Now spring is finally here after such a long cold spell! It has been a real struggle to “nick” a bite from the lakes I have been fishing. Despite this, I have had some great days fishing over the past few months – cold but constructive. I am currently fishing a small complex of lakes in Yateley. These consist of a match lake (heavily stocked with small carp and silver fish), and a middle lake (around 2.5 acres gin clear with a smallish head of carp ranging from doubles to a prize common of over 30lb). The carp in this lake are very “savvy”, rig-shy and most of all, heavily fished for. The third lake (known as the Specimen Lake) is classed as very difficult by most members. Its multitude of shaggy and inaccessible areas which the carp hold up in for long periods mean that some anglers have fished all season without a fish.

I have been pre-baiting two likely feeding spots for around two weeks on the middle lake. I have been using BBQ Sardine and Oyster 15mm boilies with Ocean Fresh natural carp food pellet mix as a back ground feed. I have pre-baited every morning and every night religiously on my way to and from work, scattering around 30 baits (plus a handful of pellets) every day in each area. I have been trying to encourage the fish to feed confidently in these areas. As yet, I have not fished these spots since I started pre-baiting in a bid to gain the confidence of the crafty, wary carp.

On a mild afternoon in mid-March, after pre-baiting for two weeks, I finally decided to fish my spots for the rest of the day and into the evening using single hook baits. I hoped the carp would return for a feed. After pulling into the car park, I unloaded my gear onto my wheelbarrow - I travel very light but I hate to “lug it”.  As I neared the lake I could see a bivvy in the swim I wanted to fish, and another three anglers on this very small lake. From experience, I know that once there are two or three anglers present, all chucking bait and leads in, that’s it for a small venue such as this.  What would be a good strategy? I believe it is imperative to be as mobile as possible when I fish. I decided to take a very slow walk around the Specimen Lake, stop and quietly sit in each swim with my Polaroid’s and binoculars to look for any signs of fish. I knew this was a tall order to find them as hardly any fish had been out of this lake all winter. They were not yet woken up from their winter state. I moved from swim to swim searching for signs of fish and eventually, after around 2 hrs, I spotted three bubbles off the end of an island about 4 ft from the tip. I sat quietly with my gear still on the barrow and waited for more evidence of their presence. After two or three minutes, another couple of bubbles broke the surface. I decided rather than chuck a load of bait into the swim I would try maximum attraction with minimal bait and disturbance. I set up a rod with an ultra fine NASH limpet leader. Using a 2oz inline square pear lead on a shocker rig (and knowing how shy these fish are) I coupled this with a 10lb IQ soft hooklink. For bait, I used two critically balanced rubber sweet corn grains and a size 10 KURV SHANK hook. For attraction, I made up a small mesh PVA bag filled with natural carp bait pellets with bloodworm & shrimp and a small amount of ocean fresh Method Mix, plus some finely chopped 15 mm BBQ Sardine & Oyster boilies -around the size of a 50 pence piece. I soaked this in BBQ Sardine & Oyster amino liquid food dip for a minute or so and then cast this stealthy little set-up into the area hoping not to spook the carp. After slackening off my line, I decided only to fish the one rod to keep disturbance to a minimum. I continued to watch for any signs of fish which might be still feeding. A small stream of bubbles suddenly appeared within a couple of feet from my bait. “Great!” I thought.  I had not spooked them out of the swim. I hovered over my rod waiting and waiting for some action. Then after around ten to fifteen minutes, a carp leapt out of the water like a torpedo and at that exact moment, my buzzer roared into life bang! I was into a real scrappy carp which took me first up the channel to my right, then under an overhanging tree.  I feared for my IQ hook length at this point but I applied steady pressure with my rod tip under the water and I steadily began to gain some line and pull it out into the open. After around five minutes, I had the beauty in the bottom of my net and, as you can see from the photos, it’s a real stunner! It may not have been a monster but, as hardly any fish had been out for a long time, I was over the moon.

Spence Lunn