Bruno's Carp Fishing Blog

Nice Mirror Carp

I arrived at the lake at 5am ready and equipped for an overnight session on my local club water – The Tontine. The reed lined lake is just over an acre in size so is relatively small, with low stock levels; however the fish are stunning and real old warriors.

Leaving my gear at the style, I strolled quietly around the overgrown lake in search for any signs of fish, there was a layer of wispy mist over the lake and as the sun was beginning to rise I climbed a number of trees armed with my polarised sunglasses, and peered through bushes in every nook and cranny, staring into the snags and weed beds to seek the carp’s whereabouts, however I saw very few signs of any fish activity.

The margins are shallow in places with the occasional deep hole and overhanging bush. The foliage is untapped and this is a perfectly formed carp water. Secluded corners and savage snags reach out into the water and there is a tremendous amount of weed growth covering the whole lake which all adds to the ambience of this terrific little place. Natural food such as water snails and insect larvae are in abundance amongst the weed and on the rotting branches.

I settled for the swim called ‘The Point’ which gives access to most of the surrounding water and gives an excellent view of the whole lake. From previous experience I have noticed that fish tend to congregate near the posts in the middle of the lake, with an average depth of 4-5 foot around them. The main reason I decided on this swim was because it is on the end of the change in wind and also a strong westerly wind was forecast.

I have fished this peg a few times in the past, however due to the huge amount of weed growth in the lake; I decided to get the marker rod out to try and pin point some specific feeding areas. I soon found 3 decent spots. One a hard clay spot at about 35 yards range. One a silty/choddy area off the posts at about 20yards range and I decided to fish on the back of a bar with my third rod at about 50yards range in 7 feet of water.

Soon I had the rods in position bang on the money with a different amount of bait over each rod. The bait I have found success on this season is nash Mach 1. Over 2 of my rods, I had about half a kilo of bait on each spread around to try and get the fish picking the boilies up and moving around more. On the rod on the bar I had just a simple pva bags of crushed boilies with about 20 baits spread around it. From previous experience I have seen fish travel along this bar at first light, so I hoped I could intercept one early morning.

Once I had everything sorted I sat back to take in the ambience and watch the water. The day soon started to come to a close and as the sun started to go down behind the trees, I hoped the fish would move over my spots especially as the predicted change in wind direction was occurring. Just before dark it started to rain and the conditions looked bang on for me. As the night drew on I decided on some much needed shut eye, as it had been an early start. So I went to bed very restless that night as the conditions looked perfect with the wind in my face and a slight chop on the surface, and even with very few signs of fish during the day I felt something was going to happen…

I set my alarm for first light and was disappointed and a bit shocked to not have had any action through the night, but I knew this was the best time for my rod on the back of the bar. I put the kettle on and made myself a brew, and as I sat there on the edge of my bedchair I kept my eye on the water looking for any signs of fish. I started to doze off and suddenly my right hand rod on the bar at about 45 yards range tightened up and ripped into life sending a one-toner from my alarm. I dropped my brew and ran out the bivvy not bothering to put my boots on as I did not want the fish to get weeded up. I lifted into it and knew it was a carp. The lead ejected on the take and the fish came straight to the surface. I pumped it in over the weed until it got to about 20 yards out and it went absolutely crazy, stripping yards of line off my reel and weeding me up in a thick bed of Canadian pond weed. I applied firm pressure and eventually she started to budge, nodding the rod tip in the gin clear water. As I tried to pump the fish to the surface it instantly turned, shooting back into the depths leaving a whizzing clutch. Eventually I began to make headway and after putting up a hard fight a plump mirror rolled on the surface wallowing in front of me. I netted her first time and it was covered in weed but looked over 20lb. She attempted one more last-gasp effort to avoid capture but all to no avail.

I broke down the net arms and transferred the stunning looking mirror onto the mat. I zeroed the sling and hoisted the fish onto the scales pinning the needle around to 24lb 3oz. The beautiful fish had not visited the bank this year and with its clusters of scales and golden belly was a true character.

The pictures were done and the fish was returned safely. I was absolutely ecstatic as this was one of my target fish from the lake and I had lost a number of fish on previous sessions due to the extensive Canadian pond weed growth in the lake. I stayed until dusk without any further action and packed up well pleased with my result.

I found success using 2 feet of Nash T T 45lb core plus Leadcore, with the weed safety bolt bead lead clips, a 4oz Nash square pear lead and a 10” Armourbraid hooklink in 20lb incorporated with size 6 Fang X’s fished blow back style. I was also using 15lb bullet as the lake is extremely weedy with the snags jotted around, I have found this line to sink well and is possibly the most abrasion resistant on the market.