Ten year + break from Carp fishing

[Raja Clavata]

Whilst I retained the ticket on my syndicate water, I had not fished for carp for what must be approaching 12 years.

First proper session last night after two pre-baiting trips.

Right hand rod fished towards snags ripped off at 10:30pm - after a pretty brutal battle the fish succumbed to the net - 27lbs 4oz, new UK PB for me.

Two hours later, same rod faster run but less power - 10lbs 6oz.

Around two hours after that (~02:30) middle rod screams off - after an epic battle that really tested my kit - 28lbs 10oz, a new new PB 🙂

I could certainly get used to this, but am sure I won't, key thing was finding fish, using rigs appropriate to the conditions and a top top bait from a local independent bait company.

Would post pics but they are rubbish as I wasn't setup for self takes. A night well spent...

[chrisjpainter]

9 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

Whilst I retained the ticket on my syndicate water, I had not fished for carp for what must be approaching 12 years.

First proper session last night after two pre-baiting trips.

Right hand rod fished towards snags ripped off at 10:30pm - after a pretty brutal battle the fish succumbed to the net - 27lbs 4oz, new UK PB for me.

Two hours later, same rod faster run but less power - 10lbs 6oz.

Around two hours after that (~02:30) middle rod screams off - after an epic battle that really tested my kit - 28lbs 10oz, a new new PB 🙂

I could certainly get used to this, but am sure I won't, key thing was finding fish, using rigs appropriate to the conditions and a top top bait from a local independent bait company.

Would post pics but they are rubbish as I wasn't setup for self takes. A night well spent...

Ah nice work sir. Shame the photos didn't come out of your PB! Carp fishing is one of those things where I appreciate the fish of others, but could never get into it myself. I got into lure fishing and haven't looked back. Then came the kayak. I haven't static fished for a few years. I have some decent course fishing kit and wouldn't sell the limited but good quality range I have, just in case...

[kevin55]

I've been fly fishing for carp recently, mostly at a commercial lake near Guildford, though I've discovered an estate lake with wild carp in and they're great sport though not huge fish

With an 8wt rod and 10lb leader I couldn't stop a couple getting into lily pads

Going again tomorrow and my wife will try for them on the surface with coarse tackle

[sam triple]

Nice ,shame there’s no pics though 

[Fatcatsplat]

Well done that man. Bazza tried to get me into it, but try as i might, i just can't get excited about the whole set up with carp/cats

1 hour ago, kevin55 said:

I've been fly fishing for carp recently, mostly at a commercial lake near Guildford, though I've discovered an estate lake with wild carp in and they're great sport though not huge fish

With an 8wt rod and 10lb leader I couldn't stop a couple getting into lily pads

Going again tomorrow and my wife will try for them on the surface with coarse tackle

I've had a go with the fly, but the water in a carp lake is generally so murky they don't seem to see the flies 

[washerboy]

I like stalking carp, I can't do the sat behind rods for 24 hrs. 

[kevin55]

2 hours ago, Fatcatsplat said:

Well done that man. Bazza tried to get me into it, but try as i might, i just can't get excited about the whole set up with carp/cats

I've had a go with the fly, but the water in a carp lake is generally so murky they don't seem to see the flies 

I'm using dog biscuits to get the carp to the surface, on a warm day you can usually see some near the top, then a dog biscuit fly or piece of wine cork roughly shaped into a biscuit shape. A friend even drills a biscuit and puts a hook through. The takes are quite exciting

I'll try bread on the coarse rod tomorrow

[chrisjpainter]

7 minutes ago, kevin55 said:

I'm using dog biscuits to get the carp to the surface, on a warm day you can usually see some near the top, then a dog biscuit fly or piece of wine cork roughly shaped into a biscuit shape. A friend even drills a biscuit and puts a hook through. The takes are quite exciting

I'll try bread on the coarse rod tomorrow

Yeah this is the only type of carp fishing I ever really enjoyed. I used to make my own and them fish them free lined, no weight or float just stalking fish tight to the margins. It's exhilarating. The tension's almost unbearable at times. Nothing, nothing nothing huge explosion! water flying everywhere and a reel screaming. makes for a happy (if emotionally draining!) summer's evening 

[Guest]

Congratulations on the new PB. Shame the photos didn't come out.

I fish but either float or method feeder are my favourite options. On the surface too if the carp are showing any interest in feeding there.

Never done the whole bivvy, alarms, and high test curve rods thing. As lazy as I like my angling to be, being asleep when a fish takes my bait is too much even for me lol. Each to their own though.

[wymberley]

On 15 July 2020 at 20:11, kevin55 said:

I'm using dog biscuits to get the carp to the surface, on a warm day you can usually see some near the top, then a dog biscuit fly or piece of wine cork roughly shaped into a biscuit shape. A friend even drills a biscuit and puts a hook through. The takes are quite exciting

I'll try bread on the coarse rod tomorrow

As I have to drive a fair bit to get to my usual trout waters I thought about having a go as quoted in my local reservoir just up the road. Had a word with the carp lads who put me off explaining why and then showed me - seeing is believing. Not a bird in sight but within seconds of some floating bait hitting the water the gulls arrived out of nowhere. Simply a no no.

[chrisjpainter]

2 hours ago, wymberley said:

As I have to drive a fair bit to get to my usual trout waters I thought about having a go as quoted in my local reservoir just up the road. Had a word with the carp lads who put me off explaining why and then showed me - seeing is believing. Not a bird in sight but within seconds of some floating bait hitting the water the gulls arrived out of nowhere. Simply a no no.

aye. you have to literally feed them to busting sometimes. it is possible, but it costs a fortune in dog biscuits and very often isn't worth it. need to float out a blow up crocodile with a growling speaker in it to ward them off

 

[kevin55]

16 hours ago, wymberley said:

As I have to drive a fair bit to get to my usual trout waters I thought about having a go as quoted in my local reservoir just up the road. Had a word with the carp lads who put me off explaining why and then showed me - seeing is believing. Not a bird in sight but within seconds of some floating bait hitting the water the gulls arrived out of nowhere. Simply a no no.

I'm fishing smaller waters generally and have had to shoo off ducks and geese, but have had no problem, yet, with birds coming down. Someone told me  that you could effecfively feed them enough to fill them up so they stopped coming after the floaters

The person who told me this did tell me he'd had over a dozen fish on his last session...............and 1 duck! I did see someone 'hook a duck' in Yorkshire last year

[wymberley]

12 minutes ago, kevin55 said:

I'm fishing smaller waters generally and have had to shoo off ducks and geese, but have had no problem, yet, with birds coming down. Someone told me  that you could effecfively feed them enough to fill them up so they stopped coming after the floaters

The person who told me this did tell me he'd had over a dozen fish on his last session...............and 1 duck! I did see someone 'hook a duck' in Yorkshire last year

Problem is, I'm talking gulls on a landfill scenario numbers. Half a dozen tipper trucks fed from a couple of 38 ton lorries might just do it.

[Raja Clavata]

Pics of the three fish mentioned in the original post.

I think it's a case of do whatever suits you and is appropriate for the water you are on, I used to love fishing the margins with crust or corn on estate lakes as a teenager but on large pits you are going to need to adopt tactics.

Anyway, I went back Thursday night and with a lot of fish showing at one end I plonked myself in the swim known as Balliffs and set about finding "clear" spots in the weed.

First take at 02:30 resulted in a fish lost at the net (partially straightened hook) - can't say how big but almost certainly a twenty something. 20 minutes later same rod resulted in a new PB at 29.00 🙂

Stayed awake for sunrise and could see bubbles fizzing around everywhere, so cast to a number of them. Third take resulted in a very powerful fish finding some weed and locked up, went down the submerged ramp up to my waist to try to get a different angle but it was solid, slackened off and left for 45 minutes (change of shoes, trousers and pants) then had another big tub which resulted in return of rig (minus the fish) - relieved as I figured I was gonna have to go "diving" otherwise.

After checking line for damage I recast that rod to another group of fizzing bubbles with a take shortly afterwards, line parted as I lent into it - damn!

Re-cast to roughly the same area and at 07:30 had another screaming run on the same rod resulting in a 20.09.

A good night of fishing which could have been exceptional but some errors on my part. 

Pretty spectacular sunrise too - picture taken at 04:58 (no filter).

[Raja Clavata]

On 15/07/2020 at 16:42, chrisjpainter said:

Ah nice work sir. Shame the photos didn't come out of your PB! Carp fishing is one of those things where I appreciate the fish of others, but could never get into it myself. I got into lure fishing and haven't looked back. Then came the kayak. I haven't static fished for a few years. I have some decent course fishing kit and wouldn't sell the limited but good quality range I have, just in case...

Cheers. I prefer moving water too. I targeted barbel almost exclusively for a few years but the travelling was restrictive in terms of time, cost and family life. I love sea fishing too and have toyed with the idea of kayak / jet-ski. Came close to buying a ~20ft boat a few years ago as I'd done all the RYA courses and done a fair few days out as a charter deck hand.

[Raja Clavata]

On 15/07/2020 at 16:49, kevin55 said:

I've been fly fishing for carp recently, mostly at a commercial lake near Guildford, though I've discovered an estate lake with wild carp in and they're great sport though not huge fish

With an 8wt rod and 10lb leader I couldn't stop a couple getting into lily pads

Going again tomorrow and my wife will try for them on the surface with coarse tackle

Never tried tried fly fishing, maybe one day. I do love a wildie though 👍

On 15/07/2020 at 17:50, Fatcatsplat said:

Well done that man. Bazza tried to get me into it, but try as i might, i just can't get excited about the whole set up with carp/cats

I've had a go with the fly, but the water in a carp lake is generally so murky they don't seem to see the flies 

Cheers. I do know what you mean. There are cats in this lake too but they are not supposed to be returned upon capture. During my barbel fishing days my bro called me out in the middle of the night to help him with a cat - he'd got it in the net but couldn't lift it out of the water. When we weighed it the scales bottomed out at 90lb, and it took a fair bit more lifting before we cleared the ground with it, it was mahoosive.

On 18/07/2020 at 15:39, Mr_Nobody said:

Congratulations on the new PB. Shame the photos didn't come out.

I fish but either float or method feeder are my favourite options. On the surface too if the carp are showing any interest in feeding there.

Never done the whole bivvy, alarms, and high test curve rods thing. As lazy as I like my angling to be, being asleep when a fish takes my bait is too much even for me lol. Each to their own though.

Cheers, I know what you mean but I absolutely love "sleeping" outdoors and with the fish feeding patterns this time of year and an otherwise busy work schedule it's the only way to get quality time with lines wet on a regular basis.

Anyway, for now I am just really enjoying the re-acquaintance with all this 👍

[Raja Clavata]

The 29.00

And the 20.9

Back over last night resulting in 21.01, 17.04, 19.08 & 27.08 with one lost at the net.

The 21.01

The 17.04

The 19.8

And the 27.08 (& me)

Gonna pin it for a bit as I'm mountaineering from Thursday...

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Some very nice fish there Raja. 

[strimmer_13]

On 20/07/2020 at 09:47, Raja Clavata said:

Pics of the three fish mentioned in the original post.

I think it's a case of do whatever suits you and is appropriate for the water you are on, I used to love fishing the margins with crust or corn on estate lakes as a teenager but on large pits you are going to need to adopt tactics.

Anyway, I went back Thursday night and with a lot of fish showing at one end I plonked myself in the swim known as Balliffs and set about finding "clear" spots in the weed.

First take at 02:30 resulted in a fish lost at the net (partially straightened hook) - can't say how big but almost certainly a twenty something. 20 minutes later same rod resulted in a new PB at 29.00 🙂

Stayed awake for sunrise and could see bubbles fizzing around everywhere, so cast to a number of them. Third take resulted in a very powerful fish finding some weed and locked up, went down the submerged ramp up to my waist to try to get a different angle but it was solid, slackened off and left for 45 minutes (change of shoes, trousers and pants) then had another big tub which resulted in return of rig (minus the fish) - relieved as I figured I was gonna have to go "diving" otherwise.

After checking line for damage I recast that rod to another group of fizzing bubbles with a take shortly afterwards, line parted as I lent into it - damn!

Re-cast to roughly the same area and at 07:30 had another screaming run on the same rod resulting in a 20.09.

A good night of fishing which could have been exceptional but some errors on my part. 

Pretty spectacular sunrise too - picture taken at 04:58 (no filter).

Did you see neowise? 

[Raja Clavata]

2 hours ago, strimmer_13 said:

Did you see neowise? 

Much to my regret and shame no, would have been ideal the last two nights I’ve fished but I tend to get “in the zone” and everything else goes out the window.

 

 

 

[Raja Clavata]

On 21/07/2020 at 13:07, Mr_Nobody said:

Some very nice fish there Raja. 

Cheers 👍 I'll be back at it this evening, it did a 39.14 over the weekend 🙂 

[Raja Clavata]

22.04, 28.13 & 24.00 last night, lost two to hook-pulls, one close in the other at range.

That's 12 fish landed from 19 hooked in 6 sessions which includes 2 blanks.

[Raja Clavata]

Fish #30 since mid July at 33.10.

 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, caught my first carp in an old brick pit over 60 years ago, was just like Mr Crabtree waiting at dusk with floating bread, me and my Uncle, a common carp about 12 llb, oh happy days, as a note my son fly fishes for carp on Buscot Park lake, well done on your PB Raja 👍

[Raja Clavata]

The fish were on the munch at my syndicate Friday night / Saturday morning 20.06, 18.06, 25.10, 19.01, 20.05, 16.05, 18.01, 20.05, 21.08, 16.04, 15.03, 23.07, 23.05. & 24.07. A case of being at the right place at the right time but by all accounts a new lake record representing over 2% of the carp population in the lake. The one piece of credit I'll take is adopting tactics from bait and wait to casting to fish activity and then a few freebies catapulted out to get the fish, which were clearly very active and hungry, moving around - it worked a treat. 10 of the 14 fish were caught in daylight hours, I believe all bar one, the last, were male fish.

How is everyone else doing?