Two twenties in 24 hours
Bait-Tech's Dean Watson tells us what he got up to in April...
Having just returned home from a hard week's fishing in France, I decided to head over to my old syndicate water, nestled in the rolling hills of Shropshire. We all have that one water which feels like home, where the shoulders drop a bit and the enjoyment of angling is flowing with more ease, well this is the place that does that to me.
A Shropshire mere of seven acres, reaching depths of 25ft, tree lined and as old as the hills that surround it. Home to some stunning carp with a few pushing the mid 30 barrier.
After arriving in my chosen swim, I set about sorting the rods out and picking out the target areas. The lake is always slow this time of year in terms of the carp waking up, due to the depth of water. At this moment in time the carp weren’t giving themselves away and I worked on areas that had been kind to me in the past.
Being a deep silt lake I always favour boilies as my first port of call. As much as I enjoy using particles, I can’t help but feel it gets lost and becomes less effective in the deep silt.
With balanced hook baits at the ready, all rods were cast to the areas that I thought would produce a spring bite. I like to use very small sticks, no bigger than a 5p piece, mainly to aid in anti-tangling when the line hits the clip, with that extra bit of weight by the hook, the rig kicks away more and tangles are very rare, it also aids in masking the hook.
Each rod was targeted at different depths, ranging of 14ft, 15ft & 17ft. With 1kg of Poloni boilies scattered over each rod. Working on an area of a one man groundsheet. All traps were set and the kettle was on.
The rest of the day was spent watching the odd roach top, but no signs of carp at all, we all get the tiny bit of doubt set in, have I got it right? Did I pick the right areas etc.
I was awoke just before midnight by the middle rod in melt down. I was soon attached to a very angry carp who seemed quite upset that I had ruined his midnight feast! After a decent battle I soon was looking down in the net at a stunning mirror that went 27lb 8oz on the scales – result!
At first light the left hand rod was away, peeling line at the rate of knots! This was the rod in the deepest part at 17ft. Playing the fish with the break of dawn on the horizon - a good job too as the head torch was nowhere to be found. The fish soon surrendered and a pretty 23lb 4oz mirror was the outcome. I waited until the sun was up for the pictures. All in all a good 20 hours of angling and a good result, having not much to go on. Once again the Poloni boilies produced the goods.
Top tip, always check this time of year for bird nests above your bivvy! I set up right under about five crow nests, and trust me they took full advantage of decorating my bivvy white & brown! Nature’s humour at its best.
Until next time, all the best and stinky nets.
Dean Watson
