Finally it was mid April and the weather had started to improve compared to the long dreadful winter that we have all suffered this year and it was a good job as Alex and I had a social planned at Linear’s Oxlease Lake since late last year.
So the day came and we met in the car park for first light and had a good walk of the lake, although we saw no signs of activity we both checked the weather and the wind was due to change from a easterly to a south, south west so we decided to set up camp on the east bank knowing this.
Due to the early morning and possibility of an early bite we decided against the marker rod to start and flicked the leads out at about 60 yards ensuring we felt the leads down and then carefully place single 15mm Live System freezer baits on the spots along with a stick mix of Belachan stick mix, Mini Ultra Pellets, Frozen Snails and my liquid combo of FXSP and Krill Amino.
Lunch time came around quickly with no action other than the odd liner so we wound the rods in and then had a mark around. I found that in front of me it was pretty uniform between 25-60 yards with patches of gravel and slit so i decided on 2 spots at 60 yards and 1 at roughly 40 yards just off the gravel spots i had found and again the same bait combination was used.
The day was uneventful for both of us so we took a chance and put out about 5 spods over the rods to try and get them feeding with lots of added attraction and then retired to the sack for some much needed sleep. The mix was very simple with hardly any hard food which consisted of hemp seed, frozen snails, frozen bloodworm, FSXP and Krill so very natural in the hope this would get them feeding.
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I was rudely woken by the right hand Delkim screaming into action and I was into my first carp of the trip, I took my time as I think we all do with the first bite just to make sure nothing goes wrong and we land the fish, it didn’t feel very big but none the less it was a bite.
I slid the net under the carp and I was made up as we had been told by the bailiff earlier that the although the lake was fishing very well the week before it had slowed right down and it had not done a fish all week. I sorted the fish out and placed it in the retaining sling and back into the lake so I could wake Alex for a photo.
We both arrived back in my swim and started to do the necessary bits of weighing her and taking some photos, she was a little stunner and weighed in at 16.8. I got the rod back out on the spot as quickly as I could and then sorted out the bomb site that was once my bivvy.Image may be NSFW.
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The early morning passed with no action until roughly 9am when the left rod went and I was into my second fish unfortunately a had a hook pull 10 yards from the bank but got a good look at her and I would have made a guess and say she was another mid double. That was the last of the action for us and although more fish did not grace our nets we had a great social and that’s what its all about at the end of the day.
Well that was me hooked and with the bug back a got the go ahead from the wife to squeeze in a 48 hr session a week later at a local undisclosed water.
By this time the weather was like summer rather than spring with temps hitting 20 and the fish becoming a lot more active in the heat of the day.
I arrived at the lake around 11am and had the option of two swims as it was busy probably due to the weather, I decided on the swim that I knew was a good 3 foot deeper than the other as the weather forecast was low pressure but also had the sun on it for most of the day as the water was still very cold in the hope that if the carp were going to be cursing in the upper layers then they would pass over my traps. The swim also has 3 islands I could fish too making 2 channels what the carp use to access both ends of the lake, due to knowing the lake well I flicked all 3 rods out at 40 yards in the channels.
My bait of choice was the mighty xxx but I also took some live system as the lake is currently dominated by another milk protein bait but I was going to change that! I kept things simple and knowing that the carp in this lake are switched on I dropped a hook size down to a size 8 wide gape and armed 2 rods with a glugged xxx dumbbell and the other with a live system glugged dumbbell coupled with my natural stick mix of Belachan stick mix frozen snails, frozen bloodworm, FSXP and Krill Amino and I was now set for the session.
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The weather had really turned the carp on and there were shows all over the lake, the day slowly turned to night so I made the decision to place a handful of bollies covered in a mixture of FSXP and Krill over the 3 rods due to the resent activity and knowing there was to be a full moon this night they would certainly be out on the search for food.
My plan came true and I was woken to a one toner on the middle rod baited with xxx carefully placed between the two island directly in front of my swim. It was an epic battle and she really did have me all over the place and at one point nearly taking my left hand rod out as she got close to the bank. I grabbed the net and guided her to the spreader block and she was mine. She looked big and possibly a 30 so I placed her in the cradle took the hook out and placed her in the retaining sling and went to fetch a friend 2 swims down to take some pictures.
She weighed 28.8 and she was to be my biggest fish from the venue so although not the 30 I was after i was a happy man. I got the rod back out and stayed up until sunrise watching the water and the activity from both the carp and bird life.
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The morning passed with just a couple of liners from the right hand rod so when lunch time came I wound in to sort the rods out and check my presentation was good. Rather than change the hook baits I kept them on as they looked washed out and safe, again i recast the rods to the same spots from the day before with the stick mix for added pulling power and to mask the hook point and again placed a a handful of baits over the rods. The day passed very quickly as a good friend came down for a brew and a chat so it was soon night and I eventually called it a night at 10pm and retired to my bag in the hope that i would again hear that magical delkim sound.
I was woken to the left hand rod screamed off and I was into fish number 2, the flight was a lot longer on this one and i knew the carp was angry as from the thudding from its head banging around so i made sure to let the middle and right hand rod off the buzz bars and dipped the tips well under the water encase it made a dive for it close in.
True enough it just didn’t want to go into the net and due to the bright moon i could see that it was a common, after a nervous 10 minutes or so I slid the net under its shoulders and he was mine. As before I sorted myself and the carp out and went next door this time as a new angler had arrived that day and offered his services should I land one.
He went 24 on the nose and was taken on the live system so that was one a piece for the xxx and LS, we took the necessary pictures and returned him to were he came from. I quickly tied on a fresh bait along with a stick and recast to the same spot and gave it a good handful of bollies for good measure.
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Daylight came without any other action but there was still activity in the area and I still believed I could knick a last minute bite, I start to pack down at about 7am and i was left sitting on my bucket with the barrow packed ready to leave.
It was about 0720 when the left hand rod screamed off again and I was into my third fish of the session I could tell straight away that it was a lot smaller than the other two but never the less I was the only angler this session to catch more than one carp so I was over the moon when I slipped the net under it and he was mine. It was a stunning 16.8 mirror that fell for the live system the pictures were completed he was returned and I started to pack the rods up a very happy man.
Until next time tight lines
Stephen