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Dave Coster's Fishing Diary- May 2019
When I eventually managed to play the carp in closer, I had too much shock absorber out and my match top kit didn’t have a puller bung installed. There were trees above my head which made it awkward, plus I don’t like trying to land big fish with a lot of pole sections pointing skywards, which is a recipe for an expensive broken mid-section. In the end I managed to pump some elastic back inside the pole and landed the fish. Not bad on a size 18 fine wire hook and 0.10mm rig line!
The first thing I did when I got home was to figure out a way of modifying one of my match top two kits with a puller bung system, for use with the new hybrid elastic. I couldn’t fit a conventional side puller bush because my match top two kits were too thin in diameter. In the end I cut down an internal PTFE pole tip bush and araldited it into a small hole drilled near the base of the number two section. I had reinforced this with some PVC tape before drilling and smeared more resin around the bush and tape as extra protection. The theory now was I should be able to reach up when the pole was broken down to its number three section and grab the puller bead on the top two kit. This would allow playing bigger fish in with less hassle.
I was back on Willows a few days later to fish a club match on Ash Lake. You can’t go on this part of the complex on a day ticket, so I was fishing blind, not having a clue what to expect. When I plumbed up with the pole there was a good depth tight to an island opposite, combined with nice shelter from the sun. My main objective was to fish an Advanta Carp Dibber against the island with a long pole, having a proper puller bung power top kit installed this time.
I started on pellet with a size 16 hook and 0.14mm Rig Line, expecting carp. But it soon became evident there were very few of these fish about at my end of the lake. All I could catch was skimmers, although they were a decent size. This prompted me to switch over to casters and for a while I caught faster. But gradually it got harder as the sun rose high above and I lost the shaded water. It was then a case of inching my double caster hook bait right up against the island shelf to coax bonus bites.
It was interesting following the scales around after the match, finding out how different anglers dotted around the lake had caught. The winner was Mick Farrant with a 37lb 7oz mixed catch of carp and skimmers. Despite all the features on this lake, which is similar in many ways to a snake venue,
Mick caught down the middle of the track, simply fishing maggots. He only just beat Malcolm Stuart who caught 36lb 5oz of mainly carp using pellets tight to an island with a pole. Other anglers who made the frame had fished differently again.
I knew I was nowhere near the leaders as I didn’t have any carp, apart from one decent sized crucian. There were two other 30lb plus weights, but I was happy with my net of just over 20lbs of skimmers. At least I will have a better idea of what to expect next time the club fishes here. There are several match lakes, which are full of features and hold a nice mix of species. Because you can’t fish them on a day ticket, only on booked matches, it seems sport is a lot better than if they were hammered every day.
It was a bit like getting into Fort Knox, but I eventually managed to open the tricky padlock on the gate to the old airfield at Fulbeck, to explore another Grantham A.A. venue. Simon’s Pond is more like a lake in my opinion, being an “L” shaped water of about 1.5 acres. The club have laid the swims and access paths out very nicely, with lots of features and margin cover on this well-established, mature fishery.
It was a blazing hot day and the chub I had heard about were lazily cruising in two main shoals, at either end of the pond. They were typical stillwater chub, extremely spooky. Try taking a rod and casting anywhere near them and they quickly faded from the vicinity. I adopted a different plan to sit slightly away from these fish and to try and pull them to me with plenty of loose feed. I was using waggler tackle and had to wade through lots of small rudd and roach. A few bigger 8-10oz silvers turned up after a while, but the chub stayed away in the bright conditions. An interesting find and apart from the species I saw, I’m not sure what else this water holds. Well worth another look.
Next trip I decided to give Birch Lake at Woodland Waters a go. I last fished this small water in the depths of winter, catching loads of silvers but just one carp. I reasoned the carp would be a lot more active by now and they were. I enjoyed some great fun with a margin pole, fishing pellets down by some overhanging tree cover. The carp in this small, shallow lake are lively to say the least, going off like the clappers when you hook them. I caught some fair-sized ones and it was great fun.
In between catching on the margin pole I had set up a shallow waggler rig and caught a nice bag of roach and skimmers, with a trio of better bream turning up late. It was a perfect double-edged attack in such a shallow swim. While I waggler fished the open water and fed up the margins, I could see when carp were feeding down the edge, due to the bow waves this produced. All I had to do then was switch to the margin pole and drop a pellet in. The float would sail away instantly.
For the May Bank Holiday weekend my mate Andy was visiting. He wanted to fish the Specimen Lake at Woodland Waters, but when we got there all the noted bream pegs were taken up by carp anglers. They were catching a good number of carp with the best fish reportedly just over 20 lbs. We decided to give the Match Lake a go as it wasn’t quite as busy. While shifting my gear to a swim there, it was interesting seeing how popular the smaller lakes on this holiday complex were. Lots of young anglers and families fishing, which is fantastic for the sport.
It was harder than normal on the Match Lake. The bright sunny conditions didn’t help, along with extra angling pressure and bankside walkers. But it was nice just being there, watching all sorts of people enjoying the waterside experience.
Andy was relying on his favourite pellet feeder rig, which saw him break the ton mark last autumn on this lake, but the fish weren’t having it this time. I had tried similar tactics but soon switched over to the pole. I caught a few skimmers at full depth but only really started catching well towards the end of the session when I switched to a shallow rig. Lots of small roach but occasionally a proper elastic stretcher would turn up.
The next day we revisited Poplar Lake on the Willow Lakes complex at Foston. Not quite as busy here as at Woodies, plus it was blowing a gale and this place is nicely sheltered. Last trip here a month ago I had the edge over Andy, but when he dropped his gear in a corner peg that screamed carp, I knew he would be hard to beat this time. He only set up a margin pole and was soon hooking into some right lumps, using 6mm pellets. I was getting a bite a chuck using a longer pole and smaller 2mm and 4mm pellets to one side of my swim, feeding casters to the other side.
It quickly became evident that pellets were better than casters on this occasion. I did catch an early bonus carp and bream over the caster feed line, but soon sacked that and concentrated on feeding a mixture of 2mm Krill and F1 pellets, using a 4mm soft hooker over the top. The skimmers were fizzing like crazy, but were smaller than last time, averaging around 4 to 6oz. I caught loads and only got interrupted by carp a few times. A couple came off, but I did land another on my new match top two puller kit. It worked perfectly and helped land the fish so much quicker.
Andy next door was bagging plenty of carp and the odd bigger skimmer. In the end he had too many fish in his keepnet to get a sensible photo. He was way ahead of me, but I was more than happy with my haul.