Gran Canaria Carping.

 Gran Canaria Carping - Part One 

Here is my fist account of many for my new and very exciting excursion on Gran Canarias Lake Chira. I had done a bit of work experience for Kevin Nash at Nash HQ it was great spending a lot of time with some good characters and also making some good friends. I had been informed there was a chance of a young apprentice to go out to the Canaries and help out Dave and Alison Beecham for a few weeks. I fired off my CV and got an instantaneous response which lets be honest, on the phone I was shocked and speechless, what a great experience to add something like this to my portfolio, not many people my age can say they've done something like this, if your still young get on as many trips abroad because when you have a full family, you have various restraints, or even come out and fish with us for a couple of days?

 

I make way to the canaries after a lot of preparation. I got dropped off at Stansted by my parents and boarded the flight at 14:00hrs to arrive at Las Palmas Airport around 18:40hrs.

With backing from Nash Tackle, my parents and my sponsoring bait company, I set out with a few goals in mind, try and see how many fish I can catch to try and create a good new scrap book of captures. I also would like to catch 5 fish over 30lb. It may not seem like a challenge but its a safe goal to go for before setting a new challenge. This sort of fishing is new to me, big hooks, big leads loads of bait and one thing I love using.... A boat to get the rods out. I have gone fully gunned up with updated end tackle and even braided mainline instead of mono or fluorocarbon. This is because I require the abrasion resistance because of rocks and various other hazards. 

I had done a bit of research and followed catch reports and lets say its fishing really well at the moment, the fish that are being caught are all different fish, one thing that people haven't come to terms with is that these are all wild carp and have been stocked hundreds of years ago specially in the right climate to grow as well, a fast metabolism means the fish can really divulge in to numerous feasts making them far from difficult to catch. Im not saying I'm fishing it because its far from difficult, I'm fishing it as these places don't really get approached nowhere near as much as many fisheries in France and other european countries. One thing that I love about this lake is that there are a whole host of stunning fish, proper apple slice mirrors and the very rare and by rare I mean like rocking horse .. I won't go into that one but the commons are few and far between compared to the mirrors, maybe that's another challenge to catch one of the lakes resident big commons? Who knows what may happen..! 

My flight landed at Las Palmas airport to be greeted by David Beecham, we went straight back to his apartment where I met his wife Alison and son Joe, I spent the night at their apartment so I can get settled in and have a bit of a chat over a few tinnies and a lovely spaghetti bolognese. 

The next days clients arrived 4 anglers, 2 fishing the day and 2 fishing the night, everything was going well after having a chat with them, one rod had rocketed off which was a small apple sliced mirror, then merely seconds after he'd got that fish in the net, a young lad called dan had a fiery take resulting in a 17lb mirror, absolute stunner this one, the rods were soon back out and more bait spread around it, both fish came to different presentations, 2x20mm boilies and 2 tiger nuts. 

The rigs being used are 18 inches of 35lb Nash Missing Link Braid in Gravel, a size 4 Fang Twister hook tied on with a 7-9 turn knotless knot with a 2 cm gap between the bend of the hook and the hookbait this is coupled with a fluorocarbon leader with a 5oz Lead on a safety bolt bead. How simple can it get, these rigs are as complicated as it goes really, no need for hinged stiff rigs, choddys anything like that, it can be used but it won't bring any more bites than these particular setups. When being dropped from a boat, everything lays out right and set for the fish to come and pick it up, half a dozen balls of a really smelly fermented munga is all it takes to draw the fish in. 

Tigers still are the best bait on the market, there isn't a fish that
doesn't like them.

Later on that afternoon, one of the night fisherman had an absolute roaring take whilst we were stood talking about the lake and all things fishing(how good can it get?) he hooked into a more powerful fish than what was hooked earlier on in the day it went 20lb exactly on the scales such a stunning fish. 

Later on that very evening, just as the sun was going down, we moved the rods in closer and I even braved getting in the boat and lowering the rigs down also putting out a few big balls of munga to interest the fish when they move in closer. The odd snapping turtles head popping out and the squawking of the wild life is all that can be heard as well as the odd barking house dog. Lying reading a magazine with a can made it easier to settle down for the evening and let's just say I despise the smell of mozzi repellent! Lets see what the morning brings. 

Finally a chance to do a bit of spinning for these bass, a small spinning rod with a small sinking lure did the job. Fishing off a small rock casting to a small bed of weed was where a majority of the bites came from, I managed to catch 7 Bass to 8-10oz which was good for a first attempt. 

2x20mm Hookbaits basic as you like but it works!

A couple of carp rods were also left out until the evening before I get my head down for a couple of hours ready for tomorrow's clients, using the basic rigs explained above with tigers and a bit of ground bait type mix to try and entice a bite before I head off. It is around 25-28 degrees out here again today but the fish are being a bit picky and not really getting on the munch at all at the moment, I'll give it a couple of hours and see what the rest of the afternoon/evening brings. 

Just as I'm having a bit of a snooze, the rod on the long spot goes into absolute meltdown, even the smaller fish in here fight just as hard as the bigger fish, the fish kited towards a big boulder in the water, but a bit of steady pressure steers the fish away, it surges off one last time and soon the wily double figure common sits in the folds of the landing net, first fish on the tally, only a low double but its a fish. This fish was taken on double tiger nuts on the Size 4 Nash Fang Twister hooks. This was one of 2 commons I have seen out of a couple of fish this week. 

What a day, as I lay writing this, I have the rods out and bang on a spodded area which I piled in before I went for some dinner with Dave and Alison, one of the guys on for the day managed 2 fish but to my shock, chatting to a very nice guy from Cornwall(my families neck of the woods) he had given me a €10 tip, it brings a tear to my eye, we were  chatting about all things fishing and life, I could have spoken to him for hours, if your reading this now mate, many thanks! 

Just as I'm laying reading the rotary letter and an article about Pringles pool in this months carpology, our 24hr visitor had a lovely looking mirror nestling in the net, out she came, unhooked and pictures taken, she looked stunning a good upper double 19lb maybe a scraper 20lber. I buzz back round to my rods and hear some proper kippers jump, a couple over my spot lets hope something gets rocking during the night, it's good I have a buzz to bag a fish albeit I had one yesterday afternoon!

Had this stunning common before packing away, absolute torpedo.

After a fruitless night turned out to be a real head banger, no fish during the night for the reason that I have been done over by the turtles, they are just as much of a pain as the Crays back in England but what can you do, after chilling out for the day and sinking a pucka tuna steak, at €4 you really can't go wrong it was lovely! Freshly caught off of one of the boats that go off the coast here in Puerto Rico. From talking to Dave, the turtles don't tend to go down into the deeper water so where we have placed 4 rods for tonight they won't stand a chance of getting hold of the baits, I really can't explain how good the surroundings are and how stunning the lake is although losing a bit of water or have I already mentioned? Anyway, this experience has added a whole new angle on my own fishing, why sit there fishing for fish with names? Don't get me wrong fishing on a lake to target a fish isn't wrong or anything like that, what interests me more is unknown stocking, and also an unknown average, lets just see what happens, I'm sure you understand the point I'm trying to put across. 

Look at that for a 30lber!

After a long chat that evening it's time for some kip, Dave was soon awoken at 23:35 to a belting run off of one of his rods with 3x20mm boilies which were dipped in a really potent glug, that fish was 24-25lb one of the many pretty scaley fish that reside in these depths. As I was half in a doze able to hear everything going on around me, I am awoken at 1am to a toner on one of the rods, I latch into a fish that doesn't feel like no pasty! Cranking the fish in from the long spot which is 120/130 yards, she's plodding around in the margins and in the net she goes, she's soon unhooked, again on the 3x20mm baits, your probably thinking why so many? We're trying to pick up the bigger fish and that's exactly what we have achieved, this fish is most definitely around the 30lb mark for sure! She's in the sack for some pictures in the morning as we're off at first light, typing this I can't say how happy I am to finally land a unit of a fish, this fishes mouth is like the size of a small orange it was huge, it made the triple 20 millers look like a 10 miller in its mouth. Happy days! 

 

Keep An Eye Out For Part 2!

Be Lucky, Ross.

A better shot of her, lovely fish full of energy!

Velocity Baits Walthamstow Social

This session is one I have been waiting for, for along time now, it is a 48 hour social event for all of the field testers and consultants for team Velocity. I have done a lot of preparation for this session and specially spending the weekend at the venue for the BCAC, so I had a rough idea what I needed to be dong to get myself a couple of bites. 

Some Good Features and a Good Area For Sky Line Markers, Even Though
Being In London It Doesn't Get Dark At All.

After a late finish at work the previous night I set off at 9am in hope to get down to the stow early and have a chat with some of the lads, low and behold my car refused to start. After the top lad from the RAC coming out to get my car running for me I found myself pulling into the gates on the stow buzzing to get the rods out and get fishing. 

By Far My Favourite Baits, Either In Solids, To Stodge The Spod Mix,
or Even In Sticks.

The afternoon before I went to a farm wholesaler and got some particles for my spod mix which consisted of pigeon conditioner and another mix of maize, maples, peas, beans and some other morsels to keep the fish rooting around on the lake bed. Lets just say I got a little bit carried away as it filled a 25kg bucket to the brim . This was split into 2 buckets one hopefully for a mid week session before setting off for my new job in Gran Canaria. 

Look At That For a Spod Mix, Loads of Hook bait Options.

I got down to the meeting point at the lakeside, where there were all of the lads waiting for the peg draw and for Miles and Shane to rock up along with a few of the other testers/consultants.

2 Of The Same Set-up, 3oz Flat Pear Lead and the Avid Bag
Stems With The 3 Inch Rigs Tied Onto The Ring Swivel.

The peg draw was done and I was aware that a peg we labelled as seven on the same bank as long chuck was a good peg, we opted for that area. It was a good choice as there were a hoard of fish basking in the 25+ degrees heat. After having a chat and a bit of a mingle I find myself setting up and putting out some spod mix before casting the rods out. To get the spot rocking, I put out no less that 20 spods of bait followed by 2 solid PVA bags, one just to the left of the right hand tree and the one to the right of the left hand tree if that makes sense? Ha-ha. 

Solid Bags, My Number One Tactic, Deadly If You Ask Me.

No fish came straight away as I had expected but as I had introduced 10 spods of fresh bait, one rod tore off but after a couple of minutes playing it the hook popped out. Not long after, the other rod tore off for another hook pull as the fish turned to power off in the margins.. Gutted isn't the word, no time for getting myself down, 2 more bags went out along with some more spod mix. 

What a Fish, Really Powerful. This Fish Took Me Through Three Separate
Weed Beds and then Weeded Me Up In The Margins, With a Bit of Persuasion
She Was In The Net, The Smile Shows The Relief.

The evening came and the social began, we went off to the pub and had some food before setting back to get the rods out for the night(Walthamstow isn't a night venue this was down to exclusive booking) the swim was topped up before being able to slide the net under a small mirror of 11lb-12lb what a result the pressure of blanking is finally over. The rod went straight back out on the spot and an hour later is where it began to get interesting. I hooked a powerful fish that got into more than 1 weed bed taking a while to finally get in the net, This fish managed to spin the scales to 18lb 12oz. The hook hold showed why she was hanging on so well! Slipping her back into the water but the biggest grin on my face, followed by a big sigh of relief.

The First Mirror of the Session, 11lb-12lb Roughly.

The rods were put back out but the next day the heat had certainly put the fish off having a munch. The rods were reeled in and 10 spods put out to keep the fish there and giving them some free food for the evening before popping out for some grub. I had barely any mix left in the bucket so it was all or nothing. Both rods put back out and the rest of the mix introduced and it didn't take long for another fish to pick up the bait, the others were on a solid bag of mixed dust items i.e. ground nut, coconut, Gremlin Pellet and crushed HD Readies and a 10mm Cream & Toffee Popup as the hook bait. The last fish that I had hooked was on the new Zub-Pnut Plus which smells awesome. 

A Less Complicated Bag Rig The Better, Cream & Toffee Doing

The Damage Along With The ZUB-PNUT Plus.

It came to a stage where I had run out of small ESP bags and put some bigger ones on the spot, but dare I say it? I progressed to lose 2 more fish but hey that's fishing for you!

 

After waking up and reeling the rods in all the gear was packed down, most of the lads had caught which is good, everyone was buzzing and what a great weekend it was, it was a special weekend spending time with some good anglers who are a credit to Velocity Baits, anglers of all ages and abilities and even seeing something different. I have made some new friends as well as meeting 2 people I have known for a while Shane Alway and Miles Corbett. Team Velocity is definitely one to watch out for in the future. You all know who you are!

The Last Fish of the Trip, What a Result!

This is the last night I do in the country or certainly long session for a couple of months after acquiring a job out in Gran Canaria on Lake Chira which will be an amazing experience, with plenty of sun and big carp, how can you argue with that? Keep an eye out on Facebook where hopefully I get some decent fish and really show something special for a bit of a change. 

Look at the Length, 10mm Cream & Toffee's Doing the Damage, First Session
Using Them, Small Baits Do Catch Big Fish!

Be lucky, thanks for reading, Ross. 

Surface Fishing, Overdepth Zigs and Plenty of Sunburn!

               

              Just recently I managed to get out on 2 separate sessions using zigs and mixers, not just for catapulting over the top of the zigs but also for a bit of surface fishing as well. For this session I was fishing on Chestnut Pool, a very successful venue especially to go and get more than a fair share of runs. On 2 separate sessions I managed to catch 60 fish as the action gets good. 

Picture Doesn't Do It  Justice, It Resembled a Kettle!

                After a chat with the owner, Pete, he suggested a method which was smashing it up over recent weeks which also proved well for Mark Bartlett in the UK Carp Cup that was hosted on chestnut a couple of weeks ago. I arrived late morning and went in one of the least suspected swims but it was worth it. To start off with I persisted with static zigs and cast them around and adjusted the depths, then I started catapulting mixers over the top, this enticed the fish in the area, when using zigs under the surface it makes it easier to allure fish onto your hook bait suspended in the water.

The Hook Holds With The Zig Alignas, Hooked in the Side of
The Mouth.

                It didn’t take long to hook the first fish as there were eruptions and belting takes like you wouldn’t believe, the fish were being taken on yellow foam which were using the Fox Zig Aligna Kits, these are good for protruding the hook and widening the gape allowing the fish to be hooked better than using a normal setup for a zig rig. Black and yellow foam fished 3 inches under the surface and roughly 6 inches over depth really did help and get a lot of bites. The only thing that can explain how the fish were feeding was a frenzy or even feeding time at the zoo, it didn't take long for a proportion of the fish in this small lake to get on the munch, it made it better seeing the fish feeding and hearing them slurp every last mixer off the surface, every time I turned round there was eruptions and even more fish joining the party and having a feed.

              

 

 

 

              

              Even when the action slowed up and the fish weren’t feeding as menacingly as they were to start, I still managed a good steady flow of action on the single zigs, the one toners weren’t twitchy or even singular bleeps they were one toners of which almost ripped the rods of the rest some were really savage. This is a method of fishing that I haven’t done a lot of to be honest. I then used fake imitation mixers on the surface which were being left behind on the floater gear so I swapped to a Velocity Baits NV-R Pop-up trimmed down to the same shape as the mixers offerings, seconds after casting out, up came a 15lb Mirror to snaffle the hook bait. The NV-R pop-up was trimmed down and a small carving to sit on the shank of a Nash Fang Twister hook. 

Still Yet to Catch a Full Linear, Always The Broken Linears
Grace My Cradle.

                The action carried on and stayed quick pacey, I got the obvious lulls in the session and then the fish were back feeding competitively which is what I found may have got them feeding and taking the zigs and surface baits as they were like hoovers trying to take in as much food as they possibly could. I Started to throw mixers into the margins where the better fish tend to get caught ad prompted by a good friend of mine, I saw some big pairs of lips supping the mixers off the surface of which the picture of the fish at the bottom was the culprit. I had to have a go after all, I still had one rod on the money and fishing and having a go at the bigger fish was always a good option to take.

                For the rigs I used 10lb Nash Zig Flo which is my favoured hook link for zigs, never had any problems with it parting or snapping easy, even when cranking fish in from a distance as with Drayton but with light gear it is good fun to use, then a drop off inline setup with ensured I won’t drop and fish as there’s nothing twisting and turning the hook in the mouth of the fish. Then I opted for yellow and black foam which was coupled with the wide and straight gape of the Nash Fang Twister hook in size 8. This is such a reliable setup and now I see why people are told to lose the lead when they are using zigs it saves hook pulls but I’ll speak for many, not exactly a money saver!           

                 At the end of both sessions I had used 8kg of mixers as I wanted to keep the fish in the area, if I had hooked a decent fish, I’d get it in the net and unhook it and put the rig back out and fire some more mixers, take some pictures and get it back, by which time I’d have another take and be playing another fish. the fish turned up like busses, one fish came a long for a munch then the rest of the fleet showed up, it made it good fun seeing the fish feeding on the surface, mouthing my hook bait and then a big explosion on the surface, the carps way of saying "yep I'm hooked". I have always loved surface fishing hence why I was itching for the summer to come round as its a better way and more fun way of catching fish, specially as they fight a lot harder off the surface as they lose most of there momentum when the take off from the bottom with a lead hooked into its mouth.

A Good Fish Which will Grow Big, It Was Up For A Mixer!

             I think it is safe to say I’m going to try my best to brush up my match skills and enter myself in a couple of competitions next summer and maybe even during the winter, it is something I have wanted to do and after doing some competitions in the past it would be a good experience to see what it is all about, after all, what have I got to lose?


A Pale Fish I Thought Was A Ghostie.

Hope you all stay tuned over the next couple of months as I’m off to Walthamstow for the Velocity Baits social on the weekend of the 12^th of July and then off the lush Puerto Rico, Lake Chira to work with Dave Beecham and Alison Beecham at Carp Gran Canaria, I’ll keep you updated especially as my blog will be held on the Nash Tackle website which is being sorted over the next few weeks! Take it easy and be lucky!

One of the Bigger Ones, 15lb.

Ross.

Getting the Most from a Physically Demanding Session..

On this blog I am revisiting a very prolific venue Drayton Reservoir, last time I fished this lake I had a good bag of fish ranging from 10lb-17lb all on zigs fished up in the layers. To get constant bites throughout the day, I concocted a sloppy Spod mix which really did increase the action, although saying that at times I didn't even put any bait out over the top and the rods were still ripping off. 

One of the First Fish of the Session.

This time I have gone more armed up more than I had before with more Spod mix which I may put spods out every so often, or even see if I can keep a constant flow over the top of the zigs, in this situation I seem to catch more fish than using single zigs casting them around, this is partly because of the dense stocking of this very large reservoir. 

The Spod mix I am using before I start on the other side of fishing is, Rice Pudding, Condensed Milk, White Crumb and Brown Crumb Groundbait, Velocity Baits V-Cloud and a good liberal helping of corn. Last time using yellow foam on the zigs did really well specially with corn constantly streaming through the swim, this helped so much all I had to do was put the rods back on the area and I was either getting bites on the drop, or even when I left the rod tip in the margin allowing the line to sink.. The rod just uprights itself and that's a good sign of a pick up.

When the action hots up, all I'm looking for is for the line to tighten, I'm fishing a 2 inch drop on the bobbin as soon as the bobbin even starts to rise, I know that I have a bite, I am 99.9% certain that it isn't a liner. 

A Nice Broken Linear, Good Colourations!

So far as the business of the rig I am using, 14ft of Nash NXT Zig Flo in 10lb, a Saftey Bolt Bead with the matching tail rubber, this is coupled with a very important 3oz tournament casting lead. With this size lead and also the shape allows me to hit the clip quite firmly, if I don't hit the clip or the rod doesn't land in the right place, I reel it in and re-do it until I get it bang on the money. 

I am set up on the dam wall, this has always been the flier for me and where I have mainly done well, with the stage stands it makes in 10x easier to get the peg sorted out giving you an adequate amount of space in the swim. 

Same Fish As Below, Look at the Width of It!

Onto the session... 

We rock up to the gate nice and early to see about 6 cars queuing to get in.. We drive a quarter of the way along the bank and see a shoal of fish showing at a comfortable distance in front. 

I didn't hang about getting the rods rigged up and sorted, as I'm fishing zigs, I make a powerful cast the showing fish with a Spod as I know it won't spook them at all, all I do to clip the rods up is leave the spod where I have cast it and cast bot rods just past it so I know by the time the line has dropped back, I am fishing in the right place, accuracy is key to keep the bites coming.

Bit Bright as the Sun Appeared in the Evening. 17lb Mirror.

2 rods are soon punched out to within a six pence of each other to pick up bites a lot quicker, it took all of about 15 minutes and the first rod ripped off and ended up with getting 3 bites in half an hour 2 on yellow foam and one on yellow and black foam.

I had tested the sloppy mix in the margins a few times just to make sure everything was working as it was suppose to. the action came slow and steady for an few hours until it slowed up, I kept on plugging away spodding bait over the zigs then stopped for 30 mins, then the bites kicked in, as soon as I had a fish in the net and before taking pics, I'd leave the fish wallowing in the net and put 5 more spods out and put the zigs back out, by which time I had taken the pictures there was another take.

The Last Few Casts Had a Liberal
Glugging of the Berry V-Cloud. They
Couldn't Resist it!

Overall throughout the session, with persisting to spod over the zigs, I managed to catch 20 fish to 17lb, of which was the last fish of the session, as I look around there were a few people catching but not quite in the quantity that I was. I love this sort of fishing as it keeps you active, rather than setting up and kicking back, it must be said sometimes it is nice to kick back with a tinny or two and soak up the settings but on sessions like these, it simply isn't worth it, don't get me wrong I love relaxing just as much as going out somewhere with the aim of smashing it up, the physical aspect is another I love as well, I may be aching and moaning but the more I do it, the more I can strive to do better the next time.

 

zigs are one of my favoured methods, I was using the most unexpected hook for zig fishing, a Size 8 Fang Twister hook with a Fox Zig Aligna on the hook, I have to admit I love the zig bugs but for 1 bite at a time tactics, the Zig Alignas really did allow the hook to nail the fish every time, the fish was hook so well it allowed me to apply a bit more pressure to get the fish out of harms way and from wiping out other peoples rods and allow it to race around in the margins as they do in Drayton, apart from the one I hooked seconds after casting stripping my spool leaving about 20 yards of line on the spool.

 

This Setup Nailed the Fish Every Time! Size 8 Fang Twister,
Yellow Zig Aligna and 10lb Nash NXT Zig Flo.

I hope there is something you can take away from this, I learned a lot of things, and that is to keep the mix going in throughout the day, because my god you wont regret it when the fish move in towards the evening!

 

Be Lucky, Ross. 

Finally It All Comes Good

This month couldn't get any better for me some great opportunities and some brilliant people I have become friends with, topped off by a session at one of the top venues in the country, Linear Fisheries on Brasenose 1.


After putting a bit of time into a small but HEAVILY pressured lake a short drive from me, only catching a Tench and losing a fish half way through the fight, I am joined by young dynamo Liam Morgan. 

Our aim - we are both using contrasting methods, this will show the wide range of baits you can use to try and keep the fish coming, rather than everyone using the same baits as what's being processed in the magazines, not saying you can't use them it just allows you to keep your options open. I have made the long drive nearly 2 hours in fact to a great complex that I haven't unfortunately fished as much as I'd like to. Last time I fished this complex was when I got myself a qualifying position to get into the BYCAC final back in 2011, getting through to the final has been one of my greatest achievements, albeit coming 25th.  

A lot of bait, rigs and approaches of all areas will definitely be shown throughout this blog. I'm also hoping to put at least one fish on the bank live for the cameras by using all of the top range that has just been released by Velocity Baits, I have no one better to help me than Liam Morgan who came 3rd in last year’s BYCAC. 



Liam Had a Steady Flow of Action

Liam had text me on my way down saying he'd had a 15lb Mirror off of one of his spots at 110 yards, this helps me more to know there are fish in the area, hitting the distance shouldn't be a problem.  

The spod mix I am using consists of - 25kg of Bird Seed, 2kg of Corn, 3kg of NV-R and NV-G Boilies with some ZUB-O Dumbells in to keep the fish guessing for as long as possible, also I will be adding some small 3mm Gremlin Pellets and some of the V-Cloud. The problem is I have 5 tubs of the V-Cloud so choosing which one I want to use isn't easy, a coin toss will decide! To apply the bait to the swim I will be using my favourite method of bait delivery being the old faithful Spod, if I need to deliver a lot more bait then no hesitation that I will use a Spomb to get a better volume of bait over both rods.  

Liam Spodding to His Rods At Range

There isn't necessarily one method I have decided on at the moment, I have a mixed bag of tactics in mind and for me keeping the options open is key. I rarely go on a session with any less than 3 different methods.  

Let’s move onto the session in hand:-  

The peg I am set in is next to one of the double swims just up from the point on Brasenose 1; I have a quick lead around to find a solid drop. Once I had found it I clipped up all the rods, 20 turns round the bank sticks and set about putting some bait out. I put out roughly half a ground bait bucket of bait out and put the rigs out and trickled in some fresh bait in every hour or so.  

Zigs were cast out to 1ft under the surface, and solid bags. I managed to work the swim but the weather was overwhelmingly hot! Liam managed to snare a few fish from his spots, 20 yards further than where I was fishing.  
I persisted with the spot I was fishing and took it upon me to chuck my rods long to the middle area of water, chod rigs and a zig to see if anything would happen.

Liam's grandad managed to catch 2 fish, one being over 22lb and one being a brute of a 30lb mirror what a result!  

30lb Cracker, Taken on a Velocity Baits Shellfish Pop-up in a
Solid Bag

Both of the Fish Paul Had, 2 Awesome Fish!

The session drew on and a very good night’s sleep on the first night and the second night is quickly upon us, Liam had landed a fish and after he had released it my rod goes into meltdown, a decision was taken to recast and put a solid bag on before the take and that was the rod which took off!  

The Fish Started Showing, Something Had to Kick off!

A short solid battle and a 16lb 8oz mirror lays in the folds of the landing net, a few trophy shots taken and another bag was chucked back out to the baited spot. As the night drew on an odd occurrence had happened.  

16lb 8oz Mirror Opened the Account for the Evening!

The right rod signalled a big drop back, I stood an contemplated all of about 5milliseconds and picked up the rod, I wound down 20 turns and it's game on, I stumbled out of the Titan without grabbing my head torch so I was netting the fish blind! I jumped in the margin up to my knees and managed to draw the fish over the net chord. 

 

I was frantically trying to do a self-take as I thought it was a low double, all the tripod set up and I go to lift the fish out of the margins but it was bigger than I first thought!  

I rushed off and awoke Liam's dad Wayne, he gave me a hand getting the fish sorted, I hoisted her into the weigh sling and she spun the dial round to 23lb 6oz. I cradled her whilst Wayne took some pictures. I held her in the margin and got some water shots and let her recover and off she went. 

23lb 6oz Mirror, Taken on the Solid Bag Method Explained Below!

I had the fish on a very good solid bag mix I have used at a few different venues and it had got me 2 bites in the end to save a blank. It consisted of an inline drop off method with 4 inches of 15lb Missing link with a pop-up/incredibly balanced set up on the business end. The bait consisted of NV-R Stick Mix, C2-R Pellet, The M&M’s pellet with a Pear Drop Pop-up on the hair, the fish was nailed in the bottom lip which was a god send, I had changed the rig from my previously used solid bag rig being a bog standard pop-up rig and this nailed both of the fish I proceeded on to catch.  

The Components of the Bag, The Rig Did the Business, Small
Solid Bags Were The Option for This Session.

What a high to end the session on I used a lot of bait and really did take the strange firing a Spomb endlessly to put the bait out!

Keep your eyes peeled for the rest of the year for some exciting things to come! 

 

 

Cradling Her in the Water Before I Let Her Go, What A Lump!

 

 

Questions and Answers with Nash Tackles Mike Wilson

Questions and Answers with Nash Tackles Mike Wilson!

 

Absolute Peach of a Mirror.

How long have you been fishing for?

I think the first time I ever picked up a fishing rod I was about ten years old when I was just catching silvers with my Dad. I first properly got into carp fishing probably about 5 years ago.

What are your favoured rigs to use where ever you go, why?

I have favoured rigs in different situations obviously but I mainly find myself fishing weed/choddy lakes so I opt for the chod rig. This is mainly because I have so much confidence in it as most of the fish I have caught in the last couple of years have been on the chod including my personal best common of 38lb 8oz. 

Who are your biggest angling aspirations? 

I don’t really have any to be honest. But If I could choose to go fishing with an angling legend it would probably be Martin Bowler. 

Is there anything you believe makes fishing over complicated?

Other angler’s ha-ha 

What lake would you happily re-visit at any time of the year?

A little private lake in Essex called the Blue Lagoon. 

Another Lovely Looking Mirror For Sure!

What are your top 5 items of tackle that Nash just released? 

1.       Ball Maker

2.       Cybershot

3.       Glow bugs

4.       Gyro bug mix

5.       3 rod Connect 

If there was one fish you'd like to catch again which would it be and why?

I would love to catch a fish called V-scar at over 30lb. 

Are you primarily a carp angler or do you go for other species and if so which are they?

Mainly a carp angler (I don’t get time to fish for anything else) 

What is your favourite pattern of hook and on which rig do you prefer using it?

The Fang X on a KD rig. 

What is your favourite part of carp angling?

Hearing that buzzer tear off. 

When did you first start fishing and is there any story behind it?

I was going with my dad most Sundays after football just catching silvers and I started to see people catch these big fish which were described to me as carp and all I knew was I wanted to catch one and since then I have never looked back. 

When you get on the bank, do you prefer socials or being on the bank doing your own thing? Or both? 

Both. Entirely depends on the situation and the lake I am fishing. 

A Nice Looking Common on a Beautiful Day As Well.

When you turn up to your target lake, what sort of process do you go through go settling down for the day or night? 

I will always do a lap or two of the lake until I find fish and if I don’t see any signs I will go on previous experience and the weather conditions.

What would be the one item of tackle you would never go fishing without, if you did, would it hinder your fishing strategies?

I can’t name one item because I feel there is a few I could never go without so I’m going to change it to the three things I couldn’t go without and they are; PVA, polaroid’s and spare bait. 

 

 

Well there we go, an insight into the mind of young carp angler and some of the stunners he catches, hope this was beneficial! Until Next Time.. On my next blog you will find me at Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire! Join me later next week to find out how myself and Velocity Baits Junior Consultant Liam Morgan get on for 48hrs on the banks of Brasenose in Oxford!

Follow me on twitter - @Rosst93