Tuesday, 8th.October 2019
Paddlesworth, Pollard, Peg 44
12.00When I arrived I quickly scooted down to the lake to see who was where. ‘The Boss’ (Ryan-the-Bait-Man) had dropped into P30 only minutes before my arrival and had ‘pipped me to the post’ so to speak for I really wanted to have another go in there - but this time ‘fish it properly’. However, I had planned for this eventuality (inevitability) and opted for one of the swims on the opposite bank.
Fortunately for me, Ryan was still spodding when I got round to the peg and I could see precisely where his bait was landing. I’m not cheeky enough to cast into his baited area (although some I know wouldn’t hesitate!) but to the left, in line with P29.
Pegs on the far bank make useful 'markers' when deciding on where to deposit bait and hook-baits. Having an understanding of where you want your baits to fish, and what pegs are available to enable you to do so is vital in all carp-fishing.
At last I was able to fish in exactly the manner I would have wanted to - 20mm. Manilla boily, straight out of the bag on a Simple Fluorocarbon Rig, with a three bait Slow Melt PVA ‘stringer’. This was what earned me my success in France recently and I have total confidence in it.
As the second bait landed on its mark, a big fish launched itself out of the water only yards to the right! I’m on the money! Twelve wraps in line with P29 is exactly right!
12.50
Ryan talks about two separate shoals of Carp - one at the top end of the lake (P31-P38) and one towards the bottom end of the lake (P29-P25). When the two shoals come together then a ‘big hit’ is on the cards, something he has done often on here.
But it’s no Big Hit I’m after on Pollard; it’s just one fish I want, and as long as it’s a forty-pounder that’ll do me!
13.30
Now here’s a thing… friends of mine whom I’ve known for many many years and who are better anglers than I’ll ever be, adhere to the ‘Light Baiting’ principle. That you should have no more than half a dozen free baits around your hook-bait on the assumption that the only one you want them to pick up is the one with the hook in it. The more bait you have out there the less chance there is of a fish picking yours up before it clears off.
Conversely, I have heard of some folks who bait up with anything up to five or six kilos at a time - many hundreds of individual food items out of which the carp must pick up the one with the hook in it.
Carp are not always hungry and will not always eat as much bait as you can throw at them; so who is right? Both baiting strategies work so it’s difficult to say that either one is right or wrong. From a financial point of view, the Light Baiting principle I personally find more attractive than a heavier approach for no other reason than it’s lighter on the wallet! I am such a cynic that I think the use of vast quantities of bait is nothing more than a commercial ‘trick’ to get us to spend more of our money on their products.
15.00
Ryan opposite has just had a fish and he’s called out that he thinks it’s a thirty!
It’s quite an education to sit here and watch him going about his business. He never leaves a bait out if he’s not entirely happy with where it has landed and will reel-in and re-cast it a second, third, or even fourth time until he is.
He’s just replied to my text - the fish was 27lbs.
15.35
All baits re-cast onto the mark. Not quite as close together as I would like, but close enough - certainly onto the spodded ‘Maxinut’ I have put out.
I’m fishing as well as I’ve done in a while; I’ve caught more in the past, fishing less well. One lesson I have learnt today is Accuracy. Spod your bait accurately and fish over the top of it accurately.
I think I would change a few things in future…
For the winter, I think I would only spod corn (I’m thinking of waters other than Pollard) with a couple of boilies each payload rather than spod out pure boilies. I think the corn would be more digestible in the cold water. For the Autumn however, I think I’d put the 20 mill-ers in the Spomb along with 12mm. ‘Maxinut’ and concentrate on getting a tight grouping of hook-baits on top.
16.00
It’s all quiet out there; I haven’t seen a fish since the initial sighting when I first cast out this morning. They must be out there though because Ryan has had one. Does this mean you are still in with a chance, despite not seeing fish? There was far more action last week.
16.35
Just heard a fish round to the right of me in the ‘Sandbags Bay’. This would be from what Ryan refers to as ‘The Bottom End Shoal’.
Just had a text from him to say there is a clear spot next to weed at six wraps in the direction of P29. Think I’ll put a lead out to try and find it.
Oooh!… a fish has just lumped out a few yards past my spodded bait; is this the start of some action?!
A violent storm has just blown in! Gale force winds and driving rain… I want to put a bait on that six-wrap mark but it’s hopeless at the moment. I’m also dying for a pee! Nothing for it but to get out of the bivvy and go and get wet!
17.00
I’m saturated! My Urinary Tract reached a critical state and I had to go out in the midst of the cloudburst! While I was out there though I did manage to get the bait on the six-wrap mark so I think I’m ok. Got one or two (or four) baits around it with the catapult so we shall see.
Hang on… the rain’s easing. Chance to get out and see if I can see any fish. Ryan said they were off this bank last night.
17.30
So, rods re-positioned to get a better strategic advantage:
The lh rod is aimed straight at P29. The centre rod (at 12 wraps) is aimed at the bed of rushes between P29 and P27, and the rh rod is just to the right of this at the same distance. These two rods are a bit nearer to Ryan’s baited area from which I hope to prosper (I’m not proud). This is a shameless effort to capitalise on his baiting!
Still confident even though I’m not fishing over baited spots. The one I caught last week I caught similarly.
17.55
Another fish has just ‘lumped’ out to my right. Now I estimate that it is about half-way across ‘Sandbags Bay’ and not far out - certainly well inside the 12 wraps I am fishing. This fish would be better reached from the peg the other side of the Bay at 8-9 wraps or so. Something like that. Certainly a ‘Bottom End Shoal’ fish.
18.15
I’ve re-cast the rh rod even further round to the right. One or two fish have been moving during the past hour and this cast is intended to put me more on them. Twelve wraps again but aimed at P24 which puts me off the back of Ryan’s baiting.
20.30
I’m mulling things over, trying to get things right in my head because I don’t think I have yet worked out how to fish Peg 44 - or even if I should have plotted up here in the first place. An opportunity arose to fish my other preferred option on the other side of Sandbags Bay and I turned it down and I’m wondering whether I should have gone in there:
I’m hoping that by getting things down on paper, my thoughts might straighten themselves out as it were.
Not only does making copious notes of the fishing, recording times, observations, and occurrences, help with getting things right, it helps to pass the time on what can sometimes be extended periods of inactivity.
I want to fish Peg 30 as Ryan is doing - straight at The Bay at 18 wraps. This would require single baits as Ryan is doing and spodding over the top.
There are two shoals - The Top End and The Bottom End; it is principally the Bottom End which have been active since most of the activity has been to the right, and on downwards towards the bottom end. The Top End Shoal can be heard moving but they are way to the left - up towards the top end of the lake.
The fishing from P30 is straightforward but since the peg is rarely available other strategies must be sought.
Alan fishes P27 (and Ryan mentions fish being caught from P25) and he catches from there - so these are bottom end fish. There is weed out to 18 wraps though so these must be fished in a similar manner to P30. From the far side where I am now, it is a shorter chuck so fishing with stringers could be effective and I’m sure they would be.
A better decision would have been to fish the other side of Sandbags Bay and cast to the side of Ryan’s baited area. I think even the one further down would have been preferable to P44 since it would be almost opposite P25.
I think I chose poorly in hindsight. Isn’t Hindsight a wonderful thing?
Wednesday, 9th.October 2019
06.15I had some attention from the Bream during the night - some little lifts on the bobbin that never developed into anything but were a confounded nuisance! On reeling-in one of the baits had been whittled down from 20mm. to about 12mm. - so something had been having a go at it for ages. The carp were not put off by this however as at 6.15 the centre rod (cast to the rushes between P29 and P27) was away!…
I immediately knew I was into a good fish; a series of powerful surges ensued, the fish bullying me to the point I was wondering whether I was going to land it or not! It kept up this powerful boring for a good ten to fifteen minutes, making several attempts at getting into Sandbags Bay. A marginal bush represented a dangerous obstacle, for if it managed to get round there, the line would be going straight through the bush!
I managed to turn him though and got him wallowing in the shallow water in front of the peg. And then he was in the net… Yes!! Another Pollard carp, this time weighing 28:12. To say I was pleased is an understatement. I did a little ‘dad dance’ in celebration to the tune of Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ - so you can imagine how bizarre that was at 6.30 in the morning!!
More confidence in what I am doing; the mark on the rushes is now my go-to place and all three rods are now positioned on it.
Happy days!!
08.00
The more I think about it the more confident I feel about using the ‘stringer’ strategy. Mind you, it has to be made to work properly. The left and right-hand baits must be no more than a rod-length apart so this restricts how far I can cast to the twelve or so wraps I’m currently fishing at.
But if you consider the three baits, twelve feet apart, with one trap in the middle, that’s six ‘freebies’ (assuming two-bait stringers) with three hook-baits. That’s nine baits altogether, perfectly conforming to the ‘Light Baiting’ strategy. Odds-wise, there’s a three-to-one chance the carp will select the one with the hook in it.
Three baits and their stringers, all working together to comprise a single trap.
11.00
End of Session.
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