Fish Location

Fish will normally be scattered or will move with angling pressure, bait application or natural food sources. The important thing is finding a feature in your chosen area. This may be in the form of an undulation, weed bed, silt pocket or marginal snag, the fish normally get caught on one of these as opposed to casting into an open flat area. To find the features you can use the trusted marker rod or jump in the rowing boat with a feature finder.

Marking your spots

You can use a marker rod to find and mark your features or a H block marker from the rowing boat using an echo sounder.

Bait Application

For a standard week at the lake, I would recommend the following bait:

• 5kg boilies, bring a bait you have confidence in, of good quality, air dried hard so you can’t squeeze and break them between your fingers. The new bait for 2008, MARNE VALLEY MATRIX is set to be a winner and a valuable key to success
• 5kg pellets, the fish are fed these all year round for the last 5 years
• 5kg particle mix, we sell a premixed bucket of hemp, maize, sunflower seeds, wheat, peanuts and tiger nuts, all elements of this mix have caught fish. Also available is hemp.

As the carp are pressured all edges will help you when at the lake, consider; big baits, small baits, fake bait, unusual baits from the human grade food chain. Please bear in mind there is a 15kg bait limit per person per week, so do not throw it all in at once. In my experience it is far more effective to start with no more than a small handfull of bait lightly scattered over a few square metres, rather than 5 kg in a tight area. Obviously all applications have there day, but bear in mind what has happened the week before your arrival and do not be tempted to think that a big bed of bait will draw them in, I assure you it will not, and may have the opposite effect.

FOR A CHOICE OF TACKLE TO PURCHASE OR HIRE : CLICK HERE

Vary the quantity of bait applied per rod. If you are going to introduce a large bed of bait then be prepared to sit on it for at least 4 days before thinking of moving it. It’s always worth dribbling in a few kgs of bait on a few other spots that you are not fishing. This will give the fish confidence to move into the area and feed. Then if you want to move a rod you will be a step ahead and could drop onto feeding fish, think ahead !!

Weed

Between May and September there is a chance you may encounter some degree of the green stuff in your chosen area. Whilst there is always a large choice of clear areas in the lake, at certain periods you will need to carefully consider your end tackle arrangement in order to stand the best chance possible of landing a hooked fish, they normally know exactly where to go in order to find a safe haven.

Points for your consideration:

• use trimmed lead clips and 4oz+ leads so as to loose the lead on the take
• 25lb+ hooklink, coated braid. Do not use nylon it is nowhere near as abrasive resistant as braid and you could get cut offs due to small zebra mussels attached to weed stems
• use 10metres 40lb min. BS braided leaders
• use thick gauge wire hooks, no longshank or curved longshank, they do bend!
• fish locked up solid so the rods are shacking in the stands before a fish can take line
• consider fishing high rod tips and on hooking a fish hold the rod as high as possible whislt moving onto the highest piece of ground in your vicinity
• when retrieving ensure you keep the rod high and reel as fast as possible so as to get the lead to the surface quickly
• do not back lead
• if a fish gets weeded consider putting the rod in the rest and slackening off the line, they sometimes come out!
• bring a spare landing net and leave it in the nearest boat
• bring a proding stick to clearly identify variations in the density of the lake bed

Please note that weed is physically removed from the lake on a regular basis (which is alot more than can be said for most lakes with thick weed), but due to manpower, low water levels and growth rates certain areas may need attention during your stay. If you want to participate in clearing an area speak to Chris when you arrive at the lake, it is a 4 person task and normally after 4hrs dragging your designated area is far more fishable.

The dragging operation also clears the lake of anglers lost material and fish have been caught as little as 2 hours after a 4hr raking session!