Hi guys , thought id start this thread so anyone that has some luck this year can put their pictures up

Ill start with a couple i had last night and today ( self takes so not great )









Stunning little mirror i had off the top today, and a 19.8oz common from last night caught 1 inch from the bank - result! No more fishing as im off to greece tonight, telescopic rod is in the case LOL


Ian

Wicked fish mate - great night out

stunning mirror mate

ive been out again today and blanked like a good un.... my mate managed to bag a stunning 17lb mirror though

im on bad run of late.... not banked a fish in 6 sessions ..... not happy!!!

keep at it alex, i had a fair few blanks last month as they were spawning left right and centre!




18.1 mirror from yesterday, had a good few tench during the night, so had absolutely no sleep LOL

ian

Excellent fish, im going sunday so il post up some tiddlers then, if i get any

Some pole caught only up to 6lb, i fished for a day in Devon the other week
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well in chris, nice carp there mate.


season starts on monday ....and im off to my new target water,
never fished it before but there's a good head of carp stocked and i cant wait to get going on it

Good luck Alex, i always use Dinamite Bait swimstim groundbait mixed to a soft paste on the pole, for some reason it works better for me than any other paste mix ive used, its a shame you cant use paste for normal carp fishing. The lake im going to sunday has recenty been stocked with a load of double figure tench

well in chris , carp on the pole is what is called "hair raising stuff" haha, mental battles regardless of size.

I use paste quite often when fishing in heavy silt, instead of rig foam. its all good.


ian

yesterday i took 3 fish which included a fish known as split tail, at an "unofficial" lake record at 29.6 from a tiny club lake. still shaking now!
Photos to follow hopefully, have to get permission first


ian

nice one mate.... cant wait until im targeting fish of that size


i had a good day yesterday, managed to bag 3 off my new club water,
nothing massive but a welcome few fish after blanking for the last couple of weeks

8lb, 9lb & 9lb 6oz
(no pic of the 8lb'er)

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Nice one Alex, any tactical tips?
I had 18 on the pole sunday,only small so not worth any pics really.
Ive booked to go here with a mate next month, havent a clue what im gonna do but i fancy a tench
http://www.churchwoodfisheries.co.uk/jenkins.htm

looks like a crackin spot that chris, good chance a decent fish by the looks of it.

im no expert to be giving tips out (ask ian - blindside)
but find the fish, put down a decent bait with a simple rig and you shouldnt go far wrong

let us know how you get on

i have a 5 page article on churchwood fisheries ( and jenkins ) in a magazine from earlier in the year - ill dig it out and try and sum it up for you if you like mate.
Are you fishing churchwood or jenkins mate?
oh and top fish alex, always good to get your first few from a new water, may there be many more to grace your net this year



ian

couple of pictures as promised, split tail at 29.6





taken on a single bait with no freebies fished tight to the edge. having my target fish so early in the season has sort of confused me now, im definately pulling off the water but am not sure where to go next - suppose its a good situation to be in!

Ian

now thats a proper carp.... not like those tiddlers ive been catchin

well in Ian, alot of these big fish seem to get taken off single baits.

good angling mate

Nice one Ian that brought a smile to your face, im in the tiddler club also, tho i caught a 20 by fluke a while ago, i fish mainly local commercials with pole for carp but ive now got the basic carp set up , and ive just watched the free Danny Fairbrass dvd thats going around which is pretty good i think.
Im fishing Jenkins mid July, any info/what would you do type advice would be much appreciated cheers

btw Ian how do you fish a soft paste on a standard hair carp rig without losing it on the cast?

Nice fish Alex

Keep up the hunting mate. Now I've got a caravan the rods are out. I'm on it again.

i use a paste in which i mix pellets with boiling water, then add my base mix from either ground bait or boilie base mix.
the length of time you leave the boiling water in the pellet ( 15 minutes - 45 ) will give differentiating textures, hence how i can give it the long chuck!
you can do it just with normal pellet and no mix, just leave in boiling water and experiment matey

Jenkins lake - as in the churchwood lake try and fish to the aerator if you have the right swim, and the rear bank trees / snags. The aerator will fish well in hot months when the heat dissolves more oxygen - perfect for the time you will be there mate. So in general, try and get as tight to the far margin / trees as possible and you can be confident ( and so will the carp ), as no one else can fish that side. I could also go into baits that have produced results there if you would like? although i wont unless you ask, because location is about 100 times more important






Lashing with rain on a 3 hour session this morning on the canal but still managed a couple! mirror went 11.14 ( didnt weigh the common, 7ish ) .

Went for a day session with my mate yesterday and had one of my best days carping so far.
I got a new Pb (4 times )and managed to get into the illusive double figure carp

The day started slowly but got alot better as it warmed up,
i ended the day with 7 in total... 7lb, 8lb, 9lb, 9lb 15oz, 12lb, 12lb 8oz,
and a hard fighting 14lber to end the day nicely


... oh and rich, sorry for putting the phone down on you mate... i had a screaming run


9lb 15oz
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12lb
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12lb 8oz
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14lb
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happy days

wicked mate

No probs mate, sounded cool the sound of the buzzer going!

nice one alex bet u are well happy i would be

well done alex mate and congrats on the new PB

Good to see everyone getting some good catches, a tinge of jealousy as well as I'm not allowed to fish at the moment as I've just got out of hospital after major surgery doctors reckon it will be another month at least before I can go fishing again Something to do with infection risk.

Any way will be back out there sometime this summer.

JFK

Nice fishing Alex, didnt have any carp but got a few tench to about 5lb

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nice going mate

love the colour of tench, stunning fish


so what was it like, nice place?

get in, nice tench matey! what did it fall too? float tactics or proper carpin it?
jealousy is what im feeling now, cant get on the bank for a few more days still in kent! Theres a pond in the hotel with a few carp to 8/9ish pounds, im tempted to risk my job....LOL

It was only a 1/2 acre lake the farmer whos cottage we stayed in owned in the Peak District, i fished a few evenings for free and it was quite hard going not many bites , i definately shoudve took maggots i reckon a natural bait wouldve done better,and they were gorgeous looking fish i didnt want to put them back, i fished pole pellet n paste, the deepest area was only 5ft

The river Derwent wasnt far away and looked very fishy , streamer weed and gravel runs holding some nice size trout rainbows and browns Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

looks stunning mate

some stunning pictues there chris love the pics of the lake

had another good day today... 12 out in total
plenty of doubles, with the biggest being 13lb..... also lost 4 at the net but who's complaining

pics up later

Sounds like you`re in a purple patch Alex! Someones getting all the rod bending action . Were you in the same swim as last time?

sure was mate

few pics from today

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SO HAPPY

went out for a few hours today and managed this beast

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17lb 6oz mirror and a new Pb

Nice Alex. Your beeting your PB most times you go, you must be doing something right !

cheers mate

top work alex!!! congrats mate, what a feeling i bet
had a carp after work yesterday on an ultra hard venue, only had one pectoral which was strange





baitcraft T1 15mm bottom bait

ian

You guys are doing well, big congrats on the new Alex, im going where there be apparent monsters sunday so wish me luck

cheers boys, and nice capture Ian

good luck for sunday chris, hope you bag yourself a bigun

little common ( probably about9ish ) from last night

and the wood carving at 18.2 - a more beautiful fish comes rarely



Baitcraft T1 bottom bait

anyone that got the rods out, i hope the weather treated you better than it did me

ian

Blimey theres no stopping you is there Ian! It rained on me today, i had plenty of skimmers, then on what was decided the last cast i had a decentish carp on and the hook pulled

wow... that mirror's stunning Ian

nice work mate

ive never heard of "Baitcraft T1" ... got any info on it (website)



i only did an hours float fishing today (roach a plenty ) then rain stopped play
..... but im doing a full day with the carp rods tomorrow

chris - hook pulls should be banned! worst feeling in the world.
alex - http://baitcraft.co.uk/ Designed by bait guru Mark Mckenna. I will tell the truth and say i get it very very cheap as part of a deal, but its probably the best bait on the market.
But anyway alex, you are hauling em at the moment, stick with your bait choice as its definately working!

good luck if you go out today dude

ian

Had a sort through all my old gear yesterday night, realised i have some bits and bobs i dont need anymore if anyone wants them for free?
2 daiwa sensor z carp rods. 12ft 2.5lb TC - took fish to 26.12 on these, good few years old but still do the trick!
36inch carp landing net and handle
Both free to anyone that wants them ( better than throwing away you know )

also for peanuts if anyone wants them....
2 Fox micron M alarms, red LEDs, 10 quid!
3 JRC skyliner carp rods, 12ft 2.75 TC - 50 quid!

Im livid today as i have worked out i cant go fishing untill possibly NEXT WEEK! haha, withdrawal symptoms

i had another good day yesterday, despite the sh1te weather,
finished the day with 8 in total...nothing massive, the biggest being a lovely scaled mirror weighing 13lb

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lovely fish alex, love the scaleys!
but where are you? i cant see you in the pic, the fish is just floating....you must be camod up or something?!! haha

Go Alex! no stopping you now .My ate just got back from Jenkins after 3 days, where i going next week he didnt get any carp only a 36lb catfish!

all the gear has a name on it now already!, hope it gets some use as it aint hauling no carp sitting in the shed!

lmao... my cunning disguise is doing its job then
... might get the war paint out for my face next week.... then those pesky carp will never see me

haha mate dont get me started. ive had some funny incidents involving stalking carp, notably the time i was standing 1 yard from two blokes in a bush, with 2 big commons feeding on a handful of hemp a foot from the bank, 2 blokes walked in the swim right next to me, didnt see me, and shouted "HEY SOME DUDE HAS LEFT A MAT AND A NET IN THIS SWIM!!!!"
at the top of their voices, ruined the day, i walked out of the bush and the younger guy basically screamed in shock on the spot haha.
camo nearly lost me a matrix bulldog landing net - camo doesnt pay LOL

alex, what water are you on at the mo? you are doing well, what does the lake hold stock wise?

its a club water called disley dam
.... plenty of double figure carp to go at and im told there's a 20lb+ mirror in there, so thats my target fish for the year.

it gives me chance to learn a bit of water craft and try out a few rigs before i target the biguns.

there's a couple of other waters on the club card that hold carp to over 25lb , so they will be my next step

... learn to walk before you run, i think the saying is


couple of pics of the place (you cant see all of it but you get the idea)

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