Carp Fishing, Sky Lake

"I Love It When A Plan Comes Together"

Sky Lake, France

 

Morning view from Sky Lake

After what seemed like months of preparation, re spooling reels, changing batteries, tying and testing rigs, and impromptu trips to tackle shops buying bits and bobs that I may or may not need,  The time had come for my second trip to Sky Lake in France, Following on from last year, whilst learning the ropes for big carp fishing, I managed to land a couple of carp which gave me a new PB of 37lb, but this time I was going more prepared with the knowledge,from last year. I had a plan, and knew exactly how I was going to fish, helped by the fact that I was fishing the same area as last year, and the plan was even flexible enough to make changes at a split decision. I was expecting more this year, and was very confident of beating my PB, even hopeful of a 50lb plus fish.

Three Rods For My Fish

The trip started in a bar in Dagenham, where I meet up with the same Essex boys that went last year, It was good to see everyone again and after the polite pleasantry's and a few beers the normal banter started to flow. and it wasn't long before all the gear was loaded into the minibus trailer and we were off to Dover. we arrived at Sky Lake at 6am approx, after having a quick cup of coffee and getting reacquainted with Rob, Andy and Bernice, I made my way to peg 10 "the woods". Immediately I noticed how hot it was, the forecast was 30 degrees all week and the sun shone straight into my face from the opposite bank, a far cry from last years wet and cloudy trip. I decided to set up my bivey late in the afternoon after watching the swim, so I could position it where it would be in the shade most the day, a decision I didn't regret.

Ready and waiting

In my fishing plan I had made quite a few little changes from last year, although my bait was going to be the same, "Innovate Kream Krunch 18mm boilie" fished with a pop up snowman, I increased the pop up size from 14mm to 16mm, this balanced the bait perfectly and when tested in the margins sank very very slowly just resting on the hook. this would give more movement to the bait to catch the eye of any close fish and offer no resistance when taken, hopefully giving me more runs. I kept the hooks the same, micro barbed size 8 curved shank, I purposely kept the 12" rig as simple as possible with only a small piece of tungsten putty about 4" from the hook, firstly to ensure the braid was pinned to the lake bed, and secondly to turn the hook on a take, hooking the fish in the bottom lip. Other changes from last year I made was the lead size, after fishing with "Rigmarol Free Fall Lead Clips", I realised that this was kind of a semi fixed rig, So I upped the lead size from 2 1/2oz to 3 3/4oz G-force flatn pear leads, beautifully camouflaged and giving extra grip to the lake bed, with the intention that it would help set the hook on a take. I also Used Korda Dark Matter tungsten tubing, which is so blatantly heavy, you can fish in confidence that it is firmly fixed to the lake bed, out of sight from the wary carp.

Fish 1: 18lb 5oz, 1pm Sunday

After a hour or so of using the marker rod, I had settled on a spot to fish, directly towards the lodge, 75 yards out, this was a large sand/clay spot, and about 5 yards pass a large bank of weed. I put my first rod 2 meters to the right of the marker and my second 4 meters to the right, and John fishing in swim 11 put two rods to the left of the marker. now rather than bait just the area we're fishing, and another part of my plan, I baited up to 10meters to the right of the marker. my reason for this was if my left hand rod had a run and needed to be recast during the night, I wasn't confident that I could cast 75 yards in the dark and put the rig in the 4 meter

Fish 2: 29lb 10oz, 4am Monday

gap between Johns rod and mine, so I could just cast another 3 meters to the right of my undisturbed rod and still be fishing in a baited area, giving me more chances of catching a fish. 6 kilo of boilies would be enough for the fish to stop and feed, but also keep them there longer as they would need more time to find and pick up the bait over the large area, giving me and John the opportunity to pick off more fish.

After the first 24 hours of fishing is was clear to all of us that the majority of the carp were shoaled up in the corner of the lake in

Fish 3: 35lb 9oz 7am Tuesday

swim 12, they were spawning very late this year due to a very long and cold winter,  no one was fishing in swim 12, and the group decided to leave it that way, mostly because it would of seemed rude not to fish your drawn swim, we had left all the corner swims free, with two fishing on each bank, which gives a lot more water for everyone to fish, It was better all round just to leave the fish undisturbed and in peace whilst they done their business, decides people were picking off the odd fish here and there, but I did wonder and hoped that they were going to move around the lake.

Stalking the margins

Well for the first few days it was very quiet with the only action being at dawn when the fish seemed to leave swim 12 and come through John's swim then through mine and then turn around and head back to swim 12, where we had managed to hook and land a few fish between us each morning, was the large baited area working, and stopping the fish going any further?, the fish definitely weren't crashing anywhere else on the lake during the night. Except I had noticed regular crashes during the day, to the right of my swim, and every time John walked the rigs out to our markers to clip the line at 75 yards, he disturbed fish

resting in the shade of the trees, I couldn't resist, from Tuesday I baited up the margin just 1 meter

Fish 4: 25lb 9oz Wednesday 3am

from the bank under a overhanging tree, with about 5 10mm Kream Krunch boilies every four hours or so, on Thursday I put a bait out which was a fluorocarbon combi rig with a critically balanced Innovate 14mm Jaffa pop up 20mm, fished slack line, the rod had only been out 40 mins and as I returned to put a few more boilies out, the reel began to click and line was being taken, as I reached for the rod I struck, I had hooked and landed 22lb 7lb mirror, somewhat of a sneaky daytime bonus fish.

Fish 5: 34lb 10oz Wednesday 4am

The nights for me and John had been quite steady with fish and missed runs, which kept us awake most the night resulting in us going to sleep earlier and earlier as the week progressed, as we both were getting tired, but Thursday night I awoke to what sounded like a domestic cat going for a swim, there was explosive splashing in the lake just left of our boat, I ran over to see what was causing the commotion, and realised that a large predatory fish maybe a pike or catfish was attacking my landing net which was in the water holding some live bait Rudd which we were fishing for pike with. I grabbed the net and attempted to scoop it

Fish 6: 28lb 10oz Thursday 3am

under the large fish which was still attacking the net. but It got away, then moments later, I could hear what sounded like a group of people walking through the woods behind us, inquisitively me and John headed into the woods to investigate. As I peered through the gate to the fishery I could see 3 wild boar, only little ones, Never seeing boar before, I had to get a closer look, they was not phased or bothered by us or the torches, John opted to stay put whilst I crept closer, the boars were really not bothered

Fish 7: 22lb 7oz Thursday 3pm

at all and had definitely seen me. but then I heard a very loud angry snorting to my right followed by hoofs being dragged along the ground, similar to a bull in my imagination, I looked round and saw a large dark shadow, was that the daddy boar? I wasn't going to find out, and in a crazy and comical Blair Witch moment, a terrified me, turned and run as fast as I could through the woods with my head torch light bouncing around, all the way back to my swim.

Fish 8: 22lb 1oz Friday 7pm

The last night was here, and although I had landed 8 fish I still hadn't beat my PB of 37lb, I wasn't giving up, the signs were good, early evening and fish were crashing all over the lake for the first time all week. In a last ditch attempt to bag a new PB, I fished all three rods to the 10 meter baited area in front of me but spread the gap between the rods by 5 meters. With leaving early the next morning we had opted to pack the bulk of our tackle away including the bivey, and sleep under the stars, a gnats dream

Fish 9: 38lb 1oz, Friday 11pm

and our worst nightmare, but It wasn't long before I was awoken by something different than the high pitched buzzing of a blood thirsty vampire insect, my bait alarm, bingo!  I landed a beautiful new PB mirror carp of 38lb 1oz. Unfortunately for John whilst the fish was being unhooked it had managed to splash water all over his sleeping bag, completely soaking it!, it was at least 5 meters away lol. After gaining confidence during the week I recast the rod back to where it was between my two other rods, two hours

Fish 11: 37lb 11oz, Saturday 5am

later, another run on the same rod. and a even bigger PB and my first ever 40lb plus fish was on the bank, a fish known as "The Pretty One" tipped the scales at 45lb 6oz. And again I recast the same rod to the magic spot, and again the bite alarm woke me up, I savoured every moment of the fight, knowing that this was the last fish I was actually willing to catch, I was so knackered by now, and before even landing the fish I had decided to call a end to the fishing. The last fish was a big common weighing in at 37lb 11oz.

Fish 10: "The Pretty one" 45lb 6oz "new PB" Saturday 2am

I had landed three of the biggest fish I have ever caught all in one magical night all on the one rod, how and why none of the other rods had runs is a mystery. I stuck to my game plan, it had come good and I smashed it on the last knockings. A night that I will never forget, it left me totally knackered, completely satisfied and absolutely ready to leave, this was without doubt the best fishing trip I have ever had and would like to say a really big thank you to John, with his help in clipping the line at 75 yards, landing the fish, one even from a boat in the dark, and taking photos and video footage, I know I would of struggled and not of landed half the fish I did without his help. The week really drummed it into me how much help is actually needed in fishing for big fish, All the guys made it a team effort  unselfishly leaving their rods for quite some time, with long walks to offer assistance to others that were playing fish, and hats off to them all. Because there is nothing better than sharing the excitement of a big catch with friends.

Carp Fishing, Oakley Road Fishery

Worth The Weight

Oakley Road, Bromley, Kent, BR2, UK

Oakley Road Fishery, New And Improved

After working 14 days in a row and with over 60 hours overtime, yes......I'm dead. Well not quite, but close, I feel like a walking zombie on auto pilot. It's May bank holiday, and my one day off was luckily forecast to have glorious sunshine with a temp of 20 degrees, how could I not go fishing?. My plan was simple to find a trip that would be as easy and lazy as possible, cast out a rod and sleep in the sun till the sound of my bite alarm awoke me. I pondered about this for at least 5 days, and the only venue that kept popping up was Oakley Road Fishery. It ticked all the boxes, 10 min drive, no rigs or bait to buy as I already had everything I needed, and it would be less busy than other commercial fisheries which would of been packed due to the nice weather, bank holiday and it being closed season for fishing rivers. It even had a chance of a decent sized fish. Although I've fished this place a lot over the years, and I used to know exactly how it fishes, but last year it closed for maintenance work, the silt was dug out, purpose made swims have been built and finished of with a gravel path which goes all around the pond, it was very different now, but would it fish the same??

Fish 6 Boilies close together with PVA Mesh

We arrived at the venue at 8am, that's me and Sarah, a lot earlier than I had imagined, probably due to my work body clock annoyingly waking me up at 6am, but I didn't mind to much as I was going to sleep most the day, and fishing is supposed to be relaxing, well sometimes it is. Sarah had put her gauntlets on the table, "I will catch more fish than you with one rod!" she announced, no, actually it was definitely a statement! She has learned a lot about fishing from me, and is now more than competent to set a rod up, bait up, cast out, feed and land fish. I brushed off her confidence, but underneath I know the way fishing goes, and she could quite easily come true on her words. even with the threat of losing, I decided to still fish in a lazy way, I used my old but lighter carp gear, 2 x Fox warriors 12' 2.5 test, matched with Shimano ST 6000RA's loaded with Fox 10lb soft steel mono. My rigs were simple running leger with 1oz in line lead, with a 10" long hair rig made from 12lb braid and a size 10 barbless hook. One rod baited with a 10mm Innovate Kream Krunch boilies fished about 7 meters out which I baited with 40 loose boilies. the other rod was fished almost in the centre of the pond with a small cube of luncheon meat, with no baiting. I set my rod up on the alarms, and waited. Sarah decided to fish the more conventional way on this water and float fished the margins.

Sun And Fishing Together!!!

It was a glorious morning! the sun was shining, and although we had been fishing about 2 hours, not a bite, for either of us. But I was hopeful because a fisherman 2 swims down had landed a nice Common Carp which tipped the scales at 12lb 6oz. I was struggling to keep my eyes open when my dad unexpectedly turned up with his rod. Doing his normal thing, quickly catching a small carp, as if to show me how, then disappeared as quickly as he arrived. And if he wasn't showing me how to do it, whilst I was talking to him at the other end of the pond, Sarah hooked and landed a small carp on one of my rods, which obviously I had to give her the fish. There was a short spell of about a hour when several people landed fish and some more low double Carp, but as the sun reached its peak bites were non existent and the sun seemed to stop the fish feeding, With my reclining chair right back I settled for a bit of snoozing during the calm.

Worth The Weight, 10lb 15oz

The day was coming to a end, I hadn't changed tactics, just waiting patiently for the fish to find my baited area and start feeding. Then all of a sudden the pond came to life, fish were topping all over and you could see them cruising about, just under the surface, temping me to change to floating bread crust which I tried with Sarah's rod for about 10min, but the fish seemed wise and reluctant to take the floating bread, but then my bite alarm sounded on the Inovate boilie rod, slow bleeps gradually getting faster and faster until it was one continuous bleep, I struck, immediately I knew it was a sizable fish, it put up quite a little scrap, but after a few lunging runs, I had him beat and ready to be netted. It was my only fish of the day, but well worth it, a Common carp weighing 10lb 15oz.

Shhhh I Stole A Photo With Sarah's Ickle Carp

Well the day was at an end, and was the pond different?, yes and no. It was lovely to see a few children fishing the small stocking pond whilst their parents watched or taught them to fish, something I don't see often enough on other waters, Oakley Road fishery certainly offers a chance for the future generation of angler to hone their skills whilst catching silver fish and Carp with the chance of a big one, The bigger pond seemed to fish the same, less bites and fish, but the stamp of fish seemed a lot bigger now the smaller fish have been put in small pond, I saw over 20 carp caught with 5 low doubles come out during the session, and I've been told there are bigger in there with some low 20's. I admit that a lot of anglers may overlook fishing Oakley Road Fishery, due to it being on the small size, but it is what it is, a well stocked, well managed, still developing fishery slap bang on the outskirts of SE London, and I for one will on the hot summer evenings when I have a few hours after work will be there to stalk and temp the fish to the surface with floating biscuits or bread just as I have done for years, and hope to do for many more.

Carp Fishing, Sky Lake

Fishing Magic!! Personal Bests And A 75lb New Lake Record

Sky Lake, France.

Sky Lake, France

After getting the opportunity to book my place to go big carp fishing at Sky Lake in France almost a year ago I've been eagerly waiting so so patiently. I've probably spent more money upgrading my tackle than I needed too, but then again I am pretty level headed and didn't go too mad opting for reliable mid range tackle. As you may, or not know, in 30 years of fishing in the UK, I havn't landed a fish weighing over 20lb, and although going abroad to do it, was feeling a bit like cheating, I've now come to the conclusion that if I wanted to catch big fish, then you need to go where there are lots of them Because as enjoyable as it is, chasing the few monsters in UK waters, is a life long dedication, and to be honest I'm still looking forward to spending another 30 years or more doing so.

Innovate Kream Krunch 16mm Boilies

I set off in the rain (again) to meet the rest of the fishing party at a football club social bar in Greater East London, I meet John outside, who was a work colleague, and the only person out of the 11 going who I knew, as I walked into the bar I was greeted with mountain of fishing luggage almost covering 10 square meters, as I looked up across the bar I saw the party wearing Sky Lake T shirts, I nervously tried my best to ignore the scooped rifle being handed along the bar for people to examine whilst I was introduced to the rest of the fishing party, but as soon as fishing was being discussed they made me feel comfortable and the extreme banter from the excited group reminded me of my old pike fishing club. Rob a co owner with Andy of Sky Lake picked us up, and with all the tackle loaded into the trailer, we set off for France via the Dover to Calais ferry and arrived at the lake at about 7 in the morning.

The Snow Man

My first impression of the lake was good, it was large but not as big as I'd imagined, my swim "No 10 The woods" was big and being central on the lake directly opposite the Lodge gave me lots of spots to comfortably fish. after a quick coffee and prep talk from Rob in the lodge on the rules we all made our way to our swims to set up. whilst we were setting up Rob came over to discuss tactics and areas to fish, he was extreamly helpful, he examined our rigs, obviously to check the rigs were within the rules, but to also check the knots. As the week went on I realised that he genuinely just wanted us to have the best chance to catch a big fish, and as I had no knowledge of the lake I listened to his advise, which was invaluable. I marked my spot with the marker float 80 yards out, it was large weed free patch 11' deep with silt bottom. I then cast two rods to the mark and baited with 2.5 kilo of Innovate 16mm Kream Krunch boilies.

Aiming At The Money Spot

Luckily just after I'd finished setting up it started to rain, which of course it always does when I'm on holiday, and during the week it probably rained for at least 72hours, I got my head down in the bivvy and wrapped myself up nice and cosy in the sleeping bag. on the first night I had one run at 11pm and then was woken at 7am with another. I had struck and played both takes, but after a few minutes the hook pulled for no apparent reason? pulling to hard with my new 3lb test fox ranger rods? too small size 8 hook? At breakfast I asked Rob, "Your rigs are fine" he replied "some times the fish just pick up the boilie, just bad luck." The rods were quite all day, I sat on them confidently knowing that they were baited and in the baited area, but must admit this was very different from the 1 or 2 hours I was used to waiting before checking my bait in the UK. The first night saw Aidan land a 35lb carp, whilst the rest of us were still waiting to get off the starting block.

A Beautiful 30lb Mirror

The second day was better, I think three more of us landed fish, my fishing neighbour John, who had been patiently sitting on his rods since first arriving, landed a PB beautiful Common Carp of 33lb, I hooked and landed my third take, first thing in the morning waking me up from my sleep. An immaculate PB 30lb 5oz Mirror Carp. The fish gave a good account of its self, definitely more exaggerated because I played it so gingerly as the thought of losing the other two fish kept flashing through my mind. Finally I'd beat my PB, I was over the moon, no! I was on it, and in it!!!, The pressure was off! I'd done what I came to do, what I'd been trying to do for so many years.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

The next few days were quiet for me, I left my two rods at my original baited mark and put in another 2.5 kilo of boilies, but I pulled the third rod out of the margins, it had done absolutely nothing from day one. I found a new spot about 45 yards out and at 45 degrees to the left from my swim,  a few fish had crashed here during the early night, and with a new PB, I was more relaxed and willing to experiment more with my third rod, I opted to try a double critically balanced pop up corn over a 10 kilo bed of spod mix. To be honest I think I just wanted to have an excuse to use the boat, which I used to row out to my marker and pour the spod mix over my baited rig.

What A Beautiful Pike

The rest of the party were getting into full swing by the 4th day, only three hadn't caught yet, a 50lb had been landed, several fortys, with 4 PB's being beat, and lucky Terry seemed to be constantly on the fish and had landed about 6 to 29lb, I didn't have one take for the next three days since catching my 30lb, All the fish were crashing at the other side of the lake and maybe due to the heavy rain, it seemed to stop the fish feeding because I only recall one fish being landed during the rain showers. I stuck to my guns with the two boilie rods still in my original baited area, and with my third rod, to keep me occupied I decided to catch some live bait for some piking, I'd been watching a pike for a few days now, chasing small fish right in front of me, about 5m from the bank. I caught about 12 Rudd on a small float rig, using sweetcorn as bait, I kept a few of the smaller ones as bait, My rod had only been in the water for 20 Minutes before my first run, I landed one of the most immaculate and beautifully coloured Pike with the blackest eyes I'd ever seen. I don't think it had ever been caught before or even seen a trace.

My New PB A Mirror At 37lb.

It was day 6 that my swim seemed to come alive, fish were constantly crashing on my side of the lake for the first time, and at the range I was fishing, my bite alarms bleeped once every 20mins, just to let me know there was movement in my swim, I decided that Rather than go to sleep in my bivvy at around 3am, I would sleep in my chair next to the rods as some of the takes the rest of the party were having, were very short, this payed out for me as after a few warning bleeps, the swinger gently rose to the rod and with less than a meter of line taken off the spool, I struck and hooked into a big fish. This fight was very different from the others I'd seen, after an initial 30 meter run it stopped fighting or even trying to swim, I reeled in the dead weight with great difficulty through the weed and as John attempted to land the fish it came alive and tore off again taking about 40meters of line, I couldn't even stop it!, well this fish defiantly had a plan! it repeatedly done absolutely nothing and played dead until it reached the net, then with all its saved energy he torn off uncontrollably stripping another 40m of line. The fish frustratingly done this about 7 times, I lost count, but with John now dangerously hanging off the bank at full reach with the landing net and the fish tiring we eventually landed the fish. It was big! A new PB for me, and 3lb short of 40lb. I felt quite bad because it was the second time I'd called Rob out in the middle of the night for a under 40lb fish, but he didn't seem to mind, even admitting it looked over 40lb when I apologised.

Tiddy with Reg at 75lb "New Sky Lake Record!"

I had no more runs for the reminder of the holiday, but the rest of the lads were still landing a few here and there, on the last night, I heard quiet shouts of excitement from across the lake, my ears pricked up because this time they sounded unusual from the normal banter, more serious!, maybe they were drunk? then I heard "It's Reg!" I listened harder to the muffled excited voices "It's the biggest fish I've ever seen!" "Its Reg alright!". Then someone shouted for the lake to hear "HE'S ONLY GONE AND GOT REG!!!!" I didn't need to hear again, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Reg was the biggest fish in the lake. We had all been joking all week, saying we would catch him, was it a wind up? my mind did wonder during the sprint around the lake, but no! as I arrived at Tiddy's swim, "How do you know its Reg?" I asked, Aidan replied "seriously? look It's a right big ****!" I looked in the water and they had a colossus fish in the net. It was big, not just in length and I couldn't believe how wide he was. One by one, the rest of the party arrived. Nathan and Rob confirmed that it was Reg, the excitement was almost uncontrollable from the group . The fish was weighed twice using a tripod and came in at a magnificent 75lb, beating the 7 year old lake record by 3lb, Tiddy had done it! The photo shoot followed, with Tiddy getting more than his fair share of water being thrown over him. The celebration went late into the night, between us we cleared the Lodge of beers, then the vodka and followed by 2 bottle of Jack Daniels, We had been so well behaved up until now, but what an excuse to let go, after all it is a holiday too. What a end to the week, and a magical fishing moment that I was extreamly lucky to see. I will never forget this week for so many reasons. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to photo or see everyone's fish, but here are the ones I did.

Between the 11 of us, We had a new lake record at 75lb, 2 x 50lb, 4 x 40lb, 8 x 30lb and rest were made up of 20lb fish, no one blanked, and 7 of us had new PBs. I really don't think the week could of gone any better. I would like to thank the rest of the lads John, Danny, Terry, Tony, Paul, Tiddy, Wayne, Darren, Karl and Aidan, for letting me join the group, the laughs, the memory's, and for the help in landing fish and for giving me the opportunity to catch my PB. And thank you to Andy, Rob, Nathan and Bernice at Sky Lake for all you help and lovely food, I had a fantastic time, that I'll never forget, and I'm all ready looking forward to seeing you all again next year!!.

Carp and Catfish Fishing, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Slinfold

One Rod Army!!!

Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Horsham, West Sussex. UK.

Furnace Lakes Fishery

A week off work!! what to do?!? now that's a silly question if you know me! Fishing! With the bitter after taste of losing a monster Catfish estimated 60lb+ earlier on in the season, burning inside me, which I blogged about The One That Got Away.  It is revenge I want! And a new PB, I've fished this place enough times by now, and somehow I haven't managed to catch my first fish over 20lb., and it's really beginning to bug me now. Its full of big fish! and I cant think of anywhere better to catch my first 20lb, so the plan was simple, fish big, for the biggest fish!

The superb Shimano super baitrunner XTR

I set off at silly o'clock, which is probably normal for most anglers, and arrived at 7am, armed with a lot of new tackle and equipment which I've been amassing over the last few months for a imminent Carp fishing trip to France. not only did this give me a brilliant opportunity to test the equipment, but was exactly what I needed for fishing here. 3 x 12" Fox Ranger XTS 3lb test, 3 x Shimano Super Baitrunner XTR 8000RA spooled with 20lb Korda Subline. All I needed now was a fish!

homemade boilie rig.

I was to fish one rod, very close in the margins with a simple running leger with ridiculously large 4" cubes of Spam (luncheon meat) hair rigged onto a homemade rig, made from 40lb Catlink and a eagle wave 2/0 barbless hook, this was to be heavily ground baited with loose cubes of Spam. My second rod was to be a live bait rod, using a ready made Catfish pro polyball live bait rig which was to be fished here, there, and everywhere I could. And my third rod......well, I couldn't resist! I left this for carp, a homemade 15lb braid, size 8 hook boilie rig. to be fished tight against the far bank, with 12 boilies be catapulted out every cast.

Ready and waiting.

After 2 arduous hours of setting up! I was finally ready to fish! I cast out my boilie and Spam rods, and using the live bait rod set up a quick and very crude float rig with the smallest size hook I had on me, a size 10!!!, bad planning, I know! Using 1" pieces of lobs worms I set about catching my bait. Luckily! the  tiny fish didn't seem bothered by the 20lb line and big hook, and it wasn't long before I enough Roach to start live baiting. I lost the first live bait straight away as it simply shook itself off the barbless hook and landed in the water to make his escape even before I'd even cast!! so a quick think and rummage through my tackle box saw me find a very small rubber corn which I placed on the hook and pushed down to the bend of the hook after the fish to keep them on. First cast was 1 meter from the far bank underneath a over hanging willow tree. I let the poly ball float on the surface as a visual aid, it didn't matter to much I was barely fishing in 2' of water.

First fish, a beautiful common carp

All three rods were out. as I took the time to relax. I could see the backs of several big carp just breaking the surface swimming along the far bank, I fired 2 boilies at my baited area with the catapult, the distinctive sound made from the elastic snap followed by a  "plonk, Plonk" as the boilies hit the water. Immediately two of the carp accelerated towards my baited area, and a third fish even turned around to follow them before they disappeared under the surface. I couldn't believe what I'd just seen,  I rubbed my hand in excitement and waited, I could see the fishes tails break the surface occasionally in the baited area, I knew they were feeding. My plan to spread loose boilies over a large area had worked, and now I had the fish confidently looking around and feeding on my loose Monster Tigernut 15mm boilies. It wasn't long before I had my first run. In the next four hours, I took 6 carp from 13lb to 18lb all from the same area.

Last carp of the session

The night was a different story, my boilie rod fell silent as the Carp seemed to change their habit, probably going on patrol around the lakes island. I hadn't had a touch on either of the Catfish rods yet, but I felt this would change during the night. It didn't!, just the occasional big tug of the live bait was just enough to make the alarm bleep once, The rods were silent all night. Even though, I stuck to my guns, I knew these tactics were working for other anglers on the lake, one of which had 7 Catfish to 32lb during the same night only a few swims down from me. At 3am the boilie rod kicked off again keeping me up for the rest of the night, but it wasn't Carp this time, small bream had taken their place, I managed to hook and land 6 even though I missed most of the runs because the fish were fairly small and probaly couln't get the boilie in their mouth. and then a surprise catch, again on the boilie rod the smallest kitten Catfish I'd ever seen, about 1' long and weighing a whopping 1 lb 3 oz, OK it wasn't the monster I was after! Not even close lol, but it was so cute! I really wanted to show a picture, but due to a broken camera that couldn't focus, and low battery on my phone that refused to allow the flash to work, I had to release him without a photo shoot, his day will come I'm sure!

The fish with the biggest smile :-)

Morning was quiet, the Catfish rods were still doing nothing, I landed one more Carp about 14lb on the boilie rod, but that was going to end shortly as I was down to my last handful of boilies. So I decided to pack up before the heavy rain showers that were forecast reached me. With the other two rods packed away, the boilie rod baited with my very last boilie, went screaming off, I took my time to strike this time, to savour the moment and enjoy what was going to be my last fish. I struck................the rod bent, bent a bit more and what was on the end pulled harder and swam further than any of the fish I'd caught so far. Was this Carp over 20lb?, it definitely felt like it! I played the fish tentatively as I didn't want to loose it. The fish didn't surface till the very end and by the way the fight went with slow powerful runs, and lots of those horrible moments when it feels like your fishing line is being pluked like a giant guitar string, causing a nervous wobble of the rod tip, I wasn't suprised to see a Catfish poke his smiling head out the water. Finally what I'd come for!!! still not a monster! and definitely not my PB weighing in at little over 8lb, but a very fitting end to a surreal 24hour session. I would almost count on catching catfish here at Roman lake, whilst the crafty carp are very difficult to catch, but today that got turned on its head. Just like the fact that I've never been so successful with boilies, I've never been a big fan, normally opting for baits such as worms, sweetcorn or bread, but they proved their worth today. And with all the tackle and bait I had with me, all I needed was just one rod, and 1 kilo of boilies. I still haven't beat my PB, and I'm really beginning to wonder why??? I think god may have other plans for me. but in the meantime there's nothing more fun, than trying!

Carp Fishing, Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Slinfold

The one that got away

Roman Lake, Furnace Lakes Fishery, Slinfold, West Sussex. RH13 0QZ

Furnace Lake Fishery

Having spent the winter Pike and sea fishing, It was just about warm enough to do a nights carp fishing at my absolute favourite fishery, Furnace lakes. Apart from being a well managed and beautiful venue and in my opinion each lake has just the right amount of swims on to make it not seem to crowded. It also boasts some of the cleanest toilet facility's that I know in any establishment, not so much a concern for us men, but something that the girls really appreciate. You get a little ride from the car park to your swim with your tackle on a quad bike and trailer, and the place just stinks of big fish. On a quite summer night with no wind you can hear the fish crashing about all over the complex, it resembles someone throwing paving slabs into the water, and adding to the excitement of this magical place, your next bite could easily be a new personal best fish. Of which I have to admit that although I've caught 20 odd carp in the high teens, I actually haven't had a 20lb+ carp.

Here fishy fish!

Me and Sarah arrived early afternoon for a 24 hour session, after a frantic mornings shopping for tackle, bait and food, and a big spring clean of the tackle as it was the first time it had seen the light of day for at least 5 months. The plan was to fish for carp, three 12" Fox Ranger XTS 3lb test rods, two Shimano Baitrunner ST6000RA reels loaded with 15lb Fox Soft Steel mono, and an very old unbranded  baitrunner reel with about 18lb mono line, that I was reluctantly forced to use as I had forgotten about breaking one of my Shimanos and just hadn't got round to replacing it.

Long hair, chopped lob worm, Yum!

At the lodge we decided to fish Roman lake rather than the usual Kiln lake, for no reason other than a change. I never quite know how to fish with three rods, but I figured for a short 24 hour session, it would be best to cover as many options as possible. So I opted to fish one rod close in against the reeds in the margin, single popped up corn bait over a bed of sweetcorn, hemp and spod mix, very easy to accurately cast and feed during the night without big splashes, just a initial dump of bait on arrival and a little handful thrown from the bank over the reeds every hour. The second rod, in the middle of the lake in open water, with halibut pellet bait fished over a heavily halibut flavoured large ground baited area with lots of loose pellets the same size as the bait. The third rod was to be Worm bait, fished tight to the far bank under a over hanging tree against a lily pad, with no feed. I had been watching the lily pads moving whilst setting up, and thought that disturbing the fish with loose bait wouldn't be of benefit, and I'm absolutely certain that no fish can pass up the opportunity of eating a big, fat, wriggling, juicy lob worm, well that's what I tell myself. It's a tactic that has winkled out more carp for me than any other bait.

Caught all by herself, why am I here?

I have to admit, apart from one missed run halfway through the night on the pellet rod, it was dead. Not a bleep, no fish crashing, and unusually not a sound from any bite alarm on any lake. At around midnight after our bbq, I recast all three rods with fresh bait and extra feed, and tucked myself into the sleeping bag with Sarah and had the best nights undisturbed sleep whilst carp fishing I can ever remember. Night turned to day and still nothing! Sarah was Fishing the far bank rod, and we decided that maybe a change of bait was needed, she wanted to try a 20mm cube of luncheon meat, which at least was getting action, the small fish loved it, nibbling away at the edges, until it became a small marble sized ball, it was kind of annoying listening to all the little beeps on the alarm, but at least it kept us on our toes. I changed the margin rod to Red Robin 10mm pellets, and the middle rod to 12mm Monster Crab boilies, but no runs, although Sarah managed to hook and land a small bream all by herself, on the luncheon meat rod whilst I was in the toilet.

Homemade balanced pop up rig

Then an hour before leaving time, the annoying bleeping luncheon meat rod alarm continuously bleeped, and the bobbin gently rose until it reached the rod, the baitrunner kicked in, and slowly gave about 2 meters of line before I struck. I was in! It felt big, but it didn't scream off, instead the fish felt like it was just slowly swimming around without a care in the world, I had my suspicion that this was a catfish rather than a carp, or it was a big carp that really didn't know it was hooked yet? As the fish swam along the far bank, there was nothing I could do to stop it, stripping line slowly off the reel. It was then I realised why I had replaced this old reel, It was shit! The clutch kind of snapped violently releasing about a meter on line each time before stopping sharply, making the rod bounce! Not good with a small barbless hooks, and if that wasn't enough, I had made the cardinal sin of not taking the line out of the reel clip, which luckily snapped clean off the reel when it needed to. The fight continued, I was starting to ache, my back especially this forced me to find comfort kneeling on the ground, but my arms were shaking, I couldn't hide it, the whole rod was shaking. I gained 10 meters of line, he took it back, and vice versa, it was a very amicable tic for tack battle, during which I learnt to control the reel clutch by winding it down very light and use my hand to control the clutch, and was now able to use the minimum amount of pressure to pull back with out bulling the fish. This worked for about 30 minutes until I had the fish very close in, and he knew it! but I'd been expecting this! he run! and run he did! across to the island past my swim past my neighbours swim, hitting all his lines with a chorus a bite alarms, and then continued to the adjacent corner of the lake before stopping. I was back to the start but with a lot more line to recover! and this fish hadn't even surfaced yet! but now I knew he was big, very big, bigger than anything I had ever played before. I returned to the tic for tack fight tactics, I think the run knackered the fish, I was gaining line a lot more easier now and at about 30m out he finally surfaced. It was a big catfish! "F**k me!!! ohhh shit!" was Sarah's very out of character response to the gigantic fish! It was only the tail that showed and I still wasn't really aware of how big this fish might be.




It took another 10 minutes to get the fish ready for landing, Sarah had stopped filming and had swapped our 42" landing net for a larger 50" net which our neighbours kindly bought us, and then the fish's head came out the water, a big 12" wide mouth appearing to smile at me, I was now standing about 5 meters away from the edge of the bank so if he decided to run I would have enough line to stretch with it. Sarah attempted to land the fish, but was stopped moments from doing so, "Don't use the net! Its too big, I'll grab him!" shouted one of the bailiffs as he leaped off his four wheeled buggy. I was kind of relieved, I didn't know what to do!, I was in delirious state of ecstatic shock, Sarah hasn't the experience in landing big fish, or any fish to think about it, and the other people there seemed content with just watching. I wasn't even sure the borrowed net was even big enough! the fish's head came up again and the bailiff whilst laying on his stomach grabbed the line with his right hand and with his left reached out towards the open mouth and bang!! the hook pinged out!!! It took a moment for it to sink in, a deathly silence for a moment whilst the fish slowly sunk backwards into the depths and out of reach. The silence then continued until the bailiff slowly turned round holding the flailing rig "That's my fault." he said.

A very despondent angler :(

The fish had gone, my personal best lost, the excitement had turned to utter disbelief and a gutted feeling that churned my stomach for the rest of the day. It was just an accident, one of those things. I said to the bailiff "that would of been my personal best! it was about 40lb?" he replied shaking his head, "Mate, I don't know if I want to tell you this, that fish was over 60lb" I guess it didn't matter now. I really wasn't too sure weather to include this trip on this blog, but hey, Its fishing, I've lost more big fish that I've landed, blanked more times than I care to remember, its unpredictable and full of shocks and surprises, it's frustrating, and a sheer joy, where one fish can make a world of difference, I love fishing for all of this! and to be honest, fishing wouldn't be fishing without the old aged traditional tales of  "The one that got away."