Let me start by explaining briefly the problems I had last summer. I’ve been a member at Horton Church Lake for three years now and have some nice targets to aim at (some of which I’ve had as well!). During the opening week I came out 4th in the draw and duly got the swim I wanted. The fish were clearly in residence, showing all around the plateaux to the left of this swim, so naturally I was confident of a bite or two on my seven day session. Rigs were selected as critically balanced pop-ups on heli rigs using the DT Pukka Fish with Oily Chicken. This bait had to date accounted for all my fish on the lake and they were clearly still happy eating it. To cut a long story very short the fish were showing in front of me and I was getting the obvious liners, some even pulling the line from the clip but I got completely ‘done over’ for the duration. No matter what I did they stayed there all week and knocked me for six. My confidence was getting lower and lower. I finally received a take four days in and it came at silly o’clock in the morning - subsequently burying itself in the weed and the hook pulling. This only dented me further and in the end I went home a broken man. It affected me so much that after a couple more blank sessions I hung up my rods for around 3 months. I had burnt myself out. Jill my Little Lady did her best to console me but it played on my mind and I lost the bug. To try and breathe some new life back into me I went back to my roots, we booked a week on a canal boat and I took the match gear to sort out a few roach. It was a very welcome relief.
I’d like to say that I perked up through the autumn - but I didn’t, and then the winter took hold and boy was that a bad one as we all know. During my spell away I spoke with Simon at DT about a new bait for Horton and this was around the time the N-Blend was born, a delightful mix of milks and crunchy nuttiness that just screams carp, and one I couldn’t wait to take to Horton.
So I spent January sorting the gear out, and with renewed confidence I was itching to get out, but no matter how hard I wished, the ice wouldn’t go away. Once the thaw started I headed for my local lake, Layer Pits, and with a trusty bag of Cold Water Mix Chocolate Creams I aimed to catch a few bionic commons to dust off the cobwebs and get the bug back. And it began to work. I winkled out a few scaleys up to 21lb, some were heavily covered with winter mucus but they were beginning to wake up. A few more regular visits and the commons kept coming on the Chocolates - particularly on the trusty chod rig. As it warmed up into March I started to introduce bait on a regular basis on my visits. Due to the spodding ban the throwing stick came into action. Pure boilie fishing - my favourite method, fishing over a bed of “proper” food. To summarise those trips, they loved the Chocolate Creams and they loved the chod too. Easy fishing. Along with the confidence, the bug (and the smile!) was back.
Moving into April my next stop was a stag-do social at Cemex Angling Blue Pool. Armed with the new N-Blend I was first to arrive and having not fished it before I was thinking that with 10 anglers it could be a bit tight but as it was a stag-do for good friend Graham it just had to be done. (Congratulations mate!). After the draw for swims took place I opted for swim 7 - with an island in front of me at around 60+ yards it seemed an obvious starting point. Also, Trevor had already nicked one from the corner behind the island which made me think if they were holed up in the marginal overgrowth they would eventually head out and have to pass the island one way or the other.
With the rigs all set I pulted out around 300 x 15mm freebies around 5 yards short of the island margin. With two rods in that area the third rod was kept for overnight margins only on a PVA bag full of crushed boilie and pellets. This mix had been drizzled with Sainsbury’s hazelnut oil - that stuff is so good I cook my bacon and mushrooms in it! After a brief visit from the bailiff where I was told ‘the island never produces’ and ‘the lake will close up shop with 10 anglers on’ we retired for the social and give Graham his send off into marital bliss….poor lad!
During the evening and night a few fish had been caught and a good time was being had by all. Saturday morning arrived and I was awake around 3am water watching. I never seem to sleep long hours whilst fishing and am more satisfied being awake early and having an afternoon snooze. After a few cups of tea the margin rod registered a familiar shrill tone that had coot written all over it…..typical. I reeled in and retied a PVA bag to flick to the tree line.
As I settled back on the bed to re-do the rod the left hand island rod gave out 3 or 4 beeps and the bobbin rose steadily up to the alarm and the line pinged from the clip. I was on it in a flash and had a very slow dogged fight all the way in to the marginal shelf. Hanging on her weight the carp didn’t give in easily but finally I had safely netted a nice mirror. Up on the scales she went 32lb12oz. I was elated to say the least – what a difference a fish makes!
Everything was working for me now, balanced pop-ups sitting nicely over a bed of bait that I am confident in. I just know it’ll fill up my diary this year! I followed this with a nice colourful 18lb mirror. We had a great time on a great lake with 10 anglers bagging 22 fish, a lovely weekend.
After a few more successful evenings on Layer my next port of call was Chad Lake. I’d wanted to have a dangle for Blackeye for some time and when I arrived I found that it had come out the previous week. This didn’t deter me as this baby is a regular visitor to the bankside.
Upon arrival, I (along with 2 lads from Kent) walked the Pool with David, the owner. All 3 of us remarked on how tiny this place is and wouldn’t think of a 50+ mirror being in there but we soon chose swims and quickly switched into “small pond mentality”.
Out in front of me the bottom was quite choddy and after a flick around with a small lead in my chosen swim (Hobbits) I found a small hard spot no bigger than a dustbin lid about 15 yards out to my left. After a careful underarm cast I managed to land a small PVA bag of crushed N-Blend baits (drizzled with the trusty hazelnut oil) bang on the spot. The rig was a simple bottom bait with a 15mm and a 10mm combination. (The 10mm baits I had rolled myself) and about 30 freebies were placed in a tight bunch around it. The middle rod was placed in a similar spot but further out in the deepest part of the Pool, (around 5 and half foot), this time on a balanced pop-up with around 30 baits again in a tight bunch.
I decided to keep the right hand rod as a roving one but for now a single white pop-up on a chod was put around 5 yards short of the far margin on a patrol route which led around the back of the island to my right.
As the evening arrived I was all set for the day and it was time to reflect, put the kettle on and chat with the other 2 lads. Earlier in the day we’d seen Blackeye buried in a weedbed at the back of the smaller island, totally inaccessible to any cast from our bank. As each day arrived she remained in the same spot, and did so for the duration of our stay!
Around 4pm on the first day the left hand rod was away waking me from an afternoon snooze. I was soon stumbling out of the half zipped up door (to keep the roaming chickens out of my bivvy) and under a watchful audience from the anglers on the other lake I played an angry carp to the net. Once weighed (at 26lb 8oz) and photographed I slipped it back and found later she was a fish known as The Prehistoric, they do get some strange names! But I was more than happy as another target was achieved ( I had set myself the arduous task of catching from every water this year that I fish - to date its working and I am enjoying it even more).
I put the trusty pva bag of goodies back out on the spot again and settled in for the evening. Later on 2 fish rolled on my right just short of the island so I repositioned the roaming choddy and spread about 20 freebies on the spot.
Once retired for the night it didn’t take long to drift off to sleep only to be woken at 1am to a one tone screamer on the chod rod. I clambered out of bed like a demented idiot, fumbling around for my head torch and bent into a solid fish that wasn’t giving up for no man. The fight went on for 10-15 minutes before I eventually caught sight of a flank in the moonlight about 30 yards out. By now the other 2 rods were wiped out and my heart was pounding because all I could think was that on the end was one of 2 fish. Blackeye, or the 40+ mirror known as The Red One. Eventually I had it within 5 yards of me when up popped a bloody great tail and the mouth of a huge catfish. I was gobsmacked. I was sure I had the big girl on for a brief moment but hey-ho! In the net it went, and up on the scales she went 51lb exactly. To save boring you with the details 24 hours later at exactly the same time I caught the same cat again on the deep spot this time, to say I was wound up the second time was an understatement. 2 x 50’s in 24 hours I couldn’t help but laugh!!
The final night I moved the middle rod to a spot 25 yards in front of me where I had found a strip of weed around 10 foot long and about 2 foot wide. The fronds were only around 4 inches maximum high, so I tied a large mesh bag of crushed baits and pellets and dropped it on top of the weed with a pop-up wafting around alongside it.
On the final morning I woke happy to have avoided the catfish and sat doing some early morning water watching. Whilst enjoying my first cuppa of the day I saw a magpie on the fence post opposite, I saluted it and muttered to myself “One for bloody sorrow” and no sooner had the words left my mouth when the weed bed rod tore off. The fight was very short but the culprit was a welcome sight in the net - a lovely red one of 25lb 14oz which rounded the trip off nicely. I would very much like to return as it is quite addictive and very peaceful.
That really brings my angling up to date. In the coming weeks I’ll be off to some different venues so when I’m back in a few week’s time I’ll tell you about the good, the bad and the blanks that I’ve ‘endured’ in the mean time, so until then - tight strings.
I’d like to say that I perked up through the autumn - but I didn’t, and then the winter took hold and boy was that a bad one as we all know. During my spell away I spoke with Simon at DT about a new bait for Horton and this was around the time the N-Blend was born, a delightful mix of milks and crunchy nuttiness that just screams carp, and one I couldn’t wait to take to Horton.
So I spent January sorting the gear out, and with renewed confidence I was itching to get out, but no matter how hard I wished, the ice wouldn’t go away. Once the thaw started I headed for my local lake, Layer Pits, and with a trusty bag of Cold Water Mix Chocolate Creams I aimed to catch a few bionic commons to dust off the cobwebs and get the bug back. And it began to work. I winkled out a few scaleys up to 21lb, some were heavily covered with winter mucus but they were beginning to wake up. A few more regular visits and the commons kept coming on the Chocolates - particularly on the trusty chod rig. As it warmed up into March I started to introduce bait on a regular basis on my visits. Due to the spodding ban the throwing stick came into action. Pure boilie fishing - my favourite method, fishing over a bed of “proper” food. To summarise those trips, they loved the Chocolate Creams and they loved the chod too. Easy fishing. Along with the confidence, the bug (and the smile!) was back.
Moving into April my next stop was a stag-do social at Cemex Angling Blue Pool. Armed with the new N-Blend I was first to arrive and having not fished it before I was thinking that with 10 anglers it could be a bit tight but as it was a stag-do for good friend Graham it just had to be done. (Congratulations mate!). After the draw for swims took place I opted for swim 7 - with an island in front of me at around 60+ yards it seemed an obvious starting point. Also, Trevor had already nicked one from the corner behind the island which made me think if they were holed up in the marginal overgrowth they would eventually head out and have to pass the island one way or the other.
With the rigs all set I pulted out around 300 x 15mm freebies around 5 yards short of the island margin. With two rods in that area the third rod was kept for overnight margins only on a PVA bag full of crushed boilie and pellets. This mix had been drizzled with Sainsbury’s hazelnut oil - that stuff is so good I cook my bacon and mushrooms in it! After a brief visit from the bailiff where I was told ‘the island never produces’ and ‘the lake will close up shop with 10 anglers on’ we retired for the social and give Graham his send off into marital bliss….poor lad!
During the evening and night a few fish had been caught and a good time was being had by all. Saturday morning arrived and I was awake around 3am water watching. I never seem to sleep long hours whilst fishing and am more satisfied being awake early and having an afternoon snooze. After a few cups of tea the margin rod registered a familiar shrill tone that had coot written all over it…..typical. I reeled in and retied a PVA bag to flick to the tree line.
As I settled back on the bed to re-do the rod the left hand island rod gave out 3 or 4 beeps and the bobbin rose steadily up to the alarm and the line pinged from the clip. I was on it in a flash and had a very slow dogged fight all the way in to the marginal shelf. Hanging on her weight the carp didn’t give in easily but finally I had safely netted a nice mirror. Up on the scales she went 32lb12oz. I was elated to say the least – what a difference a fish makes!
Everything was working for me now, balanced pop-ups sitting nicely over a bed of bait that I am confident in. I just know it’ll fill up my diary this year! I followed this with a nice colourful 18lb mirror. We had a great time on a great lake with 10 anglers bagging 22 fish, a lovely weekend.
After a few more successful evenings on Layer my next port of call was Chad Lake. I’d wanted to have a dangle for Blackeye for some time and when I arrived I found that it had come out the previous week. This didn’t deter me as this baby is a regular visitor to the bankside.
Upon arrival, I (along with 2 lads from Kent) walked the Pool with David, the owner. All 3 of us remarked on how tiny this place is and wouldn’t think of a 50+ mirror being in there but we soon chose swims and quickly switched into “small pond mentality”.
Out in front of me the bottom was quite choddy and after a flick around with a small lead in my chosen swim (Hobbits) I found a small hard spot no bigger than a dustbin lid about 15 yards out to my left. After a careful underarm cast I managed to land a small PVA bag of crushed N-Blend baits (drizzled with the trusty hazelnut oil) bang on the spot. The rig was a simple bottom bait with a 15mm and a 10mm combination. (The 10mm baits I had rolled myself) and about 30 freebies were placed in a tight bunch around it. The middle rod was placed in a similar spot but further out in the deepest part of the Pool, (around 5 and half foot), this time on a balanced pop-up with around 30 baits again in a tight bunch.
I decided to keep the right hand rod as a roving one but for now a single white pop-up on a chod was put around 5 yards short of the far margin on a patrol route which led around the back of the island to my right.
As the evening arrived I was all set for the day and it was time to reflect, put the kettle on and chat with the other 2 lads. Earlier in the day we’d seen Blackeye buried in a weedbed at the back of the smaller island, totally inaccessible to any cast from our bank. As each day arrived she remained in the same spot, and did so for the duration of our stay!
Around 4pm on the first day the left hand rod was away waking me from an afternoon snooze. I was soon stumbling out of the half zipped up door (to keep the roaming chickens out of my bivvy) and under a watchful audience from the anglers on the other lake I played an angry carp to the net. Once weighed (at 26lb 8oz) and photographed I slipped it back and found later she was a fish known as The Prehistoric, they do get some strange names! But I was more than happy as another target was achieved ( I had set myself the arduous task of catching from every water this year that I fish - to date its working and I am enjoying it even more).
I put the trusty pva bag of goodies back out on the spot again and settled in for the evening. Later on 2 fish rolled on my right just short of the island so I repositioned the roaming choddy and spread about 20 freebies on the spot.
Once retired for the night it didn’t take long to drift off to sleep only to be woken at 1am to a one tone screamer on the chod rod. I clambered out of bed like a demented idiot, fumbling around for my head torch and bent into a solid fish that wasn’t giving up for no man. The fight went on for 10-15 minutes before I eventually caught sight of a flank in the moonlight about 30 yards out. By now the other 2 rods were wiped out and my heart was pounding because all I could think was that on the end was one of 2 fish. Blackeye, or the 40+ mirror known as The Red One. Eventually I had it within 5 yards of me when up popped a bloody great tail and the mouth of a huge catfish. I was gobsmacked. I was sure I had the big girl on for a brief moment but hey-ho! In the net it went, and up on the scales she went 51lb exactly. To save boring you with the details 24 hours later at exactly the same time I caught the same cat again on the deep spot this time, to say I was wound up the second time was an understatement. 2 x 50’s in 24 hours I couldn’t help but laugh!!
The final night I moved the middle rod to a spot 25 yards in front of me where I had found a strip of weed around 10 foot long and about 2 foot wide. The fronds were only around 4 inches maximum high, so I tied a large mesh bag of crushed baits and pellets and dropped it on top of the weed with a pop-up wafting around alongside it.
On the final morning I woke happy to have avoided the catfish and sat doing some early morning water watching. Whilst enjoying my first cuppa of the day I saw a magpie on the fence post opposite, I saluted it and muttered to myself “One for bloody sorrow” and no sooner had the words left my mouth when the weed bed rod tore off. The fight was very short but the culprit was a welcome sight in the net - a lovely red one of 25lb 14oz which rounded the trip off nicely. I would very much like to return as it is quite addictive and very peaceful.
That really brings my angling up to date. In the coming weeks I’ll be off to some different venues so when I’m back in a few week’s time I’ll tell you about the good, the bad and the blanks that I’ve ‘endured’ in the mean time, so until then - tight strings.
Steve “Licky” Hughes
