One thing about the lakes down here in Cornwall is that quite a few of them are particularly snaggy, and Greg has taken this into account within the set-up of his terminal tackle, by simply using two to three 12” pieces of tungsten anti tangle tubing from Fox, behind the lead to pin down the main line rather than a lead core leader. What this means is that should a hooked carp manage to snap off the main line around a snag, there is very little chance of the carp becoming dangerously tethered to snag, as the tubing can easily slide off the remaining line. With all the debate surrounding lead core and tied leaders at the moment, of which I’m not going to get into now, its good to know that catch results as prolific as Gregs, can still be achieved from what has always been a simple and effective method of reducing hook-link tangles as well as, keeping the line tight to the bottom.

Tungsten tubing from Fox, heavy, supple and safe

Greg threads 2-3, 12”sections of tubing onto his main line

This pins the main line down nicely and helps prevent carp spooking over a baited spot

This recent capture for Greg shows there is an alternative to lead core leaders, but no alternative
to good quality bait, as the Cell strikes again!

Back on the Oxfordshire waters, the early success enjoyed with the New Grange bait has continued, which I’m really pleased about, because having an 11 fish hit was great at the time, but realistically is not going to be the norm week in, week out, so for me, what really counts is catching consistently and sneaking one out even when the odds are stacked against you. Being able to back up the good times with a carp or two when times are hard, such as in the depths of winter or the height of summer when the weed is flourishing, and there is a distinct lack of feed inducing low air pressure weather fronts, will ultimately breed angling confidence. An aspect of carping I’m sure we will constantly touch upon through these diary pieces, as I am a firm believer that angling confidence catches more carp than anything else and my next session, following the hit, was a good example of this.

The carp were predominantly getting caught from the weedier swims of the lake, obviously more comfortable feeding in and around the weed, where the majority of the naturals could be found. All of these weedier swims run down one side of the lake that takes most of the suns rays, promoting the thick weed growth present, and upon my late, weekend arrival all of these weedy swims had been taken, so I was left with little choice, but to set up on the other side of the pit. It was late in the day, with only an hour or so of half light left before dark, so I opted for a PVA bag cast for a donk, approach for the night, and look for swim features more extensively in the morning. This also gave me the chance to employ a baiting tactic, which has been working really well for me, so far on the busy pits.

What I like to do is get the marker out around 9:30-10:30 in the morning, once the first light activity of the carp is out the way, and introduce bait to my chosen spots rather heavily. The regular fishing rod for each spot is then cast to the marker, less the rig, so lead only. Once I’m happy I’m hitting the right spot, the line is clipped-up, reeled in, so the casting distance can be measured out and recorded on the bank, either by pacing out the line down the bank, or winding the line between two bank sticks. With the entire feature finding work complete, and the fishing rods clipped up, ready to go, I zip up the bivy and go for wander, resting the swim for as long as 4 or 5 hours, but always an hour or two at least. This act of leaving the swim to rest, line free, is probably the most important aspect of the tactic, because what it does is allow the carp, pressured by the other swims a quite area or safe zone, to drift too, and better still, confidently feed upon their discovery of the baited spots. Carp on busy waters, where all the swims are nearly always occupied, can often react in this way, leaking into any quieter area of the lake between the cast lines, i.e. a vacant swim or a swim being rested!

This 28lb mirror kept the confidence going, on a hard day

Nothing materialized from the PVA bags cast for the night, so I had followed the bait-up, rest the swim technique in the morning, and was on the back to my swim after a walk about, when I stopped to have a chat to an angler fishing one of the weedier swims opposite. He had received a good run of takes from a clear spot in the weed, but also remarked on how a few fish had began to show in my swim since I’d left, as if to say I‘d perhaps been a little silly to have reeled in. Unbeknown to him this was precisely the response from the carp, taking the lines out of the water was supposed to induce. The plan was working perfectly, as a few carp were indeed now regularly showing over my range spot, and shortly after casting the clipped up rods back to their spots, the right hander at range, received a take resulting in a 28lb mirror! Unfortunately this action spooked off the remaining carp back to the weed beds, but I was chuffed none the less, as this was one of only two fish to come from this side of the pit, over the weekend.  

It’s important to remember that just because you’re rods are reeled in, its doesn’t mean you’re not fishing, taking a walk around the lake, looking for signs of carp, or if you’re really lucky, observing their behaviour, and habits, will certainly lead to an increased catch rate in the long run. It was one of these swim resting wonders that paid off for me big style on my next trip, and the main reason for my opening statement of ‘Wow what a month’. The opening night of the session had produced a nice 21lb mirror, but the second night had been quiet, with the following morning seeing a clear sky, which soon had the carp high in the water, many with their backs breaking the surface, basking in the hot sunshine. They didn’t really look up for much, although the floaters were probably worth a go, but the visible carp were a little too far out, so it seemed like the ideal time to reel in, and see what else might be going on around the pit.

First night of the session and a nice 21lb mirror

In the past I have found that for all the carp that love to laze in the sunshine of a hot day, there are also carp that prefer to retreat from the bright glare of the sun, and will seek the shade of overhanging trees or marginal reeds. Bearing this is mind, it was these areas I began to investigate first, and sure enough, looking through the Polaroid’s, I found a group of five good sized carp, drifting between the overhanging willows that lined a quite section of the margins. Moving on, a section of thick reeds also held a similar sight of carp cruising along the margin, passing from the warmth of a sun spot on the edge of the wind, to the cool sanctuary of the reeds. This section of bank looked well tasty, even if the carp were more interested in a tan rather than feeding, at least they would pass over baits only 2-3 feet below, which definitely increased the chances of a take in my opinion, plus these fish were well within range of a floater set-up. The swim in this area was occupied, but stopping for a chat, the guy there told he’d be packing down in a bit, and he didn’t mind me moving my kit down in the mean time. Ideal! I didn’t need a second offer, and was straight off to move the gear.

Once in the swim, I decided to bait three spots in the margins with a little hemp and broken boilie, but not put the rods out until dusk, to try and avoid the disturbance of pick-ups from the ducks and coots, as well as, allow the carp mooching along the margins a chance of a confidence building feed. With the aid of my chest waders, I was able to precisely bait a spot against the reeds to my left and a mint clear gravel spot on the edge of the overhanging foliage of a bank side tree to my right, a couple handfuls of floating dog biscuits left nearby, would soon fill up the observant coots, and keep them off the spots. As darkness fell, I waded out my hook-baits to their marginal spots, and cast the final, middle rod to clear spot surrounded by weed only a rod length out. With all three rods fishing slack lines complete with back lead, I was really hoping that this would give the impression of an empty swim, allowing the carp to get right into the margins, and this desired effect looked to be working when around 2am I awoke to series of bleeps from one of the buzzers and sight of the right hand rod, bent around towards the pressure of a hooked carp, somewhere up the margin.

Moving swims looked to be paying off when this 28lb common came to the net

At 27lbs a golden common proved my theories correct and made me feel a lot more comfortable about whether the decision to move had been a good one. Dropping the hook-bait by hand, out in my waders, with a bucket lid worth of freebies over the top, made re-placing the rig easy and accurate with very little disturbance. Fishing in the shallow water of margins, I had changed my hook-link material from Cortex, the coated braid I normally use, to the new Fox Illusion soft, a fluro-carbon mono hook-link, although I did keep to my favoured snow-man rig. This was the first time I’d tried this new mono hook-link, so it was nice to have caught the common, for instant confidence in the rig, even better when about 4am the same rod was away again!

The new soft Illusion from Fox

This carp was moving a lot slower than the common, holding the bottom, and taking line when ever it felt the urge, this carp felt like a good-un! The sun was beginning to rise, providing just enough light for me to see some big shoulders break the surface, before again, a heavy weight continued to plod along the bottom. There was little I could do, but gain line when I could and release it again when the attached carp decided it wasn’t ready yet, all the time thinking about the size 9 Fox long shank hook in its mouth that no longer seemed as suitable as when I’d tied my rig. I’m not sure how many times I said to myself ‘Please don’t fall off’ before the hooked carp came to the net, but it must have been a lot, and when I looked at my prize now safely in the folds of net, I was left without any doubts at all, that this carp was a biggie alright!

Buzzing, totally buzzing, is the only way I can describe the way I felt as accompanied by the angler next door, we lifted a large, dark mirror carp onto the scales, that read 43lbs 6ozs, spelling out my first forty and new PB!  

A new PB on the New Grange! 43lb 6ozs! Buzzing!

Like I’ve said, it’s been a cracking month, and all the sunshine has seen the carp on many venues rise to the surface, bringing Zig and floater fishing tactics into play. Strangely carp that can be so wily and cute with rigs presented on the bottom can often be a sucker for a surface controlled dog biscuit, but as this is not always the case, I like to add a small edge to my floater fishing by varying the appearance of my mixers by colour or flavour, for something a little different.

Here’s how to simply add an edge to your mixers.

Partially fill a plastic bag with some mixers

Add a squirt of Mainline particle-pellet syrup to the mixers, Pineapple is my favourite.

Give the bag a good shake so all the biscuits get an even covering

Pineapple mixers, ready to go!

Never professing to be an expert floater angler myself, I have met an angler on the Oxford waters, who is certainly of expert category, when it comes to surface fishing, taking its possibilities to another level in my eyes. Recently witnessing the angler in question, Tom Harris take a 45lb 8oz mirror off the top, just blew me away, and I’d love to divulge some of the finer details to Tom’s tactics, if only I could get him to tell me! All I can tell is almost 20 years worth of observing and watching how carp react to his methods has led to Tom catching carp like this, so I will leave you with this pic of Tom’s 45lb prize, as the best way to show the devastating potential of the humble mixer, as I for one will be applying a whole lot more focus in this department from now on.

Tom Harris with a 45lb 8oz mirror, off the top!

Until next month, enjoy you’re fishing and tight lines.

John