Just back from a thursday night session on a new water im targeting and had a result with this 16.8 mirror also had two small commons on the sc25 had a realy tough night gale force winds seem to follow me around the final straw was at 4.00am when it ripped my brolly up i just threw all the gear in the car and went off to work anyways this fish is definatly not the biggest in the world but on the water im targeting getting on the fish is the hardest thing and this fish was a real bonus.

easter bank holiday

Decided to fish easter bank holiday with my son,finished work at 12.00pm on thursday and rushed home with great urge to pick my son up who is a keen carp fisherman at 10 years old,he to like me had been looking forward to spending the weekend on our regular venue although it had given a bad forcast i thought we would chance it and hope for the best.The 2 half hour journey seemed like about 10hours as i was eager to get to the lake after working solid for the last few weeks i was due a good fix of fishing,we arrived there my mate and his lad were set up the wind was mental gale force making white horses on the lake i looked at the sky and dark clouds started to drift towards us i said to my mate ill have to get set up quick as it looks like rain,so rushing like mad with the barrow full of gear me and my lad motered to a corner of the lake we had had good luck on before.I pulled up the brollies with some struggle and managed to get them pegged down in the strong wind,i fired the marker out and found the clear spot that i fished to last year and had some good fish off one rod was cast to this baited with sc25 and the other was dropped in the margin under the overhanging tree this was baited with small pro fish barrells that i am testing for tails up,my lad baited his with the pro fish barrells and cast his to the right hand side of me and catapulted a few free offerings over the top.We had just got in the brollies and the kettle was on i could see my mate jumping with fist clenched in the air,then over the walkie talkie came the shout"Ive only gone and got one"that was it my camera was out and the rods reeled in and we ran round to see what hed landed it was a large common at 25lb great angling for the conditions the snaps were taken and hand were shook my lad was buzzing at seeing such agreat fish i then helped my mate to lower her back into the lake and she waddled of to get bigger for my turn ha ha.By now the rain had started and it was time to get under the brollies for some scran after a couple of hands of cards and my lad hads cleaned my out of all the loose change i had in my pocket it was time to turn in i gave my lad my thermal bed chair cover and he snuggled down under it in his sleeping bag,i lay there watching the lake as it started to get dark the wind was strong getting stronger then all of a sudden hail stones i franticly kept watch on my lad and was starting to get a bit concerned but he was flat out oblivious to what was happening my mate phoned me up to see if i was ok he said his bivvy was starting to lift we had a laugh we must be mad this went on all night waves coming over the peg and full force storm by morning i hadnt slept a wink my lad woke up oblivious to what had gone on in the night the only consulation was my mates lad had picked up a 24lb mirror good angling but with branches snapping off over our heads this was no place for my lad i counted my losses and packed up for home when will the carp gods give me a break oh well battle on. TIGHT LINES

Ive just finished reading Mickey Grays book "A merry olde dance" and have to say its been one of the most enjoyable reads ive read for a long time from cover to cover its hilarious but yet has some great tips and methods hidden within its text,the way Mickey puts over his stories is superb with a tongue in cheek attitude is brilliant,but on the serious side this man has caught some classic fish from some very hard waters from yatley to wellington country park Mickey shows how trying to fit family and work life into your fishing can be hard work and realy test you to the limits,but if you stick at it the rewards can be good this book has been an insperation to me and i would strongly recommend it.

start of my 2008 campaign

Over the last few weeks ive been doing a couple of overnighters as my time on the bank is restricted due to work but i have to try and fit my plans for the year around work even if this means arriving at the lake late at night and leaving in the early hours of the morning anyways the baits going in and thats all that counts at this time of year so ill let you know what happens.

winter session 48hr

Just returned from a two night session on the lake ive been targeting this year to say it was hard would be a understatement,i tried every trick in the book but to no good i used the tactics i disscussed in my last blog but that never worked i also added the use of small pva bags but i just couldnt temp them,i watched the water for hours and sat listening in the dark for signs of fish movement but they just never let their guard down,i awoke the first morning to half of the lake frozen which made things a bit tricky the frost was hard and my feet were cold but i b attled on like i said before there was no sign of fish movements throughout the day as darkness fell i was stood drinking a brew when my middle rod sounded a strange run oh no not the dreaded bream as i started to play the fish my suspicions were right the slimy culprit was soon returned oh well at least that got the old heart racing the rod was recast and the wait started again.The next morning i awoke to every carpers nighmare not even a beep in the night my bobbins were still in the normal positions and were frozen solid alond with my rods&reels oh well the lake may have got the best of me this year but that will only drive me on next year that just leaves me to wish you all a merry xmas and happy newyear TIGHT LINES FOR 2008

WINTER SESSION

Just returned from a 24hr session on my local lake,id forgot how cruel winter sessions can be me and my mate deceided to try our luck on what is a hard water at the best of times but like true diehards we are we decieded to brave the elements.When we arived we had a good wind blowing right in to were we were fishing and hopes were queit high nothing happened through out the day but as the wind died off the temperature dropped it was at this time that i realised my boots were still wet from the last time i was out in them!!As darkness fell so did the temperature even more now my toes were realy starting to freeze with my damp boots,oh well have to brave it a good beef curry was soon wolfed down that seemed to light the fires i should have just tipped it into my boots maybe that would have defrosted my toes,anyways in the light of the moon we huddled together round a hot cup of bovril til we couldnt take it anymore i jumped in my bag and wrapped my bedchair cover around me leaving just my nose poking out so i could breath,into the land of carp i slipped....Morning arrived as my mate woke me are you still alive was the shout damn no runs in the night and a frost bitten nose,"Get the kettle on " was the shout as we discussed every thing that could of gone wrong last night oh well i will be back next week to brave the elements again we must be mad ha ha

winter fishing

Now with a real change in the weather getting much colder its time to start changing tactics i myself usually drop my hook size down and cut the amount of bait that i put in,my usual approach for most of the season would be to fish over a fairly large bed of bait usual incorporating hemp and boilies but as the temperatures drop i would cut the freebies down a bit unless the fish really switch on i continue to use hemp as i find this is still good through the winter but i don't put as much in.I would usually fish one rod like this another rod i would use a single hook bait usually a single hook bait i prefer tails ups bait and use the sc25 all the year round this is a proven bait and one that Ive had a lot of success with in winter i use there amino glugg aswell i would fish this rod just of my baited area , if I'm using three rods i would either use the single sc25 hook bait again or i would use a chod rig with a single small pop up on again this would be fished just of the area or used as a roving rod if i saw a fish move.People have their own methods for winter this is just one that i use its a method that I've caught good fish on in the winter months so I'm confident with it.Please feel free to post your tactics or comment's on winter fishing...cheers