Wednesday, 11th.April

Bough Beech, Three Trees

13.45
So I am set up for my first session of The Challenge at the reservoir.The only sounds I can hear is the rat-a-tat-tat of a distant woodpecker, songbirds singing, and the occasional plop of feeders entering the water down the bank to my left. Bream anglers are plying their trade, practicing for the many prestigious matches held here. This is a positive sign. All along I have been worried about the insignificance of my baits and baiting in the vastness of the reservoir’s 300 acres and have always thought a concentration of food was more likely to encourage all fish to feed, as not. I also met another syndicate member on my way in this morning - Arthur. A most genial character who didn’t mind sharing his plans which involved pre-baiting the very spot I was fishing. He has been trickling in bait for the past couple of weeks and intends to keep this up in the hope carp may visit the area regularly. This is right along the lines of my own thinking and since I intend to do the same, at least others are also joining in. We shall see…

Conditions are fairly benign with 7 mph winds from the North East. This wind is four days old so fishing off the back of it should be a good ploy. We are five days away from a New Moon so unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to offer any advantage fishing-wise...

Water temperature is 9.8 degrees, so the fish must be now starting to move and wake up from what has been a very long and very hard Winter.

All rods are out and are being fished as two pairs - two on either side of my marker float which was clipped up at eight wraps; I have previously measured this at a depth of eight feet. Each pair of rods comprises a Stiff Hinged Rig and a zig. The right-hand pair is baited with a pink Northern Special on a three-inch Chod, and an Essential Cell Dumbell set at two feet from the bottom.

The left-hand pair also has a Northern Special - this time in white, and a zig set at six feet - two feet below the surface. Over the top, I have catapulted a nominal amount of boilies; not a lot, but more than a light sprinkling - four or five pouches. The aim is not to get the fish to drop down onto this feed, but to create a column of attraction. My boilies have been glugged in Hemp Oil to which has been added a sprinkling of Liver Powder. My hope is that the oil will float up through the water column, carrying the Liver particles with it. The carp will have their senses aroused and may be likely to take my zigs which are at different depths.

The zigs are my front line approach, with the secondary option of the pop-ups which are fished just above what appears to be the first signs of weed growth. These are fished to any carp which are roaming the margins and who drop down onto the bait.

Both Ken Crow and Phil Baker convince me that these carp spend the majority of their time off the bottom so it makes sense to use the zigs. The reservoir has an abundance of ‘natural food’, most of which the carp feed on off the bottom. ‘Fish Finders’ consistently show fish in the water column although admittedly, they could be Pike for which the reservoir is well known.

14.30
I am struck by what seems the enormity of The Challenge. Arthur fished just six times last year and never had a fish. It’s not going to be easy - in fact it’s going to be damn hard! Am I up to the task? Will the sheer difficulty of the place defeat my efforts?

I have only ever considered myself to be of average ability - and yet those anglers who I know of who have caught here - Alan Young and Phil Baker, are way above anything I have to offer. I feel as if I am trying to ‘punch above my weight’ as it were. It doesn’t seem particularly sensible for an angler diagnosed with Clinical Depression (in the past) to be trying to catch carp from a water that is universally recognised as ‘rock hard’. Talk about not doing yourself any favours. However, as Leon Bartropp would say,

“All it takes is one bite!”.

16.42
Water temperature up to 10.2 degrees. This is the magic number! There must be carp moving around now surely? Will they move down this end of the reservoir though?

I think it was Bob Morris who mentioned to me that in the early part of the year, the fish are up near The Nature Reserve at the North end of the reservoir. The water is shallower up there so I guess it warms up quicker.

16.55
Huge excitement! I’ve seen something roll! Between the right-hand pair of rods - dead over the baiting at eight wraps. It was a substantial fish, although conceivably, and probably very likely, a Bream. No. Let’s be positive and say it was a carp!

18.15
“The rods are on the dance floor!” As Leon would say. If anyone doesn’t know, Leon does a wonderful series of vlogs on his YouTube channel telling you about his fishing. Currently, he is fishing ‘The Park Lake’ (Wellington Country Park), and ‘The Alien Lake’ (Wingham). Both of these are fascinating for me because it actually shows that he blanks just the same as the rest of us! What is different though is that on difficult waters such as these, Leon’s mindset is extremely positive. He has total confidence in everything he does and blanking is just a matter of “keeping on, keeping on”. He proves that whilst blanking is a fact of carp fishing life, you will get one eventually.

I hope he’s right!

19.45
A ‘liner’ on the right-hand ‘stiffy’. Just prior to this, a Bream rolled down to the left in the area the tow feeder anglers were fishing. Do Bream give ‘liners’?

20.10
Another ‘liner’; this time on the r.h. ‘stiffy'. Beginning to suspect they’re Bream having a go at the pop-ups.

Thursday, 12th.April

06.30
No action during this, my first night on Bough Beech. I was impressed by the utter quietness of the place - not a sound could be heard - no cars, no rattle of trains down distant tracks; just a complete and total silence. Water temperature down to 9.0 degrees, so it dropped one degree overnight. Canada geese are active this morning, honking and making a fuss. One in particular is swimming along the shoreline seemingly searching for a companion. There is heavy, grey cloud with a dense mist obliterating the draw-off tower. Wind, swinging round, more northerly.

07.00
Just done a bit of plumbing. Found four and a half feet at five wraps. I knew there was a sudden change in depth because the lead was getting caught on the reel-in.

07.40
Found the ledge a bit more accurately - it’s at six and a half wraps; depth here is eleven feet. The positioning here is critical because this plumbing is immediately in front of a log someone has conveniently positioned at the edge of the water. Further along where I am fishing it shelves up - so there must be a change in the bottom.

There might be a strategic advantage in this knowledge. I could fish two baits on the up-slope (in front of The Branch) and two in front of the log. I need to know exactly what the depth is at six and a half wraps in front of me here.

08.20
Thinking about my discovery of the change in depths; on a SW wind, there will be a lot of turbulence in this region. The wind will move water onto this bank causing substantial undertow and creating a cloud of suspended matter in the water column. The fish will undoubtedly get in this (if there are any in the area) and it makes sense to fish zigs amongst this natural ‘feature’.

12 Noon

Session Re-Start
I am now encamped down the bank in front of the ‘Three Trees’. Following this morning’s plumbing and mapping I have now positioned all four rods in front of Three Trees - but cast my baits out from the Log. Two left hand baits are fished at eight wraps in eleven feet of water, and two right-hand baits are cast at six wraps in nine feet of water. All rigs have been changed except the two foot zig which is at eight wraps - all the other rods are now fishing double bottom baits on ‘D’ rigs. This change has been brought about by the ‘donks’ I have received at all distances. There is a little green stuff on the bottom but it doesn’t prevent good presentation. Not only that, I’m confident in these double bait offerings since I’ve had loads of fish on them in the past.

Water temperature back up to 9.9 degrees.

12.30
Just re-capping on my plumbing activities of this morning and noticing discrepancies in the depths I found. I think use of the marker rod and ‘Drop Zone’ marker gear has to be consistent if false information is to be recorded. I’ve been getting different depths in the same places because I haven’t tightened up to the lead properly before letting the float up.

14.20
The most important aspect of carp-fishing is Location. This is a universal truth held by every authority who has ever written or uttered a word on the subject. You cannot catch fish if they are nowhere your baits. But how do you solve this problem on a water that is so big? Parts of it are either inaccessible, out of bounds, or such a long walk it is just way too far to push the barrow?

It strikes me, the only solution to this is to make them to you - or at least visit your area often enough to make them catcheable. By pre-baiting…

17.00
After a good feed on Chicken Korma and rice I am now sanguine regarding my chances. The problem of Location will be an ever-present one and not easily solved by some ‘instant’ measure. I have vowed however to try and choose good ‘seeing’ conditions and at least have a look around before setting up. Although the calendar says Spring, it is still Winter by my reckoning and very, very early days.

Friday, 13th.April

06.50
An inauspicious date to be out fishing! Nothing during the night but I’ve had an occurrence on the rods just now. A couple of bleeps on the eight wrap bottom bait rod and then immediately following, a couple of tugs on the zig - immediately followed by a drop-back to the ground! My first bit of action at Bough Beech! I was on it in a flash and struck but couldn’t feel anything on the end. Was it carp?

It may well have been, but not one that picked the bait up. I think the little knocks on the bottom bait rod were indeed a ‘liner’ and it may well have been the same fish picking up the next line it swam through. But it’s action! There is something alive out there!

Water temperature down to 8.6 degrees which is a drop of one and a half degrees overnight. Wind has veered round more westerly although it is extremely light and I doubt it will have much influence on the fishing.

I have enjoyed the trip enormously and look forward to future sessions with great anticipation. It has been very useful in concentrating my thoughts - particularly in how to simplify not only my approach but my bait, rigs, and tackles. I realise I have over-complicated and over-thought my fishing for far too long and a return to Fundamentals may just reap the rewards I so long for…