A few weeks ago we had been watching the river closely, dripping the bait in every few days. Conditions weren’t perfect we’ve had no rain for over 2 weeks and things were looking tough, then i saw the weather forecast horrahh!  lots of rain and low pressure, as soon as the weather came we knew it was the perfect opportunity. But we only had 24 hours, so we had to get working, after feeding a few spots over the last few weeks and watching the water closely i knew where the carp were. we set the traps, i was choosing to fish bright snowman rigs in small solid bags, has been a proven affective method for the river.  As nightfall came my right rod screamed off, resulting in a 12lb scaly mirror. As i settled down for the night and tried to get some sleep, an hour later i was woken my a slow ticking run in the same rod, and on the bank with a 10lb common. Then late into the night just before 4am, i had a take on my margin rod, after a long battle i landed a 13lb lovely dark common. Session was successful, just wish we could of had more time, and still in search of the elusive 2o+ river carp.

A day trip to Blythe waters, ended up with a good few doubles each and biggest at 18lb 7oz. caught on snowman rigs with small pva mesh bags fished at around 50 yards to the back reeds. good trip and hopefully a 20+ next time.

This year we headed over to Redmill lake in northern France, a beautiful 300 year old estate lake which has a head of 30′s 40′s and even a few 50′s. After me and my mate briggsy had chosen our pegs and settled in for the first night we realised there were some monsters in the lake, as i quote ” it sounded like someone was throwing pigs into the lake” the next morning came with no success, and we realised that there were a large head of catfish, which from that point of me and briggsy changed tactics. I went for the approach of heavily baiting one area and fishing a rod on it which could pick carp and catfish up, when placing the remaining rods around as the carp tend to feed on the outside of the baited area. compared to briggsy who went for a more subtle approach of using the boat to place his rigs under trees and obstructions to where he had seen carp bubbling. As the holiday continued the carp and cats came on to the bank from the both of us, but my tactic had ended up picking up more cats than carp, and visa versa for briggsy. By the end of  the holiday i had 10 cats and 1 carp and briggsy finished on 6 carp and 5 cats, a new pb carp for the both of us, as we both brought a 40lb + on the bank. we were fishing mainly with mainline bolies ( lots of them) with a pellet and particle mix over the top. overall i good weeks fishing and would love to return and give it another stab

These last couple of weeks with the river season here, i have been fishing it alot, with a couple of friends. we have had a number of carp recently, the only negative is that they have not been any particular size. When it comes to tactics i am fishing tight to the far bank or the near bank, the carp have mainy been caught off snowman rigs, or balanced baits. I tend to use solid pva bags as well. Here are some recent capture pictures.

This weekend i did 24hours down dog lane, the session started of slow with no carp until 5am, it was only 5lb. Through the day the hot weather brought the carp into the the margins and to the surface and i have 7 other carp, all under 10lb though. I had them mainly, on the good old beach caster rig and small pva bags with 10mm tutti fruity pop ups on. Towards the end of the day when it started to cool down, i jumped into a swim which became free, and within the last half an hour i had this 14lb ghost carp, not massive but still a decent fish to end the session.

Redmill is beautiful old estate lake, stuffed with big carp and nice surrondings. im aiming for a 40+

Over the last few weeks ive been having a look at the river and things are looking good for the season ahead. i have started my baitng strategy allready, im putting 5kg of pellits and boilies out twice a week, over a few different spots. Its not cheap but hopefully i will reap the rewards over the summer. i will keep you updated

over the winter and early spring i have been fishing a runs water near me called dog lane, i have fishied it on off for about 3 years, and had carp up to 23lb. since the owner swaped the lakes over it has increased in popularity, so now the carp pool is much beter and has some much bigger carp and a few sturgeon. most the time the carp have been coming at night or ive been on my own so there are a lack of pictures. At dog lane ive found that fishing margins over a moderately baited area works best. Here are a few that i actually got on camera:

I have been having a think over christmas holidays, and tryed to decide wat my targets are for 2010, and this is what i ahave come up with.

     1x30lb+ uk carp

     15x20lb+ uk carp

     5x20lb+ river carp

     1x7lb barbel

     2x uk catfish

i will review this at the end of the year and see how i did.

I started on saturday morning with perfect weather conditions, strong winds blowing straight towards me and a dark overcast sky. At 10pm on the saturday night i had my first run, which ended up with a 17lb mirror carp on the bank, which was on a snowman rig in a solid pva bag. I also had a few tench during the night. Then as dawn breaks i have another run and land a 24lb 7oz linear mirror carp, on the same rod. After then the wind dies down and i didnt catch on the sunday night.