We're now in early July and I haven't Carp fished or indeed done any Freshwater fishing since April when we had our final sessions on our little water. Once the weather began to warm and Sea temperatures rose to an ideal level the Carp gear was put away and we moved on to some Saltwater fishing. This is a normal pattern for myself and my fishing friends which might sound strange to many Carp anglers, especially those that hang up their gear for the winter. There is no doubt that Carp are easier to catch during the summer months but I have always found it less of a challenge. That probably sounds like an arrogant statement, and it is in a way, but I have always said I have a short attention span when it comes to fishing and once I have achieved a target I get bored and feel the need to move on. Now living where I do on an Island, the challenges are limited as far as freshwater and Carp fishing goes and I hate going over old ground again and again. It isn't an easy thing for me to travel to new destinations both logistically and financially so I have to look elsewhere for those challenges and the Saltwater that I am surrounded by holds plenty of those hence why I hang up the Carp rods for the summer. Having said all that, all this fishing takes a lot of planning and usually I am thinking months ahead, so through the late winter and early spring I am preparing for the summer and usually about this time of year I start to think about my Autumn and winter fishing whilst still pursuing my summer targets. I won't write about my current summer exploits here as I want to keep this blog about the Coarse side
of things but if you are interested you can catch up with them here : https://saltwaterflyfishingdiary.blogspot.com/
So what are my plans for later in the year?
Last Autumn saw me visit the famous Yateley complex with a particular interest in the Match lake, an extremely challenging water for many reasons and made all the harder by not being able to spend much time there. I only managed a couple of trips for various reasons which was less than I was planning on, but the two trips that I did do were very interesting and I did learn a few things. I have outlined them in the previous posts and I hope to return for some more sessions this Autumn and winter. I will however be making my first trip earlier than last year whilst it is still relatively warm to give myself at least a fairly decent chance of learning more about the lakes residents and their movements and feeding habits. I will be taking what I learned on the two previous trips and implementing that knowledge in my baiting situations and presentation. I don't like to move too far out of my comfort zone when it comes to how I fish wherever I go, and I have a few tried and tested presentations that I am confident in but will be making small adjustments for this particular water...
Travelling for my fishing is nothing new to me and is something I have always done and I have managed to be fairly successful on some quite challenging waters up and down the country, so I am not daunted by the prospect of this particular water. Carp are Carp and they have to feed at some point, if you're there when they do then you stand a chance of catching them, if you're not there then you won't. That's the way I look at it anyway, if you've got a bait in the water you stand as much chance as anyone else, more so if you look, listen, and learn. Cagey they may be and as I discovered on my first trip, they are clever enough to get away with it on a regular basis but eventually they will make a mistake.
The biggest issue for me is the amount of kit needed for these long sessions, 48 - 72 hours is quite a long time and logistically a total pain. I am a far better short session angler and always have been. I like to be mobile, and focused but with 3 tons of gear that is impossible! So this is something I am going to be looking at. I moved a couple of times on the last Yateley trip and I was completely exhausted by the time I'd finished! I aim to be more mobile, even if it means leaving food and drink etc. in the car and not carrying it with me, at least I can fish off the barrow then and be much more mobile if I need to be.
I'm still a few weeks away from any of that at the moment and will be continuing my Saltwater fishing both in the meantime and in between any Carp sessions that I manage to do.
On another note:
As part of my tackle business I have introduced a small range of low cost Terminal tackle bits for Carp fishing, all of which I use myself and have done for some time and have been very successful whilst using it. The range includes Semi translucent rig bits such as Tube, Lead Clips, Beads etc. I am a huge fan of this type of end tackle as I believe it is much harder for the Carp to detect it and it blends in far better with most lake bottoms than some of the solid coloured stuff on the market The range is based on over 30 years of Carp fishing experience. Along with this I am stocking the superb new VMC range of Carp hooks. Again I have extensively trialled this range and I am of the opinion they are amongst the best hooks I have ever used. If you are interested please visit the Ebay shop and have a look at the range, if you make a purchase and aren't happy for any reason I will give you your money back, no questions asked!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/saltwaterandpredatorflies/Carp-fishing/_i.html?_storecat=11809259015
Until next time tight lines and Thanks for reading!
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