14 October 2018 – Catch report from: Dean and friends

A stunning venue! As soon as you drive through the gate you know the place is special.

Crashing carp

Jon had drawn the Big Double and as carp after carp launched itself out of the water right in front of him, it wasn’t exactly tricky to know where to fish! After a quick lead about, Jon flicked one out 10 and half wraps and when the lead smacked down he was pretty confident of getting a pickup. His first one was a belter in the shape of Horizon and at a very good weight of 36lbs 14oz. He was delighted and it was great to see one on the bank.

The dolphin show continued all round the lake but the runs did not materialise for the rest of the guys which left them slightly perplexed. Jamie had an aggressive liner that he struck into and hit nothing but fresh air. Most of the lads had a few short flurries of beeps which I’m very familiar with. It’s easy to write these off as liners but for me, most of these are the carp getting away with it… they are sneaky buggers mind!

Life at the sharp end

It was a bit of a shock for everyone when they saw what our lake bed does to a brand new hook after a night on the lake bottom. They were also shocked when I inspected a few of their hooks from the packet only to reveal damage significant enough to render them useless. Jon already had his own sharpening kit so was familiar with the whole hook inspection process and we provide a full kit free of charge for our guests to use.

Midweek blues

By Wednesday Jamie had managed to bank a cracker of a 37lb mirror from underneath the fir tree using one of my hand sharpened hooks.  Jon was still searching for his 2nd pickup but had a plan and was sticking to it. Stephen was plugging away in the normally productive point ‘C’ but couldn’t buy a bite.

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A new hope

Dean started off in home swim and was hoping re-create the kind of session that my mate Perm had this summer but 3 days in,  he’d had not had a pickup. Being unfamiliar which catching carp in 3ft of water, he moved round to point ’A’ in search of deeper water as all the other swims were taken. Dean’s an experienced angler and has fished some proper hard waters but he’d simply never fished a venue like Beausoleil and was running out of ideas so I gave him a few pointers.

I ditched the straight pointed hooks he was using and after a quick rifle through his tackle box found some Fox edges stiff rig beaked and some Nash pinpoint claws both in size 4… perfect! Each one was hand sharpened to perfection and then I knocked up three Ya-ya rigs onto my trick running lead system. Dean was amazed at the level of detail that goes into my prep (1hr for three rods) and using a boat for dropping rigs was a completely new experience for him. I was confident and I could see new hope in his eyes.

Result!

That night Dean had two takes. The first one turned out to be the elusive and very angry grass carp. Unfortunately while the fish was under the tip, he made a mad dash left, catching Dean off guard, and the hook pulled. Grass carp have a phenomenal turn of speed when they want and unless you’ve banked a few it will surprise the hell out of you!

Fortunately his next take was something he was more familiar with and at 31lbs the nicely framed mirror really made up for the loss. Dean was very grateful for my help and really made up with the mirror. He applied the new found technique religiously for the rest of the session and did bank one more carp but he lost another two which he was gutted about. For Dean this had been a real voyage of discovery. He loved the place and it left him hungry for more. For most anglers this is not the sort of venue that you can crack on your first try, but whenever you do, it’s a massive buzz!

Jon strings it together

After his first carp Jon was convinced that he could continue to apply bait over the spots and that the runs would continue…. unfortunately as day after day passed, it didn’t happen. With the fish continuing to show over another area not far away, he knew he’d backed the wrong horse and needed to switch things about. It didn’t take long for the magic to happen and Jon went on to bank two more 36lbs specimens and an upper twenty. It was a good result during a challenging week and Jon loved every second of it. Jon’s a top angler and used to fishing hard syndicates for a couple of fish a year. Jon learnt a lot about the place during the session and I’m sure he’ll be banging them out more easily next time.

Mainline choice

The majority of Beausoleil visitors now use our recommended 25lb Big Game with great success but this week, I saw some other lines used and it reminded us again of the importance of testing your line for yourself and not to trust the label.

Jon is an experienced angler but he was in for a very nasty surprise when his high tech 29lb camo fleck mainline snapped like cotton on our 8kg kettle bell test. He was mortified as he’d tried to do the right thing and over spec the mainline. In the end, a change of knots got him up to being able to lift a 6kg bucket of water but it was a close call to a complete re-spool.

Over in the point swims Stephen had bought some 50lb mono for the cats and 20lb Subline for the carp. Both his knots broke at about 3lbs force (not the first time I’ve done this). With a little care and attention, I got both lines to pass but Stephen’s only take was lost while a good carp plunged hard under the tip and the 20lb Subline failed….

Jamie was OK with his 25lbs Hyper Sensor. We tested this line a few years ago and found that the knot strength and abrasion resistance were inferior to the Big Game which is why we don’t recommend it but it was good enough to avoid a re-spool.

Dean spooled up with the Big Game and had no issues with passing the knot test or during the session.

Harder than imagined

Despite the results, Dean and Jon absolutely loved the place and want to come be back as there is unfinished business. The group had a tough week but learnt an awful lot about carp fishing that will stand them in good stead for future sessions at any venue. It was good to meet them and we wish them all the best.