money around. I bought some pop ups that I thought would later account for some very nice fish. Pat and Ian were able to catch up with old pals. All in all a very interesting day was had by all.

With Pat showing me that carp fishing is not as hard in the winter as i had previously thought we decided to try our luck at Cuton Lakes near Chlemsford on a freezing cold February day. I learned that accurate casting to a feature and corresponding accuracy in feeding could bring about success. Despite the cold causing the landing net to freeze up we caught carp and I managed my biggest winter carp of 14 pounds. I would have been happy with that in the summer on most years.

March and brother Andy and I decided to fish a very flooded Tuffnel mere. I cast to some sunken trees with the new pop up boilies and was rewarded with a couple of small carp to 7 pounds. I knew those boilies were a winner.

April and i had my first proper session as a member of Soapers syndicate lake at the end of my road. A poor cast on my part meant i landed short and the rig was in very deep water. “Don’t blame me if you catch a Cat fish says Pat. One hour later the buzzer was screaming and the bobbin lifting. The fight was as hard as anything i had felt before and what broke the surface reminded me of the Loch Ness monster. A huge Cat fish that took two people to lift out. On the scales it went a shade over 44 pounds. This is a fish of a lifetime that i will be hard pressed to match let alone beat.

May found me night fishing on Soapers and my first session of the year on Wicks despite much of the lake being out of bounds due to unstable trees, i did well. On wicks i had a Carp of 19 pounds 8 and 16.10. A night session on Soapers led to me catching a Carp of 19 pounds 4. Surely it was only a matter of time until i had one over the magic 20 pounds. A feeder session accounted for some bream and small carp at Tuffnell with Andy.

July lead to me fishing a night session on my own. This was my first time flying solo so to speak as all my other nights were fished in the company of others. It was a warm night and i kept the bivvy door open and laid on the bed chair drifting in and out of sleep. At 5 in the morning i watched the dawn break over the lake, mists were coming off the surface of the water and at around 6.30  the sun started to break over the trees. At 9.00 am I had a carp in the net. It was a very pretty 13 pounder.

August found me having a couple of nights on Blunts mere near Chelmsford. I was able to witness my brother Andy Catch a lovely 21 pound 6 ounce common carp and i had yet another 19 pounder.

September found me mostly on Soapers and for the most part I was blanking except for a lovely 14 pound Mirror Carp. It’s a hard lake at the best of times and I can’t moan with the quality of the fish I was able catch, even if they were slow in coming. One day fishing on Soapers with my brother resulted in one missed run for him and silent buzzers for me. Well that’s fishing.

Autumn was nothing to write home about and to be honest a combination of work weather and home commitments led me to being away from the bank side.  Apart from a nice Jack Pike on my light spinning rod and an 11 pound carp caught on Pat’s rod my very few sessions were not memorable. A nice session with Andy on the Folly led to no Pike for me and no Carp for him but we had a nice catch up nonetheless.

When I look back I realise that 2013 had a very “Specimen” look about it going for larger fish and suffering the blanks that come along with this approach. I have learned lots and it’s been fun. As I write I am unsure what 2014 will bring. Soapers has been sold so we will have to see. So not going to plan too much yet, just keep my powder dry and see what happens.

Happy new year!

October Storms

Some of us remember the great storm of 1987. This week we were promised a repeat. To be honest we have had stronger storms before and since but why that one is remembered is the damage it caused. The reason it caused so much damage is that it occurred while the trees were full of leaves. The normal winter winds are from December to March when the trees are bare. The Sunday before the ‘Great Storm of 2013’ I had a wander around the syndicate lake with a pike rod. Apart from a dropped run, I did not connect with a fish.  Still it was nice to be out. I bumped into young Kenny who was bivvied up. He was Pike fishing during the day and planning to Carp fish through the night. Apparently he got through the night unscathed and had a carp as well. The storms passed and I decided to have a go on the lake and went a few days later. I decided to go for a Pike and fished next to Pat who was Carp fishing to the reed line. His approach is to put the rig as close to the reed line as possible as we were seeing the reeds move alarmingly. Pat’s optimism was rewarded when he connected with a very nice common carp of 14 pounds and it looked lovely in its winter colours.

To prove it was no fluke he winkled out another one, this time a mirror carp slightly smaller. It has to be said that he has fished the lake for 16 years and retired so when not fishing he is often walking the lake looking for fish.

 But even as he walked round to pick up his lunch from his wife his right hand rod was away and I had no choice but to land a nice 10 pound ghost common. Pat did not mind and joked it was appropriate to catch a ghostie on Halloween. He went on to catch another one himself.

 I had one 3 pound jack pike to show for my efforts and all in all a very pleasant day it was to be fishing and actually catching fish. My winter fishing starts here and I am sure it will be full of twists and turns as usual. 

Where are the British Rock Bands?

Instead of writing about fishing, this week I decided to put down some of my thoughts regarding the state of British Rock Music.

When I think of the Breakthrough Rock Bands of the last 15 or so years that have become major players in the making and selling music I think of Foo Fighters, Black Keys, Shinedown, System of a Down, Green Day, The White Stripes and The Killers. The first thing to notice is that they are all American. Where are the British Rock Bands? Where are the modern day Kinks, Stones, Blur or Radiohead? A look at the Brit Award nominees for 2013 makes for sobering reading. The nominees included, Mumford and Sons, (good but not really a rock band), Muse (ok but more of a synth band and not what i would call rock), and One Direction (God Forbid). 

 Now I enjoy going to see bands play in local pubs across East London and Essex. I have seen some great Rock bands made up of fantastic musicians. They mostly play covers because, let’s be honest that is what the crowd want. Now and again you hear some original work. Steve Forward has a few self penned songs in his set made up usually of the Rock standards. This music he has lovingly created and is really breaking new ground. Other bands worth a mention are Anthem, Turbulence and Expose.

Will these Bands make it on the Album charts and sell out the O2 arena? Well probably not. Why not? Because of the pernicious influence of Simon Cowell et al. X factor never has a real Rock Bands on, and if you’re not on X factor you have little chance of making it. Ever since Stock Atkin and Waterman the idea of instant success without having to put in the hard yards has become so alluring to the businessman. The gullible general public lap it up along with other awful imports like Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus. The British public get told what to like and no recording company is going to take a risk a bunch of hairy musicians who have been working away for years. The time to get them to be big will take too long and time is money so it’s a no for now.

Some of you will disagree and say ‘oh there is this or that band’ ‘they have an album out and get played on BBC 6 music’ (a channel that was under threat not long ago due to a low listenership).  I would argue that although this is laudable they are still in the shadows and not evidence that Rock music is in a healthy place in the UK. I would love Steve Forward to become the UK’s Joe Bonamassa. Lets live in hope for now. I will continue to get my Rock fix from listening to US bands and old UK artists. I hope that one day the British music Industry will learn that music should be created and not just manufactured. 

AS THE WEATHER GETS COLDER

In years gone by as we enter into October my thoughts have turned towards the usual winter species. Pike, Perch and Chub are occupying my thoughts and swimming, capriciously, across my mind. However, after last winter’s experience, carp are still firmly in the ascendency. I learned that large carp will still feed even in cold conditions, especially when the weather is settled. The weed on my syndicate water is starting to look limp and less full of vigour than it did a few short months ago. Rain has lashed down and wind from a north east direction has tested the potency of my fence.   As yet we have not had any frosts so it seems that the obvious choice is to target the carp. Location as always will be important and I plan to spend time on a reconnoitre of likely looking spots. I will also keep my ear to the ground to make sure I hear any carp gossip about where and when the carp are being caught.

Cutting down of free food items may be a good idea and what does go in needs to increase in smell. I am tempted to go for pellets as the water is still not so cold and they will still put smell into the water. Fish-meal boilies or 12 mil halibut pellets are the way i want to start off but tutti-frutti boilies might come into their own. I know that last week coconut cream pop ups were doing the business and carp to over 20 pounds were coming out. It might be advisable to have a tub of these in my tackle bag.  I fancy a one rod stalking session perhaps early morning or late evening. I think this may be the way to go until its gets really cold. At that point perhaps the idea of fishing for Pike may take over.

Recasting

Just a short post as i have been so busy. I have been doing some fishing recently. The last time i was out i was fishing my syndicate lake with Pat. It was during this session that i noticed a change in how i approach my fishing. In the past, if I was not doing well I would often get frustrated and keep recasting to new areas. This time i knew that i had found a clear spot along side very heavy weed. I did not want to risk a recast and not be able to find the clear spot again. I did not overfeed but popped out about 10 boilies every so often. That was all I did. Pat and i did discuss moving as we were getting no indications. However, we did not move and my reward came in the shape of a nice 15 pound mirror carp. Discussing it with Pat later he said that if your in a fishy looking spot on a smallish lake it is sometimes best to trust that a take will come. Maybe i am becoming more patient as i get older.

Serendipity, a happy accident (or luck as some may call it)

We all like to think that as competent anglers we don’t really need lady luck to cast her magic upon us. We sneer at the non angler who says ‘good luck’ when they know we are about to embark on a fishing trip. We know its not luck, its about good planning, good watercraft, good bait, or good rigs or all those and many more things. When an angler sets out to a target fish of a particular size and then catch that fish we know its all about planning and getting it right on the day . But what about those happy accidents? I was reading a book by David Phiilps, in it he said that his pb carp came while roach fishing and his pb Zander came when pike fishing. I recently had such a capture when I caught my first Catfish at 44 pounds from my syndicate water. On the opening weekend after a 6 week lay off. I was fishing a short morning session for the carp with my friend Pat. Eager to be tight to a feature I cast towards reeds on the opposite side of the lake. My cast was far less that perfect and the rig dropped some way short and into deep water. With carp being caught mostly from shallower water it was unlikely that I would get a take from there. As my second rod was cast close to my own bank I took the lazy way out and said I would just leave if for a bit. “Well don’t blame me if you hook a Catfish” came the statement from Pat. Catfish were waking up after their winter’s inactivity and were known to prowl the deep water.

The take was slow, the battle hard and ferocious. The fish managed to weed itself and we had to wait for it to swim out. As it broke surface I was reminded of Loch Ness monster tales. With help we managed to get it on the bank. My size 6 hook well in scissors of the mouth and the coated braid hook length had stood up to the rigours of the fight. After being photographed and weighed it was slipped back into the lake. This was clearly a serendipitous capture but I would argue not exactly luck. True I was fishing for carp with a large boilie and not the catfish. However, it was Pat’s statement about the bait being in the spot for Catfish that was partly reason why I had left if where it was? Its not really luck more it was making your own luck. Louis Pasteur said that "Luck favours the prepared mind”.  Indeed Dunbar and colleagues estimate that between 30% and 50% of all scientific discoveries are, in some sense, accidental. Anticipating good fortune and being able capitalise on it if it occurs is as important in fishing as it is in science or business.

Ted Hughes – Poet and Angler

When thinking about what fishing means to me I often turn to Literature to see what glimpses into the pool of my soul can be found there. Among the sources for me are the writings of Ted Hughes. For those who don’t know Ted Hughes was one of the greatest poets of the 20^th Century, he was poet Laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998. His work regarding nature is often cited as showing the difference between poets of the 20^th century as compared with nature poets of earlier times in that he did not idolise nature as Wordsworth might have but, having an understanding of evolution saw nature in the raw as the struggle for survival that is surely is. He saw menace as well as wonder in the natural world. In his poem Pike he observes

A pond I fished, fifty yards across, 
Whose lilies and muscular tench
Had outlasted every visible stone
Of the monastery that planted them-

Stilled legendary depth: 
It was as deep as England. It held
Pike too immense to stir, so immense and old
That past nightfall I dared not cast

Hughes was a regular fly fisher and campaigned for netting of Salmon to be restricted as well as contributing to the book West Country Fly Fishing for which all the proceeds going to the West country rivers trust. He also believed that children should have a chance to experience life in the countryside as a way of development of skills and so they had an understanding of the natural world.

                                     http://www.guardian.co.uk

Overall I think that Ted Hughes deserves a place in the hearts of all anglers as he was surely one of us. A select band of brothers and sisters who chase a connection with something greater than themselves in the watery world and on its banks.

http://bestuff.com/stuff/pike-ted-hughes

Celebrity Anglers and What We Can Learn.

Celebrity Anglers and What We Can Learn.

I have always loved fishing programmes and over the years have watched all the great guys who catch fish for the camera.  I have been lucky to be able to meet some of my angling heroes like John Wilson, Matt Hayes and Mick Brown.  What has occurred to me is what these anglers can bring to our own fishing. It can be that we look at these guys and think they are so good we might as well give up as we can never be as good as that. However, I think that the opposite is true. I have always managed to fish off their confidence. Many years ago I watched John Wilson catch a chub from a tiny  river that looked no more than a trickle. Inspired I went off to the tiny river Wid armed with a quiver tip and some lob worms, to fish for chub myself. I followed what John had said and stalked some likely looking swims. Head high stinging nettles did not put me off. To my delight and wonder I hooked and landed a nice chub of just under 3 pounds. This started a love affair with stalking chub that I still have to this day.

With social networking there are more opportunities to engage with these top anglers.. One person has taken this to a new level. Adam Penning was the one of the main and best presenters on Thinking Tackle. Recently he has moved into guiding carp anglers. Adam’s knowledgeable presence on screen has already made better anglers out of many of us. Now taken to Twitter he readily makes himself available to answer questions and is very generous with his time. Carp angling can be daunting to us mere mortals who want to improve our PB’s. Advice that Adam gives freely on twitter is  invaluable and his guiding business should take off big time. Great communication skills coupled with a passion and deep knowledge is hard to come by and Adam has every quality that is required. Adam can be contacted on @@askpenners  on twitter and https://www.facebook.com/adam.penningcarpangler on Facebook

Brentwood carp show January 2013.

Went to the Carp show Sunday 27^th with Pat and Ian. I don’t really do fishing shows and this was my first one for 10 years, the last time was at the Go fishing show at the NEC. As Pat kindly offered to drive I really couldn’t say no and with strict instructions to keep a lid on the credit cards we set off across the flooded landscape of Essex to Brentwood. Two halls packed with exhibits showing off all the wonderful and new products and baits greeted me, as did the masses of blokes in green wandering around the show grounds. It was a chance for Pat and Ian to see old mates who they bumped into regularly. We also were able to hand out a few cards for Ians carp fishery in France, Etang de Vost. 

The great and the good were in evidence including Kevin Nash, Terry Hearn and Lee Jackson to name but a few. There were talks and demonstrations that we more or less avoided. I mostly went around picking up rods i could not afford, lying on bed chairs i had no intention of buying and going in bivvies that were big enough to live in.  I have to say i enjoyed the atmosphere and did pick up some new scopex and squid pop up boilies that i just know will catch me a 20 pounder. Overall the experience has got me looking forward to the new year and hopefully some big carp to show for my efforts. By the way Ian’s lake in France is very reasonable and he will even drive you there if you want, take a look here http://www.carpcreuse.com/

Chasing big carp in the winter.

My view has been “what’s the point” carp fishing in winter is a mugs game. Come October my carp rods have been put away as I look forward to traditional winter coarse fishing chasing pike, perch and chub. Indeed a few winters ago I spent every opportunity to fish a small stretch of the river Stort in Harlow for these winter species. Ok so the carp mags still have pictures of carp captures in but I was always sceptical, were they really caught in mid December as the article said? No its much better be after the reliable fish. All this changed however when I met Pat. Being the bailiff of a syndicate lake he said he would chase big carp in the winter and was often successful. Another member told me he would always prefer the syndicate lake from October onwards as the weed would be less of a problem.  Surely they were mad. Maybe this said more about my own style of carp fishing. I tend to fish runs waters in the summer when the fish are spread out. I pay only a little time to location and I am not always that quiet. Still I have been fairly successful catching any number of carp into mid double figures. But when winter comes the fish shoal up and you can’t just chuck in anywhere or even to a likely structure. You have to be where the fish are.  Also they will have feeding spells rather than just eat all the time as their metabolism slows and they need less food. And I think that was always my problem I lacked the competency to know exactly where they were or how to fish for them.  

The way Pat went about the business of carp fishing in the winter was all about preparation. He watched the water, consulted weather patterns found and followed the fish. He fed the spots where he found them on when they were not there and somewhere else. He got to know their feeding spells. All this in the days before actually going fishing.  There is an army saying that time spent on reconnaissance is rarely wasted.  His tackle is ordered and neat and he leaves little to chance.

He was quiet on the bank. Carp anglers have an often deserved reputation for being loud, banging in bivvy pegs and shouting to their mates on the far side of the lake.   Not Pat. If the fish were close in he was walking round like he was on egg shells. As Issac Walton once wrote “study to be quiet”.

On the day in question I was amazed that we had two low double carp within a couple of hours of being on the lake. Perhaps fishing for carp in the winter was not such a waste of time.  However, that amazment turned into wonder as in early afternoon Pat landed a superb 26 pound 2 oz mirror carp.

Ok so he really knows the water and lives very close by so can recce it every day. That being said it really shows what can be achieved with some single minded dedication and hard work. Still think I may go after the pike and perch in the winter but carp may come more into the equation now. 

Interview with Ian Mouncey

Today’s blog post is an interview with Ian Mouncey, owner of Etang De Vost, a carp lake in France. Recently Carp Talk came to do a feature on the venue that will be in the Christmas edition of the magazine. Out on the 19th December http://www.carptalk-online.co.uk/

1) Ian can you tell me a bit about Etang De Vost?

Carp Creuse was formed in 2007 to provide access to one of France’s hidden gems (Etang De Vost). We’ve added over 1 ton of fast growing carp to complement the original stock, with carp to over 48lb

The lake was formed over 30+ years ago and was stocked with a large number of carp, roach, perch & some pike. The lake was privately owned and when the former owner passed away, the lake was not fished for over 10 years. We took ownership in September 2007 We added over 1 ton of fast growing carp to complement the original stock, & we have been working hard ever since to get the lake ready for the Anglers.

2) Owning your own lake is a bit of a dream for many anglers but I suppose there is a lot of hard work that is involved?

Yes you are not wrong their  apart from the normal every day thing that we all do i.e. like cutting the grass, pruning the plants or the trees, you also have the daily task of cleaning the intake & outlet grills of any debris, then you have to keep checking  the water quality PH & oxygen levels, although this is not normally a problem because the lake is river fed so we have good high oxygenated water. Then of course when you do not have any punters (anglers fishing) we also have to feed the fish because we do complete packages where we supply all the gear apart from reels and terminal tackle we also have to keep an eye on all the equipment to make sure it is up to standards we would want if we were fishing ourselves (all rods & bivvies’ up for the job) this is without the shopping runs for supplies, preparing the food and then the cooking and washing up (yes I do the washing up). It can be long hard days but when you have your own business you have to put your all into it to be successful. 

3) How did you get into fishing?

I am from a big family  I had 5 older Brothers & 1 younger sister & my brothers all fished so I got the bug from always wanting to go with them even when I was at the age when It was not cool to have your younger brother tagging along. So in the end I just went with me mates, now my brothers that are still with us want to go fishing with me (R.I.P Barry)

4) I know you like carp fishing in the UK where do you mostly go these days?

To be totally honest now I have the lake I don’t get much time to go in the UK but I   know I can always get a couple of guest visits at my local church Langley carp fishery (Sopers)

5) Have you ever fished for other species?

Only when I was a kid I started on the silver fish Roach, Rudd, Perch & then Tench Chubb, & Barbel

6) What is your most memorable fish or fishing experience?

I have a lot of fond memories on the bank with my Brothers beside me but I think the one that sticks out is my 1st double figure common carp 16lb, I was 17 years old before I had joint the Malcolm barker memorial lake which came with the Bishop Stortford angling club ticket (and I think it still does) me and my brothers had a great day but best of all I caught this Carp on my first home made boilies which in baked instead of boiling so they would float. Back then I just attached to a hair rig a size 6 hook and a large bubble float half filled with water to get the weight for casting.

7) Where can people get more information if they are considering booking a holiday at Etang De Vost?

There is a website www.carpcreuse.com or they can also look on twitter ‏@carpcreuse   and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carpcreuse

Or they can call me direct on 01279 451844, mobile 07734448579

Thank you Ian for your time and best of luck with the fishery.

Sunshine Award

I am happy to say that i have been awarded a Sunshine Award for my blog by Hemmie, http://hemmie-writing.blogspot.co.uk/

I now have to answer some questions below and then award some other good bloggers I know.

What is your favourite Christmas Movie?

Don’t really have one other than Tight Lines Christmas Special

What is your favourite flower?

Bougainvillea

What is your favourite non alcoholic beverage?

Coffee

What is your passion?

All types of fishing but most recently i have been Session Carp Fishing and sea fishing from a boat.

What is your favourite time of the year?

Late Spring Early summer

What is your favourite time of the day?

Dawn and dusk as this is the witching hour for fish to bite.

What is your favourite physical activity?

Carrying all my fishing gear to my swim

What is your favourite vacation?

Sandy Balls in Hampshire, a great family holiday for all with private fishing on the fabulous River Avon.

My awards are for the following have a browse around their blogs

 http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/

http://fishing-for-memories.blogspot.co.uk/

http://talesofafisherman.blogspot.co.uk/

http://coarsefishingpaul.blogspot.co.uk/

Leaving it to the Last Minute.

I am sure we all know the feeling when we delay finishing a fishing session and go home. That last cast turns into ten last casts. This happens more when it has been a slow day. Match anglers have no such dilemma as you stop fishing when hooter sounds. Pleasure anglers, however, can, within reason, stop when they want to. This feeling is often enhanced when fishing into dusk in the winter. All the articles i have read on fishing for big perch say that leaving it to the last minute and staying put in the swim often leads to the biggest fish as the wiley old big perch feed hard at dusk.  Carp also feed well in the dark which is why so many of us fish for them through the night.

This issue was bought home to be on the recent pike fishing session. The clocks had gone back and i had been by the water all day. The day was drawing in and dusk approaching even though its only early evening. Apart from two dropped runs early in the day my pike float had stayed still. Autumn was spitting some venom at me as high winds blew the leaves across the lake and constantly catching on the line and float. I was fishing with my brother Andy and he was going to go out that evening so wanted to be away. The approaching darkness also said pack up. I had only just started to tidy the area when i looked up and saw my float snaking across the surface of the water.  I struck into a nice size Jack pike of a few pounds which saved me from a blank. It was nice to get my winter predator fishing off to a catching start and leaving it to the last minute is something i will be doing more of from now until spring.  

Small changes

On the most recent night session I went on I had a nice 12 pounder after spodding out some bait and fishing the method over the top just as it was getting dark.  However, I had more bleeps and one was defiantly a fish that had picked up the bait and dropped it. What added to my frustration was my brother was having more runs than me and having some nice upper doubles. There were defiantly fish in my swim but I was not connecting. With carp fishing there are many variables and sitting watching Thinking Tackle on sky sports it can seem very daunting as there is so much to think about. Line concealment; anti eject rigs, flying back leads, all the paraphernalia associated with carp fishing. While it is clear that small changes and adjustments to the fishing tackle can help I always think it is best to start with the basics. At the end of the session I came to the conclusion that my main problem was that the hooks had become dull. I had fallen into the trap of the lazy carp angler. Rods all made up and did not change the hook length. It’s a school boy error and one which I have learnt from. The lesson is before trying to think about complicated rig set up make sure you have done the basics right.