18 July 2015 – Catch Report: Rob & Simon

A nice week’s carp fishing and the guys learnt some new tricks along the way!

This week we welcomed back one of our favourite anglers who’s been visiting the venue regularly since we took over in 2011. Unfortunately Rob’s buddy Bob has been lost to golf, so he brought along Simon who’d only gotten back into carping last year. It’s been two years since Rob last fished Beausoleil and he was blown away by the amount of work we’ve done to the place. He expected it to resemble an unfinished building site and instead found it bejewelled with new plants and countless shades of green. On Monday, Rob was off to a good start with one cat and a sturgeon but Simon was yet to get off the mark so I decided to spend some time with him to see if I could help in anyway. Simon’s a lovely chap, very open minded and eager to learn. When it comes to carp fishing, he’s a self confessed novice so we started at the bottom and worked through his approach to find the areas of improvement in his skills and tactics. The most obvious area was casting. You don’t need a bait boat to fish Beausoleil but if you’re not confident rowing out rigs or have the ability to cast very accurately, I would strongly advise that you bring one or rent my Antatec.

We covered all the basics that you need to catch carp and cats at the venue and he told me that he’d learnt more about carp fishing in one day he’d learnt since he started! Many beginners’ expectations far exceed their ability but this was not the case with Simon. He just wanted to catch one and for him that would be job done. He did a little better than that and landed two carp which in his words were the most perfect specimens he’d ever seen! Being July of course he did connect with a couple of our cats but unfortunately they got the better of him.

Rob caught steadily all week and ended up with 8 fish in total with carp to just under 33lbs and cats to 74lbs, his new PB. Rob had blanked here before and I was pretty convinced that his baiting strategy was to blame on both occasions. This year I encouraged him to bait strategically and lightly. Just a scattering of bait on two separate spots and alternate one rod between the two spots works like a charm and Rob reaped the benefits richly. I was delighted for Bob as he’s a such a character. He joked that I’d shot myself in the foot as he won’t need to buy anywhere near as much bait from me next year! It was an absolute pleasure to welcome them to the venue and we’re delighted that they’ve re-booked already for next year.