Adam de Gurdon
Member
As my fly fishing is on hold I have re-started coarse fishing. A visit to Claygate Lakes in Kent has proved interesting. I have used a 4m whip with an eyed tip to which I have knotted 18 inches of 10-14 elastic!. Usually I catch F1 hybrids up to 3lbs on a 12 hook with cheese. A couple of weeks ago I tried floating crust. First off I got broken up and then in quick succession I landed my first double figure carp followed by another albeit a pound smaller and then a couple of five pounders. . All on size 10 short shank. A few days ago I tried again but still had trouble hooking a fish as I was using size 12 so I switched to a much larger hook and landed 2x5lbs and 2x4 lbs . Luckily I had my digital scales with me. Pathetic hooking rate was about 1 in 20 takes. Hooks barbless of course. Floating crust on this small water seems to be the high summer favourite for me. My only concern is that I have to play the fish for a bit longer than I would like but the owner said the F1s are pretty resilient. Anyone got any recommendations for a 4/5m whip or pole which has a bit more whoomph to handle the bigger fish please? The water is really like a canal rather than a lake so the shorter rod is much more suitable. Thanks.