“CARPIN WAYS AND RED LETTER DAYS”By Rich “Fatbloke” Adams
On a recent trip to the pub where I had arranged to meet an old angling pal of mine the beer started to flow and we started reminiscing about our fishing exploits over the years. The subject of what we considered to be our most memorable sessions arose, I have encountered many wonderful experiences during my 35 years as an angler and I would like to share with readers of UKMA/Carp one particular session where everything fell into place and I could do no wrong. It was mid-April 2010 and I had just returned from a successful trip to France where I had banked seven fish including a new French personal best of 46lb. I was really struggling to get my head around going back to work and business as usual. The shock to the system was, however, somewhat softened due to the fact that I was starting a new shift at work and it would only be three days before I could pay a visit to my syndicate water. I am fortunate to be a member of a well-kept, non-profit-making syndicate with only a handful of members, so the next three days were spent planning my first overnighter since the cold weather from the previous harsh winter had set in. For the first time since I’d joined the syndicate there was to be no close season, and my confidence was sky-high, as the lake had produced a few fish while I was away in France. The fish in the lake are of a good average size and if you get the location right, on a good day there is a chance of a decent fish or two. With this in mind, it was decided, as always, that on arrival I would have a good look around to see if I could spot any fish. Now all I had to do was concentrate on work and look forward to my next trip out. The day had arrived and all the essentials, plus my fishing companion Bailey (my Jack Russell), were loaded into the car. It was a warm, sunny day and I arrived at the lake at around midday to find a light southwesterly breeze blowing into the top right-hand corner of the lake. This was a new wind and from experience I thought the fish may well move on it. Usually they can be found pretty much all around the lake, but I have done very well on occasions fishing face-on into a warm wind. The lake is a mature gravel pit of around 7-8 acres with plenty of features to go at, and although the average depth is about 10ft, there are some shallow areas where the fish congregate on warm days. One of the best areas to target them is a shallow bay in the top corner into which the wind blows. Fellow member, and a good friend of mine, Steve Grimes, was fishing in the opposite corner, another shallow area where he has had some good hits, so it was no surprise as I wandered around the lake to find him playing a decent fish. On the scales she went 27lb 10oz, so I gladly took some photos for him and then carried on my journey (in a confident mood) in search of the lake’s beautiful residents, armed with my Polaroid’s, a catapult, and some surface baits, just in case.
On arriving in the top corner, my thoughts were confirmed and I found a group of about 15 fish cruising around just under the surface, and amongst them were a couple of decent ones, including the big ghostie, which I had caught the previous season at 35lb. I decided to put some floaters just beyond the cruising fish and allow the breeze to drift them back towards where the carp were located. There are quite a few birds on the lake and my choice of bait was Mistral Baits ready-to-use floaters, with my personal preference being the Green Mussel variety, not so much for the flavour, but for the colour, because I have found that the birds struggle to spot these as quickly as normal floaters. Perched amongst the branches of a willow I watched eagerly as the floaters drifted towards the group of fish and almost immediately they started to take them with amazing confidence. ‘Do they think it’s the close season?’ I thought to myself. We all know how even the wariest of carp can turn into fearless creatures the minute the lake closes for a break. After about half an hour of watching the carp take the floaters, a couple more pouches of floaters were flicked out into the oncoming breeze, and a very excited angler half climbed/fell out of the tree and headed to the car for his tackle. Once back in the swim some more floaters were put out and the fish continued to take the baits with extreme confidence. To briefly describe the swim, there was a shallow bay to my left and this bank is tree-lined pretty much as far as I could cast. In front of me was the open water to a depth of around 16ft with a sunken island, and to the right of this is an island from which a shallow bar runs either side, another one of the shallow areas where the fish can often be seen patrolling on warmer days.
The rest of the afternoon passed without any action and no further fish were seen in the area and, as with most carp anglers on occasions, I started to wonder if my decision to stay put had been a bad one. However, as also often happens, just before dark, when the demons were playing mind games with me, the rod cast to the tree line ripped off, and what felt like another decent fish was on. After a few hairy moments trying to keep it out of the tree line, it decided to kite right at a rate of knots, so side strain was applied and battle then commenced in the open water. After a short battle of wits the net was slipped under yet another big common that went 28lb on the scales. By the time I had recast and rebaited it was dark, so I decided on a quick cuppa then bed. At around midnight another one-noter rudely awakened me, this time to the rod cast to the end of the bar. After another decent scrap, a nice mirror of 25lb 4oz was landed and then returned after pictures.
Over the years I have mastered the art of night self-takes without any problems but I only ever take a couple of shots and then the fish is returned unharmed; if I get a decent picture, great, if not I will always have the memories. The rest of the night followed without any action until 7.00 a.m. Just a couple of bleeps were followed by a huge drop back, and as I lifted the rod and wound down I made contact with a carp that immediately decided it was going to do its best to impersonate an Exocet missile, taking line furiously and fighting for all it was worth. My experience told me that some of the smaller fish in the lake fight like stink right up to the net. This fish was no exception and it just wouldn’t give in. When I say ‘smaller fish, I certainly wasn’t disappointed when on closer inspection a nice mirror was weighed and went 24lb 8oz.
Two 30s and three 20s in a session, I just couldn’t believe my luck. Around midday when I had decided to start packing up, my session was made even better by yet another fish from the tree line. Another cracking scrap ensued and after a few minutes another carp lay on my unhooking mat. With the weigh sling wetted and scales zeroed, another mirror of 27lb was recorded, truly incredible. After another couple of hours I decided to head for home a very happy angler. Whilst walking down the other end of the lake I spotted a group of fish basking in the afternoon sun. ‘Could history repeat itself?’ I thought. I couldn’t help myself, so the barrow was quickly unloaded and I unpacked the mixer rod and fired out some loose offerings. One or two fish were taking the mixers but not with any confidence and soon decided to move away when I started casting at them. This coupled with the fact that Bailey had decided to cool off in the margins whilst barking at a mallard he had taken a dislike to, probably didn’t help that much either. Maybe it was the same group of fish that had taken a battering the previous day. I don’t suppose I will ever know the answer to that, but one thing is for sure – I’d had one of those red-letter days that don’t come along very often, and after my success in France I couldn’t have asked for a better session when I got back home.
Until next time tight lines and all the best with your fishing. Rich “Fatbloke” Adams(Team UKMA/Carp, Team Mistral Baits, Gardner Tackle, Sonik Sports Carp Team) Rich Adams is sponsored by Sonik Sports, Gardner Tackle & Mistral Baits   
|
Back to the fish! They were taking floaters in the open water so my surface fishing rod was quickly set up; this consisted of 12lb Hydrotuff main line in conjunction with a medium-sized Gardner Flatliner, a 10lb Mirage fluorocarbon hooklink, and a Size 8 Incizor hook. Another pouchful of floaters were introduced and almost immediately I had a take, however, after the initial run the fish fell off. I don’t believe there is any other reason for this other than bad luck and I wondered if I had blown my chance. I rebaited the area and recast, and to my amazement I had another take almost straightaway. This time there were no mistakes, and after a heart-stopping battle, which seemed to go on forever but in reality was probably only about 10 minutes, the net was slipped under a beautiful common. On the scales she went 31lb. A quick photograph with the self-timer and she was returned to fight another day. I was a very happy angler, for more reasons than one; because on inspection the carp were still taking the surface baits and I firmly believed I still had a chance. Once again I rebaited and carefully drew the controller back amongst them. After a slightly longer period of time I had another take, this time resulting in another common of 32lb 10oz! What a result – two 30s off the top and I had only been fishing for an hour!
After this the fish moved out of the area and no more came my way off the top, so my attentions turned to the rest of my session. I still had 24 hours left and decided to stay in the same swim, at least until the morning, unless I saw signs of activity somewhere else, in which case I would have moved. Whilst setting up, two fish rolled, one along the tree-lined bank and one at the bottom end of the bar that runs from the island, a hard gravel area in about 9ft of water. The open water in front of me to the left of the island was an area in which I had also seen fish on numerous occasions in the past so I was more than happy with my decision to stay in the same swim from which I had caught my two surface carp. My left-hand rod was cast about 90yds along the tree-lined bank armed with a Chod Rig tied with 25lb Tripwire tied to a Size 6 Chod hook, leadcore and a 3oz distance lead. My middle rod was cast into the open water to the left-hand side of the island and my right-hand rod cast to the end of the bar to my right. Both these rods were set up with in-line leads on a leadcore leader using simple rigs tied with Knotless Knots using Subterfuge Super Soft 15lb b/s, which I find has an incredible knot strength and is virtually invisible under the water. I finished off my setup with a Size 4 Covert Wide Gape hook with Mistral’s new i40 as the hookbait. I am proud to say I was the first angler to catch on the i40 during field-testing and have complete confidence when using it, the i40 has produced an incredible number of fish, both at home and abroad, and I have had equal success this season using the follow up bait to the i40 from Mistral Baits, the i40 Red. This has the basic same ingredients as the i40 but with some Robin Red (a proven fish attractor) added which I believe has made an already prolific fish catcher an even better bait. 
