Golden Paws

Mega fish and nice write up. I've always thought that fishing is a bit of a game of chance but when all the stars align and you have the skills and knowledge to capitalise on them, those long gruelling blanks start to feel like a distant memory.

Mega fish and nice write up. I've always thought that fishing is a bit of a game of chance but when all the stars align and you have the skills and knowledge to capitalise on them, those long gruelling blanks start to feel like a distant memory.

Mega fish and nice write up. I've always thought that fishing is a bit of a game of chance but when all the stars align and you have the skills and knowledge to capitalise on them, those long gruelling blanks start to feel like a distant memory.

I tend to not be so paranoid tbh, I prefer a fluoro boom on my spinner rig, I nearly always fish a pop up. Mainly bright yellow pineapple this season. I use an unleaded leader (whatever colour I have) knowing it will sink well and it works well with my chosen lead set up (PB Hit n run) And I never back lead or pin the line down. Most people on my lake use a bait boat, so I try to spread the baits out, so the fish have to move between mouthfuls. 
I like to think they don't really know what rig components are and just see them as detritus but I will slacken my line and get it to sink properly if I can. Although if I need to fish with a bow tight line, I have no issues doing that either. 
We are all different though and I'm not saying I am right, anything that makes you more confident is a good thing it's just not something I worry about too much, I did use coloured kickers for a while on my spinner rigs and I still caught fish, 
 

Got lucky on my Bluebell trip, arrived Sunday morning as swims became free from the weekend - lots of swims available on Swan but onto my favourite Kingfisher for a lap.  Fairly busy but suprisingly the 1st and 2nd points had become free and had the wind smashing in for the duration of my trip.  Within minutes I'd seen several shows in each so I bucketed the 2nd point and went to pay and get my kit.
With my kit in the 2nd point I noticed more activity in the 1st point so quickly moved and got set up.
I gave it a couple of hours watching to identify the main areas they were showing in then checked with a light lead - all presentable with just tiny bits of black silk weed coming back on the swivel.
I decided to go in with pva mesh bags with mixed pellets and crumb and 10ml pellet wafter hookbaits.  Conditions at this point were banging 50 mph gusting winds, low pressure and rain.  Sunday evening as the rain became biblical the right rod signaled a take, I frantically fumbled around for my coat and got out there.  Waders on out in the pond playing a fish in the monsoon - head torch shining through the spray it was mega and I netted a lovely 26lb common.
10am Monday the activity restarts and a guy round the corner leaves who was taking the mick in my water so I get the left rod repositioned where I actually wanted it.
Late morning and early afternoon I had 2 doubles from the 2 rods straight out so 3 in the bag and I'm praying for a big un.  Then at about 4pm i hook what feels a better fish and it kites right this time then I feel grating as it finds weed.  No drama it's still coming and I get ot free, but after 2 heavy head lunges it slips off - gutted.
Early evening after seeing a bigger fish roll on the left side - the left rod is away, this time it's in weed straight away but I manged to keep it coming bit by bit weedbed after weedbed and then after a great tussle close in I slip the net under a long common.
It wasnt until I plonked it down on the mat that I realised how wide this fish was and that I had made a mistake not going for the bigger scales.  The Ruben Flyweights bottomed out at 43lb so unfortunately I'll never know how big it was exactly but who cares when they are knarly as anything - best fish I ve caught for a long time - absolutely buzzing.
The rest of the trip got slower and slower by the day but who could be disappinted, I'd made the most of my weather opportunity - right time right place and no bait boat, spodding and distance sticks 😎👌

After Elmo's plea for more content, I decided to start this one.
Below is a video I found on You Tube. It's a fair effort and uses tech to the max, bait boats, drones and underwater camera's. Despite all that, I couldn't believe how blatant the rig was, especially the pop up. The line was bow tight and stood out like a sore thumb and even the lead stood out more than I thought it would. I've seen quite a few of these types of video's and I can't believe that the carp continue to feed anywhere near the area.
I'm a bit paranoid about trying to make everything as unobtrusive as possible. I use Korda Safezone leaders (fluorocarbon) and always backlead to keep everything pinned to the deck although I know it compromises bite detection. All my rigs are combi's with a fluorocarbon boom with an inch or so of supple braid to give the hookbait some movement. I don't use pop-ups but but do often use a slip-D combi rig with a wafter that has been bored with some cork to create what I call a wafter+, it is enough to lift the bait off the bottom but the hook still touches the bottom.
What edges do you use to minimise suspicion?
 
 

I've been fishing and re finding intimate waters I visited from 35 yrs ago ,one of which I looked around ,but never fished ,it's all overgrown ,and farmer is 90 yrs plus..
 
Had around 12 fish to 8lb ,no monsters at all ,but the Oaktrees are centuries old ,ps,thats my 50 inch Mhr dwarf ed by just one of these amazing trees

A lot of people visit, only a few ever post these days. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

Had this one at 29lb 8oz on Tuesday. The session was off to a bad start as I left my buzz bars and alarms at home so just fished them off my cradle 🤣  not the end of the world though as i was only fishing for a couple hours. Anyway it nearly pulled the rod off the cradle lol. I caught it from the 4 acre lake on the complex and I believe its same fish as the first carp I had out of there in jan/Feb at 28lb 14oz 👍 here's the one from the beginning of the year

Off to the canal in a bit, fishing through to Sunday, will report back if we get any carp on the bank 👍

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

Mates going Parco again this week, taking 330k of bait for 2 weeks, something like that might last someone years, there it's nothing special.

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

A 29lb 5oz mirror on Friday evening. I had 3 rods about a rod length from an island but saw 3 shows really close and so lengthened the cast to a really shallow spot. Did a 54 hour stint and that was it and didn't hear of any other fish coming out. Strange as Saturday conditions were perfect as the temperature rose a bit and a pretty strong Southerly wind picked up and chopped up the water. 

My son has been trying to catch a carp from the park lake for 11 months. (Doesn’t help it’s a tricky water, he’s only been able to do weekend days, taking whatever swim is left and to top it off, I had the 3 out the other night while he blanked)
 
Today he finally had the bite he’s been dreaming of all this time that photo says it all I think… 
18lb 8oz (whilst wearing my lucky fox hoodie…) 
caught on a home made premier superaminos boilie with shellfish sense appeals and belachan. Freebies were 12millers that I rolled. My little girl rolled some 25-30mil baits from the scrap ends, he caught it on one of those! 
 
buzzing, when it hit the net, we both screamed for joy! That’s what this game is all about, that buzz 

I don't ever want a repeat of yesterday.
A friends lake, troubled with 2 large fallen trees, excessive Canadian and pond weed, lack of any rain (which usually helps keep good water quality).
8 gone, between 15-30lb.
Sad day

Couldn't get the swim I wanted, busy bank holiday weekend, hopefully bait it when he's gone.
Done a bit of cutting back as usual and this swim will certainly do for now ❤️

All fishing video's are advertorials! It's a trade off. You get to watch a fishing expert tackle a water and catch some biggies and he shows you how he did it and the tackle and bait used. The said tackle and bait are exclusively from his employer or sponsor. As long as it's not in your face and false claims made that you'll only catch using the same gear, I'm happy to go along with it. All professional anglers are influencers. God I hate that word but it's true.
I remember when I was kid (going to show my age now), when the only fishing program on TV was a very occasional 5 minute segment on Out of Town by Jack Hargreaves.There weren't VCR's or Catch Up and so if you missed it, you'd have to wait months for your next fix.
There are reams of stuff on You Tube and it's easy to become an instant carper if you digest enough. I learn't a hell of a lot from watching some of the DVD's when I switched from barbel to carp. I still watch a lot now and although some can get a bit samey, I still pick up some tips and incorporate them in my fishing. For the last six months I've been using Terry's flipper rig using bottom baits on at least one rod after being pretty exclusive on wafters and have caught pretty well on it.

Well I really enjoyed it. Perhaps a few time many "know what I mean?" and "mate" but I can forgive Tel for that. The videography and production are top notch and Tel can certainly tell a story.