Nigel Sharp talks watercraft

When I’m at the lake,I’m always looking and listening. I like to know exactly what’s going on, all the time. But there is so much more to be learnt than just seeing a fish blatantly jumping or fizzing, and watching the birdlife is one of the biggest giveaways. A tufty will often dive on your area only to return to the surface panic-stricken and then fly off, and that’s a sure-fire way to know there’s a carp or two on your spot. A coot can often be padding across the lake only to suddenly start running because something spooked it in the weed.

Always looking and listening

I’ve spoken about this before, but watching the birdlife in the morning is a big giveaway to where the carp have been feeding during the night. On Mill Lane it was clear that if you had the mallards above your area at first light then there was a good possibility that the carp were down below eating your particles, with bits and pieces rising to the surface and providing the mallards with a free meal. I saw a similar thing on The Road Lake years ago. Just in the twilight of dawn, just as the light was starting to come through, you’d see seagulls dipping on an area and the same thing would be going on.

The more you look, the more you’ll see

Pit 4 took it to the next extreme. During the night and into first light, the carp would be digging up the weed and in the mornings you’d see the Canadian geese and swans wake up, stretch their necks and then go off in search of the freshly dug up weed. Sure enough, once they’d found it, if you focused on those areas you’d start seeing bubbling and more weed breaking to the surface. And then, when the feed was coming to an end you’d start seeing fish bosh out in that area.
Grebes diving on a weedy lake is another one. They will often keep diving on the same route which often gives away a channel in the weed. Cold-blooded animals like terrapins and snakes seem to like certain parts of the lake – reedbeds, logs etc. and that gives away some of the hottest parts of the lake when the sun’s at its peak.

Little signs like this just give you an insight into where the carp might be or may well turn up. The more you fish, the more you learn and understand watercraft, and it’s something you never stop learning about.