moorsey

Right catch report as promised. This week we saw the following carp banked:- 16 twenties 23 thirties 7 forties 6 fifties [mirrors of 52lb 0oz, 52lb 2oz, 53lb 10oz, 54lb 14oz, 55lb 2oz and a common of 52lb 8oz] The totals for our first 6 weeks are as follows:- 60 twenties 197 thirties 61 forties 15 fifties [273 carp in total over 30lb in 6 weeks]

I'll update this with the year to date results but, unbelievably, the same angler, Simon, called me last night to ask for some pic's of his fourth fifty at 52lb 0oz for the week. Some angling eh? Keith

Yet another fifty out at lunch time today in the shape of The Half Linear at a very accurately weighed 54lb 13oz. Five fifties this week so far.

It's impossible to say really because individual fish grow at differing speeds but we do seem to have the entire stock growing "en masse" so to speak and I'm sure it's because of getting rid of the silver fish. We are planning another drain down this autumn so that we can sort them out again and remove the smaller catfish [probably only leave in 10 or 12 of the bigger cats] and that should see some more big weight gains for 2012. So far, in less than 6 weeks, we have matched last years totals for fifties [13] and have blitzed the totals for carp over thirty pound by seeing about 260 landed so far.

As long as we have space you're always welcome mate. Keith

Hi Jamie Look forward to seeing you out here again at some time in the future mate. Just to whet your appetite a little more we have just seen Graham Pollard bank "The Pipesmoker" at a new lake common record of 52lb 8oz. Keith

Thanks mate. Incredibly, one of our current anglers, Simon Morris has just completed a hat-trick of fifties in less than 30 hours fishing. He has banked "The Eighteen" at 55lb 2oz, "Clover" at 53lb 10oz and "Chunky" at 52lb 2oz. There has also been another huge fish lost at the net by one of the other anglers so the big girls seem to have their hungry heads on today. Keith

7 different ones mate.

We have just completed our fifth week of the 2011 season so, as it also coincides with the end of April, I though it as well to give some catch details of the season so far. The lake has produced the following carp:- 44 twenties 174 thirties 54 forties 9 fifties [50lb 7oz, 52lb 0oz, 52lb 6oz, 52lb 10oz, 53lb 8oz, 54lb 0oz, 54lb 6oz, 56lb 0oz & 56lb 10oz] Since I started trying to type this report we have just seen one of the new anglers bank "The Eighteen" at a new best weight of 55lb 2oz making our tenth fifty of the season.

Cheers Martin I now find that the Kung-fu panda's fish wasn't "The Eighteen" as I first thought. "The Eighteen" was landed this morning at 52lb 0oz and I now know that the 53lb 8oz fish was "Cut-Tail". At least I got "Clover" right and at 54lb 4oz she remains our biggest carp this year so far. Take care mate and hope to see you soon. Keith

Rather than start another thread I though it better to continue this one with a few updates. This week so far has seen the following numbers of carp landed. 37 thirties 13 forties 2 fifties at 53lb 8oz and 54lb 4oz. We are struggling to find fish below thirty pounds this year. Keith

I love watching threads about float fishing because someone will always mention "the balance" of the shot to the float. I would hazzard a guess that those same anglers then revert to fishing bolt rigs with the heaviest lead they can cast.

Yes to both situations and much more sensitive than most other set ups. Just use light leads so that they don't plug into the silt. Keith

Hit a nerve have I? I have my own lake but after carp angling for over 43 years [coarse angling for even longer than that] and fishing some of the English circuit waters during the 70's to 90's I wouldn't consider myself a day ticket specialist. I was merely asking how many of these 50's and 60's that you suggest are everywhere, you managed to catch. I fished the Saone for a few years and my best out of that river is 40.02 lb so no monster and took a lot of hard work. There lies the rub. Most anglers have one week's holiday per year and want to use that to give themselves the best chance of catching some big fish. The river Saone, Seine or Chanty/Orient don't offer that kind of fishing.

And some "pay lakes" aren't puddles with anglers sitting shoulder to shoulder. I also note that you say the public lakes all hold 50+ and 60+ carp but don't tell us how many you caught. I live in France and have fished some of the public waters in the past and have met some proper muppets so you pay your money and take your choice but shouldn't start condeming others for wanting different things from their fishing.

I've found modern fluoros to be much stronger then monos. I also use it as main line and it easily lasts 2 seasons.

Carp see in a much wider colour spectrum than we do and it includes the infa-red and ultra-violet features so none of us can be absolutely sure just how much they can actually see in any conditions.

You need to make sure that you start the whipping of the knot away from the cut side of the eye and an out-turned eye [like the stiff rigger] will also help.

It depends on how long you intend to stay for. If you plan to do a few days then prebaiting certainly pays off and the more you can put in the better.

Come on fellas. When I lived in the UK it used to take me 45 mins to get to the stretch of the Thames that I fished and it was worth the 2 hour plus round trip twice a week to bait up. If you want to catch river carp it all adds up to how much you want to catch them.

I'm guessing that you could be using small hooks [10's or smaller]. Because the hooks are so light they tend to get sucked further back into the carp's mouth. 8's or bigger may be the solution.

With surface fishing you tend to be striking at the visible take. With a bait on the lake bed you are relying on the rig doing some of the work for you.

Just plain lucky I guess

Yep.

Good post Nick but if you watch and study how carp feed you will find that the early assumptions about how the bait is blown out were somewhat flawed. The carp sucks in all sorts of rubbish while it is feeding and then uses "the curtain" to help it sort out the junk from the food. The food should get stuck behind the curtain and the heavier bits of rubbish get blown out below the curtain.[if you get a chance to watch tank fish they look as if they are chewing] In short the carp would be unlikely to be trying to blow out the boilie as this would be recognised as a food item but it would be trying to hold the boilie and blow out the hook. Keith