Fishing report from: 19 July to 2 August

Some good results over two weeks of angling ☀️

First up we welcomed back Darren, John, Richard and new boy Sam to the venue for their 3rd visit to us. It’s been 8 years since they last visited and Darren really fancied tangling with some of our massive catfish again so he positioned himself in the Big Double. Sam opted for the channel as carp were more his thing. John opted for point ‘C’ and Richard took points ‘A’ + ‘B’.

Darren and Sam fished well and had a good week catching 6 carp and 5 carp respectively. The best was a mid forty for Sam. Over in the point swims, John and Richard couldn’t make it happen doing days only although Richard did manage the sturgeon as a consolation prize.

None of the big catfish made an appearance this week although Sam did bank a 20lber.

On the bait front the guys stuck with the Scopex Squid carp food pack and plenty of jars of particles. On the rig front they used my original double bottom bait knotless knot rig, a rig that was working then and still just as effective today. It was a shame that Richard and John had a slow week but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Last week

Next, we welcomed Don and his wife Stephanie along with their son Connor and his girlfriend Beth. They’d been waiting 3 years to get the week they wanted and as super fans of the channel they were bursting with excitement when we met them on Saturday. 

Don and Connor are both experienced carp anglers with 10 years + fishing for carp and many years of coarse fishing experience to draw from but they still booked me for the tuition on Sunday. When I arrived Don wasn’t feeling well so I decided to spread the tuition over two days. Connor and I spent a fun morning together and thanks to his skills and prep work I was able to race through the setup part of the session so that he could start fishing. By the time I left, Don was feeling better so I returned on Monday for another ½ day session. The guys loved the session(s) and they told me they learned a great deal from them.

Battling the beasts!

Both Don & Connor had some epic battles this week with our catfish. Don had his 25 lb Big Game snap twice on him. We are not talking knot failures or cut offs here. We are talking mainline exploding with a massive crack… twice! Don was shocked to the core. He’d simply never imagined a fishing situation in which he wasn’t in control…. No words can prepare you for this experience… you have to live it to understand the power of these creatures.

Connor also had a 1hr long battle with another big beast that managed to find a marginal snag. They then spent 1 hr out in the water and in the boat, tried to free the line but in the end, the catfish managed to unhook himself and he was gone. Connor was absolutely gutted to have lost the battle but even with strong materials, good prep and experienced anglers, these creatures are just too powerful sometimes.

Thankfully on the last morning Connor did manage to bank a 61 lb catfish just before they wound in and headed for home which was a really positive note on which to leave and a new PB by a very long way!

Queuing up

Connor spent all week in the big double and during the time I spent with them on Sunday and Monday, the amount of carp activity in front of him was ridiculous. We saw multiple boshes, fizzing everywhere. They were literally queuing up!  Tuesday morning Stephaie told me that he’d managed two carp and the sturgeon later that afternoon. Talk about theory into practice!

The action continued thick and fast for Connor with multiple carp being caught each day. While he was back at the house, his dad Don had to hit a run for him while he made his way back to the swim. As his dad had yet to catch, Connor let his das enjoy the rest of the fight and safely land the carp. The only trouble is this turned out to be the biggest carp of the week at 41 lbs! It would have been a new PB for Connor but he can’t claim it because his dad landed it… Oops!

Down in the channel, things were very quiet for Don. He did manage a carp but he had to sneak a rod into the hot zone to catch one. This place can be very very spotty at times and it’s not uncommon for the lion’s share of the fish to fall to just one angler. That’s fishing!

Bait & Rigs

On the bait front, the guys used plenty of Scopex Squid boilies, pellets, syrup and particles. They were already big fans of my simple running rigs and my deadly D rig and because of their rig tying skills, there really was no need for them to look beyond this for the session.

Good job they love rig tying and are good at it because they did a lot more rig tying than they normally do! My “use ’em once, then bin ’em” approach enabled them to catch very consistently. Once you’ve got that locked in, it’s only ever a question of timing and location. Great job guys, you worked at your fishing and got the results!

Don and Connor weren’t the only ones having a lovely holiday. Beth absolutely loves fishing! She even got to play in a big 37 lb common and caught some of the smaller catfish. Mum Steph did a wonderful job looking after the family and absolutely loved the house, the lake… everything really! 

It was a delight to meet this lovely family and we are already looking forward to welcoming them back next year for more adventures!