The hunt for a winter Carp. Part 1- Stafford Moor Fishery

Well February is well and truly here with weather patterns and temperatures all over the place. Such conditions are hardly inspiring to go fishing but even in February if you time your trips right you can have some good results. As I've mentioned in previous posts I myself like to change what species I'm fishing for depending on the conditions. This month however I have done anything but this as almost every session I have had on the bank this month has been after Carp.

Winter is not the best time for consistent Carp action but it is however a very rewarding time of year if you can motivate yourself to go out fishing for them. Carp often look more stunning at this time of year as they take on their "winter colours", they also are often at a very good weight. Most Carp at this time of year however will not be feeding heavily. They will instead be seeking shelter in snags, looking for areas of warmth and picking up odd items of food. With the Carp being more lethargic and not moving around the lake so much it is important to locate areas they may be holding. 

The choice of venue is therefore also very important if you are to have any success when fishing for Carp during the winter months. 

Our choice of venue for our first session this winter was known to have winter form and had done several fish in the weeks prior to our visit. This is just the kind of water that would offer the best chance for a winter bite. The venue was Beatties lake on the Stafford moor fishery complex. The lake itself is  decent size at 8 acres but is well stocked with 400 carp to 35 pounds. Having never fished the lake before we didn't really know what areas were going to be the best so a bit of hard observation and help from the owners would be needed to hopefully put us on fish from the start.
On arrival we headed straight into the shop to get the tickets and hopefully that much needed tip off on what the best areas were. After a long chat with the new owners of the complex they kindly advised us of what the best spots in the lake were. We then had a couple laps round the lake to see if the fish would give anything away to suggest anything different. They didn't.
So with the advice of the owners are only real thing to go off we set up in two comfy swims known as the summerhouse pegs in front of the luxury Stafford moor lodges. I would be fishing with Kev on this session with the pair of us just hopeful of getting some winter action. Kev's swim was the first swim which looked a lovely intimate area full of features. The swim had two islands, a small snaggy bay and deep open water to fish to. This would give Kev a number of options and areas to present a bait which was vital seeing as we had no previous lake knowledge to go off.
The swim I was in was to the right of Kev and looked more out onto the middle of the lake. The area had a large island to the right and a no fishing bank going to a point up the left hand margin. The swim allowed a good view of the lake which is important in winter as you can often spot tell tale signs of Carp if you keep your eyes peeled.
Happy with our swims we set up and started fishing with a cautious and varied approach. On any new water I have found it's important to not put all your eggs in one basket but also to stick to what you know works elsewhere. With this in mind I set up one rod on my ever faithful chod rig and the other on a small pva bag presentation. The chod rig would be cast out on the left hand side of my swim to the point of the no fishing bank. This was a noted area according to the fishery owner as just off the point was a depression that the Carp often hold up in. The rig was then followed by approximately 20 free offerings and the trap was set. The right hand rod was to be a searching rod with limited loose feed around it. I would be moving this rod consistently around the swim to try and locate the Carp. Often in winter bites can come quickly from fish that may be laying dormant when your bait just appears in front of them.
After we had got everything sorted it wasn't too long before the night had arrived. Long winter nights on the bank can sometimes become a bit boring and therefore I probably would advise taking something to keep yourself occupied while you wait for those alarms to start screaming. Me and Kev however had not done this and as we waited we began to get more frustrated by our lack of success even though it was winter and are rods hadn't been out that long!!
This restlessness was about to be numbed however when at about 9pm my left had rod shot off with an absolute screamer. The chod had done it again it seemed. The fish didn't really fight as it came in towards me very quickly. A short sharp battle of 5 minutes or so then saw the first winter Carp of the year in the back of the landing net. As I gazed over into the net I gave a bit of a girly "ooooooohh" as I looked down onto a very chunky mirror Carp.
Before taking the fish out of the water Kev quickly zeroed the scales and got everything ready as we knew we would want to weigh this one. We quickly put her on the mat and removed the hook which was nailed in the bottom lip. Kev lifted the sling and the dial shot round to a couple ounces over twenty pounds. Happy days!!!! What a great way to start the Carp fishing year.

20 pounder!! Stafford Moor

20 lb 2oz

We slipped the fish back into the lake and were now full of excitement and anticipation for the remainder of the night. This anticipation was soon heightened as Kev's rods began giving signs of fish. He began to get bleeps on both rods indicating fish were in the area and hitting his semi-slack lines. Kev was now on tender hooks and sat almost hovering over his rods awaiting a take.My rods however were motionless and it seemed as if I had just caught one fish out of the blue.
The night grew darker and colder so we settled down to try and get some kip. This didn't last long as my left hand rod again let rip another screaming run. Being awoken in the cold is not the easiest and I think my reactions were slow to say the least. By the time I had got to the rod the alarm had stopped. Not happy with what had happened I reeled in to find a decent size branch attached to my size 6 choddy hook. I had been well and truly done!!! How do they do it?
Kev had a very similar occurrence an hour later as his island rod let rip resulting in a fish crashing on the surface as it shot free of the area. Unfortunately ditching Kev's rig in the process. There were definitely fish about but this would turn out to be the last bit of action for the night as a hard frost soon set in.
With such a cold night I have to say I wasn't the quickest to get up in the morning. This is always a mistake however as first light can often be the best time to spot Carp. The night that had started so well had resulted in only the one Carp and although we had other chances we couldn't help but feel the chance of another fish had gone. With little movement on Beatties lake we set about a plan to fish one of the other lakes on the complex.
We reeled in our rods on Beatties grabbed some bait and headed up the hill to a lake neither of us had seen before. The lake was "Jospeh's" and is the second specimen Carp water on the Stafford moor complex. As we arrived on the lake we could see that there were already a significant number of anglers set up and fishing for the larger number of Carp that were present in this lake. Not letting this deter us we set off on a walk round the lake. The lake was beautiful in its own right and full of character. Plenty of islands leading to sheltered bays with snaggy margins. It looked the perfect place to hold big Carp.
After seeing the beauty of Joseph's lake and some tell tale signs of feeding fish in the snags we headed back to Beatties to collect our gear. As there wasn't long left in the session we headed up to Joseph's with the minimum amount of gear possible. The tactics would be similar to those used on Beatties a light scattering of boillies accompanied by a handful of corn. The rigs had to be changed slightly however as the Chod rig which is usually fished on a slack line would not be suitable for such snaggy conditions. It is important to fish locked up when fishing against snags as any give in your set up could be the difference between landing and loosing a fish.
With the spot and tactics all sorted we were full of confidence. Our confidence was soon justified as literally minutes after setting up Kev landed his first fish of the session. It wasn't the largest of Carp but was a proper little stunner and certainly made Kev smile.

Joseph's Lake Mirror

Kev returned his fish and we were both happy that we had made the correct choice in moving onto Joseph's as the lake just looked a lot more alive. I had not even cast a rig into the swim yet but when I did I didn't have to wait long!! As I was adjusting the bobbin on the rod after casting out the line literally shot out my hand. I was into my first Joseph's Carp about 20 seconds after making my first cast into the lake!! The fish dogged it out in the middle before trying to ditch the hook in the snaggy margins. The fish was soon in the net and I had caught a nice little 12lb mirror.

12lb Joseph's Mirror

What a buzz to hook a fish so quickly after casting out. The surge of quick action did have a knock on affect though as we struggled to get a bite from the snaggy area for another couple of hours. With the sport slowing down I decided to try a rod out into the main area of the lake. This change in area rewarded me with a nice little mirror within about 10 minutes of casting out.

Stafford Moor Stunner

I slipped the fish back and decided to pack that rod down as the light was now fading. Just as I put the fish back my other rod that was still fishing to the snags screamed off!!! Get in!!! The culprit was another Mirror of the mark simmons strain. The fish weighed in at 11 pounds and was a nice way to finish the day.

Stafford Moor Double

It had been a very enjoyable 24 hours at Stafford moor and we were rewarded in total with 5 Carp between us. Not bad going for February!! The complex certainly does offer a lot of variety in terms of species to fish for and lakes to fish. We may have only managed to tempt one of the Beatties beasts on the session but the Joseph's stock were more than happy to show them selves. It just goes to show in the winter Carp can be caught, you have just got to choose your venue and find them fish!!! 

Tight lines!!!

A look back at 2014. Part 1-The years first target.

Right then lets get things started and may I wish you all a very happy new year! As well as good luck for 2015. It wouldn't be the new year though without some reflection on the year that has just passed and that's exactly what I am going to do for my first few posts. Partly because I haven't had much time to get out on the bank recently due to the joy's of work. Never the less 2014 was actually a great year personally for me angling wise. I managed a number of personal bests in 2014 and to be honest would probably call it one of my best fishing years ever.
At the start of 2014 I had a number of angling objectives and the first one of those was to catch a personal best Perch. With my personal best Perch being a little over 2lb this objective on paper did not look too difficult. The first choice I had to make however was venue. The good thing about Perch is they can literally be found almost anywhere from ponds to rivers and canals to lakes. But would a big Perch be so easy to track down? With the use of the power of the Internet I managed to find some reports of 3lb plus Perch being caught from a venue in Devon. The venue was Stafford moor fishery in Winkleigh approximately 40 minutes drive from my house.
Stafford moor is a commercial fishery with a number of different lakes on site. The lake I would be targeting however was known as the "Pines". A week or so after reading up on these monster Perch and the best methods to catch them I headed off early accompanied by my good friend Kevin Dobson to see if we could connect with one of these big Stafford moor stripeys. On arrival we were presented with a stunning lake that just screamed Perch!! A look from the car park revealed a tree lined pool with a number of islands, snaggy margins and reed beds. From what I've learnt from my own angling and what I had read a Perch paradise! The issue was however, where do you start? Luckily the choice was made easier for us, as a quick walk around revealed that these Perch were being quite heavily targeted. So we decided to set up in a central area of the lake both swims with a number of areas to fish to.
I began setting up two rods for the Perch. The first a simple float set up on which I would be fishing a small worm in  my near margin to the right of my swim. Looking down to the right there was a large tree with a bush coming off the stump, this looked the ideal place to present a bait. The second rod was set up with a equally simple running ledger rig, which I decided to bait with a larger lob worm tipped by a couple of red maggots. This rig was to be cast to the margin of a island opposite and for bite indication placed on a delkim alarm system. During my research on the species I had read that Perch are very sensitive to bite resistance and when ledgering tension should be kept to an absolute minimum. The best method for this is to fish with your bale arm open and your line in a clip or under and elastic band down to a very light bobbin.
So with both rods set up and spots found I began fishing,the session started with bites from the word go. Albeit these bites were from Roach, Skimmers and small Perch. It wasn't till mid day until the first bleeps on the alarm was heard soon followed by a full blown take! As I hit into the fish I knew straight away that it was no Perch! After a short but hard battle a small mirror Carp came to the surface and was slipped over the net. This was obviously going to become one of the main issues with targeting the Perch, how to avoid the other species.

Not getting disheartened by my lack of success with the Perch I carried on with my initial game plan. I was constantly tinkering with hook baits on my float presentation as my margin swim had now become absolutely alive with fish! At about 4pm though this all changed as the swim went stone dead. Confused by what had happened I did think maybe a group of Perch had moved in and spooked the other fish. This time I wasn't wrong and after changing my hook to accommodate a larger worm I was rewarded with a Perch of a pound and a half almost instantly!

It was the biggest Perch of the day so far and things were looking up. I couldn't wait to get the rod back in the water and this again was justified as on the very next cast I connected with what felt like a much bigger Perch. A hard and jagged fight indicated this was a decent fish and as it popped to the surface my heart began to race, it just looked enormous! I quickly shouted to Kev but with no reply I could only assume he had fallen in or asleep. Not worrying about that I quickly put the net under the fish and she was mine. As I looked down in the net I thought to myself "Well that's the biggest Perch I've ever seen" so surely it was mission achieved and the personal best beaten. I took the fish round to Kev in the swim next door to find as predicted he was asleep. So after giving him a nudge we weighed the fish to confirm it was a pb at 2 lb 12 oz. Not the biggest in the lake but It felt like it was to me and I didn't care.

After a few pictures and a shake of the hand from Kev I returned the fish just stunned by how impressive it looked.As has been said previously a big Perch really is "the biggest fish of all". By this time though the light had almost gone and I packed up my gear a very happy man.
A week or so passed by and I was still buzzing from my big Stafford moor Perch, so much so that even though the objective for 2014 of a pb Perch had been reached I couldn't wait to go back and try for an even bigger fish. So I gave Kev a quick ring to see if he was up for it and unfortunately he was heading out on the town that night so didn't fancy it. This made me re-think a little as it was a long way to go on my own as I was a little tight for cash at the time. In the end however I just decided lets go for it! So the following morning I jumped in the car and was off to Stafford moor for the second time in two weeks.
On arrival I could see once again that pines was very busy with anglers but there were still some spots free. I jumped straight in a swim a couple down from where I had my perch the previous week which was unfortunately occupied. The new swim was a lot more open then the previous but was located in front of a gap in between two snaggy islands. The methods would be exactly the same as the previous week with two rods. One a ledger rig and one a float rig. The baits this time however would be slightly different, as after watching a lot more videos on you tube about targeting Perch a bait which I hadn't yet tried was brought to my attention. That bait was the Prawn. Prawns have become a phenomenal bait for perch in commercial fisheries and now some of the best catches of Perch have been on this cheap and readily available bait. I decided to do something a bit different with my prawns however and flavoured them up with a Carp bait additive. The prawns had now gone a blood red colour and just oozed attraction. Could this have been the bait for another massive stripey?

 The flavoured prawn hook bait would be presented on my ledger rig which was to be cast in between two adjacent islands, a spot were I believed a big Perch could ambush its prey as they pass through.
The float rod would be fished similarly to last session in my own margin with maggots and worms for bait.
The session started in a very similar fashion to the previous with bites instantly on the float presentation, the fish this week however were of a much better stamp and I was taking quality Roach and Skimmers on the maggot right out of the edge. Some Perch then got in on the action and I caught about 5 to just over the pound and a half mark. It was good fishing but I couldn't help but want to see another of those big Perch in the net again.
During this time the ledger rod had remained without a bleep and I began to doubt the effectiveness of the prawn hook bait. I decided to leave it tough and continued to spray pouches of maggots over the area in an attempt to liven up the spot. Then in true fishing style as I was happily eating my lunch thinking not much was happening the alarm burst into action. A bizarre indication with the bobbin coming right to the top then dropping the rising again. I hit into the fish and was pleasantly surprised by the resistance felt on the end! From the way the bite developed I felt certain it was a Bream or a small Perch. As the fish began to jag and shake its head my thoughts went back to last weeks fish however this fish had a lot more power. A battle of a few minutes followed until eventually the sun hit the stripes on the flank of what looked like an even bigger Perch!! The fish just looked ridiculous!! Now shaking like a leaf I grabbed for the net terrified it was going to drop off! But luckily she went in the net first time. Amazed by what was in my net I sat back and smiled. Next thing I knew however a angler from up the bank had seen the commotion and come down to see what I had caught. It was Christopher Lambert who I had met on the bank previously and whose blog I had been reading for a number of years. Chris kindly got the scales and we weighed the fish. I didn't look as I was certain it was another pb. Chris said "Well its a three" and I literally went into melt down and was just so chuffed! He turned the scales to reveal the fish was indeed just a little over the 3lb mark. What a moment and one I will never forget. My first three pound Perch. The next moments went in a bit of a blur as Chris and his friend kindly took some photos for me and showed me a little trick in keeping the perch's fin up for those trophy shots. It wasn't long though before I was returning the fish by hand back into the murky depths of the pines. I grabbed the phone and began to tell everyone what I had caught. Most of whom probably thought I was mad!! Kev called to congratulate me on the fish and probably wished he was there to see it but there would always be next time. Once again the light quickly faded and it was time to go, but if it was even possible I went home more content than the previous week. The objective of a big perch now really was fulfilled.

Tight Lines!!!