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With around 10 years of river fishing , and only the odd trip carp fishing this season would see more of an effort to fish local waters for carp . I started by looking at the local ressys , and had a low double whilst having a little "before work" session with my mate Dazza who was moored on his boat close to the lake . I got there at first light , smashed them out as far as I could , and followed the "local knowledge" who told me that fishing to the reed line was a waste of time . Ignoring that , the rod nearest bent round and a nice dark one was netted , always stick to your own instinct sometimes . Although there was fish to be caught , the constant traffic of runners , birdwatchers , and walkers drove me mad , it was time to look elsewhere , but I will return one day . Other than the canal , which was one choice , I joined a local club water that had a restriction on night fish , but a small head of nice fish , and some other waters on the same ticket

Sunrise in the lock , and a canal carp on a brazil nut .

 I had a morning planed with Dazza and another mate Steve on the canal , where I was going to split the "before work" session between the canal and the new lake . I arrived just before the other two and dropped into a lock swim where the carp love to be before the boats muck it up . I flicked out one to the far bank , and lowered one in the edge with a Brazil nut hookbait , and just as I was going to sit back in the chair the close in rod ripped off, hardly after the stow bobbin had settled . A proper runaround in the lock see a lovely scaley mirror laying on the mat , I gave it another 30 mins then moved down the pound to fish with the others . After a couple of hours I moved to the lake for my first look , and other than the very odd mixer taken , and spooking a nice mirror in the edge it was very quiet . That was my first and last visit because for my birthday my family had chipped in , and through James had got me a syndicate ticket for a couple of lakes he was in , and that was my season sorted out !.

They could be anywhere

The first lake was a series of pits joined together which made a wild looking complex , real proper fishing , overgrown and flooded for much of the summer . The second lake was smaller , lots of trees surrounding it , with a better head of fish , with a couple of 30's , the best out to James at 37lb . So with my short sessions this is where I was to start . The fish loved to come very close in , as it was quiet deep , with a fair drop off , but it also meant the fish defiantly knew you were there , and slack lines were the order of the day . First couple of short sessions were a mare , with me pulling out of a couple of fish , including one off the top . Then it all clicked a bit , and the first fish at 24lb made me a bit happier . I had started using a new bait , special had rolled hookbaits , pellets soaked in a liquid , and sweetcorn added to the pellet bucket enough for a few hours . The whole package was exactly what I was looking for with the hookbaits being very soluble , as was the liquid the pellets were coated in , and a can of corn tipped in made it wet and sticky .

After some lost fish , the first goes in the net , a nice golden 24lb

James corner swim that served us so well .

One rainy morning I set up in a swim that James likes , where you cast across to the far tree line , in the shallowest corner of the lake , comparatively . Just down from this swim is a small gap in the trees that looked prime for an ambush , lowering a bait off the end of the rod . The rods went out , one in the gap , two across the corner , brolly up and time to rest . After a couple of fierce line bite the little gap rod melted off , but it was another disaster as the fish made off along the tree line , and the angle of pull eventually told , pulling out . I had got down to my pants ready to go out a bit , got up to my knackers when the fish came off , thank god . Sitting drying off one of the rods across the corner pulled tight , the stow bobbin fell off as I picked up the rod , and it was dragged flat as it piled off across the lake . It was an extended fight , pulling hard out in the deep water , in and out the net once , before it slipped in second go . It was obviously one of the two big fish , I checked James photos as it was the "Long fish" the fish he had had at 37lb . I gave him a quick call as I had no scales with me , he was shopping in Morrisons a few miles away, but in unbelievable time strolled round the lake to weigh and photograph the fish for me , fantastic that we had both caught that fantastic mirror .

My turn to hold her , the awesome "Long Fish"

The " Long fish " , awsome that we both had her .

I then had a purple patch , with some great fishing , with mirrors and commons over 20lb  . One capture stands out in my mind , showing that carp can get hard onto the baiting situation , the bait , and even when chaos is going on all round them . One eve me and James had a rare session together , as normal it was a 4 hour afternoon/eve session , as time is never on either of our sides , and iv still yet to do a night on theses lakes . I got there before James ( old family trick) , and chose a really tight swim , overhanging treeline either side were the spots as was most of the swims on this bank . I dropped a bait either side , left and right a rod length out , on the edge of the trees. Baited with some chopped boillies , and the pellet/corn combo that i knew they loved , and the soluble hookbaits that they picked out easy. James turned up and went two swims up to the right , and we sat in the middle for a social . He commented about how tight my swim was , and how id be lucky to get a fish out , as they would do me in the trees , but i was confident , and knew we both had a great chance of a fish . As we sat chatting the Delkim gave a few bleeps , and in a slippery rush i got to the rod to play in the most golden coloured Bream iv ever seen , and i cant moan about catching such a pearler of a fish . Rod was lowered back on the spot , accompanied by a hand full of pellet , and back to the seat chatting about what a carp would have done to me ! .10 mins later there was a delkim in meltdown , as we rushed to my rods i could hear James laughing , but the fish had piled strait out pulling hard into the deep water . A ten minute fight in the little gap of a swim see what looked like a twenty netted , chaos in the swim James put the rods back on the rest as they had got in the way a bit , and I hoisted the dark mirror onto the mat . Just as I lifted the net clear of the water James let out a shout , and grabbed the remaining rod as the clutch was screaming with another take ! , and the fish gave it the beans with James playing it left and right with the first fish lowered back in the water to rest as i went next door to get his net . Somehow on my return to the swim James net got a fair rip in it ( brambles) , but the fish was bundled in .The swim looked like a bomb had gone off , 2 nets resting , rods all over the place , but what amazed us is that the second fish had fed on a spot 10ft from the place where he had netted my mirror !, and showed how it wanted the combo of bait , feeding on with us causing a commotion  above its head , mad , and just one of some great action for both of us .

Two nets , chaos , but so much laughter

20lb+

James , the net ripping mirror .

The big complex of pits was calling me , but local knowlage told me that my little short sessions might not suit the low stock big pit situation , but there was some narrower bits where the 3 lake join that seem to have fish in at some points as they move through. After another good evening session where i had 3 commons to just over 20lb it was time to have a dabble for a few trips . After a quick look in a few swims along the chanel between the lakes , and the top end of the pit ( ball buster of a walk) i settled into a nice wide swim giving me a few options to fish to , and a chance to use my newly perchased 50inch net , why we all dont use nets this size i dont know as they are so much easier , especially when your on your own . Baits left and right , and one across towards the willow opposite all went down with a nice drop , and the pellet/corn/chops went out , with the hand rolled hookbasits on all 3. After a couple of hours peace where i caught up with things reading a carpworld mag the stow lifted slightly twice , line bites on the middle rod , before pulling tight and the rod bouncing in the rest . The fight was fierce , but fairly short with no room to let it get a head of stream up , it rolled into the new net !, always a nice feeling . Weighted in at 21lb , and i was bloody chuffed

First from the snaggy big pit , and its a pearler !

The next chance of a fish came one evening when Sue joined me for a few hours . We walked up the lake to find James who was in a swim up the top end , quick chat in a fantastic looking swim that i did have a couple of short goes in , but blanked , before we went back to an even tighter swim for the evening . As we set up a carp swerled in front of us , and crashed to our right in a mass of willows . Sue ran down the bank , but come back saying that we could not get at them , so we settled into a lovely swim all but a bit of a hit and hold one . Baiting as before all i had to do was swing the rods into place , and after a hour the middle rod that was close to a willow bush was away , and its was hanging on time , real hanging on . The rod absorbed all the lunges, Sue then slipped the net under another dark old warrior , and commented how lovely the net was ! ( and how she missed it in France ) . The fish weighted in at 23lb , and was my last fish from the big pit , as other than another little session I moved back to the smaller lake to try and sort out how to catch in the winter .

Hit and hold , and hold on I did !

Dark old warrior

The smaller lake is a fairly deep lake , it looks prime for a zig , but James reconed a maggot attack would be better , so my first colder ( although mildish) trip see 3 pints on white maggots spombed out at 10 wraps ( 40 yds) and the hookbaits accuratly dropped on the spot all fished tight together , two rods on the bottom , and one on a zig at 8 ft . I was begining to doubt the aproach , but after 3 hours and one recast of each rod to put a freash pva bag of maggots out there a fish rolled over the rigs . 5 mins later a low double common gave a silly little bite , and i was expecting a bream , but was suprised when the clutch gave line . I returned the fish , and was just txting James when the other rod was away and a nice scally golden mirror ripped off , so I text him a pic of that , and he phoned strait away , giving it to me that the maggots caught !, I could not argue as the rod was away with another smaller mirror , happy i did not recast

Maggot muncher .

With winter now on us things going to get tougher , with the lakes going very clear , clear enough not only to see my zig rig popped up in 8 ft of water , but the leaves on the bottom at that depth ! , the ticket runs out in april so we will see the year out on these lovely waters .

Lost in France

                                          FRANCE WE BLOODY LOVE IT.

For our 40th wedding anniversary mum&dad paid for the fishing on a lake of our choice in the theatre of dreams , France !. This time we decided to go for more of a holiday style venue , with a good food package , more fish so we could have a bit of action , well more than we expected in the land of hippos father south . I narrowed it down to a few waters , did some proper research , and although it was my second choice ( because we could book two swims, not going in for the dreadful draw) we booked the last week in September , prime time , when it would still be nice weather in Normandy . Plans we made , including the chance to have a drive around the area , looking at public waters I'd like to visit one day , getting lost in France . The ferry was booked at the normal "carp anglers" crossing time of around midnight , which puts you in France at the right time to get to a lake at lunch time , and true to form there was loads of carp lads wandering around the ship in camo hoodies!. For the first time we decided to go Newhaven to Dieppe , this would in theory take out over 2 hours of driving down the coast road from Calais . The ship was fantastic , smooth crossing , and we smashed past Rouen very easy , pulling up in one of the fantastic French picnic areas , we had a few hours kip , and drove past Le Mans to the lake .

 Leaving Newhaven , lovely crossing

How did we get it all in ?.

We arrived at a nice looking dammed lake of about 10 acres with a lovely looking mill house , and an outside eating area where you could almost touch the water . We set up all 6 rods with a tree separating the swims . We decided to only fish with 3 rods at night , meaning we could set the big bivvy in one swim , and put the brolly in the other for daytime angling . We had a really nice home cooked evening meal before returning to the swim to bait up . I had decided to wrap the rods at 12 & 15 , and put a big bed of pellet , boillies, and hemp&corn between the two swims . I spodded a bucket load in each swim , and other than a lost fish from the tree line of the dam , had a good sleep after the long drive and full bellys. We woke at dawn to fish showing over the spots , and had a day to remember where I could not keep the rods in the water at all , we was right on the game , keeping the spod going , keeping the fish in front of us we , we were right on the ball . At some point as I was either baiting a rod or sending the bait boat out , and all I could hear was Sue was calling me !. We had intence action with 21 carp during the day , to the point where I only got my rods out in the late afternoon !. Sue also chipped in with her first catfish , and I can't think of any time where she was not standing up playing a fish . The fish were almost like peas in pod , with a dozen fish around mid double , but 3 twenties , and a fantastic golden common of 30lb+ , with a sprinkling of upper doubles see us shattered at the evening meal .

 Some of over 20 fish in the day, before we wound in early for food and beer.







Now , I'm not moaning , the fishing was hectic , but we never see any of the big framed mirrors that I'd seen when doing the research the year before . After catching a few more commons I was getting itchy feet , and made the decision to move lakes father into Normandy the next day , Im lucky , Sue is used to these mad moments , and agreed to the upheaval of the move . I phoned around ( always have a backup plan) and it was either a public water I was looking at , or another that I had nearly booked in the first place . I had a chat on the phone to the owner of the lake , and he said these words "it's empty , fish anywhere you want" , the satnav was set , and deeper into France we went .

Lovely looking estate water greeted us !

Out 10 mins under that lovely oak tree first evening , the first of many that pulled the rod round full test curve !








We arrived at a fantastic looking estate style water , banana shaped , with fantastic mature trees . The satnav could not even find the village , it was so small , so we met the owner Eddie 4 miles away and he guided us in . It was no surprise then that it was the quietest place we have ever fished , add to that no light pollution it made it the darkest lake we have been to as well . After a good walk around we set up at one end of the lake where my research showed had good history of captures , with no fishing zone to our left , the lake widening out in front of us , lots of tress along both margins , and a large oak tree at about 80 yds on the opposite bank where a large bay started . We settled in again both
working hard to get sorted before Eddie called us on the walkie talkie for our evening meals . The rods we put down to the no fishing zone , strait across to the far margin , and the last one under the big oak tree that Eddie said produces a few fish . All the baits put out with the bait boat all week , a mixture of Eddies pellets ( you had to use his lake specials) hemp , corn , and the boillies we had total confidence in all summer was dropped on the spots , before either Sue throwing handfuls of baits around the boat  , or me catapulting baits into the branches of the oak so they fell into a lovely patch around the rig. We was sorted , lines marked with electrical tape , and 5 mins before we got a call for dinner the oak tree rid pulled round making us both jump , and a nice scaly 18lb mirror got us off the mark , happy with the move first night .

Sue hanging on , as I was dealing with another rod , one of many double takes we had, she hooked it under the oak tree in the distance !

After a lovely home cooked two course evening meal we settled in for the first night . We had takes a leisure battery with us , charging phones , dvd , and iPad in the convenience of the bivvy . We had the luxury of watching Larkrise to Candleford a quality period drama , the whole series on the iPad , laying with a nice cup of coffee in the pitch black listening to the owls , very happy days . That first night all 3 rods went off , quick pics done i never bothered to recast . Over the next few days we had some great action , on more than one occasion we had double takes with some lovely fish . As we were doing our own brekkie , Eddie would wander down for a chat . It seemed we fished the same waters back in England , and i really clicked with him . It was during one of his chats as we sat on the parched grass that the Oak tree rod once again pulled round . Sue and Eddie carried on chatting , but as i held the rod in full compression the fish was taking line at over 80yds , and i knew it was a better fish . After quiet a tussle along the tree line a big fat French carp rolled in front of us , and it went a bit quiet ! . Eddie put the net under it , and i recognised it from some pics on the wall of the dinning room , on the 40,s board at around 43lb. We weighted it accurately at 39lb 15oz , a proper French carp , a great big lump !

                          
                            A proper French chunk , its what we go for , I love the big fat ones most.

The rest of the days see some spectacular action , some double takes , a run of 20lb+ fish where i could not get the bait boat back out without another rod ripping off . The fights from the no fishing area were fierce , with the rod about to take off as we were fishing locked up to give us more of a chance . During the week we went out shopping , but returning to the silence of the bay was lovely . The last night see a band of rain spread in , as we got the baits out for the last night it was like the fish was waiting for the boat to drop the rigs . All 3 rods were only just in place when the bay rod pulled round , and i hung on for grim death , as it gave it the proper beans . At the same time the middle rod went into meltdown, and Sue jumped onto that one . We played the fish alongside each other as darkness approached rapidly . Both fish went in the same net , because they had to . Mine was a golden upper 20lb fish , and as it got dark we photographed Sues best fish of the week at 34lb , great times that we wont forget . As we got into our bags in the bivvy I just knew the rods would go off , and we decided to wind in and have a good nights sleep for the return trip home in the morning , and avoid getting wet in the rain , hard core eh?. Even then as we packed up everything , loading the car behind us , 2 rods blasted off , a farewell from France in style , then we tucked into a full English made for us by the smashing Eddie , I really did not want to leave .

 

There you go , over 60lb of carp in the net  

So after a bit of driving on the deserted roads of France , we fished a couple of lakes , and when your doing that it eats into your time , and we never got to see the public waters . Over the week we had 46 fish , 18 X 20lb+ , and 3 X 30 , just the trip we had planned a year earlier , fantastic fishing with nice food , so happy anniversary to us !. Be assured we will see Eddie again because France is the theatre of dreams !

   Back to Blighty , for traffic jams , shut motorways , but already booked a lake with hippos !!!