My time now

                    Time flys by so quick and I am back down the lake again work does get in the way as Fridays just can't come round fast enough shame init really as I am just wishing my life away. There was a few lads already down there by the time I got there so swim choice is always a problem for me as by the time I get there all the best ones are gone.
The swim I set up in is one called the upper point it's a good swim with plenty of water to go at. Night soon came and went with no action so after a bit of breakfast and a few brews of tea off I went for a walk to find out where these fish was hiding. Upper point is the last swim but one before you hit the bank which is the folly bank if you have read my blog last year when I had my first 30 from the lake it was off this bank.
I was up the tree in which I like to get up so you can see what's swimming about along the margin shelf within a few minutes a group of about 7-8 carp came waddling in from my left and I would say not one of them was under 30lb Then the next lot of carp again mid water came threw this time a mix of all sizes. That's all I needed to see and I was back at my swim getting 2 rods buzzers landing net and a bit of bait together and jogging back up to the folly bank. I was shaking as I was putting the bait on the hair I new it would not be long before I had one.
              With a under arm flick the baits was put in position only a rod length out with a hand full of chops only looking for one bite. My idea was when they came back hopefully they would see the bait and get on it with in a few minutes I was getting liners the bobbins lifting and dropping back I was right they had found it Both rods was getting liners now so which one would go first left or right???
I soon found out as the left hand rod started to bounce about I was in. It put up a good fight but I won the battle. My mate flash had seen me pull into the fish and came round and did the deed of netting the mirror we both looked in and the flash made it roll on to its side I saw and new the fish straight away it was the old worrier SCARGILL it was the fish I missed out on last year when I had them 12 fish feeding in the margins and Clippo had him a few days later off the same spot that's when I wanted to catch him and here he was in the bottom of my net. Get in there!!!

     He was soon weighed a nice healthy 34-06 first thirty of the year and very welcome he was too flash did the photos and we slipped the old boy back into his home. I thanked flash and nick for there help and I packed up my rods and went back to my swim with a massive smile on my face.
         The rest of the day I never really bothered putting the rods out till early evening I settled in for the night watching the water and listening to the smooth 70s on the radio once or twice I was woken up by the odd bleep which never went any further than a couple of bleeps again the next morning not much was showing most of the fish was over the other side of the lake on top as the sun made a rare appearance. At around 10 the right hand rod bobbin lifted gave one bleep then a few seconds later a one toner I pulled into the carp and all hell broke loose it took long deep runs time and time again it fought hard but over over time I managed to gather the line back of it and I soon bagged my target.
Another cambs pit fish was caught weighed and photoed another mirror this time it was 23-08 again a dark mirror typical of this lake. So all in all it was a good weekend two fish under my belt and one being a fish that I wanted to catch too I love it

Till next time
Russ

Woken up for summer

Think I am safe in saying that we all love that feeling waking up at sunrise watching the sun poking threw the trees shining on the lakes motionless water bringing in the new day. Suddenly the lake starts to wake too as the carp start to roll and bubble as they go in search of there breakfast and hopefully on to the bait that I have put in the night before.

                                      Waking up to this is magic
First one rolls and the rings spread across the lake. Then another i look deeper into the water scanning your eyes across looking for more signs of feeding fish. The suns getting higher in the sky bringing with it a ray of colours the steam from the kettle disturbs my train of concentration as i carry on looking waiting for the next show that gives there presents away once more.
That's how I woke up on Saturday morning after the crappy week at work that most of us have to go threw just to get to the weekend when we can just forget about it for a day or so. After getting to the lake at around 7pm Friday it's always a mad rush to get to the swim and get the rods out first before putting the house up by which time it's normally around 10pm by then and the dark of night has beat me again. Laid in the sleeping bag listening for old carpy to bosh out and give me hope that I have done it right and rods are on the right spots.
The morning soon came round to afternoon not feeling that anything was going to happen I went for a look round the lake getting down to the other end and fish was rolling all over seems they wanted to be at the back of the wind rather than be in the south westerly I was sat in at the other end. I was soon back at base camp getting my stuff on the barrow the last thing to go on was the rods and I was on mission to get down to the new swim and get the rods in.

                                 My swim i moved in too
It didn't take long and the first rod was made up and a new bait put on the rig that was cast out with a 1oz leadshed lead as not to make to much of a splash as I never wanted to spooked them out. The second and third rod was all baited with new bait and put on there spots. An hour later the middle rod ripped off the fish took a massive run to my left up the lake taking with it next doors rods with it he thought he had a run too and he hit his rod and starts playing what he thinks is a fish but soon sees that my fish has picked his lines up. I try and get line back but this carp is not having any of it. I pull harder into the fish when I suddenly lose it.
Only one thing to do when you lose one that's just get on and get the rod back out in the hope that the fish are still there and not spooked out of my swim .new bait on rod replaced on its spot. I didn't have to wait long before the carp started to show and roll once more I just had to sit and watch and wait for the next one to pick up the bait. It took almost 3 hours before the next one picked it up and gave me a run it came as I was listening to Wigan lifting the cup to the crowd as they had just won at Wembley. This time the fish went straight out to the middle of the lake on its first run after a little bit of pumping I soon had it under the rod tip plodding about using its weight to try and hold the bottom but with a bit of pulling and tugging it soon came up and was in the net beaten by the better man on the day.

                                        The stunning dark mirror
The mirror went on the scales at 25-09 the photos was done but I had already put the rod back out on the spot before I weighed it well you never no do you. The fish kept on showing but nothing became of it even though they was in the area till the early hours of the morning. I gave it till just after 12am Sunday before the pack down and the hour and a quarter drive home.

Till next time
Russ

Will kick off soon

Here we are nearly the middle of April and the weather is still not at its best for the time of year. The trees don't have the leaves on yet and the carp are still in winter slumber only the odd fish making an appearance on the cambs pit.

   I have only done 3 weekend Friday to Sunday sessions since my traditional new year eve session due to the weather. I feel that I have no need to sit it out in all weathers now I have done that in the past over the years for very little reward and am happy to leave it to the other lads that want to do it.

     So this weekend will be my 3rd full weekend. Weather forecast is looking up and should be by Sunday up in the high double figures BBQ weather and the zigs will be out although I have been trying them in the day with only one take that I missed due to taking a pee just as I started the buzzer started to make a noise the bobbin went tight against the delk and the rod tip was bobbin too. It was ether pee myself or hope it was still on when I finished I went for the latter option which turned out to be the wrong choice by the time I got to the rod the fish had slipped the hook.

       With the weather picking up it will not be long before the fishing kicks off and hopefully I will be there when it does. In the two week that I have been the only angler to catch is Spod with a stunning 30-01 common and Clippo who has had fish in his last two sessions although he has been having a few over the winter from a swim he has been baiting both was mirrors of 33lb and35lb.

    Happy clippo with just one of his mirrors at 35-12

     Spod with one of the cracking looking commons                                       this one was 30-01
                                                                                                 With the help of the carp gods i might get my first 40lb carp this year i was close again with this 39-10  

               Now I am back regular fishing the blog will be updated a bit more often hopefully with photos and videos of fish that's being caught along with tales of went on

 Till next time

Russ

                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                              

   

Who wants to be a fieldtester

Who would be a fieldtester
It's the middle of February and sat in the house bored so I thought I would just put few words down for a bit for the blog.
Having been with 3 company's where I was a fieldtester I feel it's just not worth the hassle. The first company was active baits solutions not really a tester just getting the bait at a good price so I would help out on forums and and Facebook and of course on the blog with comments and photos of fish I had while using the bait although they never said I think I did a good a job for them.
Just over a year ago now i was not really on the look out for a new company but the lake I was joining does see its fair share of abs. So was looking for something different I asked sticky baits if I could buy there bait wholesale on Facebook within a few minutes my phone was ringing and it was a mate who does a lot with sticky baits he told me he would make the call and sort it for me .
True to his word the phone rang and it was someone from the company I told them what I was after and he told me that because I was recommend by my mate I would be sent a field tester price list by email. " Don't you want to see what I can do for the company with my blog,videos and the like" I said "No your mate says this and that that's good enough for us" came the reply. That was it I was now a fieldtester for sticky baits I thought this was it the real deal.
I had to tell Paul at ABS which I thought was only fair he wished me luck and all the best I thanked him for all he had done for me.                                      I brought 50kilo of vortex along with pop ups and glugs and started to use it on the lakes I was fishing at the time it was catching fish from the off and I was pleased on how it was going writing and making some videos for my blog and doing my bit on Facebook and twitter. I run out of pop ups and phoned up to buy some more I put my order in with the guy that made the call to me that let me on the team. Not one word was asked on how I was getting on with the bait or what I thought about it nothing. I put the phone down and just thought that was strange they don't seem interested in how I am doing what's that all about ???
A couple of weeks went by when I received an email from sticky saying that if I wanted to keep being a feildtester then I was to send in my cv as they was revamping the company and was looking to hand pick a few people to move the company forward which was fine but i felt that I had been let down they took me on without a cv when I offered them one then because it didn't suit they dumped me I was not happy i had 40killo of bait in the freezer that they was happy to sell to me which by the way was not that cheap To say I was gutted and let down was the only way I can describe how I felt. When I sat and thought about it they was only interested in selling bait it was not about feed back or me doing my best for the company it was about profit and selling bait.
What could I do I carried on using the bait when I got talking to a guy that had just started up his own company and was willing to give me a chance as a key consultant now that was exciting. I still had a load of sticky in the fridge so I had to get rid of that to get the new bait. After a few weeks and losing a lot money on the sticky I put the order in for the new bait again it was not cheap but I thought that it would come good. I was thinking that once the company had a foot hold in the door and was doing well that's when I would be rewarded for the effort I was willing to put in.
I joined the new water and started to again use the new bait it did really well almost catching from the off I was getting better and had software to edit the videos so I could put the company logo on there and blog was going nice getting loads of hits and i had 3 x 30lb fish to 39-10 in as many sessions had the photos in carptalk the lead shed seemed happy that I was pushing the leads and tackle that he does things was all good I thought I was doing a dam good job.
All that in a matter of only a few months till after a text message conversation with the company he asked how was I getting on with the wafters I said I didn't have any that was the last message. After another text message conversation I found out that the bait I had brought from the company was let's say it was not rolled right it was very crumbly i did find that i had to mount the bait on the hair by using a splicng needle other wise it just fell apart. The company that did the rolling for him had made an error. O dear I had 50kilo of it sat in the freezer but it was catching fish again nothing was offered or said i mean in the way of replacing the bait even though he had sent e batch back and got it replaced.    I just kept thinking that it was a new company and it would pay off in the end and come all good.     All my fishing while on the bait had been on bottom baits I had not used the pop ups what so ever. I put one on a size 5 stiff rigger choddy and dropped it in the margins it sank the pop up could not hold it up. I was not happy i had bait that just did not come up to standard that I wanted in a bait I had been reeling in bait that had been sat there over night and the bait had gone because it was too soft to stay on the hair and now I had pop ups that would not pop up and I had paid again good money for. Ok maybe the text I sent was a little bit angry but it was how I was feeling at the time.     As a key consultant for this company ( his words not mine ) I felt it was time to just say enough is enough I was not offered anything back I was put a bit back about the wafters would it have broke the bank to send me a pot to try for free I think not and there was other things that was just a joke I was glad to be out of it to be honest I now no that these company's just sell you bait at x price and sit back and let you tell who will listen how great the bait is. I worked hard for both company's and got nothing in return. Not even a phone call saying I was doing a good job or not even a phone call to say I was doing a shit job ether ha ha
What I am saying is think long and hard if you are offered a testers job think about what you get back for your hardwork it's you that's sat on the bank in all weathers spending your time there then putting yourself out to get in the papers or what ever its not all about because you have been offered bait at £6.50kilo which by the way is better profit selling bait to than to a shop
      It will be spring soon and the carp will start to wake up think it will be a better year for me on the cambs pit i have got the first year out the way and things will come together  and the carp will come to the net.
Anyway that's me done till next time stay lucky
Russ

Ramblings

Funny how things work out one day all your fishing comes together and you think you have clicked with the water when bang it smacks you back in the face the following week. Since the the last two fish I have had 2 blanks. but that is carp fishing for you and if it was that easy we would probably not do it.
I sometimes sit and think why the hell do we do it week after week sitting in all kinds of weather sometimes cold, and wet waiting hours ,days or even weeks for that one bite only to play the fish for a few minutes then photograph it and then put it back to do the whole thing over again. It's no wonder the wife's,girlfriend, and partners just don't get it and think we are all mad.
         Apart from the time we spend on the bank it's all so the amount of money that we spend on the things that we use to catch our favourite scaly backs. With the price of tackle nowadays its a miracle that when we do have the gear we can still afford to go. Who ever goes into a tackle shop just for a look. No one we go in with no intention of buying anything because you think you have everything you could possibly need. But within seconds there staring you in the face is the latest gadget,bait,tackle or what ever and you just got to have it. Only to come out the shop with a load of stuff you don't even want or won't even use and the poor old wallet has took a real bashing. It's not just getting the gear it's also the price of petrol the food bill. I don't no about you but i just pig out on junk food crisps,biscuits,chocolate and the odd take away which all adds to the cost of going. And not forgetting bait. All the different types of glugs,dips. Boilies,pop ups it's just never ending. Now I have sat back and wrote this I am now thinking is it worth it ( laughing out loud )
            This now brings my thoughts on to how much time we spend on the bank for me it's mostly every weekend. Work for me just gets in the way of my past time
But it's always an end to a means and work has to be done to pay for the life style I have and for the family that I love.   Its maybe most anglers dream to be able to fish 24-7 like some of the top boys do. But sit back an really think about it for a while would you really want to fish everyday week in week out??
          I love my fishing after all I have been doing it over 30 years now. But I would not want to go full time. I used to do a week every year one in France then the other on a water over here I used to look forward to them two weeks. but I was always glad to get home and have a week or two off before going back to the weekends chase.
      I take my hat off to anglers that want to fish full time jim Shelley, Ian Russell just to name two that are what I call full timers they do tuition's to make their living then like us normals have to take time off to do there on fishing. For me that's just too much fishing and as much as I love it I would soon get fed up being on the bank that amount of time how they keep the buzz is beyond me. Takes a special kind of angler to commit to that much time and effort. Is that why these carp anglers are top of there game maybe??
Well these are just some of my thoughts I would share with you while I am sat here behind the rods
Till next time
Russ

Over the edge

            There was 7 on the lake on the Friday night so it was a case of drop in where I could. I was in the swim where I had the big girl from and as I new the swim a bit the rods was placed in double quick time. Bivvy up and bedchair sorted the kettle was found I the bottom of the bag and a brew was soon on the go. It's now early autumn and the nights are getting longer by the day soon the clocks will go forward or is it back? Any the bed was calling by 10 with a few liners I was hopefully of a fish. I never sleep well on my 1st night and had a restless night only to be woken by the liners I was getting off 2 of the rods. That was about as exciting as it got the night soon came and went into dawn. These days I have a little longer in the sleeping bag than I used to must be my age or the fact that if I was to spot fish I could not move anyway as the lake was pretty full. Saturday was not very good the sun was hot in the sky and the fish just started to poke the backs out of the water and cruse around on top a zig went out for the day but I do hold my breath on it working. It's also a mare on here as its mostly 18-23 foot deep.
       Nick text me at 4pm did I want a take away for my tea Too bloody right i did and swift text was sent back with my order. By 7.30 I was into what can only be the best value for money half pound Burger and chips in the world it was epic to say the lest. Eyes bigger than my belly I struggled to eat it all just leaving a few chips ( well I still had some midget gems ) I sat back put the iPad on and watched the movie the Avengers assembly. The buzzers never buzzed as I fell to sleep only to be woken be carp crashing to my left up on the north bank. They spent most of the night up there.
      Sunday morning and it looked like another blank was on the cards . Mark had been baiting a small area just off the reed line about half a rod length out. He lives close to the lake and been going down after work and baiting it with a few bits and bobs. He had taken a 25lb linear off it in the morning  Saturday afternoon and I had sat and watched 9 fish grubbing around I the spot one a mirror called scargill was there he had been out at 34lb only a few weeks ago.

                          Clippo with the linear at 25-14

As nothing was happening in the middle of the lake I baited the spot and dropped a small 3" hooklink along with a 3oz lead on it. Anything that picked that up would deffo be nailed. It was the next swim to mine only a matter of yards so the sounder box was switched on. I kept nipping back to see what was going on. There was fish on the spot heads down and tails up only a matter of time before one slipped up.
I watched as the fish buried themselves in a cloud of sand as they went mad sucking and blowing food. It's really easy why they get away with not being hooked. At least twice the hook bait was taken by the carp and just spat out. One of the carp that was in the group was scargill again I saw him on top of the hook bait 2 or 3 times only to miss it by millimetres. It was a real buzz standing there watching and waiting heart stopping stuff at times. As the feeding got more intense one of them shot of across the lake he was the one with my hook all the others was spooked too. And the battle began.
       This one was not happy he wanted to bury his self in the weed at point he got his head down and did get in it the power he had was immense but I kept the line tight and the tension on as I pulled him free of the weed he came to the top with half the weed still over his head. He shook that off and found new strength and then again trying to bury him self back in the weed but I held on and got his head up once again he came out of the water and took in air he was beat and the battle was mine. I soon had everything set up while he rested in the bottom of the landing net. Scales zeroed and he was in the sling and weighed in at 25-08 Again he was in great shape as all the fish are. So the effort paid off and it saved a 3rd session blank. I was going home a happy man with a smile put back on my face.

The rig that caught it short 3" hooklink along with a 3oz leadshed distance lead coated in leafs the yellow foam is foam from a factory earplug cut down

        Clippo had a few days off works. So took the chance to get down the lake. He was only there a few hours baiting the spot up again and watching when he nailed scargill at a nice 35-10  Then followed it up with fish of 34-06 and 33-01 not all off the spot but that's good angling 3 x 30lb plus fish in 12 hours.

                         Clippo with the old warrior scargill

Till next time
Russ

Another one bites the dust

                After having the 39lb i had already made the decision to take the following weekend off and spend it with my granddaughter trouble is i have 3 two of them at the age (7) that no what they want an they wanted to go to the seaside. We did all the fun stuff and it was a great couple of days.    The following weekend however was a very different story the weather thought it would start a mini summer and because it was so nice i stayed at home again spending some time with the family which gave me some bonus points.
     This has put me in the good stead to fish now till christmas hopefully banking a few Autumn and winter waterpigs in all there winter colours. Anyway it was the weekend again the van was loaded and travelling south at a rate of knots. I pulled threw the gates to find only a few cars in the car park i grabbed a bucket and went for the usual walk to a peg.   The wind was blowing a nice gentle sw and the north bank was free with fish topping and rolling it was the best choice for the night. The barrow was soon loaded and i was on my way round to the swim with my bucket in there. With the nights drawing in so fast now i am racing against time to set the rods up and get a couple of spots found while i have light.   I had 2 rods set up and cast out with a hand full of bait placed around them.  I was only fishing a rod length or so off the margin they seem to like to travel along the marginal shelf that runs close in along the bank.

        The bivvy house was set up before the dark beat me and the 3rd rod was set up this time with a fox rapid bag with a few loose boilies and chops in and was cast again just a couple of rods lengths out. Then it was lay back and chill with a nice cup of tea.   It was not long when the eyelids started to get heavy and the thoughts soon turned into dreams as i got into the bag for the night and into a deep sleep.  Before i new it it was daylight and another bleepless night. Thats how most friday night goes so no surprises there.
      The rest of the day saw the fish roll and crash all over the lake with no swim getting anymore attention than the next so i sat tight i was the only one on this side bank so only my lines was that end of the lake.  The take away meal of Kebab was soon put to rest and at 9.00pm i was tooked up in the bag. I hate these long winter nights.
    Blllleeeeeeppppppp was what i opened my eyes too at around 12.30am the left hand rod was away it was still taking line when i got to it which meant it had not found a weedbed to bury its head in.  It was not long and it was in the net i could see right away i had another big mirror in there. I got everything ready and gave my mate flash a shout on the 2 way and asked him to take the photo's   As flash has fished the lake for 6-7 years he has seen these fish grow on he new the fish he had it at a lower weight. The scales was zeroed and the carp was lifted.   I was right it was another big mirror banging the needle round to 35lb on the button what could i say that was 2x30lb plus fish in two sessions I was buzzing big time now nothing beats the buzz of catching big fish.

                                      The one they call lumpy at 35lb

    Photos done fish back in the water safe and me back in the bag chatting all things carpy to flash on the 2 way till i heard his buzzer scream out he was in to another of the lakes big fish I was soon stood at the side of him as he played the fish and soon i slipping the net under it. A cracking 34lb mirror one that flash had had  before a couple of times at lower weights it's all ways good to see that they are growing and fit and well.

                                  Flash with his 34lb waterpig Well done mate


    So all in all a great weekend for both me and flash. As i write this i have since had 2 weekend blanks but that is carp fishing for you some you win some you lose.

  Till next time
     Russ