12 hour session: Jed Kent

Venue profile

Name: Mustang Lake, Airfield Lakes
Location: Norfolk
Size: Five-acres
Stock: More than 200 handpicked English carp
Price: £15 for 12hrs, £25 for 24hrs. Season permits and long stay discounts available – see website for more details
Rules: No Litter, no nuts, bait boats allowed, no landing nets, slings or mats to be brought onto the venue (these are provided)
Contact: 07706 483084 (9am-5pm Mon to Fri)
Website: airfieldlakes.com

It’s a fine early autumn afternoon as Jed arrives for an overnight session on Norfolk day ticket venue Mustang Lake. Local boy Jed who lives just a 30-minute drive away has come straight from work. Mustang has a cracking stock of carp, with shedloads of twenties, many of them nice and scaly, and an increasing number of thirty-pound fish.

It’s been a hot day but a warm southeasterly wind is rippling the lake nicely and it looks good for a bite or two. Before choosing a swim Jed heads off for a lap of the lake to investigate for signs of fish. Returning he looks a little downcast.
“I’ve fished here before,” he explains, “and I had an idea that the fish would be on the end of this warm wind. However, the lake is quite busy and that area is sewn-up. Bearing in mind there are a few lines in the water I’m going to go for Peg
3 which gives me access to the quietest area of the lake. I’m not so worried about the wind as having checked the weather it is supposed to swirl around a bit.”

The way that Mustang is set out, each swim has its own marked casting zone, so there is no issue with other anglers encroaching, but at the moment the swims either side of him are vacant giving him a bit more space.

He sets about getting his gear the short distance from the car to the swim. Lake owner Rich Wilby pops by to say hello, and reveals that the lake has been fishing relatively slowly this week. Spying Jed’s homemade pop-ups he investigates and is soon pocketing half the contents of the tub, obviously impressed!

With Rich heading off round the lake to check tickets, Jed sits and ties three new rigs for his rods. “This rig is one that I am messing around with at the moment, a Blowback Rig using a ring that resets itself. I’m using an 8lb mono Hair with the ring position level with the barb, so when they suck it in the hook is cocked exactly how I want it to be - but if they blow the bait out once pricked, the ring will fly back down the shank quite a long way as the Knotless Knot I use is only four turns.

Then, if they do actually manage to eject the bait the 8lb Hair is springy enough to push the ring back into position, so it’s not like a normal Blowback Rig that you tie with braid, that once the ring is down the shank it stays there.

I’m also critically balancing the hookbait by taking a small core out of the pop-up with a drill and using a split shot pushed into the hole as a Hair stop. It makes it sink nice and slowly, the 15lb mono hooklink helping to kick out the bait so the rig sits perfectly each time.

It’s an easy way of using a balanced bottom bait. By varying the weight of the split shot you can adjust how the hook sits on the bottom. With a slightly lighter shot the hook sits cocked, whereas a larger shot will make it sit flat. I’m trying one of each on the island rods, messing around to see which, if any, works better really.”

20:00pm
Having had a quick lead about, Jed has decided on his spots. “I’ve fished this lake before, so I have a rough idea of the bottom. I’m going to put one rod about a rod length off the island in shallower water, and a second, a bit further off the island in slightly deeper water to the left.

There are always fish around the island so it’s a good bet for a bite, and by positioning my rods like this and spreading some bait I should be able to intercept them whether they are tight, or a bit further off it.

Even though I’m only doing the night I’m going to give them a fair bit of bait, as I know they can get through it quickly if they get on it. There is a nice reed fringed bay to my left and I’ve seen a couple of fish ghost in there so my third rod will be positioned on the far margin towards the spit opposite. It’s the natural spot to intercept the fish as they move in and out.”

The sun is setting fast and with the light fading Jed gets his rods on the spots, which he has marked with two banksticks so he can accurately recast should he get a bite, and sets about baiting for the night. First he Spombs out half a small bucket
of oily groundbait over his two island rods.

“I’ve loaded this mixture of fishmeal groundbait and pellet with salmon oil and liquid liver to really pull the fish in. As it’s warm, this will constantly kick out oil to draw them down even if they’re not in a feeding mood. It’s almost damp. The pellets really soak up the liquids allowing me to really overload it with liquids.

I’m also going to put out about a kilo of 20mm boilies on the same spot. If you walk round the lake you can see the margins are black with roach everywhere you look. The boilies that I am using are quite soluble which means it’s attractive to everything and they will all try and eat it, and the roach will eat the smaller sizes easily, so I’m putting out larger baits that will stay in the swim longer but still be attractive to the carp. I’ve also glugged these in liquid to increase their pulling power”

Over his third rod, Jed puts out several scoops of these big boilies remarkably accurately with his long handled baiting spoon.

21:00pm
With his rods sorted, and bed set-up, Jed sits by the rods to watch the lake as it gets dark. There isn’t much showing unfortunately, but it’s a beautiful evening. Luckily, there are several different takeaways that deliver to the lake, so tonight’s dinner is burger and chips, and we sit and eat in comfort on the picnic bench behind Jed’s swim. How very civilised!

In the darkness we can hear the odd carp rolling amongst the roach splashing, but with no moon and a bit of mist coming off the water as the temperature drops, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where they are rolling. Regardless, it’s a sign that the fish are active “And if they are active they will need to feed” grins Jed.

23.00pm
Just as he has climbed into bed for the night, Jed has an absolute screamer. It’s the left-hand rod, fished to the far margin of the bay. Even with a good number of free baits out there it hasn’t taken long to get a bite! The fish is determined to get back into the bay, and even when Jed has it under his feet it makes continual attempts to dive into the marginal rushes to the left.

It doesn’t like the sight of the net either, and finally at the third attempt Jed gratefully scoops it up. He unhooks the fish in the net so he can get the rod straight back out, before putting another five scoops of boilies in the rough vicinity. Using his sticks he clips the line-up so he can get the cast spot on. It’s impossible to be deadly accurate with the baiting as it is just so dark but he is happy that he is pretty close.

Rod sorted, he hoists his prize out onto the mat. At Mustang, nets, slings and mats are provided so even if you so have a productive night you don’t have to drive home with a net stinking the car out. On the scales it goes 18lb 10oz, but better still it’s a cracker, with a row of linear scales down both flanks. There are quite a few linears in Mustang, which certainly adds to the appeal. Well pleased, Jed has a quick snap before he slips it back.

05:00am
It’s still dark and misty when Jed has his next action, another melter of a take. This time it’s the rod fished closest to the island that is away, the fish trying to get round the point of the island. It’s another dogged battle, and its several minutes before he nets the fish.

Bizarrely, it is another linear, this time a bit smaller than the first.

As the first signs of dawn are approaching, Jed unhooks the fish and leaves it in the net to do the pictures once it is fully light. It’s a damp morning, the temperature having dropped considerably overnight.

He replaces the rod by the island. “That was the one with the lighter shot in the bait so the hook was cocked” he comments. “That’s one - nil to the cocked version.”

07:00am
The sun has finally appeared over the horizon, bringing with it considerable warmth. Jed gets his second linear out to do the pictures in the now bright light.

On the scales it goes 17lb 4oz, a little smaller than the first but it’s another cracking carp.

09:00am
With work in a couple of hours, Jed starts to pack his gear down, although he hasn’t got much to pack away having slept under the stars. Before he gets the chance to reel the rods in, the same island rod rips off. This fish seems heavier, and after 10 minutes we still haven’t seen it.

However, just when it looks like it might be over shortly the hook pulls. Jed is understandably disappointed, as that would have crowned off a successful overnight trip. Never mind Jed, a brace of linear carp is not to be sniffed at!

What I've learnt

1) “There was another angler not too far from me who caught well over a bed of particles. Particles can out fish boilies at the right time of year, especially when the water is warm, and although I caught on boilies I think I may have had a few more chances over particle.”

2) “The cocked version of my rig out fished the version with the heavier shot. This could be where it was placed, but I will be continuing to experiment!”

3) “Mustang is the best place to catch linears in Norfolk!”

What if...

...I' have been there for another 12hrs
“A few other anglers are leaving this morning and the temperature is due to hit nearly 30-degrees so I would definitely have a go at stalking one during the day – concentrating on the corners of the lake, baiting and walking round checking them until I saw signs of fish.”