DH FISHING |
Last week i was lucky enough to get out to a new fishery with good friend Tony Delaney, to a complex known as 'Wetlands'. The site is actually an Animal park, but is also home to two cracking looking lakes and it was The Specimen Lake we had our eye on. We met up with Bailiff, Dave Wilson on the Tuesday afternoon to have a good chat about the lake. Dave was very approachable and friendly, so we got to know a little bit about the place, before choosing our swims and getting sorted. Recently re-developed, the Specimen lake has had a mountain of work done on it, to open it up to Carp anglers, with massive swim developments and also lots of snag removals, to create what i can only describe as a veritable Carp Anglers Paradise. Looking around you can imagine what the lake would have looked like beforehand, so the place is a real credit to the Owner, Richard and the other lads who have grafted to make it in to what it is now. If we weren't already impressed enough by the set up and Richards infectious enthusiasm for his project, when we were invited around for a social and a BBQ with a few of the other lads that were on that evening, courtesy of the man himself, we were totally sold! Outstanding hospitality and we had a good laugh too. So, on to the fishing itself. The lake is around 9.5 acres and has loads of nooks and crannies, with literally dozens and dozens of features to fish to. The water level was actually down a bit while we were there, but the lake is quite shallow anyway, with average depths around 3ft, although there are bars and deeper areas too. The swims themselves were quite literally some of the best i've ever seen to be honest, with acres of space, all spotless and each having its own Car Park close by. This shot was taken from 'Peg 5', whilst being built, looking back across to 4 & 4a. We fished in the pegs you can see opposite. Peg 1 right at the other end of the lake, showcasing how immaculate the swims are. Pegs 3, 3a & 3b, command a large area of water. Among the Geese and ducks, you do get some rather regal visitors to your swim too! After the BBQ/Social, it was actually dropping dark in to the first night, but we had already found or spots earlier, so it was just a matter of casting back out and baiting up. Left hand rod was in a channel a couple of rod lengths off one island, fishing an Xcel Baits Prototype hook bait and the right hand rod was on a Hinged Stiff Rig, presenting a 16mm KSC Pop up, out to a separate island. I then spread a mixture of KSC and VNF Food Sourced bait, that i'd glugged in KSC Bait Soak, over both areas. I did have some action pretty quickly, with one aborted take and another that came off, but i'm not sure if it was a Carp! As Dawn broke, we were greeted by a beautiful, misty, atmospheric scene that gave way to bright sunshine and we knew at this point it might be difficult to get a bite until the following evening. Once the main heat of the day had passed, i found a few fish basking in the corner near where i was fishing and the only way i could really fish for them was on a zig, as they weren't interested in anything on the deck. So i hatched a plan and decided to free line a zig, fished just under the surface, so i could see what was happening. The weight of the tubing and lead clip was enough to sink the hook bait to fish effectively. Plopping a lead on them would have spooked them, so i ran with it to see what happened. Unfortunately we couldn't surface fish as it's prohibited to safeguard the water fowl. Unbelievably after a short while a fish came and sucked in my trimmed White Xcel Baits KSC Fluoro and i was in! The fish fought well and gave me a bit of a beating out of the water too! Only 13lb 8ozs, but it was a start and my first ever Carp on a zig too! After this i got the rods sorted for the second night, we got sat down for a social and all of a sudden the Hinged Stiff Rod went nuts and i was in again. Turned out to be a scraper double of 10lb 6ozs, but it gave a good account of itself and was welcome all the same! I anticipated a take might be on the cards as the fish had started to move a little more. Shortly after this, Tony was in also, but unfortunately the fish came off. Bit of a gutter, but you win some and you lose some. The second night was fairly quiet and long story short my rods remained silent until pack up, but in the meantime Tony was rewarded with a nice Mirror of around 14lbs, taken on Xcel Baits VNF. So the session had been a success for both of us, in tricky conditions, which we were pleased with for a first session at a new fishery. The lake holds fish to over 30lbs with a good number of 20's, but these were probably lapping up the sun somewhere beyond our reach. A 29lb Mirror did come out while we were there, but at the other end of the lake.
Tony and I can't wait to get back to have another go. As mentioned, the lake is an absolute credit to Rich, the owner and the lads who've worked hard to develop in to what is definitely a Fishery to watch. There are plans to stock the lake with a few bigger fish in the not too distant future and there have been fish sighted which have not yet been caught, which could prove very interesting indeed! (If you know what i mean) For more information please visit www.wetlandscarpfishing.com and you can also follow the Fishery on Facebook. Tight lines, Dan
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When you are on a bit of a roll, you can only hope that the success continues and your target lake continues to be kind. Last weekend i got out again for a couple of days on the club lake and hoped this would be the case. Sometimes i can be a bit one-dimensional in my fishing, sticking to the same spots and so on, but i suppose if they're are producing, why change? However this time i was forced in to a change of tact, owing to the area being occupied - This happened to me once before elsewhere and one of my targets showed up, so i approached the situation with optimism and decided to fish a marginal area that i know can produce and then try a little experiment on an area that was clear, but wasn't really known for producing fish. I chose to drop in with slightly different tactics, opting to fish a blowback rig on the margin spot, with an Xcel baits Prototype hookbait, tipped off with half a glugged KSC Food Source Wafter (This tactic had produced for me earlier in the year). The other rod, i decided to stick with the Hinged Stiff Rig. Over both went a liberal scattering of KSC and VNF and the rest was up to the Carp. Through the first night, i had liners, however nothing materialised. At first light, i received a take on the right hand rod, fished on the margin but it was a bit finicky and then half way in decided to drop off! It felt like a small Carp, but it was back to the drawing board, so to speak! I got that rod back in and pondered over the 'experimental' rod, that had remained quiet. The disappointment of losing a fish was short lived though, as the same rod screamed in to life again a couple of hours later and this time the fish was nailed and never coming off - Go figure? The culprit was an old 15lb 8oz Common, to get the session rolling. I decided to re-position the 'experimental' rod, in to slightly deeper water, in an area i had seen a bit of bubbling, in the hope i could trick another, but despite my best efforts and a bit of wandering about stalking that afternoon, i couldn't bag myself another - although i did get done in the edge, but we won't talk about that! On the plus side a pal had a nice 20lb+ Common out, so they were up for it in the right places. With the sun dipping down in to the second evening, i decided to get my act together back in the main swim and got the rods out again, but long story short, despite liners through the night, nothing else came my way. The following morning, I knew an Easterly wind was forecast, later that day and anticipated the fish would get on it, so i packed up pretty early with the intention of being mobile and got on the end of it. However my best laid plans were quashed really as the 'wind' never really got on the water and the fish weren't there as i'd expected them to be, so it was back up the other end. Sure enough, the fish were there and looked catchable off the top. I observed and they were regularly cruising in a particular area and after a while, it was apparent this would be where i'd have a chance. So I settled in, only to have a fish reject my surface fished VNF pop up almost instantly! Undeterred i continued flicking my free lined bait to fish and eventually after about an hour a nice Mirror put the anchors on, tilted up and sucked it in and i was in. As the fish battled to do me in the pads i had to get a little bit serious to keep her out and thankfully won the battle, getting her in the net relatively quickly. Once on the mat, it became apparent it was a bit of special one! At 18lb 12ozs, it wasn't a monster, but the old scaley beast that lay before me didn't really warrant a number as it was another one that i couldn't really come up with any superlatives for! I was very pleased with that one and with what looked like a little bit of inclement weather imminent, i decided to get the house back up and do the last night on the favoured spots, hoping i could trip one more up. Sure enough, just after i'd got the rods back in, the rain came. It was apparent after my fish, that they had moved out of the area, with next to no activity at all for a good few hours. As the sun began to set though, as if someone had flicked a switch, they seemed to turn up again, with a couple of fish crashing and the pads knocking. Through the night as is often the case on these particular spots, i had liners galore and at dawn the right had rod ripped off, then stopped. Unsure if the fish was still on or not i picked the rod up and thankfully it was. It turned out to be one of the lakes 'friendly' residents, a fish well known to one or two of the lads. Only a low double, but welcome all the same. After slipping this one back, the fish were still present to my surprise. The question was whether they were Carp and if so could i nick another? Well, about an hour and a half later, a PB equaling 5lb Tench answered my question and another shortly after definitely confirmed it! A wander around revealed the Carp were elsewhere and despite a quick couple of hours on them, that was to be my lot.
Following this session, myself and a friend spent 48hrs at Wetlands Carp Fishery, located at Wetlands Animal Park and we had a tricky, but successful trip - So look out for my blog on that one - It's an absolutely cracking place! Tight Lines, Dan After the result a fortnight ago which saw me break my PB again, with what is probably the biggest fish in the place, i had to take a little bit of time away from the Club lake, simply owing to being skint! But needs must and all that. So i was raring to go for a 48hr session, that i'd had planned for a while earlier this week and wasted no time in getting down after work and getting the rods out. Because the forecast showed a steady wind to be pushing up towards the end i had been concentrating my recent efforts, i decided there was no real point in fishing any other spots, so the approach was pretty much the same as it had been beforehand. The only difference this time, was bait - they were going to get it. It was clear now they were well on the feed and as is often the case, the more you give them the better it can be. I'd upped the quantity of particle to nearly 10kgs and had also upped the amount of Xcel KSC they'd be getting with it, with the intention to introduce up to 5kgs on top of the particle if i felt it needed it. With the particle, it was nothing special, just Hemp, Corn and Pellet, with a few boilies mixed in here and there. I'd already seen fish in the area, so just to start with decided not to drop the spod on them for the first couple of hours, to see if i could nick a quick bite, instead opting to just bait with a few handfuls of mixed 14,18 and 20mm KSC. As had been the case with my previous sessions, on the left hand rod i was fishing a Prototype test bait on a multi rig and on the right, a Hinged Stiff Rigged KSC Pop up. This did actually pay dividends, as i got a quick take, not long after getting the brolly up and all the kit sorted. On lifting the rod though, there was nothing there! Unbelievably, the same thing happened again, literally 5-10 minutes later! So i was left scratching my head a little - both came to the right hand rod. The hook wasn't blunted or anything, so i put it down to bad luck more than anything else, as we can speculate all day long as to why these things happen! As the evening drew on, not a lot else happened apart from the occasional liner, so i gave them around 15 spods of bait over each rod to feel my way in to the first night. I felt pretty confident after things had settled down, as before the sun dropped they were fizzing over the left hand rod. Sure enough at around 11:30pm, the left melted off and i soon had the first of the session in the net. Got myself sorted out and got the fish weighed. 18lb 6oz, so a good start and the night was still young! Although after putting the rod back out, topping up with another half dozen spods and more boilies, it just didn't happen, with just a Tench to report the following morning at about 9am. But i couldn't complain and knew i was still in with a shout of more as the Carp were definitely about. At around 4pm i got another rip roaring take on the HSR pop up, only to be met with thin air again picking the rod up! Although long story short, there was a tonic, as an hour later it did it again and i slipped the net under a fully, which i knew straight away was a recapture - i wasn't too fussed though. Didn't weigh it, just got the pics done and got her slipped back (Was 19lb 2ozs last time). At this point i was really pleased as i was getting takes in daylight, so i knew if i had a productive second night, i was on track for a really good session and so it proved, after an early Bream the left hand rod went again on the prototype bait and after a bit of a stalemate in the pads, the fish came free and was soon in the net and on the mat, held aloft for its picture taking. This one went 20lb 6ozs, so it was nice to get a twenty and i was hopeful of maybe one more fish before i had to leave the following afternoon/evening. As dawn came and went, i kept freshening up the spots with a few spods and the liners kept coming, but later that morning, i decided to rest the swim and go for a wander around - the thinking was that they might gain a little confidence without any lines in the swim. Didn't see too much to make me want to change anything and after a quick hours surface stalking i got the rods back in for the afternoon, put the remainder of my bait in and sat back, fingers crossed that i might get one more. At around 4:30pm, the right hand rod screamed off again and i was in to what felt a decent fish as it powered out in to the middle of the lake. The hinge stiff held fast as i inched the culprit through the pads and what soon lay in the net blew me in to the middle of next week.... a simply awesome Common Carp. Fin perfect, hued with deep golds through to a pearly underside. What made it more special, was getting to share the moment with a passer by and his 6 year old Son, who were both anglers. I remember vividly the first time i saw a 20lb Carp on the bank like it was yesterday and i hoped it would inspire the young lad, as it did me (Albeit i was a bit older at the time). Thankfully, we managed to get a nice shot of it, after the Reubens had revealed a weight of 22lb 2ozs. I am absolutely over the moon with this fish and despite the couple of bigger Mirrors i have been lucky enough to extract so far this year, this one is pretty special, probably my favourite.
It was a nice way to end the session, which had been my most successful to date on the Club lake and i hope there's a few more to come yet. Tight lines, Dan |