emmcee

Every year since I started "proper" carp fishing i have always had the same week off to fish. The week in question is the week of the autumn equinox. I'm pretty sure it's when the daylight hours are the same as the hours of darkness, a signal to not just the carp but nature in general to get ready for the coming winter. This occurs around the 22nd or 23rd of September. I read an article by dave lane about the week in question and recall he stated it was a big fish week. I recall in my own fishing that the week in question was most definitely a big fish week. On the odd occasion I've been lucky enough to bank one myself but nearly always big fish were caught around the lake I've been on at the time and most definitely the carp mags are normally full of big fish captures around that week. Now I've heard of the harvest moon and one of my mates calls it the 40's moon. It's a fascinating subject but one I'm sure we may never understand.

I've just been chatting to a fella on my "no publicity " water and we got on to bite times and moon phases, especially after last night's blood moon and he said he was told to look at the tides. I did look at him strangely but he said it's surprising how many fish he caught were during the high tide. Now obviously high tide is the best time to sea fish, and hour before and an hour after being the most productive. Now I said about the fact we are miles from the sea and just along the south coast alone the tide varies a lot, in some cases hours different between the various ports/ beaches etc but he said as the lake was just outside London relative speaking he took the thames tide as his gauge and over the coarse of a few years he saw that he had many more bites around high tide than any other time. Now the moon affects the tides with its gravitational pull so would it have any affect on any lake? The bloke has certainly got me thinking.

They can roll bigger baits than that if you ask nicely 😉

I thought I had found the recipe for success on my old lake regarding moon phase. I had the majority of my fish especially from September onwards on or around ( 3-4 days) either side of a new moon. I recall one autumn/winter on there when 9 out of 10 bites came on a new moon and always in the hours of darkness. I found out another angler was also getting a few bites so asked him whether they had been on the new moon. He said all his had come on or around a full moon and yet I couldn't buy a bite on that moon phase. Whether that was due to me fishing shallowish water and he the deeper water. At the end of the day I've found that being on the fish is the biggest influence on getting a bite, what time that bite comes is anyone's guess but you certainly won't get one if you're not on them. That is stating the obvious but it's shocking how many anglers blame everything other than themselves for blanking. Another thing that helps with getting bites is confidence. You go fishing lacking confidence and chances are you've blanked before you've even got to the lake. I know I've been there in the past.

It certainly doesn't look good for us if the general public are looking in and something needs to be said/done about it. As you've said any decent sized fish should be weighed instantly and returned. I think the biggest fish i ever put in a keepnet was a 5lb tench and that was donkeys years ago, I dislike the sacking of carp and only do it to get camera ready/ wait for someone to do my pics but then it's only for minimal time. The only peace of mind I get is, i know that I and most other carp anglers do their best to treat the carp with a lot more respect than the match boys. The majority of us carry spray's / ointments etc to put on hook holds/ cuts etc and those that don't shouldn't be allowed onto a lake in my opinion and if they are the fishery / bailiffs need to look at themselves.

Korda curve shank, size 4. You won't regret it. 😉

Use your eyes, the only fish finder you will ever need 😉

Make the most of it. Truly a rare site on most lakesat this time of year.

Things can only get better. Hope the lake pays you back with a kipper or 2.

If I'm not mistaken tiger line is fluorocarbon line , therefore sinks. Why would you want your line to sink into thick weed or onto a very rugged lake bed?? That's just asking for cut offs in my opinion.

i to have the big bertha dd, coupled up with an emblem spod reel and hit 100yds plus with relative ease. had this rod donkeys years and its still as stiff as when i first got it. some rods definitely soften up over time but not this one.

they look good to me. since changing my hook pattern to the curve shank pattern similar to yours ive not lost a fish and every time they are nailed bang centre of the bottom lip. well more like an inch or so back in the mouth. don't be afraid to use bottom baits or wafters/ critically balanced baits with this rig either. id say 90% of my fishing is now done with this rig.

Chichester DAS is what you want. a number of waters to go at. something like a 12mile radius as to whether you can get a ticket or not so i believe.

ive heard on more than one occasion that the size 6 kranks have been known to open up and drop fish as a consequence. i use the krank hook a lot but only in size 4 and never had a problem with them. the bigger hook may also help with balancing your rig better. when i use the krank in size 4 i use 18mm waftas made by premier baits and they are spot on.

im also after a new bed and this one sounds good. can i just ask how low is the bed to the ground? a low bed is not good for my back so the higher the better for me. cheers

you want a photo of the spots on black swan? you'll want me to cast to them for you next lol

winter form is very dependant on weather. if its a mild winter then both are certainly worth fishing, especially white swan. my best year on white swan was all down to an exceptional winter not just that i had but most anglers that fished there that winter caught carp. normally you will hear 10-15 anglers planning on doing the winter but when it comes to it probably 5-8 anglers actually do it. can certainly be a good time to catch the big ones. my best winter on white resulted in 10 fish from nov-march, 5x40+, 4x30+ and an upper 20 but that winter was exceptionally mild with lots of low pressure storms. i wasn't on white last winter but it fished the same which once again was a mild winter. there maybe 1 or 2 uncaught lumps in white, ones which have been stocked on the quiet from another lake on the complex. as for black there are at least 3 uncaught lumps and these things are proper lumps. a number of the anglers have seen them so not just a made up story. ive seen 1 of them and they are serious lumps. the one i saw was literally under my feet one day in the close season. it was next to a known 40+ common and dwarfed it by some considerable size. been a few stories of fish lost on black that were unstoppable. i lost a couple from there that i just couldnt stop or do anything with. without being big headed but after catching a number of big fish you kind of know your hooked into a lump so im adamant i lost a couple of gooduns from black, whether they were these uncaught fish who knows but there in there..

yes i fished white swan for many years. i fished the complex for 13-14 years on and off. most of that being on white swan. white swan is nowhere near as busy with the public but angling pressure can be immense. if your a weekend angler and you don't get down til late friday the chances of getting on the fish are slim to say the least. but like black swan there is some right lumps in there. a fair few have sadly passed away in resent years but the stocking policy on the lakes see's that there are always fish up an coming to take the place. white swan is definitely the hardest lake ive fished, especially seeing it has a good head of carp. ive seen anglers come and go on there with their tails between their legs after struggling for not just a season but sometimes seasons. on a weekend some 20-30 anglers will be on there but 9 times out of 10 only one angler will catch. but the rewards are in there. 40lb common, 40lb zip linears and other awesome looking carp make it a special lake indeed.

i fished it for a couple of years. now to answer your question's, Angling wise it can be busy through the spring, especially since they banished the close season. it only closes now when the fish look or start spawning and then it will shut for about a month. if your not used to the public being around your fishing lake then this isn't the lake for you. dog walkers in there 100's throwing balls and sticks in next to your swim ( and sadly you have to tolerate it as any foul and abusive language towards them may well see you banned, most are ok but there are a few who i swear do it on purpose to wind you up), public hiring out boats and then proceeding to go through your lines or move your marker float etc . when the weather is warm and sunny or when the school holidays are on the lake can be an absolute nightmare. it has broken many an angler believe me (it broke me after 2 season's, that said i am a weekend angler when it is 100x worse than mid week). if you can handle all that then it is a special lake with awesome fish in there, some which still haven't seen the bank. proper lumps at that. now as for boats, me personally i didnt feel the need to use one and in my short spell on there i was top rod for 1 of my 2 seasons on there mainly fishing at no more than 40yds out when most others were 100yds plus . only time i did use a boat was to extract a fish that weeded me up. the weed can be massive problem, fortunately it wasn't that bad when i fished there. anything else you would like to know then don't hesitate to ask. im still in touch with a few of the lads down there and i only live 5 mins away and often walk round to see mates so i know most of whats going on down there.

im pretty sure you do get the match lake on the farnham ticket but it is absolutely rammed 24/7. i often drive past during the week and the car park is always full and that is spring,summer, autumn and winter. that said it is busy for a very good reason and that is because it holds some right chunks with a few being yateley originals. a fair few 40's in there to go at along with plenty of 30's. another lake on the ticket (mill lane) is also well worth a visit with a number of big fish which a couple have done 50. the only good thing is if you did drive 3hrs to fish then you have 5-10 lakes all within minutes of each other, so plenty of swims though maybe not on the lake you want.

well ive never had an issue with the mouthtrap. i use the 25lb version and nothing else and its been spot on.

well you have got to learn somewhere mate. if that means fishing a small lake full of fish and smoothing out any creases in your fishing then so be it. you can get to know what rigs work, baits work and the most important in my book learn your watercraft. you get those 3 right and have utmost confidence in them and you can go anywhere and catch fish be that theale lake or any other , as long as your "on fish " cos if they arent there then you can't catch them. you will always be learning no matter where you fish and no matter how long you've been fishing for. good luck

take a look at RDAA ( Reading and district angling association). like farnham angling they have lakes of varying difficulty so you can choose where according to your ability

so in all i had fish of 48-00, 45-04, 38-00,33-00,27-08 and 19-04. 6 anglers went and we managed 48 fish in total, with my one mate having the biggest and most. he had a 66lb mirror plus 3x50's and 5x40's and the rest of his 18 fish haul 30's and 20's. so despite the bad weather which we had as a group we done ok or at least my mate did

oh and this one at 38lb dead. sorry for the 3 posts but not sure how to upload 3 pics at once. as most will know posting one is a nightmare normally for me