Returning to New Haunts

Returning To Old Haunts  

The wind rushed across the surface of the 7 acre gravel pit that had been fairly productive for me over the summer months, now in mid October, the lake buried in the deep Hampshire countryside had undergone the work in the shape of an otter fence, not the most prettiest of sights but most definitely needed as otters had been seen at other lakes within the vicinity.

Right up until the work took place I found myself getting multiple hits of carp from the spots I had been leisurely baiting. Through early spring right up through to the late summer, and with the hard work I had put in, the drives home after every session saw me grinning from ear to ear.

The lake was around 7 acres with a deeper bowl at one end and an island in the middle, the island was well overgrown with plenty of snags and overhanging features to have a go at. The lake was quite well stocked but much to my disapproval the carp just didn’t show at all so location was hard to say the least, so it made sense to create some feeding spots and get the carp visiting and re visiting the baited areas. Which in the long run paid off nicely.

So back to the fence, second week into October and having a nice brace of commons the week previous I decided to let the work that had been going on around the lake to settle down, my next trip would see me on a quick 24hr the week after. The weather was on point and a strong SW wind had come in 2 days previous so knowing the lake, the spots were in a prime position from the swim I choose, fishing with the strong wind in my face I had access to 6 spots. Conditions were perfect but cutting a long story short I drew a blank. Scratching my head while packing up and using as much watercraft as I could muster the only thing that had changed was the fence so with that in mind I decided to give it another 2 weeks to settle down before my return.

Two weeks passed quickly and keeping an eye on social media and talking to a few mates, still nothing had come out. Feeling not very confident I packed up the car and now in early November heavy rain had set in and once again a strong SW wind I got to the lake only to find it packed with anglers which was just what I didn’t need. So, with the amount of angling pressure and my favoured swims taken I decided to fish on the back of the wind with tighter lines than I would had normally of preferred, just to see if I could pick up a few liners and try and detect where the carp were. Luckily enough my spots were still accessible without encroaching on anyone else’s water so that was a positive. As it was coming in to the winter months and the leaves had pretty much left the trees, two high viz pop ups on multi rigs and a bottom bait went out to the spots at around 60 yards with all 3 going down with a nice hard thump .With that my confidence was high, and once again the short 24 hr session drew to a close with no sign of a fish. The winter was long, the weather was what we as modern day angler class as a hard one with storms, massive easterly winds and snow, combining that with the new otter fence the carp just were not playing ball, the lake producing only a hand full of fish from October to late February, with my hours on the lake increasing to well in excess of 200 hrs and nothing to show for it its was time to move on to pastures new , I drew my time on the water to a close mid-march.

In the meantime, I’d seen on social media a bait company called Hydra Baits looking for team members and looking at the time of year and the current bait I was using it was time to positively move forward with a change of venue for 2018 and to go with it a change of bait. With that the call was made and speaking to the guys at Hydra baits with a few different bait choices to choose from, ranging from a couple of different fishmeal-based baits and a tigernut based bait also, all with matching pop ups to finish the job. With all that in mind the TNT Range (tigernut and toffee) stood out for me as I love a nut-based boilie and the Hades (spicy fishmeal) was something else that ticked all the boxes. So, the order went into the Team at Hydra and in no time at all the message was sent to me that the bait was being rolled and would be dispatched in the next couple of days. Two days later the bait was on my doorstep and straight away the bag was open, and my first impressions were what an awesomely constructed and well rolled bait, using quite a few different baits over the years you tend to get to know a good bait when you see one and this was most definitely on point.

With the new season just around the corner and a couple of mates of mine already on the pond, whispers of a couple of lumps reaching over the 30lb barrier reached me, and the decision was made, and the first session planned.

Now considering I had not had a fish yet in 2018 and it now being early April the pressure was on. The lake I had chosen I had fished around 20 years ago as a teenager so the tension of visiting this old haunt and the knowing of the size of the fish that inhabited it was sky high.

Turning up at early doors on a mid-week 36hr session was just ideal with only a couple of carp anglers on the lake and a handful of match anglers the conditions were good, overcast with a southerly wind, fishing from the main bank over to the unused woods side of the lake seemed the order of the day and with fish showing pretty much everywhere on the lake, to say it looked good for a bite was an understatement.

With the traps set and the rest of the camp needing to be set up...

My mate had done the previous 24hrs and was staying for a bit of a social for the next 24 also, he had already picked up a couple of fish under the cover of darkness, two commons to high doubles but the good news was all I needed and two rods where put on the woods side opposite at around 45 yards. A 14mm TNT pop up on a multi rig tied with Korda N Trap and size 6 Nash twister and on the other a single 18mm Hades bottom bait on a simple hair rig tied with the N Trap. Two handfuls of 18mm Hades were catapulted out over each rod, with the traps set and the rest of camp needing to be set up and it was only a matter of minutes while putting up the Nash Double Top and the right hand rod was away a few bleeps on the ATTS followed by a one toner nearly pulling the rod from the buzz bar. Taking me by surprise the rod was in my hand in an instant and a steady thump on the end was all I needed for that smile to spread across my face, the fish coming into the near bank relatively easy then decided to start having a scrap in the margin, then as luck would have it …. yes, you guessed it the hook pulled! Hook pulls are not usually something I suffer with a lot, but for whatever reason the carp gods let that one get away with it. With a face like thunder , and my mate stood there having a discrete chuckle to himself, I wrapped up ,put on a new rig , with a new TNT pop up and hit the clip perfectly on exactly the same spot , another handful of Hades over the area with the catapult and returned back to putting up the bivvy and once again, one minute of my back being turned and the left hand rod was in melt down. Picking up the rod it felt a much more impressive fish, long hard thumps on the end and a lot less of a dogged fight of the one not 10 minutes previously. With not a couple of minutes being on and the fish was once again off. Stood there in disbelief rod in hand and my brain doing overtime on what could be going wrong I decided to stick with the plan once more using the same rigs with new hooks. Both rebaited and put back on the spot, just my luck would have it no more bites came through the middle of the day. A few fish where showing over the lake due to the sun coming out and as the sun started to dip the right rod was away, the rod hooped over and knowing the hook hold was good, after a decent little battle the fish came over the net cord. 

As the sun started to dip the right rod was away...

Not only my first fish of 2018 but also bigger than anything that I had had from the lake all those years previously. And all to the new bait I was over the moon. It was not a massive fish in great condition in the form of a 14 lbs common. The fish was returned after a couple of shots for the album and the bait put back out on the spot, once again topped up with a couple of pouchfuls of 18mm Hades Boilies.

Not only my first fish of 2018 but also bigger than anything that I had had from the lake all those years previously

A couple of beers were had to celebrate and after a little while the left rod was away and after a reasonably good fight a long battle scared common of around 17lbs was in the net, happy times. A couple of quick night shots. the evening was wrapped up with a couple more ales and it was time to retire to the bivvy.

After a reasonably good fight a long battle scarred common of around 17lbs was in the net

 The what was warmer weather changed drastically overnight and the temps had dropped by a good 6 degrees overnight, the wind had turned around to the NE and increased in mph. Nothing was showing, like the day previously, the carp had obviously moved off somewhere else on the lake and unfortunately no more bites materialised so after a few hours and baiting a few spots with the Hades, I decided to call it a day and leave the lake on a high, already planning my return for those bigger carp.