Now I make no bones about it I am a self-confessed river addict. I love everything there is about fishing on running water from the solitude and wildlife to the unpredictability of the fishing – one day it’ll be awesome and the next equally as bad.
Obviously my love of river fishing sees me having a void to fill for three months of the year during the close season. In years gone past I have found it extremely difficult to get motivated during this period of time, often going weeks without wetting a line, but was I missing a trick? Surely making a concerted effort during the months of March, April, May and June on the stillwaters would give me a better understanding of the seasons and different species and methods that this time of year offered.
With that in mind this year I decided to make a conscious effort to go fishing and learn something new and carp were to be my favoured species. Now I’m never going to be the next Terry Hearn but with a little patience and persistence I hoped to improve my angling ability and catch a few good fish into the bargain.
The first thing I had to do was find a suitable venue; I didn’t want a huge lake, just somewhere small and intimate where I could hone an approach that offered me the chance of a few fish. The carp themselves didn’t have to be of huge proportions either, I’m more than happy to catch carp of any size as long as I’m learning and taking something from each session.
Thankfully it didn’t take too long to find the perfect place, a little day ticket lake in Oxfordshire that saw few, if any, anglers from one week to the next. With the average size of fish in the mid-double range and the outside chance of a twenty it was perfect, a healthy stock of good looking fish that weren’t hammered week in week out.
My approach was simple, three rods fanned out to fish different areas of the lake with a handful of bait over each one to fish for a bite at a time. If one rod was producing more than another then I’d ring the changes and move the unproductive rod to a different area. Over the course of three sessions this proved to be a very effective method and saw me land 12 carp, with several around the 17lb mark, I was pleased as Punch that my chosen rigs and methods were producing consistent results on my new venue but then a spanner was thrown into the works – but a very welcome one at that.
I was approached by good friend and chairman of Kinver Freeliners Angling Club Steve Williams to do a bankside interview for an angling website and YouTube. This meant finding a venue in Shropshire I could do an overnighter on so Steve didn’t have to far to travel. I did the usual internet searches and called a few friends but there was nowhere that stood out, and those that did offer 24 hour fishing either had a ridiculous number of rules or were too far.
It was then I remembered about RH Fisheries and that some of their venues offered open access throughout the months of April and May during the syndicate off season. Checking their website I was drawn to ‘The Sitch’ and upon calling the fishery owner I found there was space for me to do two days’ fishing midweek, I was duly booked in and an email with all the information I required soon arrived in my inbox.
For those that don’t know The Sitch, it is a 26-acre estate lake set in some of Shropshire’s most stunning scenery, home to 450 carp of which a high percentage are upper doubles to over 20lb with some five known 30lb plus fish. The unique thing about the fishery is the fact the whole place is only three to four feet deep with barely any weed, no gravel or clay spots and made up completely of a silt bottom. There are no bars, holes, drop offs or other features, meaning there is nothing at all to hold the fish, which, consequently, are extremely mobile and with such a high stock density they could be anywhere and everywhere at the same time.
I spent literally hours studying Google Earth and checking the weather forecast for wind directions and air pressure in the days leading up to my visit, also watching YouTube videos and reading any online articles I could find that would stand me in good stead for my one off visit.
I arrived mid-morning, four hours later than planned, due to the torrential rain that was sweeping across the Midlands and, after negotiating a stuck lock on the gate, slowly and quietly made my way down the long track which weaves its way through the woods I was greeted by the stunning view of The Sitch.
Set in the heart of woodland and completely surrounded by trees it was a sight to behold – stunning! As expected the wind was blowing into the corner where the boathouse was situated and after doing a lap of the lake I was content to set up just around the corner from this area in the hope of intercepting fish as they moved in and out of the bay.
My approach was simple: long braided hooklengths tied KD style adorned with a snowman bait arrangement. At the other end I incorporated a helicopter rig to help stop the hooklength being dragged into the silt and masking the hookbait. With it being a two-rod venue I planned to use a throwing stick to deposit 3kg of 15mm boilies 50-60m out and to place my rigs in amongst the spread of boilies. With it being a clear, shallow venue I opted for white bait in the shape of Nashbaits’ Amber Strawberry with my thought process being it would stand out well on the dark bottom and therefore gain the fishes’ interest – In hindsight this was possibly the biggest mistake I could have made!
After getting everything sorted, and being happy with my rig placement, I settled back to await the appearance of a carp…and wait I did. I waited throughout the afternoon, early evening and well into the night without so much as a show from a fish or a bleep from my alarms.
Just as the light was fading I recast both rods then set my alarm for first light before getting my head down. I slept well, extremely well, for seven hours before awaking just before the alarm was due to go off. Firing up the kettle I watched the sun come up whilst having a brew and pondered what I had to do to get a bite. Throwing a few baits into the margin I was astonished at how blatant and obvious they were, I might as well have put a neon sign in the swim warning the carp to stay away!
Damn!! I’d been the cause of my own blank but thankfully I still had 15 hours or so to rectify my mistake but one thing was blindingly obvious, I had to move away from the bait I’d put in.
I had a quick look around and a swim that fished the water towards an island had become vacant overnight and within 45 minutes I was in situ and fishing with renewed optimism and a different approach. I’d had the foresight to put 2.5kg of Scopex Squid in the car just in case I needed a change and this was now brought into the equation. My strategy was simple, keep the rigs the same but instead of a big spread of bait it would now be fish for bites and I used the throwing stick to put 50 baits over each rig, then sat back with a cup of tea to see if my move would pay off.
Well, I waited and waited and still nothing happened! The most frustrating thing was I knew fish were in my swim as the coots were regularly spooking, but I couldn’t get a pick up, something was obviously wrong with my rig.
I delved into the tackle box and had a ‘eureka’ moment. I was fishing with a highly visual 10mm pop-up on a bottom bait, what if this was having the same effect as the aforementioned white baits and spooking the fish? I brought both rods in and swapped the pop-ups for a single piece of fake, buoyant corn. This still gave me a visual element to the hookbait and negated the weight of the bait, preventing it being pulled into the silt whilst just giving me an edge of subtlety to proceedings.
With fish in the swim and a more refined approach I was ultra confident of finally getting a bite and, amazingly, it took just 45 minutes for that bite to arrive and after a short but spirited fight a stocky little 15lb fish was in the net, I was over the moon that I had finally got a fish but, more importantly, I had successfully worked out what I was doing wrong and had fixed it. As luck would have it Ed, the fishery owner, was on hand for a few pics and I was soon releasing the fish to fight another day. Just as the fish made good its escape there was an eruption of carp exiting the swim and my other rod sprang into life; this fish felt a little bigger and so it was proved at 18lb – Brilliant, nothing for almost 30 hours fishing then two almost at once.
After this little spell of action I sorted things out and re-cast the rods. Sitting back with yet another brew all was good with the world and I watched as carp after carp launched themselves from the water time after time. Things quietened down after the short flurry of activity but it wasn’t too long before the carp were back and I was doing battle with a fantastic conditioned 20lb 14oz common, fantastic, I’d managed another and it was only my third ever carp over 20lb!
By this point I was buzzing and with Steve’s arrival to do the interview imminent my appetite for catches was sated so didn’t mind should I not fish through the interview. Steve however insisted that I leave the rods out as ‘you never know, I might get one on film’ these turned out to be very prophetic words.
We’d been filming and chatting for about half an hour when an alarm let out a single beep and the line started cutting through the water. Fish on! Steve decided to carry on filming and as the fish didn’t feel too big I carried on the interview, presuming I had another upper double on the end of my line. It wasn’t long before the fish was nearing the net when all of a sudden the ‘upper double’ turned into something somewhat bigger as a huge mouth and set of shoulders was engulfed in the mesh. It was quite obviously a PB and I figured it would go mid ‘20’, maybe a little bigger.
At this point Ed appeared in the swim and upon peering into the net casually informed me I had my first ‘30’, not only that but it was probably well over 30. Thankfully Steve had stopped filming otherwise the editing of some rather choice words may have been needed. The moment of truth was soon upon us and whilst Ed lifted the fish up I had the very pleasing job of reading the weight, a whopping great 32lb 8oz! Fantastic! My previous PB was 23lb 6oz so I had smashed it by 9lb 2oz and what a stunning fish to do it with.
I was overjoyed! Ed did the pictures and Steve did some more filming of the fish she was released back into her watery home. Words can’t describe how elated I was and to share the moment with a good friend and to catch it all on film just made it all the sweeter.
Once I’d got my head together the interview was finished off and Steve left, leaving me with my thoughts to reflect on the fantastic experience I’d just had. It was soon time to pack away and the 60 mile drive home seemed over in just minutes, I’m sure I floated into the house that night when I got home…
