advise? starting a whole new ball game

[nathan 16]

Hi all, I am used to fishing smaller, better stocked venues with carp to about 25lb. Lately I decided that this winter and next year I am up for a challenge on a bigger water. I joined Coate Water country park, and I understand that this is going to be something else. It is a 65 acre reservoir with very few fish, but they go up to 48lb with rumors of a 50. The water is clear, with medium-thick weed. I don't know a great deal about the water, best swims, best bait, where the features are.ect So how should I go about it this winter and next season?

Thankyou

[newmarket]

Hi Nathan welcome to the asylum

 

Ive never been fortunate enough to fish such a good venue but this should help you no end ;

 

https://forum.carp.com/topic/8359-approaching-a-new-water/

So much info on this forum if you have the patience to read matey , good luck to you

[emmcee]

all id say is, just fish it how you fish your other venues. they are carp and tend to do the same in one lake as they do in others. there's always an exception to the rule but you dont need fancy rigs, a bait youve never used etc. stick to what you know and have confidence in. as for the lake itself, just watch the water as much as possible, plumb swims in likely areas, it will tell you all you need to know.

[nathan 16]

thanks all, looks like im going to stick to my stuff and put in the hours.

[salokcinnodrog]

thanks all, looks like im going to stick to my stuff and put in the hours.

Include plenty of walking, listening and looking, before you set up and try to find fish first. Nothing worse than them being at the other end of a big venue from the fish. You won't find them every trip, so expect a few blanks, but the more looking and understanding the more you will catch

[emmcee]

nathan, is that the lake surrounded by a housing estate, dam one end and a diving board in it?

[nathan 16]

yes, sometimes called "park lake"

[jontain]

As salo said spend as much time as you can looking and learning, going through a similar process myself and what you can learn without a line in the water is invaluable.

Also get to know the other anglers, so much you can learn from the guys fishing already. That's If they are willing to share info of course!

 

EDIT: Also just to clarify its worth finding out what the other anglers are up to as you may be able to find techniques that have worked well for them but also if they are all on similar rigs/baits it can also benefit to try something completely different to what the fish may have become used to.

Edited October 16, 2014 by jontain

[salokcinnodrog]

As salo said spend as much time as you can looking and learning, going through a similar process myself and what you can learn without a line in the water is invaluable.

Also get to know the other anglers, so much you can learn from the guys fishing already. That's If they are willing to share info of course!

 

EDIT: Also just to clarify its worth finding out what the other anglers are up to as you may be able to find techniques that have worked well for them but also if they are all on similar rigs/baits it can also benefit to try something completely different to what the fish may have become used to.

On a couple of waters I found when I joined that being different from other anglers worked in my favour, they did what they had always done on that water, instead of adapting and evolving as the water and fish changed over time.

 

We have all done it, stuck with the same tactics for years, just 'cos it worked', yet eventually those tactics do start failing. It is those who come on with new or different ideas that often catch more than those who fish the same week and week out.

 

I'll give a couple of cases in point; I knew Taverham Mills very well, I'd fished it for a lot of years, yet I nearly always turned up, put my baits in the same places I had always done, and as a result, suffered a few less productive sessions, the spots had probably been fished out, or so many anglers fishing those same spots had made the fish a lot more wary.

 

At Brackens, a water with a no free baiting rule excluding catapults, throwing sticks and spods, so bait could only be introduced by PVA bags or stringers. I baited heavily with massive numbers of stringers and bags, meaning i had free food around my hookbait, compared to those who did try to catty a few freebies in without getting caught. My results on my first year were a lot better than many of the regulars.