Scott Lloyd talks summer angling

I had become at a bit of a loose end. After catching the Burghfield Common, I took on another challenge and it didn’t go exactly to plan. I caught from the lake, but getting to know the place while it is all going on was almost too late. I missed out and the carp got caught, which left me unsure as to what to do and where to go.

An immaculate 30lb mirror, caught live for the film cameras

A place that remains dear to my heart is Christchurch on the Linch Hill complex. Not only are the carp out of this world, I have also got some great friends there. I decided that it was a good chance to have a go in Oxford for a few weeks and have a break from all the serious fishing that I had been doing. It was planned to have a good catch up with friends, as many barbeques as we could fit in and have a great time of it.

The first trip was a warm one, as it always seemed to be this summer. Every week seemed to get hotter and although I embrace any weather, for how active I am it takes its toll on me.

Krill Floaters in 6 and 11mm: the carp absolutely love them

I did the first day on Willow and caught some nice fish, but it was too hot for the fish to really take the floaters with any conviction. I had to cast to them and harass them into taking the bait, which two of them did. I set the alarm for before first light and planned to go and chance my arm on Christchurch.

I was with Marcus and we were booked in to shoot a film for the Sticky site. While he slept, I crept over to a very quiet Christchurch and peeled back the lid of my prepped up floaters. Although the Krill Floaters are packed with powders and oils, I like to have them dripping with oil when I feed them. I want the lake to be totally flat, which enables me to stuffy my hookbait when it is time to fish.

Feeding them until they gain their confidence was key

The first job was to feed the birds off, which is no mean feat on any lake. I had a van loaded with some bread and cheap biscuits, so set about feeding them off, which would allow the Krill Floaters to only enter the belly of a carp. It took all of twenty minutes to get the fish feeding and they were in numbers too. Before too long I had a lovely 22lb linear in the net, so I went round and told the lads what I was up to. Marcus joked that he fancied some of that and he wasn’t messing around, he was soon in the next swim blasting a controller over the fish that were feeding on my drifted baits.

Scott has a bait in soak for twenty minutes, so that it absorbs the water and behaves naturally

I persevered for a few more hours while Marcus caught a nice 34lb. I managed one just before I had to pack up and go home. It was a right struggle, but I eventually got a nice 30lb mirror in the net. I loved the session and was due back down only a few days later.

After a few gruelling night shifts, I was back out, this time for a tutorial that someone asked me to do with them. We caught some lovely fish, mainly on the bottom as the weather cooled down, but it was due warm the following week. I was back down and feeding floaters from the off. I caught a few that day, with the biggest being a 34lb common. Once the fish began to take the floaters, it was like they couldn’t stop. They were totally addicted to them and providing the birds left me alone, I was getting through two bags within a couple of hours.

Fish on!

An immaculate Christchurch mirror

Dan Wildbore was due down in the morning, so I had a good sleep and once again got up early to feed. In the summer, especially when it has been as warm as it has been, floaters are by far the best way of catching them.

I had them going mental by 5am and Dan wasn’t too far away, so I refrained from fishing for them until he got here. When he did, the fish were primed and ready, so I whipped the float out behind them and drew it back over their heads. By now they were smashing the bait, with backs littered across the surface and it didn’t take long before I was in.

While the fish were feeding, Scott ties another rig

The fish came in with little trouble until it found the weed in the margins. I had to take to the boat and after struggling for 10 minutes she was eventually mine. It was a cracking 21lb linear, a typical banger from the Church and while I was playing it the fish were still taking confidently.

I already had a rig tied and a bait soaking, so whipped it on and got the rod back out. I like to have my Krill pop-ups soaking in some lake water, as it reduces their buoyancy. I don’t like putting something out as a hookbait that is too buoyant. The fish can suss the bait out too easily, which is why I would never use cork.

Large floats helped get the rig out to the middle

Working the Spomb kept the fish feeding

By now the fish were being angled for by a few lads and had moved out in the pond. I took to the Spomb and introduced some 6mm pellets, which sent the fish into a bigger frenzy. They love them, but I think it is important to still feed 11mm pellets too as they are the size of the hookbait.

By 7am the wind was trying to pick up and although it was flat around my floaters, I decided to Spomb a couple of loads of oil upwind. This is messy and I end up covered in it, but it flattens off the lake nicely and allows me to see what is going on.

CAP-OIL flattened off the lake and pumped loads of smell and taste into the water column

It was a frustrating time, the fish would smash into packs of floaters, but by now a lot of guys had the same idea. It would take a while for them to come back should they drift off; it was about making the most of when they were there.

Out of nowhere a group arrived on the furthest pack of floaters. I whipped a large controller out long and gently drew it back over them. I stood poised and ready for one to take my hookbait. It is so hard to lose focus and look elsewhere at fish smashing in to floaters, it is the most exhilarating and exciting form of fishing ever, but my concentration remained on the hookbait. Then, a mouth appears and the bait goes, I struck and all hell broke loose. The fish went on a crazy run, which was good for me as I wanted it to burn its energy out in the pond and be beaten for when it came close and near the thick weed in the margins.

Oily floaters, the best way of getting carp to feed in the warmer months

It was time to take to the boat

I had it on for a while and I waded out as far as I could, with the net in one hand and the rod in the other. As she twisted and turned in the clear water, I gave it one last pull of pressure to ensure she kept her head up and over the weed and she was mine.

It was a cracking scaly mirror of 24lb. Like the others, when it was on the mat the fish was passing a red sludge, clearly one that had been eating my floaters all morning for sure. It was the end of what had been such a superb few weeks’ angling. Good times with great friends, catching some of the finest looking carp in the land.

An amazing old carp, ending a fine spell of floater fishing in Oxford