On a recent holiday session I found out just why anglers can get so immersed in fishing for Carp. The highs and the lows of Carp fishing make it very exciting for one. However more importantly and what I learnt after my weeks fishing was you can never stop learning about Carp.
My years Carp fishing to date had be a largely successful one, I had managed to catch several nice sized fish from a number of different venues. This meant I was full of confidence leading up to my years big fishing trip. The trip was to take place at Furzebray lakes in Devon where five of us had hired the island lake for an entire week on the bank.
The island lake at Furzebray is an amazing little lake. It has mature trees lining its border and several features dotted around the lake. With only eight swims there is also lots of water and options for the visiting angler. Perhaps what is more astonishing about this venue however is it's stock. With a little over 130 fish in the water the angler has plenty of chance for bites. More impressively however is that these fish grow in excess of 40 pounds! It is for these reasons why Furzebray has become one of the most popular day ticket venues in the south west.
Having previously visited Furzebray a number of years ago I knew exactly what the lake is like and what magic it can produce. On my previous visit I was lucky enough to catch my personal best Mirror at the time which weighed exactly 24 pounds. The fish was known as "Star" and since then was piled on the weight becoming one of the A-team and one of the lakes many thirties!
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| "Star" 24lb. Furzebray Lakes. |
With the confidence of having banked a Carp from the lake before I did not worry too much about how I was going to approach the venue for the week, instead planning to fish to my strengths. In saying this heated discussion had occurred weeks prior to the trip between the five of us as to what were the best methods and swims to choose.
This debate ended however on our day of arrival. After a meet up and catch up in the car park we eagerly walked around the lake to see what the crack was. With a number of anglers still on we were able to gauge how the lake was fishing. Several fish had been out over the weekend but all in all the lake was fishing tricky and looking a bit peggy. The draw for swims therefore would be vital.
We then had a chat with the owner Tony who was very helpful in terms of tactics and spots. Tony also aided us with the draw which went as follows-
1-John (Point)
2-Chris (Jezzers)
3-Kevin (Lawns)
4-Jack (Aquarium)
5-Steve (Inlet)
With everyone happy with their swim choices the race was on to get sorted and baits in the water. From observation of the water it was clear there were a lot of fish present at the windward end of the lake in an area known as the lawns and secret. I myself was the next swim back up the lake so felt I too would have fish in front of me. But could I catch them?
The first few hours flew by with not much to report, the weather was sunny and a strong breeze began to hack down the lake. My tactics had been to pre-bait a spot on the far margin with the house bait and then fish it during the hours of darkness. The rig I was going to use for this would be my ever faithful chod rig as it had done me a lot of fish already this year.
It was that evening when we saw the first signs of fish activity, The snag located to my left had what looked to be a number of fish round it. This was made more obvious by what appeared to be fish banging into the tree stump and rubbing up against it. After seeing this activity for about half hour I decided it was time to cast a rig over towards it. This proved to be a smart move as 15 minutes later the rod was away with the first fish of the trip! It was a beautiful woodcarving of a Mirror at a little over 18lbs. What a way to start the trip!
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| 18lb Mirror Furzebray |
A great way to start but was it really going to be that easy? The answer to that question was a resounding no. The next two days were perhaps some of the most frustrating days Carp fishing I have had. Keeping with the same approach I often had fish pass through the area without indication. I was not the only one suffering from this frustration however as Kev in the lawns had what appeared to be the entire stock of the lake sat in front of him. His frustration has then heightened by a loss of a fish which appeared to be a lump in the weed.
So why were these two days so difficult? When observing the stock at this end of the lake it was apparent that 90% of their time was spent off the bottom and chilling out in the weed. Feeding was not really high on the fishes agenda at this time and therefore a cautious baiting and fishing approach was required. Almost certainly my own chances for this period had been ruined by over-baiting, a tactic I had hoped however would come good later in the week.
Kev's chances I feel were hampered by poor line lay over the weed in front of him, this was putting the fish on edge in the area and less inclined to feed freely. With this said however the following morning Kev's rod rattled off again and this time he won the battle. The fish was another Mirror at a little over 16lbs in weight.
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| 16lb Mirror, Furzebray Carp Lakes. |
Kevin was obviously happy to be off the mark but remained frustrated by the loss of the fish in the weed the day before. That's fishing for you though! Another thing with fish is that they can often be like buses as not long after Kev returned his fish, Jack at the other end of the lake had one on! Jack's fish summed up the Furzebray stock entirely though as it was an absolute stunning fully scaled Mirror of 19lbs 12oz.
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| 19lb Fully from Furzebray Lakes |
To be fair to Jack he had not had the same frustrations of seeing a lot of un-catchable Carp but instead had the frustrations of being in an area of the lake that at times seemed empty of fish. He therefore had only lightly baited the area which seemed to be key in the capture of this stunning Carp.
The day had got off to a flier and suddenly what was a very frustrated and deflated set of anglers seemed to burst into life again. These Carp which appeared to be un-catchable were catchable again.
That evening it was John's turn to get off the mark in what was the lakes most productive swim in the past weeks. John's tactics were simple solid bags over a light scattering of bait towards the island. That night his tactics rewarded him with the biggest fish on the trip so far a quality mirror of 25lbs +.
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| 25lb Mirror from Furzebray |
It was now the middle of the week and 4 of the 5 of us had caught which was a good sign for things to come. The next couple of day's however we would get a massive helping hand from the weather.
A change in pressure and a change in conditions saw a flurry of fish landed. John with a stunning mid-double and myself with an absolute belting linear of 20lbs!
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| 16lb Mirror from the point |
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| 20lb Stunning Linear Mirror from Furzebray Lakes |
But was it all to do with the weather? I certainly didn't think so as I had changed tactics in my swim. After a morning of fish fizzing all over my popped up boilies I decided a change was in order. With the bottom being quite hard clay at Furzebray were the choddies just to blatant? After all if the fish were being riggy and picky whilst not feeding hard a bait sat 2 inches off the bottom could quite easily be singled out and ignored. So that evening I switched to the most simple bottom bait presentations imaginable which incorporated a pva bag of 4 whole boilies. I was now fishing and feeding the exact same bait and thought to myself why don't I do this more often? It has almost become unfashionable to fish with a boilie straight from the bag but I for sure won't ignore them now.
John's approach was similar as he was using a standard bottom bait on the hair however inside a small bag of crumb. What was more interesting however was that baits had to be left in the water for a significant period of time before a bite. Almost as if the fish knew that fresh bait was a danger. All thoughts running through are heads as we tried to outwit these crafty Carp.
The next morning the rain was battering down when I was awoken by a vibrant John saying "I've got another one" and "Its a twenty". Just what you like to hear! Anyway I wandered out in the rain to John's swim were resting in the margins I could see the back of a fish that not only looked twenty but much much more! As soon as we put the fish on the mat it became quite apparent that the fish John had caught was one of the lakes monsters and an easy thirty pounder! With all of us in a bit of a buzz we weighed the fish and the dial slammed round to 32 pounds!!! What a result for John as it was his new pb! A chat with Tony later in the day revealed the fish was a character known as "Sovereign" which had yet to be caught post-spawning. What a moment and what a fish. John had outwitted what appeared to be some ultra-crafty Carp and done so in style. I will let the photo's tell you the rest!
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| "Sovereign" 32lb Furzebray Lakes |
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| 32lb Mirror Furzebray |
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| John's new pb "Sovereign" 32 |
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| Returning a 30 pounder |
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| Think that ones worth getting wet for. |
The rest of the day flew by with all of us buzzed by John's capture. Have you ever met or are you friends with anyone that just has an un-canny knack of catching big fish? Because that's exactly John to all of us that fish with him!
So the rain had brought a change of fortune and it now seemed like anything was possible. Feeling more confident in my change of approach I switched both rods to bottom baits and began baiting the area more heavily hoping for that big feed up. I then proceeded to rest the area for a few hours so the fish could gain their confidence. As I rested the swim I sat and chatted with John in the point staring down the lake. This time was not wasted as the fish began to show like dolphins all over the place! Over the couple hours we must have saw twenty shows many of which were straight over my dad Steve's rigs in the swim next door. In fairness his swim had seen little to no activity to this point and he therefore had not yet got off the mark. This all changed though as his chod rig got snaffled by another stunning mid-double mirror.
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| Mid-Double Mirror Furzebray Lakes |
We had now all managed to catch at least one fish from the lake that in all honesty so far had given us a battering and tested are Carp fishing skills to the limit. Seeing this action I couldn't resist going back to my swim and casting a rod to the showing fish. Resting the swim had definitely payed off as after just half hour the same rod was away. So are the fish aware when we are fishing for them? Are fish less inclined to feed with lines in the water? Or was this just a coincidence? Never the less in my eyes the plan had worked and I was rewarded with another 20lb + Mirror.
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| 20lb Mirror Carp. Furzebray Lakes. |
Again after returning the fish I thought I've cracked it! How wrong I was. With a day and a half of the trip left I felt certain that the spot would go from strength to strength. Which actually it did, I just couldn't take advantage. The Carp were now visiting the spots in the swim regularly but the rigs were being sussed just as regular. Violent indications suggested that the Carp were now feeding so cautiously that they were able to shake out the hook. It was at this point when I made a massive error. I decided to not change the rig. Now you may say "Why fix what isn't broke?" but actually for the current situation it was broke. When the fish were feeding aggressively the presentation was more than enough to slip them up but now a more effective hooking mechanism was necessary.
This remained the case right until the end of the trip and the Carp had gone back to doing what they did at the start of the trip "Mugging us right off!!!".
So there it was a weeks fishing was over. What a week it was though. The highs and lows of Carp fishing all experienced over the week. Furzebray really proved it's self as a great Carp fishing venue for a true Carp angler. As the week made me learn there's more to Carping then chucking and chancing. The true Carp angler has to think like a Carp and perhaps that's why a hobby often turns into an obsession!
Tight lines!!
