An awesome November days fishing

A rush to get there

Yesterday I received a call from a good friend of mine and he asked if I fancied doing a morning on my local and figured that as I still didn't feel it was Arctic conditions there could be another carp on the cards so we agreed to meet on the water around 06.20am. Due to phone problems I ended up getting up an hour late and didn't get down till an hour or so after my friend had set up. 

Rigs & approach

For over a year this particular water has been receiving treatment for an aggressive weed problem so the majority of my fishing on it has involved solid pva bags but as the treatments have become more and more successful each time it's been done its provided a lot more clear patches, so I decided to go for helicopter set ups. One would incorporate a hinge stiff rig and one using double tiger nuts with a little bag of tiger nut stick mix.

One of my hinge stiff rigs

Location

As I previously stated I was late getting to the lake so my friend had already set up in a double peg so it made sense to jump in next to him. As it was hammering with rain I chucked both rods out to an area were my friend had seen a common jump numerous times just before I arrived.

My very muddy peg

A little while later



after numerous cups of coffee and watching the water around 30 yards to the left of my left hand rod a mirror leaped out of the water like a dolphin leaping out of the sea 5x in total and couldn't resist pulling in, hooking another pva mesh stick mix on and casting it towards the fish. I was pretty excited to say the least as it was bang on the money first time but what happened next I really didn't expect. Just as I put the rod back on the buzz bars i was just about to clip the bobbin on the line and off it went with what i thought to be a carp on the end. I got the fish about three quarters of the way across and it snagged me up in some dying Lillie pads, I tried all sorts of different angles to get it out but it wouldn't budge so fearing the worst I put the rod back on the buzz bars and waited nervously and to my surprise around 5 mins later it started taking line again, so I picked the rod up and was in direct contact with the fish once again. After an epic battle with the carp my friend lee got it in the net, I was relieved to say the least as I know at this time of year carp can be few and far between.



I was right about the carp 12lb 5oz

so although the start of the day was abit manic I was rewarded with a beauty of a carp so it was all worth it in the end

Thanks for reading, tight lines and would like to thank Lee Rhodes for the photography

Catching up with Spencer Wright - Part 2

With captures coming on most night’s I was able to get out, I was completely in the zone, fishing wise. The baiting routine was being undertaken on a near daily basis, and as long as no one else was fishing and If I wasn't baiting up, I was walking around with every spare minute that I had. This meant before work, lunchtimes and even nipping in on the commute home from work, even if I was cycling on my bike. The effort would hopefully pay me back. 

Baiting up whenever i got the chance...

It all made me feel that I was at one with the lake, knowing where the fish were and what they were doing, which to be honest is a great place to be. As it was I was completely overjoyed with my time already on the lake with the 2 big fish to my name and I couldn’t really ask for anymore. 

With my primed big fish area seemingly being taken advantage by others, I changed tack to try and target an area where one of the big commons had slipped up in the past and with a couple of days available to me over the next month I hatched a plan to prime an un-fancied spot with as much bait as I could physically carry.

 I had accrued lots of my custom CC Moore bait over the winter months through various open days and through my writing’s and I was determined to make it all count! I spent a few days identifying the actual spots through plumbing the area to death and then it was game on. Turning up in my lunch hour armed with 15kg of mixed sized XXX boilies to deposit on my favoured area and as I drove back to work, I was smiling inside, knowing that the fish would hopefully be demolishing the bait and thoughts of more of the lake’s big fish were fresh on my mind and I couldn't wait to give it 

 another couple of hits before giving it a go!

Another 20+ from away from the bait

I must admit that my great plan fell at the first hurdle as I done 3 nights on the primed spot which didn't produce a single fish and only saved a blank by finding another little spot off the nearby island which produced a double and three twenty’s. I somehow managed to wangle another couple of nights the following week which produced the spots first take, which was a scraper 30 which was a bonus.

The following week I got in there again which produced a 33+ mirror, but that was it. The spot died a death and never really live up to its expectations, or not at least for the 70 kilos of bait that I'd put on it!

Island blank saver

 At least they'd had a good feed on my bait, which was always my main aim, getting them used to it. Especially as they'd had the best part of 150kg over the previous 4 months! I also luckily managed to get back into my old swim up the far end, which was an absolute joy, as I loved it there up there, away from the crowds with just myself to contend with and my time spent up there was always a joyous occasion.

30+ Mirror eventually from the new spot

I even managed another of the lakes better ones whilst up there, pulling the scales to just under 37, so it was good to know that if I could get in there, I would be able to get amongst them! The fish were piling on the weight with the big common finally succumbing to one if other member’s rods at over 41lbs which was a right result for the Dell and the syndicate as a whole. 

Biggest fish from the 70kg hit of bait

Another of the bigger mirrors pushed over the magical weight meaning that the lake now held 3 over 40, which boded well for the next winter when I was looking forward to having another crack.

Rascal - Gone but never forgotten....

 But for now, I had other plans. I had a trip planned to my old syndicate lake, which would be my first trip back, since losing my best friend and carp dog, Rascal at Christmas. We had spent a lot of time there through his life and he loved it more than anywhere else in the world, which was why he was laid to rest there, meaning it would be more than poignant return and would test my inner strength to its limit.

I also had a trip to France to contend with, which was going to be no mean feat in itself, after not crossing the channel for about 14 years to fish for some real heavyweights, so the rest of the spring was going to be busy, busy, busy….

Until next time…

Be lucky,

Spence

France part 2

The Swim Change

After a few days struggling on my side of the swim with only the 1 fish to show for it, it was my time to fish the right side :) After seeing Den lose more then he landed, I decided to get the marker rod out and have a play and see if there was any clear spots near the snags along the tree line approx 80yrs out. After plugging away for around an hour I had 3 spots that I fancied and they didn't seem as snaggy as Den's spots were. Den seemed to favor the pink pop up on a multi rig, I wanted to do my own thing so went blow back and stuck with good old favorite of mine the KD with 3rd pop up and 2/3 bottom bait (own style wafter) I fancied them overall as they are good at resetting them self's if I got mugged over and also with me fishing critical balance baits they wouldn't bury or hide in any debris.

1 spot I did find was in the margin around 30/40 yrds to my right and approx 2ft deep, after I put in around 3 to 4 kg of mix bait (chopped boilies, pellet,hemp,maze) I set the trap with a KD on a self waffler. Then after no more then 10 minutes it ripped off the rest and boy what a scrap!! Soon as I hit in to it a huge Sturgeon jumped out and took what seemed like 100+ yards of line and going like 100 mph!!! And after another jump out (hart in mouth) with what was like 20 minuets we finally landed her :) (Buzzing by this time as she was my 1st) 

39lb 4oz

                                                                         

Even after the 20 minutes fight she didn't want her picture taken and gave me a right good beating on the bank (still got a little bruised rib :(

The new Diem cradle even took a pounding but after having 30 minutes rest and sorting some more rigs out as the last 1 was demolished by the sturgeon (no complaints though) I set the traps ready on all three.
Just as I was about to make a proper carp snack (pot noodle lol) the left hand rod ripped off, as I hit it she was all ready in a snag :(
I put the rod back down hoping she would come out and give me a little help and boy she did just that, and then I walk back 20yrs with the line tight and managed to get her away from the snags and did all the hard work, within 5 minuets she popped up (common 30lb ish) and with 1 last lung hook pull NOOOO :( wasn't very chuffed.
After losing 1 at the net I then decided to upped the hook size from a ACE curv shank 7 to a 5.
Then after re-doing the rigs as they were playing on my mind, within an hour the middle rod ripped off and then landed a 25lb mirror followed by 29lb 12oz
Then next day only the 1 and another mirror 34lb 10oz

25lb

Diem cradle in action

29lb 12oz

34lb 12oz

   

Next morning after a shower/breakfast and putting in a few kg of bait we decided to rest the swim till late afternoon after only having 1 out the day before.
And it soon paid off as within half hour of putting rods back out the middle rod ripped off and another titan battle!! 

You've guessed it another Sturgeon but this 1 wasn't as aggressive as the 1 a few days back but still gave us a good run around before she graced the net.
41lb 7oz :) 
 

41lb 7oz

applying carp care 

Just after put her back the margin rod screams off and another mirror 29lb 5oz
and finally to finish off a good week for us on the Friday we both had 1 last fish each and was both mirrors again bang on 32lb Happy days :)
On the last morning having nipped to see how Craig and Colin got on, I saw Craig had a 37lb mirror sat looking at me, to finish what was a reasonable week all round. 

32lb

32lb

37lb 7oz

So this is how the scores looked at the end of the week:
Overall not a bad week I had 9 lost 3
Den had 6 lost 8 - 32lb mirror (biggest)
Craig lost 5 had 2 - 39lb sturgeon (biggest)
Colin AKA Alblanko1 lost 2 - no fish
Ian had 6 lost 6 - 37 sturgeon (biggest)
Jonho had 6 lost 5 - 47 sturgeon (biggest)
Johno AKA alblanko2 lost 3 - no fish
Paul AKA Fire starter had 3 lost ?? (lost a few everyday) biggest 18 mirror
Matt AKA Poacher had 1 lost 2 biggest 41lb mirror
Cal had 1 lost 10/12 1 landed 12lb common 
 
Thank for looking and good luck on the bank. 

Tight lines 

Matt

Special Thanks to Diem for Providing the New Cradle as was a great help.

and also my swim buddie Den for the picture's. 

  

why not take a look at my review of the euro cradle.

For all the New Diem products visit www.dragoncarpdirect.com