the Carp Mad Men
Thursday, 13 March 2014
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Carp fishing - A year's short carping clips.
Just look/listen how we used to be! More and better videos to come - we believe!
Thursday, 20 June 2013
An Interesting June 16th.
Wow! What a long time it has been! I can’t even count the
previous article as my own in January! What a busy start of the year it has
been – no fishing but plenty of fish related work, I can tell you that. From
the 1st of Jan up until the close season in March, I had very few
sessions and even fewer worth writing about. The issue (if you can call it
that, really) was the increase of my Fishery Management course I’m currently
studying. Not only is it the occasional
trips we do, but also the assignments that come with it. Slacking could not be
tolerated and the fishing, unfortunately, had to subside. My second ‘excuse’ was
the close season itself! Between March and the 16th of June, I did 2
trips! One of which was a blank and the other was a social event with only very
few – and rather small – fish being caught. On top of all this, part time jobs
were increasing in busyness and the work I do for HCP Baits made fishing fall
back even further priority-wise. Recently, I bought a new camera that I am very
proud of and I hope there is a noticeable difference in the photography.
Previously, I’d use Edwin’s or my little compact digital which wasn’t up to the
job for what I wanted it to do. Using Edwin’s DSLR made me want one too and the
photos you may see dotted around here may have well been taken on that too
(before I bought my own, obviously). This year has been somewhat of a breakthrough
for my angling though and work with HCP Baits and a local rod builder has given
me many opportunities for the future – for which I am extremely grateful for!
I think that is enough of my waffling about why I have
deprived you of blogs on here, but that is about to change! Without further
ado, I shall commence the ‘story’ of An Interesting June 16th.
You'd never know that they were once 1 piece! |
It was my first proper night session where the regulars of my
local fishing club would congregate for a BBQ and drinks to ‘see in’ the open
season at midnight. I had spent the day either packing my stuff or in the local
town of Burgess Hill to meet a man called Graham Dadswell. Graham is a class
rod builder and can do most things you can throw at him. I had previously
bought 2 rods under the name of Wychwood Extricator 6’. These were very classy
little rods and at 6 foot, they were rather compact too. Well, they would have
been had they not been 1 piece. After
searching around, I was put onto Graham and he agreed to, essentially, cut them
in 2! Of course, with his expertise, he would whip ferrules in and create a
stunning set of rods with quality spigots. Now with 2 super slim, 2 piece, 6
foot rods, I knew I could take these anywhere.
Their length allowed me to get in almost any swim...and be right on my rods. |
I would have to use them for the
open season night! Though we were late, we still managed to arrive at the lakes’
car park at about 6 o’clock. This gave me plenty of time to look around the
lake of my choice and even set up before dark. I chose a spot where most people
would normally not fish from due to overhanging trees but with my new rods,
casting was, as they say, a doddle. I was also casting to a spot where many people
fish from instead of to. The reason was simply a pressure thing and not many
people fish under their feet. Now, I wasn’t doing that but I was casting to a
bank many people fish from and thus achieving the same thing. Many people also easily
access this bank and what with the many fish that are happy to take floating
baits, people regularly throw in all sorts of food for them. Even though I was only casting within feet of
the bank, the lead had a while to hit the hard bottom. Though it wasn’t actually
a deep spot, it was for this margin. I could easily walk round to bait up with
my slightly different bait too. Most people feed pellet and/or hemp, but I
decided to still fish particle but with a liberal dose of chick peas. To that,
I would also add Coconut Crunch boilie crumb, sweet corn, fast breakdown pellet
(not the normal 10mm halibuts that this lake is synonymous with) and a good
glugging of HCP Baits’ Coconut Crunch liquid * find how to make this mix in ‘Angling Tips ‘n’ Tricks. I wanted to
give a sweet but very nutritious mix, as the fish would respond better to this
than an overly enhanced artificial flavoured mix. The Coconut Crunch liquid not only added a whole new dimension to
the bait, but emitted a sweet, nutty, cloud into the water column. Along this
typical patrol route, the fish should be drawn down to my bait at any level. The
rigs would be simple and very anti-tangle. A simple coated braid hook link and
stripped back section at the hook end, with a balanced hook bait consisting of a
trimmed down Coconut Crunch dumbbell. A buoyant piece of corn balanced it nicely and was then all glugged in matching
liquid. All of this would be attached to a leadcore leader and a leadclip
arrangement. Lead wise would be a 1.5oz Dung coated flat pear swivel from
J&R Leads on Facebook *find in ‘Links’
. Their leads are top notch and can offer you the largest range of coatings imaginable.
They can even do custom coatings. I chose the dung coating due to its ability
to appear natural on any lake-bed.
'Dung' coating, big-eye swivels and low profile body made them the best leads around. |
After the BBQ, drinks and social, everyone
went their separate ways onto the lake of their choice on the complex and began
baiting up, clipping up and making final adjustments for the midnight
cast out. It was just like a match when 12 o’clock eventually came around and
the whistle was blown. Thankfully for me, I was away from most of the commotion
and I felt this gave me a good advantage. I got both rods ‘on the money’ first
time and I had a lot of faith in my PVA bag mix and prior baiting approach. My
mix was very similar to the free offering bucket mix but with more boilie crumb
and less chick pea juice. Every cast, I would find my tape marker, clip up and
then dunk my 50p-sized PVA mesh bag in my ever faithful Coconut Crunch dip. It
is a bright white liquid and certainly creates a very attractive cloud. I
managed to hit the clip hard most times and feeling the lead down in the 5 or
so feet of water made me safe in the knowledge that the rig was presented well.
If I was paranoid that I hadn’t hit the clip hard enough to kick the bag away
from the lead, I could get away with dragging the lead bag 3 inches or so as
the bottom was clean and the PVA bag protected my hook point.
Natural patrol route and feeding spot from the public. |
The weight simply doesn't matter when you get off the mark with this. |
Just as my friend Simon arrived at 09:30 the following day, I received another steady run and I was on it in a flash. I knew it was a better fish as it plodded rather than violently shake its head and dart around. I normally pride myself in knowing the stock of the larger fish in this lake but as soon as it boiled on the surface and its massive head hit the surface, I could have told you instantly I didn’t recognise it. Most of the fish in there are lean commons with dark colouration and the mirrors were either fully scaled or of the above strain. I could tell it was a special fish, not only because it was unknown, but also because it was rather old. The experience was heightened even further when I realised what I was playing it on...my new 6’ rods. It just felt so natural and smooth that I forgot about their length and short handle. Still, the fish eventually tired from plodding in front of my feet – too deep to net safely – and ran off purely for the hell of it, it seemed. Even with half the length of my normal rods, I still managed to turn it and after about 7 minutes, Si did the honours and the draw cord passed easily under the fish’s almost out-of-proportioned length.
Bit of a warrior, one might say. |
Matching paste just added another dimension. |
Typical summer day, eh?! |
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't make this a double. |
Glad to finish off with a nice chunky and angry carp |
Now that the season is upon us, expect more tales from especially
Edwin and I and always check out Si’s blog at alwaysangling.com.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Dusting off the cobwebs with a bit of winter action.
High attraction but not overpowering baits were on the menu for these fish. |
Adam even baited over Christmas day!
So, enough of the theory, how did the actual fishing go? ‘Quite well’ didn’t really sum it up, especially over winter and on this particular lake! Getting down to the lake before sun rise, we soon had the rods out to the prebaited spots and sat back to wait. Adam had typically forgotten his brolly and water-proof over trousers so he wound in and marched off home to get them before the forecasted downpour was due. It was only ten minutes before Adam arrived back in the swim – still quite dark - when my right hand bobbin rose steadily to the rod and I lifted into a fish. Though being in the middle of winter, it made a good account for itself. The fish turned out to be perfection in miniature as I slid the net under a mirror of about 5-6lb. Despite this fish being one of the smaller residents - since their stocking only a few years ago, the growth rates are incredible. It was caught on a rig I've had a bit of success on lately, that being the butterfly KD rig.
One of many fish from the last stocking. |
The 'butterfly' presentation of the KD corn rig. |
The bait that produced the 2 biggest fish of the day. |
My winter stick mix - all tied up and ready to go. |
Descending order; Spike's twin and Dumpy. |
Spike's twin weighed in at 15lb 9Oz and Dumpy was 10Lb 4Oz. Adam seemed surprised when I read out the weight of Dumpy as he looked in his log book and noted that it had lost a considerable amount of weight, even though it being winter. He genuinely believes that a log book has not only allowed him to keep an eye on the fish’s habits, but also improve his general understanding of fish and angling as a whole. Though before we could look though his book properly, my JPz pellet rigged rod roared off resulting in a near fully scaled mirror that weighed about 13lb.
Three fish in three quarters of an hour – not bad for a winter session but also highlighting the fairly short bite times typical of winter. The rest of the day session passed without any further events, other than significant quantities of rain!
Don’t forget to check out the accompanying video soon and get out there and catch some winter carp! Keep an eye out too for a pike video and article too!
By E.Woodhams - Carp Mad Men
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Never fear, it's that time of year.
A golden carping session.
Winter, a time where many carp anglers move onto different species. Whether it’s due to the season opening for that particular species or that winter carping is, quite frankly, not as comfortable to fish in to say the least. One particular recent session certainly proved that point. It was 19th of December and it forecast light rain showers. However, it was quite mild and a gentle breeze was entering our chosen swim from the west. Following such winds really was one of our trump cards as many fish will follow this. Such winds bring an undertow in the water which suspends food particles. Even in winter, where the fish are reluctant to bother with many traditional baiting methods, carp can simply not resist the ‘scent trail’ of a free dinner waiting for them. If correctly baiting with this in mind, carp can be as easy to catch as in any season. You see, if you are fortunate enough for this wind to blow for at least – I believe – 24 hours in the same direction, the carp have already congregated into wherever this wind has lead them. All you have to do then is give them what they think they want, bait.
Now after the first 200 hundred words or so, I don’t blame you for still wondering what the title of this article is about! And to be honest, you’re going to have to wait to find out. As I mentioned, we, yes we – Edwin and I – were fishing this very carpy looking swim. The wind was blowing in our favour, it was pleasantly mild for December and we had the whole lake to ourselves. Our tactics were either to go with really ‘foody’ baits – to try and get them feeding instead of just mooching. Or, really high attract baits like 2 pence size PVA bags packed with attractants and small, bright pop-ups. Edwin chose to go with gooey, sticky, boozy tiger nuts with a cloudy mix and me, knowing this lake the way I do, going with a Black Ice flavoured yellow hookbait an inch popped up. This was because I wanted to fish over some chod where the last remaining natural food would be and a slow sinking pop-up rig with a coated braid hooklink would allow the rig to flutter down on top of it all.
What we all want, just that bobbin jumping into life! |
It certainly worked fast! Casting out and feeling the lead down at least 9 foot onto a very hard patch of silt the bite came about 20 minutes later. If you have read ‘Well....what can I say?!’ then you may recognise this fish! That’s right, it was Goldilocks. What a pleasure it was to see it again. It still fought as hard this time and it certainly knew its home. It made a dash for the same snags which were well over twice as far from where it was hooked! However, this time I had more powerful rods and the fish was turned a lot easier this time. Though this only made it try harder. In the clear water the golden flanks and bright white belly shone straight through the water as it writhed beneath our feet, still 4 feet down and you could still make out it the beautiful scales and big shoulders. As it came up for one last breath the hook and bait was clearly visible in the side of its pristine bottom lip. A gulp and a gentle knock it’s the head gave the all clear for Edwin to slip the net under it. Taking into consideration the fact that a fish like this cost considerably more than a standard mirror carp, we carefully lifted it out of the water in the collapsed net, removed the hook and weighed it immediately. We then put in the sling and let it have a rest in the margins.
2nd time and still impresses me. |
All the time this was happening, however, Edwin kept on receiving countless line bites. Unfortunately, he could do nothing about it as he had to have tight lines as he was fishing very tight to heavy snags. All he could do was wait and hope the fish could find his hookbaits. However, after noticing my fish had been caught on a blatant pop-up, he quickly tied up a hinged stiff rig. Though his hands were so cold, I had to tie on his pop-up! We were both now receiving an unusual amount of liners of which one was so powerful I struck at it, only to find nothing attached!
Oxygen rich and slightly warmer, fish love inlets. |
Weighing only about 9lb, it was not going to be much to shout about but it was another untouched gem of the lake. The size of these fish really doesn't matter when you have fish of this quality very local.
‘Till next time, stay lucky...and warm,
Adam, Edwin and Simon.
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
An apology and added news.
Hi all!
As you may of noticed, the site name has changed. This is because, as mentioned in the news and at the bottom of Carper's Tips, that Edwin Woodhams and Simon Bosher - 2 very competent anglers in all lines of coarse angling - have joined me and thus, we are now a trio...the 'Mad Men.
However, this post wasn't really about that. It was about the trip, or the lack of it materialising to your knowledge, that I mentioned on here a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, the trip did go under-way, and I say 'unfortunately' due to the poor quantity of fish caught - 2, a small 'ghosty' and a nice fully-scaled upper double mirror - and the awful weather, which did no good for the chance of filming.
To add to that, I also have to apologise for the lack of recent articles! But, and a big 'but', Edwin and I especially are out to fix that. As well as the carp, pike may be on the agenda this Winter for you all. Just something a bit different.
'Till then, keep fishin' .... they'll soon come.
CMM
As you may of noticed, the site name has changed. This is because, as mentioned in the news and at the bottom of Carper's Tips, that Edwin Woodhams and Simon Bosher - 2 very competent anglers in all lines of coarse angling - have joined me and thus, we are now a trio...the 'Mad Men.
However, this post wasn't really about that. It was about the trip, or the lack of it materialising to your knowledge, that I mentioned on here a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, the trip did go under-way, and I say 'unfortunately' due to the poor quantity of fish caught - 2, a small 'ghosty' and a nice fully-scaled upper double mirror - and the awful weather, which did no good for the chance of filming.
To add to that, I also have to apologise for the lack of recent articles! But, and a big 'but', Edwin and I especially are out to fix that. As well as the carp, pike may be on the agenda this Winter for you all. Just something a bit different.
'Till then, keep fishin' .... they'll soon come.
CMM
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Twenty number 2!
You join me a few days after the success of another fishing trip down the local ponds. I only had a few hours fishing and I needed to make the most of it. Taking minimal equipment and light baiting ideas allowed me to pursue the fish, instead of baiting and waiting.
It was an overcast day with temperatures struggling to reach upper double figures. A cool but gentle westerly breeze blew straight into my favourite swim. Things looked good, but not as good as I could have expected!
Recently purchasing some new bite alarms and indicators I was keen to christen them with a couple of good, hard fighting carp which would give the alarms a good work out.
The alarms and bobbins in question were Delkims coupled with Korda Stows. To say that start of the session went off well was quite an understatement. The Stows - fished slack - twitched, rose slightly, dropped, and then went ballistic! Being a short session, I was sat next to my rods with Carp World magazine, a packet of crisps and not much else. By the time I got up to hit the rod, the fish was 5 yards away in another weed bed.
As mentioned so many times before, it is unwise to just pull, pull and pull a bit more. Instead, giving barely any pressure - just enough to stay in contact with the fish - allowed it to free itself from the weed bed but still keep in contact with the fish. I was on my own at this time, but thankfully an ex-angler was fortunate enough to observe and then finally net the fish - along with another 10lbs of weed behind it!
Many photos were taken, though unfortunately a few had to be deleted. Top tip is to give your photographer a run through on how to work your camera! However, saying that, a couple were quite good and I was made up to see my 2nd 20lb carp, and a first for my home lakes, swim away strongly.
I put the landing net back together again, hung it up to dry, and sat in my chair just to soak up the satisfaction of my catch for a minute or two.
After that, I got up, put a fresh Black Ice dumbell hookbait from Ace Baits on, tied a stick of their fast breakdown pellets and glugged the whole lot in CSL and Molasses liquid. No other bait was put in as the fish were clearly turned off on larger beds of baits.
Take number 2 came off from the left hand rod - though being only 3 yards from where the right one was positioned - with one of the lakes' dumpy little mirrors. Though giving spectacular bites and fights, all seems lost when they come to size. Not being fussy, as these fish are in fantastic condition and wonderfully scrappy, I do like catching these fish now and then.
Fish number 2 was caught on my favourite type of pop-up rig, see Rig Library, with a Black
Ice pop-up.
As our sessions are getting cooler, get on Black Ice from Ace Baits, it's a fantastic all-season bait!.
Again, best of luck with your own fishing, and don't forget to send us your photos/catch reports. CMM
For any other carp related talk, check out the Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/groups/136521579773468/ .
It was an overcast day with temperatures struggling to reach upper double figures. A cool but gentle westerly breeze blew straight into my favourite swim. Things looked good, but not as good as I could have expected!
Recently purchasing some new bite alarms and indicators I was keen to christen them with a couple of good, hard fighting carp which would give the alarms a good work out.
The alarms and bobbins in question were Delkims coupled with Korda Stows. To say that start of the session went off well was quite an understatement. The Stows - fished slack - twitched, rose slightly, dropped, and then went ballistic! Being a short session, I was sat next to my rods with Carp World magazine, a packet of crisps and not much else. By the time I got up to hit the rod, the fish was 5 yards away in another weed bed.
20Lb 10Oz |
Many photos were taken, though unfortunately a few had to be deleted. Top tip is to give your photographer a run through on how to work your camera! However, saying that, a couple were quite good and I was made up to see my 2nd 20lb carp, and a first for my home lakes, swim away strongly.
I put the landing net back together again, hung it up to dry, and sat in my chair just to soak up the satisfaction of my catch for a minute or two.
After that, I got up, put a fresh Black Ice dumbell hookbait from Ace Baits on, tied a stick of their fast breakdown pellets and glugged the whole lot in CSL and Molasses liquid. No other bait was put in as the fish were clearly turned off on larger beds of baits.
Take number 2 came off from the left hand rod - though being only 3 yards from where the right one was positioned - with one of the lakes' dumpy little mirrors. Though giving spectacular bites and fights, all seems lost when they come to size. Not being fussy, as these fish are in fantastic condition and wonderfully scrappy, I do like catching these fish now and then.
Fish number 2 was caught on my favourite type of pop-up rig, see Rig Library, with a Black
Ice pop-up.
As our sessions are getting cooler, get on Black Ice from Ace Baits, it's a fantastic all-season bait!.
Again, best of luck with your own fishing, and don't forget to send us your photos/catch reports. CMM
For any other carp related talk, check out the Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/groups/136521579773468/ .
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