Cyprinus carpio

Another catch up!

I've been putting a good few hours into Carping recently. I've had a few sessions here and there, and I've banked a good few fish along the way. A fair amount of doubles and a few smaller fish too boot! I even managed to catch a new pb. At 16lb I'm still a little way off catching my first 20.

All fish were caught on the the 'method' Some have been caught on light gear, 8lb line and 6lb hook length, and a few have been caught on purpose Carp gear.

I've been experimenting with various baits until I found a combination which was absolutely deadly. It can be hard to move off a bait when you've started to get results on it. Indeed why change it if it's working for you and you're landing fish? But that's exactly what I did.

The night before my last session I went to my local river and observed some Chub. I took it upon myself to take them some food and I threw in some free offerings. I had a selection of around half a dozen baits and I what I witnessed was truly fascinating. There was one bait in particular that they homed in on. They would suck up the bait and quickly blow it out - repeating the process two or three times, before finally losing interest and leaving it. Soon enough another fish would come along and the ritual was repeated. Interestingly after quarter of an hour or so and up until the point when I left - the bait was still there. So of course this got me thinking! Would the Carp on the water I was to fish the next day do the same? There was only one way to find out...

I'd had two fish landed before I decided to experiment. A very hard fighting Ghost Carp of around 6 to 7lb's and a Common 5lb's or there abouts fell to my old faithful cocktail.

The new bait was hair rigged and had been in the water not 5 minutes when my rod screamed off. Something had fallen for it. That something was a 12 and a half pound Common. An hour or so later and I was in again. A smaller common perhaps a scraper double was landed.

Unfortunately the weather turned from perfect overcast conditions as the sun came out. This killed the fishing as all the Carp came to the surface. Fishing off the top on this water is banned. Alas I had to spend the rest of the day watching the fish rather than catching them.

Allan's 7lb+ Common

12lb 8oz. The worse self take ever? Possibly :)
The hard fighting Ghostie13lb + Mirror

16lb Common and a new PB
A cheeky visitor

If it's broke, then fix it!

I planned a days fishing on my local canal today. It's been a while since I've fished it so it was about time I gave it a try. Allan had a day off work so he decided to join me. The last time I fished the canal I managed to snap my number 4 pole section. Still out of commission I had little choice than to fish the tip. The bites were slow, very slow in fact. In around an hour and a half worth of fishing I'd managed to catch a Perch of just under a pound and Allan had managed to tempt a lonely Roach.

The fish were not biting and the clock was ticking, what to do? With the knowledge that the club matches weren't producing big weights. 3lb odd I'm told was the winning bag recently. We decided to make the bold decision to pack up and head to a different venue, not something that I do too often. We travelled to a lake that is likely to provide a little sport.. and it did just that.

Allan was the first to catch and he landed a stunning Ghost Carp of 11lb 6oz a cracking fish, a new Carp P.B for Al.

It was packing up time, Allan was long gone, and in a 'just one last cast' act of desperation I managed to sneak a Carp into the landing net. A cracking fish of 11lb 14oz and a great fighter made the wait all the worth while. There is no more fun to be had than catching decent Carp on a 3/4oz tip

The 11lb 6oz Ghost CarpMy 11lb 14oz

A bit of a catch up

I've managed to grace the bank a few times over the past few weeks and I've fished a couple of different venues along the way. I can tell you this much though, I'm dying for the river season to start. Not too long to go now little under a month in fact. I'll be putting a bit of an effort in to catch Barbel and large Chub this year, both species I have not given enough of my time to target. I'll more than likely open my season targeting Tench and Bream, it's a bit of a tradition of mine that I wish not to break. The reports below are in no particular order.

The stand out session of late was when myself and Panto had an early start on a Bream and Tench water. We had devastating results. I finished the session with 30 Bream (The average stamp being around 4 to 5 lb's) 4 Tench to 5lb+ and a Roach around a pound. Easily catching over 100lb of fish. Panto finished with 19 Bream and 9 Tench. What a session!

A short session for Carp on the tip, didn't leave me disappointed. I caught a Common of around 10lb for my troubles. Catching Carp on the tip is awesome, this one put up such a fight it bent the hook, thankfully I didn't lose the fish.

A trip to a difficult private water produced a few Perch for me to just under a pound and a Bream of 4lb 10oz. Allan did a little better landing a good few Bream to five pounds and a stunning Rudd of 2lb 1oz. That's a great fish and a complete surprise from this venue.

10lb Common

4lb 10oz Bream
Ruddy Hell! 2lb 1oz
The best Perch of the day.

One of a few double hook up's for myself and the P' unit