Carp Fishing Box Set

By Steve Graham

Steve Graham has been an angler for more than fifty years, and for the last twenty-five years he has fished almost exclusively for carp. During this time he has caught some huge fish, many of which were over the magic forty pounds mark, both in England and abroad.
This box set contains three of Steve`s most popular carp fishing books.
More Carp Fishing –
This book describes a very exiting period in his carp fishing life. There are chapters on a real diversity of different waters, including two very low stock lakes in England, other English syndicate and club waters, and also several different venues in France. The chapters relating to the largest low-stocked lake in particular are absolutely gripping. At the outset the stock of carp in the lake was totally unknown, which is exciting enough in this day and age. The amount of natural food in the lake was extremely high, and the fishing proved to be extremely difficult, but the results were well worth the effort.
Gone Carp Fishing –
This book covers a period of Steve`s carp fishing life when he discovered some fantastic new waters and made a lot of new friends. Some of his fishing was done on some very difficult lakes, and Steve reveals everything that he did to catch some fantastic carp.
A Passion For Carp –
This was an incredible year for Steve, one in which he caught some huge carp, from several different venues. He tells of all the successes and failures, and all the people that he met along the way, in a style that almost makes you think that you are there on the bank with him. A fascinating story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Graham
• Release date: Dec 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463092613

Steve Graham

Steve Graham is a retired financial adviser, who now lives in Staffordshire. He is married to Anita and they have four children – Lynne, John, Diana and Gary, and three grandchildren – Logan, Dylan and Sami. Not forgetting their dog Stan, a Springer Spaniel / Border Collie cross, that is loved by them all. Now that he has retired, Steve spends most of his time doing the things that he enjoys most, which includes writing, walking. Carp fishing, and looking after his grandchildren.

Book preview

In February 2009, I was fortunate to obtain a ticket to a local estate lake which we will call The Tine. This was a beautiful lake of about twelve acres, set in the same private estate as a lake that I had fished many years before – Church Lake.

There was a syndicate of twenty people, which seemed quite a lot for a small water with a limited number of swims, but Scott who ran the syndicate, explained that few of the members fished it much as, like me, most of them had access to several other waters. This was to turn out to be very true, and most times that I fished there that season I had the place entirely to myself.

Heaven!

My ticket started at the beginning of April and at 3 o’clock in the afternoon on April 1st, there I was walking the banks. The Tine looked stunning. Later in the year the near end was to become choked with pads to such an extent that it made part of it unfishable, but on that first afternoon the pads had yet to establish themselves fully, and I was able to have a good look around.

I walked along the small winding path by the side of the lake, between the trees, and past some of the swims. Swims perhaps gives the wrong impression here, because they were just small holes in the undergrowth that had been made so that you could just poke a couple of rods through. Real back to basics stuff. It was so exciting, after some of the waters that I had fished, and the further I walked, the more I liked it. There was no one else about, and it was just like having my own private lake.

The Tine

There had been a syndicate on the water a few years before, but since then it had only been fished by a few friends of the landowner, and very infrequently at that. From asking around, I soon discovered that when the previous syndicate was in place, there were some large Tench and a few Bream plus a stock of about fifty Carp (both Commons and Mirrors) and that the largest was about a mid-twenty. Since then, the landowner had sold a few of the fish, so we estimated that there were probably in the region of about twenty-five to thirty fish left. This was quite a low stock which I expected to give me a challenge that I was really looking forward to. One of the exciting things about it was that we didn’t know just how much the fish had grown since they were last fished for seriously. Would there be any thirties? Would they be even bigger? We just didn’t know, and that only added to the excitement.

I found a swim that I really liked the look of at the far end of the lake, and it looked as if it hadn’t been fished for some time, which was all the better. I spent a couple of hours here with a marker rod, trying to learn some of the features of the swim, and then scattered some bait before making my way back home. Fortunately, The Tine was only about twenty minutes or so away from where I lived, so I was able to bait up on a regular basis. I visited the water for the next three days, Thursday Friday and Saturday, each time baiting the same swim, then decided not to bait up on the Sunday, as I intended to fish for the first time on the Monday. During these visits to bait up, I had seen a couple of carp in the area which was very encouraging, and I didn’t get much sleep on the Sunday night.

I arrived at the water just after seven in the morning and conditions were ideal. It was mild and overcast, with a light southerly wind which was blowing towards the area that I intended to fish.

Perfect!

First though, I had to get the mountain of gear that I’d brought with me, to the swim. If you remember, the swim that I had chosen was at the far end of the lake, so I was just about as far away as I could possibly be. It shouldn’t be too bad though I thought, because I had the barrow with me after all, so I loaded it up and off I set. Now, if you have never tried pushing a fully loaded barrow up and down slopes, along narrow bramble-lined paths, between trees and over various branches and other debris, then I don’t recommend it. How the whole lot didn’t end up in the lake I’ll never know, and I vowed to remove all the unnecessary items from my kit, to lighten the load, before my next trip.

Eventually though, I arrived at my chosen swim, and collapsed gasping for breath. I sat there quietly for a few minutes, and although I didn’t see any fish, it looked good. I decided to call this swim ‘The Holly’ as there was a large holly bush at the side. A few quick casts with a light marker soon found the spots that I intended to fish, and before long I had the rods clipped up to the correct distances, the lines marked with pole elastic, and the spots lightly baited with chopped boilies and particle. I didn’t start fishing straight away, but instead took my time setting up the bivvy and getting all my kit organised. There was no rush because I had two full days in front of me. Although I had found my spots and baited them with as little disturbance as I could manage, I still wanted to give the swim chance to settle, and for any fish present to gain confidence with no lines in the water. Despite conditions remaining very good, I received no action at all to the rods that afternoon or evening, and that night I got into the sleeping bag, still hoping.

Tuesday morning saw me up just before first light. I sat there with the first cup of tea of the day, watching the water and willing the indicators to move. A couple of hours later my prayers were answered, as the indicator on the left-hand rod slowly lifted to the butt. With my heart in my mouth, I lifted the rod and yes – I was in. The euphoria didn’t last long however, as whatever was on the end of the line was not fighting like a carp, and sure enough, just a few moments later a large Tench slid over the net cord. The disappointment soon faded as I reasoned that at least I had caught something, and where there are Tench, there may also be Carp. The Tench had taken a critically balanced bottom bait, so at least I knew that they liked the boilies, and I re-cast with renewed hope. That afternoon I caught a Bream, again on a bottom bait, but that was to be the last fish of the day.

The following morning saw me take two more Bream, but all too soon it was time to pack up, and make that long journey with the barrow back to the car. I wasn’t too disappointed as at least I had caught Tench and Bream on my bait, and after all it was only my first session on a low-stock water.

Rome was not built in a day and all that.

That last morning, I had seen what I thought was a carp just over fifty feet out to my left. I couldn’t be sure because I had only caught just a glimpse of it, but before I left I put the marker through the area and discovered a lovely little silty patch. That would be a spot that I would put a rod on next session for sure!

On the Tuesday of the following week I was back once again in the same swim. I had pre-baited heavily with boilies for five consecutive days, with the last lot of bait going in forty-eight hours earlier, and I was just hoping that it would pay off. Conditions were again very good, as it was warm with a light south-westerly wind, so I had every chance. Once again, after baiting up lightly, I rested the swim before starting to fish, and it was almost three o`clock in the afternoon before I finally cast in.

I caught two more Tench that evening, and the following morning saw me sat there with a cup of tea in my hand, wondering what I was doing wrong. I had only caught Tench again, and this session seemed to be going the same way as the last. Then at just after eight o’clock, the left-hand rod was away. The take came from that silty patch that I had found during the previous session. As soon as I picked up the rod I knew that I was attached to a Carp at last, and a good one. The fish put up a tremendous battle, and it was fully ten minutes before I was able to ease it over the net cord. I punched the air in my excitement, and my feelings were a mixture of euphoria and relief. As I looked into the net I could see a good Common and it looked as old as the hills. On the scales it went 23 lbs.4oz. and I took a few photos before returning the fish a little further up the lake. What a great start to my campaign on The Tine! The fish took a large cork-ball pop-up on a simple ‘D’-rig and a coated braid.

23 lbs.4 oz.

Now could I catch any more?

Later that day I was to catch four more fish, but unfortunately all Tench. They were large Tench though, with two of them being in excess of six pounds, so that night I went to sleep happy. I was woken just after one a.m. by a screaming buzzer. It was the left-hand rod again, and the culprit put up just as good a scrap as the first Carp. It was another Common, a little smaller than the last, but very welcome all the same. It had taken a large cork-ball pop-up again from the same spot and on the same rig. I was on a roll!

This one weighed 15 lbs.2oz. and I sacked it up carefully so that I could do some decent photos in daylight. Some people don’t like sacking fish, but I have never had a problem with it. I always sack a fish in fairly deep water, use a long cord on the sack and make sure that the fish is upright and happy before leaving it. I then frequently check that all is well. If at any time I felt that a fish was struggling, then I would release it without any photos. If Carp are sacked in this way then there should not be any problems. The only time I really worry is in very hot weather, when there might be less dissolved oxygen in the water, but in normal conditions all should be fine if you take care.

I took the photos at first light, and then the fish was released and swam off strongly, none the worse for its ordeal. I started packing up after that, but I made my way back very happy with those two fish. When I got home, I phoned Scott to tell him of my success, and he told me that those were the first two carp to be taken from the water that year. I think he was almost as pleased as me.

The following week I fished for two nights in the same swim, and although I caught six Tench (the best again weighing over six pounds), I saw no sign of any Carp at all, and decided to fish in another swim the next time.

I didn’t fish at The Tine at all in May as I was off to Moorlands in France, but I was back on there at the start of June. The pads had grown quite strongly over most of the lake by now, but half-way along was a small area where they were a little less dense, and I decided to fish here for my next session. I spent the whole of one afternoon cutting a swim, and making it comfortable for my next stay, and when I had finished, I was really happy with it. I had put some logs at the front of the swim, so decided to call the swim ‘Logs’ (not very original I know), then I pre-baited the swim for several days.

When I arrived at ‘Logs’ the following Wednesday, the water was very coloured following recent heavy rain. This did not worry me at all though, as I had found that the nearby ‘Church Lake’ fished very well in these conditions. It was mild and there was a light wind, so everything looked really good. I started fishing in early afternoon and didn’t have to wait long, as just before half past four I was into a carp. The fish led me a merry dance, and several times I only just managed to turn it before it reached the sanctuary of the pads, but eventually another good common slid over the net cord. When I looked into the net I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was the same fish that I’d caught two weeks earlier. This time it weighed a little bit more at 24 lbs. exactly, and I took a couple of quick photos before returning it. What bad luck. To catch my third fish from the venue, and for it to be a recapture. I know that it was a low-stock water, but that was really unlucky.

The carp took a small cork-ball pop-up on a hinged stiff rig. This time I was using my favourite method – A light running rig fished slack on a fluorocarbon main-line. Just after I returned the common, it started to rain again, very heavily, and I was confined to the bivvy for the rest of the evening apart from on two occasions. The first time was when I caught a Bream at about half past eight.

Soaked to the skin for a Bream. Great!

Then just under an hour later I had another Carp. This turned out to be a small Mirror of 11 lbs.3oz. and was to be the only mirror I ever caught from the water. The winning combination was a large cork-ball pop-up again, this time on a 360 rig, and a light running lead fished slack on a fluorocarbon mainline.

The following day it was very warm with no wind at all, and the only fish I caught was a small Tench, but my tally was now four Carp from four sessions, so I was very happy with that. The lake was still not being fished very often and on each session so far I had been the only person there. Only one other Carp had been caught. That was a small Common by Rob, and although a few of the other syndicate members had tried the odd day now and then, no one else had caught any Carp at all. I fished the next two sessions in ‘Logs’ but my only success was four Bream and three Tench. Rob fished several short sessions during this time as well, and Scott and a couple of the other lads fished too, but there were no Carp on the bank to show for all of our efforts.

When I fished next it was 7th July. The surface of the lake was completely flat calm, so with no wind to guide me as to the location of the fish, I settled in the end for fishing my original swim – ‘The Holly’. I was set up and fishing by mid-day, which was lucky, because just after that the heavens opened, and there was very heavy rain all afternoon and into evening. During that time I caught three Bream and a Tench, and I was just considering turning in for the night when I had another take. This fish felt much better, and turned out to be another Common of 13 lbs.12oz. Not a big fish, but it was another carp and after two sessions without one, that was all that mattered. The fish came from a different spot that I had decided to try. It was just short of seventy yards at the edge of the pads straight in front of me. When I cast out the lead had landed with a firm donk, and I remember feeling really happy with the cast. Once again a large cork-ball pop-up was the successful bait, this time on a 360 rig with a running lead and slack fluorocarbon mainline.

I had another Tench just before first light and then all was quiet until the following evening. I got all the rods into position about an hour before dark, only for two of them to be taken by Bream shortly afterwards, and I was then left to re-cast both rods in the dark. Fortunately both went back really well, and I decided to have an early night.

Nothing happened at all during darkness, and at first light I was as usual sitting watching the water with a cup in my hand. For some reason I’d got fed up with all the tea I’d been drinking and was trying coffee for a change. I don’t know if the coffee brought me luck or what, but shortly afterwards I had another take. This one came from the same place as before and I was soon looking at another mid-double Common. This fish weighed 13 lbs.11oz. and was taken on a large cork ball pop-up on a 360 rig again. Martin had promised to come down to see me at about eight o’clock, so I sacked the fish up ready to show him.

I re-cast the rod, and within half an hour it was away again. It was only a Tench though, but just as it went into the net, the indicator on my left-hand rod pulled up tight. There was no time to unhook the Tench, so I staked the net with a bank stick and picked up the other rod. Fortunately, I normally fish with two landing nets, and this time the spare was to prove invaluable. This fish was another small Common and I popped it into a sack, then unhooked and released the Tench. The last fish came from my original successful spot, and took a critically-balanced bottom bait for a change, and weighed 10 lbs.1oz.

I had only just finished dealing with the fish when Martin came walking along the bank. Perfect timing! He took some really good shots of the Commons, and then I packed up and walked back to the car. Martin was not a member of the syndicate, but seeing those fish on the bank made him wish he was.

On checking the photos later, I discovered that one of the Commons that I’d caught this time was another re-capture. It was the same fish as the second common that I’d caught on my second session. That meant that although I had now caught seven fish from the water, there were only five different fish amongst these. To add to that, Rob had now caught two fish, but they were both amongst the ones that I had caught myself. Between us we had caught nine fish and four of these were re-captures, which was almost half. We were now starting to wonder just how many fish were in the lake, and it was obviously not as many as we had thought.

The next week I tried another different swim. It was a little nearer to the car park end and although this area was covered in very dense pads, the swim itself seemed fishable. I was hoping that there might be carp down this shallower part of the lake that I hadn`t tried yet, but I wasn’t really convinced as I hadn’t seen much movement up that end of the lake at all. I’m sure if there were carp there in any numbers I would have seen them. They normally betray their presence when moving through pads in shallow water. If I didn’t try though, I’d never know, so I fished for two nights just to see. The session produced five Tench, but no Carp, so I decided to concentrate on ‘The Holly’ for the time being.

When I arrived for my next session it was very warm and sunny, which was not ideal, but there was a moderate south-westerly wind blowing which helped. The first day was disappointing with only four Bream caught, but early the next morning I had a take on the far rod and was into a Carp. The fish fought really well and when I looked in the net I could see that it was a fish that I hadn’t seen before. It weighed 21 lbs.11oz. and the fact that it was a new fish was more important to me than the weight. I rang Martin, who came down with his young son, and as usual did a superb job with the camera. It was the first carp over twenty pounds that Martin’s son had ever seen, and he just could not believe the size of it. When Martin told him that I had caught carp to almost fifty pounds that same year, he was absolutely amazed, and told us that when he got older he wanted to catch fish like that.

A really lovely moment.

My next trip to The Tine was during the first week in August. It was mild and showery, with a moderate to strong south-westerly wind, and the water was coloured following heavy rain over the previous few days. I couldn’t really have asked for better conditions. The first evening produced a Tench and a Bream, but just before two o’clock the next morning I was woken by a fast take on my left-hand rod. It was obviously a good fish, and put up quite a struggle in the dark. On the scales it went 21 lbs.9oz. and after weighing the fish, which was another Common, I put it into a sack ready for the photos in the morning. Martin did his normal great David Bailey bit with the camera, and mentioned that I must be pleased to catch another new fish. I wasn’t so sure though because the fish looked quite similar to the last one that I had caught, and with the weights being just two ounces different, I was just a bit worried. The only way to be sure was to compare the photos, and I promised to let Martin know when I had compared them. I had made my mind up by this time that if it wasn’t a new fish, then I would be pulling off the water. I was just getting too many re-captures.

When I got home and looked at the photos side by side, there was no doubt that it was the same fish, and I phoned Martin and Rob to give them the bad news. I knew now that my time on the water was over. A real shame because I loved it there.

During the time that I had fished at The Tine, out of a syndicate of twenty people there were just eleven fish caught. Of these I’d caught nine and Rob had caught the other two, but out of the eleven fish we’d caught between us there were only six different ones. We had heard that the landowner had taken some fish out prior to our syndicate forming, and I think that he must have removed more fish than we had thought, because I’m sure that when we fished there, the stock level was very low.

Scott re-stocked the water that November with some very nice looking fish. They were mainly doubles, but given time I’m sure that he will make it into a top class fishery. It will probably be in about five years time though, before the water starts producing sizeable fish, and I had other waters to go at, so decided not to renew my ticket.

I wish Scott and the rest of the lads all the best, and I’m sure they’ll make it work.

The water certainly has the potential.

CHAPTER TWO – COPTON

In 2009 I spent very little time at Copton. That’s not because I don’t enjoy fishing there, because I always do, but with all the other waters that I had access to, I just didn’t get round to it. I had done a couple of short early season days, but it was early in August before I managed my first serious session there.

Copton

When I arrived just after seven o’clock in the morning it was warm and overcast with a moderate south-westerly wind, and Copton looked superb. I had three days fishing in front of me, and it was good to be back there again. I knew from talking to some of the other syndicate members before I arrived, that there had been a lot of fish in front of a swim known as ‘Cave’, where there was a large amount of weed. I had a good look around most of the other areas first, without seeing anything, and had just about made up my mind to either go into ‘Cave’ or one of the nearby swims (‘No Mates’ or ‘Snake’), when Dan arrived. He said that he would like to fish in ‘Cave’, because he had done well there the previous week, so I told him to go ahead, and I was left with the choice of the other two. I loaded the boat and set off down to the far end of the lake. On my way I must have changed my mind half a dozen times and I just couldn`t decide between ‘No Mates’ or ‘Snake’, but in the end chose ‘No Mates’. This swim is so called because it’s on the far bank, and you can’t walk to it from any other swim. The only way to get there is by boat. It is one of the shallowest areas of the lake, but often held fish in the warmer weather, and is opposite ‘Cave’ which I knew held fish, so I couldn’t be too far away from them, hopefully.

After a few casts with a light marker, I soon found four good spots for my rods, and after clipping-up and marking the lines with pole elastic, they were all baited lightly with a mixture of particles and boilies of various sizes (both whole and chopped). I then set up my bivvy and organised the rest of my kit, before rowing quietly over to the other bank to see how Dan was getting on. I didn’t want to fish straight away, preferring to allow the swim to settle after all the disturbance, with no lines in the water. I stayed in Dan’s swim for an hour or so, drinking his tea and watching several carp moving about in the weed in front of him. It certainly looked good, and I wished him the best of luck before returning to my swim to get the rods out. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching the water, but saw nothing at all in my swim. At half past seven I re-cast the rods for the night and freshened up the spots with a small amount of bait, then sat and watched the water again until dark. There were obviously quite a few fish in the weed in front of Dan, but no signs so far in front of me but I was hoping that one or two may leave the sanctuary of the weed during the night and give me a chance. With this thought, I got into the sleeping bag, but when I awoke just before first light I hadn’t heard a single bleep from the buzzers.

Apart from a Bream in mid-morning, nothing of significance happened all day, until late evening when I saw what I thought was a fish in front of ‘Snake’. I couldn’t see any birds in the area, so was pretty sure it was a carp, and as watched over the next half an hour I saw several more. The majority were about eighty yards in front of Snake, and I couldn’t reach the area from where I was. Now if you remember, ‘Snake’ was the swim that I nearly chose when I decided to go into ‘No Mates’, and I was now beginning to regret my choice. There wasn’t time to move that evening, so I decided to reposition two rods as far in the direction of the showing fish as possible, and if nothing happened overnight, I would move into ‘Snake’ in the morning. I went to sleep that night feeling that I’d got it all wrong, but just after 3am. I was woken by a screaming buzzer. After a short scrap, I was soon looking into the net at a good Mirror which went 20 lbs.7oz. on the scales. The fish was on one of the re-positioned rods, and after a few quick photos, it was returned and a happy angler went back to sleep with the dreaded blank averted.

The following morning I was still unsure whether to move or not. I had caught one fish overnight, but would I catch more if I moved? The problem was solved for me when Kez arrived, and went into ‘Snake’. In the end it didn’t matter because I caught two more Mirrors that night. They weren’t big fish at 16 lbs.2 oz. and 13 lbs.13oz. but I packed up the following morning having really enjoyed the session, and determined to be back the following week.

The following Tuesday I looked at the weather forecast which predicted very strong south-westerly winds. I had found that the carp at Copton usually followed that sort of wind at this time of the year, so I had a good idea of where I wanted to fish. I could either chose a swim on the end of the wind, or one slightly further up the lake and try to intercept the fish on their way down. When I got to the lake, for some reason I just didn’t fancy any of the swims at the windward end, and instead chose to fish in ‘Fence’, just a little way up the lake. The most obvious spot to fish in ‘Fence’ is close to a large overhanging bush about sixty yards down the bank, but I felt that this was a little too predictable. That’s where nearly everyone puts a bait, and I wanted to fish a little differently if I could. I had a quick feel around with a marker and discovered a nice area about ten or twelve yards off the bush. That seemed a far better place for one rod, and I then set about finding some suitable spots in open water for the other three. I ended up with my four rods quite well spread out, so that hopefully, any fish travelling down the lake would be bound to come across at least one of them. I baited the open water spots quite heavily, and fished the margin rod with just a pva bag. My thinking behind the heavy baiting was that I wanted any carp that were passing to be stopped in their tracks, so I put out enough bait hopefully to hold them. If that plan didn’t work, I still had the margin rod which was very lightly baited.

The first day passed with no action and no sightings of any carp, and around mid-morning on the Wednesday, Colin walked into my swim. Over the obligatory cup of tea he told me that he had been fishing in ‘Cave’ for the last few days. He had caught three fish early on, but hadn’t had a take for some time. He noticed my indicators lying flat on the floor and asked me about the way I was fishing, and what the bite indication was like fishing that way. I told him that I was using light running rigs fished slack, and that the takes were very positive, usually one-toners. Just a few seconds after I had told him this, the indicator on my margin rod rose to the butt and the reel spool started to spin accompanied by a screaming alarm. The fish put up a tremendous scrap, several times almost making it into the bank-side bushes, but I just managed to turn it each time. I was starting to think that it might be a very large fish, and I’m sure that Colin was thinking the same thing. Eventually I managed to get it into the net and we weighed it at 20 lbs.1oz. I must admit that we were both surprised that the fish (which was a Mirror) wasn’t a lot bigger, but I was happy just to have caught. I was also glad that Colin had been able to see the take and that it was as positive as I said the takes usually are on my set-up. Colin got to work with the camera and the photos turned out very well, then he made his way back to his swim.

Later that afternoon, I caught another carp from exactly the same spot. It was a lovely little scaley Mirror, and although it only weighed 12 lbs.8oz, it looked absolutely stunning. That was the last action for the session, but two more fish kept me happy enough. I’d enjoyed it and was glad that I’d had the chance to catch up with Colin again.

They don’t have to be big to be beautiful

I didn’t manage to get back to Copton until two weeks later, and by now it was well into September. Mid-September until mid-October has always been one of my favourite times to fish, so I was feeling very confident. When I arrived it was hot and sunny with just a light north-easterly wind, totally different to the last time that I’d been there. I knew just where I wanted to be in these conditions, and before long I had the boat loaded, and pointing in the direction of ‘No Mates’. When I got to ‘No Mates’, I just sat and watched the water for a while. Within ten minutes I had seen two fish show at about fifty yards range, so with my confidence now sky high, I started to set everything up. Before long the rods were out, and with the kettle on, all was right with the world. The first fish came just after half past six – a Mirror of 20 lbs.14oz. and was followed that night by two more Mirrors of 10 lbs.9oz. and 18 lbs.13oz.

The following day conditions looked just as good as before, but I was a little disappointed when the buzzer sounded just after mid-day, to find a Bream was responsible. Just a few minutes later though, I had a take on the margin rod. Straight away I knew this was a good fish as I was forced to back-wind franticly as it took over thirty yards of line from the reel. I managed to get the fish back in front of me, only for it to power off once again. This happened two or three times, but each time I could tell the fish was weakening just a little. At last I managed to get the fish to the surface, and saw shape of its dorsal fin. It was very distinctive and I now knew exactly which fish I was attached to. Fortunately, shortly afterwards it slid over the net cord, and as I parted the net I said out loud – ‘Hello Al’.

I don’t know why we talk to fish. Or perhaps it’s just me.

I had caught ‘Al’ several times before and although it was now quite an old fish, and was not as heavy as it once was, it was still one of the biggest fish in the lake. I weighed ‘Al’, and the scales registered 29 lbs. 4oz. This was the first time that I had caught it at less than thirty pounds, but despite the low weight, the old fish still looked in good condition apart from a tear in the side of its mouth where it had obviously been recently lost. I treated the damage with anti-septic and after a couple of quick photos returned the fish to its home. I nearly didn’t bother with a photo at all as it was a recapture, and I had already got good photos of the fish at a higher weight. In the end I might as well have not bothered, because I managed to mess up the self-takes, and the photos came out completely out of focus. Fortunately this time it didn’t matter, but it made my mind up for me, and later that month I went out and bought a digital camera.

The age of film was over. Steve had joined the digital age!

Just before dawn the next morning I had my last fish of the session – a Mirror of 19 lbs.8oz, and then it was soon time for home.

Five fish including Al. What a great session!

I was back the following Monday for what was to be my last Copton session for the year. When I got there it was mild and overcast with a light south-westerly wind, but the forecast was for the wind to get much stronger as time went on. I was sure that the fish would be bound to follow the wind in these conditions, and thought that they would end up in the Al`s / Maggots / Throne area. I had a walk round and talked to the other anglers, but no one had caught or seen anything, and not seeing anything myself, I felt that my original idea was as good as any. John was fishing in ‘Al`s’ so that narrowed it down to either ‘Maggots’ or ‘Throne’. In the end I went into ‘Maggots’, mainly because ‘Throne’ had been fished rather a lot in recent weeks. As I set up the rods, I noticed a hole at the front of the swim where the bank had eroded slightly. This was full of water and I carefully placed one of my rods to the side of it. I knew this swim fairly well, so I soon found the spots and before long I was fishing. Since I had initially baited the spots, I had continued baiting very lightly about every two hours. I was hoping that by feeding in this way there would always be a small amount of bait round the rigs, but not too much. Sometimes too much bait reduces the chances of a pickup (a bit like a needle in a haystack).

It was dark just after 7.30pm, and the wind was starting to pick up, blowing towards me. It was looking really good, and I sat back with yet another cup of tea waiting for something to happen. I didn’t have to wait long, and just before half past nine one of the rods was away. It was the rod placed 25 yards out in a little silty gully, and the take was another one-toner, typical of the takes I tend to get with these light running rigs. The fish took a critically-balanced bottom-bait, which I’d made myself. I roll all my own bait (I always have) and I critically-balance the hook-baits by inserting a small polyball as I roll them. I’m sure that this makes the bait act far more naturally, and it gives me confidence. I know most anglers don’t roll their own baits nowadays, but a similar effect can be achieved by adding a small piece of cork or rig foam on the hair, or even a cut down pop-up. Well worth the effort in my view.

The fish gave a really good account of itself, and I staked the net to keep the fish safe while I sorted out the camera equipment. I then went back to the net and placed my feet firmly before lifting the fish. Well not firmly at all really, because I put my foot straight in that hole at the front of the swim. I was soaked in cold dirty water to above the knee. I knew I should have filled that hole in. It was a Mirror of 23 lbs.4oz, in superb condition, and one that I didn’t recognise. A good start, and after the compulsory cup of tea, I was soon in the sleeping bag and happily dreaming of all things fishy.

Just after 3am. saw me racing out of the bivvy as another fish tore away from the margins. This one had picked up two 10mm baits just a couple of yards from the near margin. It was another beautifully conditioned Mirror, a little bigger than the last at 25 lbs.11oz, and I was soon smiling away for the camera. Then I topped up the spots with half a dozen boilies to each rod and got back into the sleeping bag.

The next day was very quiet and the only take was from a Bream. Don’t you just love bream slime! A few mates came round during the day, and they succeeded in reducing my tea rations. They told me that nothing else had been caught overnight, so I was doing reasonably well. Despite not catching any carp during the day, I still had one more night to go, and I was quite confident that my chances of another carp were good.

The take came at 11.20pm. from the same spot as the first fish, and turned out to be a Mirror of 25 lbs.9oz. It was on a critically-balanced bottom-bait again.

That was the last fish of the session, but I was happy enough with the three fish. There were no other fish caught from the lake during my time there, so I must have done something right, or perhaps it was just that vital ingredient that we all need when we are fishing –

Luck!

CHAPTER THREE – HINDFORD

One afternoon in August 2009 I called in to see Andy to give him the photos of some fish that I had recently caught at Copton. As we sat chatting, he told me about a new water that he was just about to take control of in Cambridgeshire. There were two gravel pits adjacent to each other, the first being between 35 and 40 acres and the second about 25 to 30 acres. The smaller lake was dug over thirty years before, and the other a little later. Apparently, they had never been seriously fished apart from the odd poacher and pike angler, but the oldest one definitely held Carp. He told me that the lakes were very rich in natural food, and that several waters in the area contained some very large fish indeed. He went on to say that eventually there was to be a small syndicate on the water but that in the mean time I could fish there if I wished, as soon as everything was finalised.

I could hardly believe my ears. Unfished waters, with unknown fish of potentially massive proportions. I must be dreaming. In a minute I would wake up. It was all true though, and Andy showed me the waters on Google Earth. The more I saw and heard, the more I wanted to fish there, but I had to wait until we could get the keys. The only other person to be allowed to fish there besides myself was John, who I knew from the Copton syndicate, and who was to be the one to organise the syndicate that we were eventually to have there. It was to be a long wait, but Andy finally gave me the keys to the gate at Hindford towards the end of September, and I arranged to fish for the first time the following Friday. Andy told me that I would probably have to cut my own swim as the banks were quite overgrown, so I went prepared with plenty of tools for the job, but this just made it even more exciting.

I found the