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British Carp Angling Championships - Semi-Final
Once we arrived at the fishery we soon found ourselves walking Brasenose 1 and speaking to the few anglers fishing there to see if we could get some information for our match the following day. By the sounds of things it was tough going, with only a few fish being landed. This was strange to hear from Brasenose 1 as normally it’s classed as Linear’s runs water.
Not to be defeated we carried on walking around and soon found a huge shoal of carp around match peg five. When I say a huge shoal we were talking hundreds of carp and they were crashing out very close in. We both looked at each and agreed that if they were still there in the morning then this would be our number one swim choice. So, with a last walk around, it was time to chill out and pray to the carp gods for a good draw the following day.
4am came around very quickly and, with a fresh cup of tea made, it was time to walk the lake once again in search of some good swims and to organise our swim choices for the final time. We stood in peg five once again and with in five minutes we saw around 50 carp crash out – so that was our first peg chosen. The rest of the swim choice was decided, but in our hearts we wanted match peg five.
9am was the time of the draw so, with a couple more cups of tea, we soon found ourselves standing around the draw area, waiting and hoping we got a good draw. First out of the hat chose peg four, second out chose peg six, third out went in peg nine then… it was us so with a quick look at each other we both said ‘peg five please’! We couldn’t believe it! We came out fifth in the draw and got our first swim choice! It was just a matter of waiting for the rest of the anglers to get their swims sorted then off we set.
We soon found our way to the swim and, van unloaded, we set about coming up with some sort of plan to get the carp on the bank. With so many fish in front of us we thought it would be very easy. 12pm came around and the hooter blew for the start of the match. Out went our rigs and we stood behind the rods thinking they would be jumping in to life. We stood there and we stood there and nothing happened. Then we experienced that dreaded moment when you all of a sudden stop seeing the fish roll. Had we made the wrong decision with regards to the swim? It wasn’t until about 4:30pm when we got our first take and, a little scrap later, we were the first pair to catch. It was only a little one but it was still a start.
From then onwards things went a bit wrong for Stephen and myself as we some how managed to get six further takes only to loose five of them in the weed! We did get a 24LB carp landed, which took us into the night time in first place with two fish as no one else had caught. With the rods set for the night we crashed out a bit and waited for the carp to show us what they wanted.
The night seem to take for ever as we didn’t receive so much as a bleep on our alarms and, before we knew it, it was getting light and we hadn’t caught anything. This is normally a very bad thing on places like Brasenose 1, as anglers can catch a huge weight overnight. Once we had seen the marshals up and about we soon called them over to see what else had been caught and to our amazement there had not been a single carp out of the lake during the night.
We started to think ‘so what can we do to make things happen for us?’ We had tried zigs and bottom baits all of the previous day and the only things that we got takes on were zigs. We decided that zigs were the way to go, and work them hard! We kept an eye on other anglers, seeing what they were doing, and some of the good pairs were spodding a sloppy mix over zigs. Still, they had not caught anything so we decided to persist with zigs but with no other bait around them. The day went quickly as we were very busy trying all different depths, colours and areas for our zigs but nothing worked until we shortened a zig to about 4ft in 12ft of water. We got a take straight away. Could this be the answer? Fish in and rig back out we soon got another take, but we lost it in the weed. If you have ever fished zigs in a weedy water you will understand our frustration!
It wasn’t until about 6:30pm when we actually landed another carp but by this time we were being over taken by some of the other anglers and before we knew it we were in fourth place. It was still a qualifying place as four pairs out of 12 qualify, so not all bad. Evening soon became night and it was time to sort out our night time spots, hoping we could catch the others overnight, but again nothing was caught by anyone on the lake overnight.
Sunday, the final morning, soon broke and with it came horrible drizzly rain. Both Stephen and I sat trying to come up with a new plan when we heard from a marshal that a certain team were catching loads of carp.
With this news we hatched a plan, as we thought that the guys that were catching would be spodding over zigs. We soon found a spot at distance and set about casting lots of sloppy spod mix over our zigs. Within 10 minutes we were in to and playing a carp. We safely got this one in the net and sent the rig straight back out along with a couple of spods, then we had another take… Had we cracked it? Yes we had.
The morning flew past, seeing us get lots of take using this method, and we soon found ourselves back in third. At that moment then the hooter was blown signalling the end of the 48hr match and with a big cheer and a hug we both sat back. The relief was overwhelming, as we had made it, once again, to the final of the BCAC.
We would both like to thank Angling Direct, Fox International, and especially our runner (Stephen’s Dad) who kept us watered and feed for the match.
Now it’s time to prep for the final, which is due to be held at Wraysbury. This is sure to be a tough match, as it’s got four of the best pairs in England fishing. Nevertheless, we will work our hardest and, since this next match will be very different to Brasenose 1 and maybe only two or three fish will win – you never know.
Once again, thank you every one who has supplied us with bait, tackle and clothing for these matches.
All the best, tight lines
Paul Stevens and Stephen Crowe
