A New Water, A New Carp Fishing Challenge - Rob Shanks

This entry was posted on 8th April, 2014

I haven’t put pen to paper for a while because quite simply between November and March I have been doing very little fishing and probably accumulated 10 hours behind the rods and an equal amount walking the banks. With the New Year came a new challenge, which is the main contributor along with a nasty chest infection to my lack of angling. This year I’ve joined a new and very different venue from my last and the season kicked off early February along with the atrocious wet and windy weather and the flooded, bleak, muddy banks all but killed my motivation to get out on by the waters edge. I could have returned to the Coston syndicate but the repeat captures were starting to mount up and I just felt like it was devaluing my previous captures and more importantly taking captures away from others. So I decided to do the honourable thing in the light of the fact I knew I was leaving and leave the guys up to it. I thoroughly enjoyed my angling over there and I’ve left a few jewels that just maybe one day, I’ll go back and attempt to add to my photo album, but it was ta ta for now with fond memories and a PB common under my belt.



My new venue couldn’t be any different to my previous if it wanted too, rather than be a commercial fishery it is located on farmland in the wilds of Norfolk, has a very small, friendly and publicity shy syndicate. It has a rich local history, having produced a few large fish in the past and as recent as 2011, so is dripping with an element of the un-known and it this that draws me frantically to fish it. It’s the type of venue that makes you feel almost like your intruding upon the abundance of wildlife that call it home.

My first few visits to the venue were short exploratory trips, a few hours here and there to try and soak up the atmosphere and hopefully along the way learn a little bit about its inhabitants. As expected it wasn’t until the weather started to warm towards the middle of March that I got my first sightings of a few fish in the edge and what a great feeling it was. Having spent most of the winter cooped up, it was nice to feel the warmth of the suns rays whilst glaring through a set of Polaroid’s hanging precariously through a set of brambles. From that moment my enthusiasm was ignited and took off full throttle like a carp shaped exorcist missile. So now I’d found a few it was time to try and put the next part of the plan into action and actually try and put one into the folds of my landing net.



The fish were starting to visit a shallow out of bounds area and with a bit of warm whether forecast I decided to fish the entrance to the out of bounds with a couple of rods in the hope of intercepting any passing fish in the shallow water. I was full of confidence to be honest but by the end of the day this had soon been obliterated having spent many hours watching a shoal of carp fizzing and colouring up the water a mere forty yards to my left as they buried their heads into the silt in the safety of the out of bounds. If I had any hair, I’d have pulled it out but instead I decide to give them a free meal. I planned in my head to return a few days later for the evening, so I gave them a good five or six kilo’s of Sticky baits vortex in the entrance of the out of bounds in the hope it would build there confidence enough to pick up a hook bait on my return. The plan worked a treat and on my return within a few hours fishing I managed to hook and land my first carp from the venue, a lovely 23lb mirror with lovely golden sovereign scales running half way along it’s flank  The fish stayed in this area for around a week and a half. I managed another quick day session a week later but the conditions were far from ideal and I blanked but another large hit of Vortex was spread in the entrance when I left for safe measure.



My next trip was planned as more of social session with a friend who’d been away in States for a few weeks and by luck more than judgement the weather had turned warm again. Arriving on a Sunday afternoon I quickly went for a catch up with Chris who was already down and plotted up in an area named the point. It was obvious why he’d set up in the area as it looked superb with a nice and surprising mild easterly ripple blowing straight into him and pushing through the channel to his left, it looked very good for a bite. We decided to go and have a good mooch around the whole complex including one of the other lakes before getting too settled down. An hour or more later we arrived back in the point where we started, we’d seen a few fish but not enough numbers to convince us to fish elsewhere. I was a little undecided where to set up so I bid Chris fare well and walked the track to the car park to fetch my kit from the Van. As I approached the van and for no reason at all I turned and looked at the lake.



In that spilt second a big golden common launched itself skyward like a performing dolphin out towards the middle of the lake. I packed the barrow in double quick time and pushed my way to the swim that covered the area. I Phoned Chris and he confirmed that he’d seen another four or five shows whilst I was scrambling around in the back of my Van getting my kit together. Chris could also hit the distance from his swim so the decision was made we’d both fish a rod in the general direction of the area, slightly short to give ourselves both a chance. I kept things simple dispatching a couple of Sticky Baits Vortex pop-ups on hinge stiff rigs to the area. These where made up from a Short section of Fox 25lb Rigidity Hook length tied to a Fox SR size 5 hook. The boom section was a short section of Coretex Brown and the whole lot was fished on a rotary style helicopter set up.



I was worried that the disturbance might move them on so I didn’t put any freebies out for a few hours until dusk, by which time I’d seen another carp give it’s presence away sloshing over in the mild breeze, so I was confident a few had stayed in the area. I lightly sticked ten to fifteen baits over the area as the light faded, nice and wide not to concentrate the disturbance. The next bit and the bit I seem to find hardest was to sit back and enjoy the atmosphere, it was the first time I’d venture out for a night and it was incredibly mild as I tucked into my Tomato and mozzarella pasta bake and by around 9.30pm I was shattered from all the walking, so I hit the sack early planning on getting up at the crack of dawn to watch the water. I was dragged from my slumber by a screaming micron at around 10.30pm as something picked up my right hand rod and made of with it at high speed, sending me scrambling. I was quickly on it in a flash and as I struggle with my chest waders it weeded me up.

A bit of steady force had it moving and other than a bit of kiting to my right it was ready for the waiting net, I waded out into the shallow margins and in she went in first time of asking, a lovely old mirror carp of 24.08lb lay in the bottom of my net. I was pleased as punch and I didn’t mind that the rest of the night passed without any further action for me, although my friend Chris also manage to get his carp, bream, gudgeon and duck account open for the season, much to my amusement. We both left happy boys on the Monday morning, although very tired after we had to endure two horny male swans chasing each other about till the early hours, the joy’s of spring!!!



The Tackle Box Daiwa Tournament Reels Fox Horizon Rods 12’ 6” - 3.5lb TC Fox Coretex Brown 20lb Fox SR Hooks size 5 Sticky Baits Vortex Boilies Sticky Baits Vortex 16mm Pop-ups