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Match-Style Carp Angling on B2 - Andrew Grant
After a very hard winter nation-wide, I’m pleased to say this blog details some early spring success for me, spread across two sessions on Linear Fisheries in Oxford. I first started venturing to Linear when the complex consisted of only three lakes but now, with a choice of seven day ticket waters to go at, there really is a bit of something for everyone. My personal choice for the last two trips has been Brasenose 2 (B2), not only because the very hard winter has seen me wanting some bites but also due to a UK Carp Champs qualifier for me on the lake in Mid-June. I’ll quickly run through both sessions before giving a breakdown of the tactics employed.
Session 1, 22nd-24th March Arriving around 11am on the Wednesday, I got straight round to the point swims; not only are they two of the best on the lake but it’s a great vantage point to spot showing fish. The two guys occupying the swims had caught a few between them and, as it happened, the side point was becoming free that afternoon, so I made sure to leave a bucket behind before carrying on my walk. In the end, I decided a short wait for the side point swim would be optimal given the busyness of the rest of the lake and the number of fish in the main bowl area. Getting into the swim at 5pm I clipped the rods up to 110 yards into a strong headwind and got three small Sticky Signature popups onto a clean spot. six spods of hemp, corn and Manilla boilies got the rods fishing whilst I set up camp for the night. Action started a few minutes later with a 24lb mirror, followed by two more before dark but I awoke in the morning having had no further action through the night. Rods re-baited and spot topped up, I was feeling a little despondent throughout the morning with very little to show for my efforts. In fact, I’d just told my brother on the phone that I should be getting bites when a fast take had me out of my bed and landing a typical B2 double. I left it in the net whilst I put three more spods of bait out before unhooking the fish and getting the rod back out. As if a sign of things to come, all three rods then ripped off at once - typically, I lost the only good one! To save the details, I probably managed around 20 more that day to upper 20’s and another relatively quiet night was welcomed. The following day I must have had another 20 singles and doubles - great fun fishing but leaving me determined for a few more better ones. My wish was granted when an obvious shoal of bigger fish moved onto the spot and I had one good fish followed by a triple take - four clear 20’s on the bounce - two mirrors, a common and a very welcome ghostie. I actually had to leave the rods out of the water for 10 minutes whilst I safely weighed and photographed each fish. I was delighted when one of the 20lb mirrors turned into a 32lber and even more pleased with a 28lb 5oz lake-record common. Packing up at 3pm, I’d managed well over 50 fish including 16 20’s and a 32lb 3oz mirror.
Session 2, 3rd-4th April Back down a couple of weeks later I had a one night session ahead of me, again on B2. I’d actually got down the night before to join my brother but, with limited space on the lake, I decided to just camp for the night and get sorted the following day. We had a nice BBQ to celebrate a good session for him and I was excited to get fishing on the Monday. I moved into a swim on the river bank around midday, not somewhere I’d fished before but still giving access to the main bowl area where I’d had success from previously. With another strong headwind, I repeated the same steps with six spods of bait at 120 yards, only this time my boss had kindly given me the new Sticky Signature Squids to try, so one of each colour was duly dispatched to the spot - cheers Roy! Fast forward 24 hours and I’d carried on as I'd left off with 20 fish up to 22lb; brilliant fishing but the big girls were eluding me… that is until a slow take on the middle rod had me bent into what was clearly a better fish. Having caught the sun that day, I had no qualms with piling straight into the margins to get a better angle as the fish moved purposefully down to my left. Thankfully all held as it should and I was soon slipping the net under a bigger mirror - just over 30lb. Like buses, another slow take a few minutes later had me bent into a good fish which gave a very similar fight to the previous, only this time I had to wade one swim down for the netting after it took me into a snag. As the fish rolled into the net, it was obviously another good one and, at 32lb, I was delighted with the consecutive 30’s. This pretty much concluded the result for that session but I left delighted as, in three nights fishing, I’d managed approximately 80 fish including 19 over 20 and three 30’s up to 32lb 3oz. Interestingly, only three of them came in the hours of darkness… food for thought!
Tactics Bait was kept very simple and consisted of only three ingredients, namely hemp, corn and Sticky Manilla boilies. With temperatures into the upper teens, I didn’t want any cloudy powders or pellets in the mix which might get the fish feeding up in the water. Hookbaits were either Sticky Baits 12mm Signature popups or the new Signature Squids, again in 12mm, and these needed just slightly trimming in order to sit above a size 4 Korda Wide Gape - effectively I was fishing them as wafters. The rest of the rig comprised 7 inches of Fox Coretex and a simple blowback arrangement, fished on a helicopter rig with a 3.5oz distance lead. I firmly believe that it is neither the bait, nor the rig, but bait and rig application that is the key to consistent bites at Linear, particularly on the Brasenose lakes. Baiting up with three spods immediately after netting fish was vital to keep the shoal in front of me, as was baiting tightly - I would quickly stop any spod which wasn’t going to hit the spot correctly so as not to widen the baited area I was fishing to. Accuracy was even more paramount with the fishing rods, which could easily be recast three times or more in order to make sure they hit the mark. For this reason, I opted to not use any bag or foam on the rig as the short strippable-braid hook link and helicopter rig minimised tangling.
In summary, my three top tips to anyone fishing B2 for the first time would be:
• Use a simple rig which you have confidence in and can tie easily. • Long range fishing can be effective but always prioritise accuracy over distance. • Bait little and often, but especially immediately after takes.
Whilst not for everyone, this match-style of angling can be great fun and I’d urge anyone to give it a go.
Tight lines, Andrew
