No Bullsh*t, Just Good Solid Angling - The Boating Lake

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU FOLLOW THE COMMON…?

From Yateley, to St Ives Lakes’ Shallow Pit, and staying with the biblical year that was 2017, we’re going to look back at my time immediately after I slipped back the ‘BC’. I was left at a little bit of a loose end, and the obvious place to go was to the lake across the road, to fish for a carp called Baby Black. This was a fish I actually knew nothing about, until I considered my options after Burghfield, but it’s a mega carp. I knew about the Brute, and once that fish had passed, I guess that’s when the Baby Black began to shine as the main fish anglers would target. I always refer to the lake as the Boating Lake, and those who know it, know it. If you really do want to catch the fish, I guess it’s not hard to find out where it lives. 

KEY PART 1 - TRAVELLING TIME ISN’T WASTED TIME; USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!

It was around March when it happened. It was something you can’t process, even if you think you’re close to catching it… you can be so far away from it without even realising! I fully expected to see myself slogging it out for another year in Reading, so when my time with the Common came and went, it left me without a back-up plan which, as I said in my last piece, left me flitting around with no real idea of what to do. The Baby Black, then, seemed like a good shout. It would be the same mileage, and the same amount of fuel drained from the tank in the van most weeks, as I made my way south. The water was about 170 miles from my house, if I remember rightly. Although it’s some distance to the Boating Lake, the slog of the drive provided me with a lot of time to plan ahead, and process what I was going to do during each session. 

This time might not have been pivotal for the first session or two, but later, as I got my teeth stuck into it, those hours on my own with nothing but the open road and either a wet or dry net in the van, would do wonders for my thoughts and plans moving forward. You’re either driving down and thinking of the session ahead, or returning home with thoughts of what you could’ve done differently, using the time to process the snippets of information you’ve gleaned on the bank. There’s nothing better than that time on your own to reflect and think, rather than trying to work everything out whilst sitting at home, with its many distractions steering you away from your train of thought. 

KEY PART 2 - FRESH CHALLENGE, FRESH MIND! RELY ON EXPERIENCE, AND DON’T GO IN WITH A PRECONCEIVED IDEA

Although I was starting with a blank canvas, my usual approach of staying mobile, and even being up during the night were to pay off massively for me. I quickly learned that the fish were quite active at first light. You’d soon find them tucked away. When I arrived, they’d just found their new lease of life after winter. Although I’d love to have chased them around, planning my next move to intercept them, I soon learned too, that the anglers already on there had started their seasons way before I rocked up from Burghfield. The lake had an old-school vibe, in the sense of its syndicate etiquette. Some were getting certain areas going, spending a lot of time and effort in one place. 

I’ve said it before about the whole etiquette thing; I’ll observe it if I feel it’s deserved, and can see it reciprocated by those who preach it. By this, I mean seeing an angler religiously going into the same swim, every single time. They don’t look around for other opportunities or chances, and they make the effort to bait up when they leave, with nothing else coming into the equation. If this is the case, I’ll not go anywhere near that swim. I might look at the water for signs which might help, but I’ll never jump in and fish that spot off the back of their hard work. But—and it’s a big but!—if they decide to start looking elsewhere, baiting various other areas and maybe flitting about because they’ve seen an opportunity, then that totally changes the game. You leave that swim, and it’s every man for himself! 

During my first session, they seemed to love the open water from the start. The pit is around 50-acres, I think (this figure is genuinely off the top of my head, so apologies if I’ve got it wrong!). That’s a lot of water for them to frequent, and the stock, relatively, is pretty low, but they didn’t mind poking their heads out during those early morning periods, that’s for sure. This leads me onto my next point…

KEY PART 3 - TARGETING CARP IS FAR EASIER IF YOU FIND THEIR MATES!

I soon learned that there were numerous pods of carp that would hang around with each other. It would, therefore, be a case of choosing the right gang. The smaller, younger fish which Del had introduced over the years, seemed to love it in the reeds, out-of-bounds areas, and the snags which littered the lake. Generally, these would be the carp you’d see, but every now and again, you’d spot the crusty backs of the older fish as they leapt in certain areas, and amongst others. 

The older carp didn’t seem to like to mingle with the young pups, so I guess this made it easier for me to pinpoint the areas they favoured. Both main groups would also react differently to weather, pressure etc., which made it easier to separate them. As always, and with the lake being so large, the central area would usually hold carp. This was where they couldn’t really be fished for, and they knew it. Sometimes, you’d get pretty despondent, as you knew they were sitting in a catch-free zone, so to speak. When the weather changed, though, and with you having picked up on their patterns of movement and where they liked to head for, it was far easier to plan an attack for when the time came—again, those long drives to and from the lake proved very useful indeed! 

As spring came, and the warmer, sunnier weather became more frequent, the older carp seemed to favour the shallower areas and the plateaux—like any carp looking to sun themselves I guess! At mostly five- to seven-feet, the lake isn’t deep by any means, but it did have some really shallow areas, and these were full of eelgrass and Canadian weed; but hey, the carp loved them. 

KEY PART 4 - THANK GOODNESS FOR MY CLIMBING SKILLS! (IT PAYS TO BE ABLE TO SCRAMBLE UP TREES LIKE A MONKEY!)

Once I’d picked up on those patterns, I started to favour a swim called the Conveyor. Said swim has a huge old tree, which I was able to scramble up. Although it wasn’t the easiest to climb, I’d be using makeshift footholds in the ivy, and once up, I had a great view of both Farnham Flint and the Boating Lake. From my vantage point, I noted a really shallow plateau amongst the weed. It was probably only a few feet deep, but it had the glow of gravel on top, and you could easily spot those crusty backs of the carp as they sat over it. I was sure I’d found a few chunks on the feature. They weren’t really doing much, but it was clearly an area they liked and somewhere they felt comfortable.

As you can imagine, it didn’t take me long to shimmy back down the tree, grab my kit from the van and get into the swim. I didn’t go in like a bull in a china shop, though. I waited a while until they’d drifted off and used my time wisely. I tied some fresh rigs and prepped my bait, waiting until the time was right later. Like clockwork, the carp headed off into the centre of the lake for the evening. After getting the rods positioned on the area just before dark, I knew that when the sun poked its head back over the trees in the morning, and it shone onto the plateau again, the carp would return. 

I watched them slowly but surely drift back in, and before I knew it, their dorsals were poking out of the water as they headed towards the bait and rigs. It wasn’t long, though, before the backs disappeared as the fish reached the zone, and soon after, the first rod signalled a take. I had a few mates in my swim at the time, and after battling with the fish until it was under the tip, I remember seeing a glimpse of a really dark shape. Looking back, I know the others thought I’d got the Baby Black at the first time of asking! Eventually, I netted the carp, and I remember being in awe of it as it laid in the net, but it wasn’t ‘the Baby’. It was, in fact, a fish I’d not seen before, and I recall standing there wondering exactly what I did have in my net! 

It was an insane carp, and even some of the guys with me didn’t know which fish it was. It looked big too, close to, if not more than 40lb! Eventually, one of the regulars identified it as a carp called Two Fold, which hadn’t been out for years. It was black on its back, and red all over its belly, and a seriously cool and pretty mind-blowing fish. Mr. Wildbore got some great shots, as always, and I was off the mark.

KEY PART 5 - MY CAPTURE WAS AN ENJOYABLE MOMENT, BUT THE WATER WOULD SOON PLAY ITS GAMES WITH ME…

As my sessions progressed, I soon started to notice that the water was losing its clarity, and turning very murky. Then followed a massive algae bloom, which subsequently halted pretty much everything. I’d heard about the frequency of such blooms on the lake whilst on Burghfield, but until you see them with your own eyes, it’s hard to picture how bad they are. My good friend, Tom Stokes (aka ‘Pump’), had been on there, and had fished through it one year. The bloom actually turned his rod tips white, almost like they’d been dipped in acid! It was horrific, and after he spoke to me about it, it put me right off. The carp would surely shy away whilst this was all going on. I fished through it to some extent, but without much in the way of enthusiasm, really just hoping something might happen. Others stayed on, though, and we enjoyed a few beers together. Eventually, the water clarity improved. When that was, I can’t quite remember—I blame the beers!

KEY PART 6 - WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS ITSELF, TAKE IT. THAT TREE GAVE ME SO MUCH MORE THAN A GREAT VIEW!

I really did start to concentrate on the causeway bank, and in particular, the plateau I’d located. The tree offered such a clear view of the spot, and as the temperatures rose and the natural life flourished, the water began to team with huge water snails. They littered the woodwork and also an old railway sleeper in the water. I even crushed some of them and mixed them in with my bait which caught Two Fold. The area was bursting with life, but because the plateau was so shallow, I didn’t want to go in with a really heavy baiting approach, as I knew the birds would ruin the area, and almost certainly mess up the spot. This left me with a predicament: I wasn’t using as much bait as I thought, and the spot was really suitable for only two rods.

Anyway, I didn’t want to put all this bait out on the plateau, and so I thought to myself, Stuff it! Why don’t I just put some into the lake behind me. If I spun round 180 degrees, I could actually fish a good area up to the out-of-bounds rope. With the Spomb rod already clipped to the plateau, I fired it over towards the rope to see how close it got. Would you believe it! It was the exact distance I was fishing on the Boating Lake! How’s your luck? After that, though, I actually forgot that I’d put all this mixture of seed and boilie out to the long-chuck swim, and carried on as normal, fishing the plateau on the Boating Lake. That evening, all I heard was fish crashing and rolling, but not in front of me, behind… all over the bait on the rope! 

KEY PART 7 - TWO’S COMPANY, THREE’S A PARTY! NOT OVERCROWDING THE SPOT ALLOWED ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAG SOME BONUS FISH, GIVEN THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES

As mentioned, the plateau on the Boating Lake was big enough for only two rods, and a third would have massively overcrowded the spot. With all those fish showing over the bait behind me, I decided to hedge my bets and put my remaining rod out on the spot in the other lake. The activity continued throughout that morning, with huge plumes of fizz coming up over the spot; it was simply too hard to resist!

I hadn’t previously leaded up the area, and had just put the bucket of leftover bait out, almost to get rid of it. I was shocked, then, to find the area where I had put it in was rock hard! On my first cast with the rod, the lead landed with a proper ‘donk’. After just a little bit of leading, I realised the spot was a good four feet long as well! Whether it was there already, or the fish had made it that night, I knew I was in with a very good chance.

With the weed being super thick by the sides of the spot, I wasn’t 100 per cent sure the spot was polished off completely. To be safe, I fished a Signature pop-up on a Hinge over the top, thus preventing any stray bits of weed from ruining presentation. 

Later that afternoon, I landed a couple of fish on that rod. I couldn’t believe my luck! One was a proper stand-out carp, a black common, and what it lacked in size, it made up for in character. The other was a nice mirror, a bit paler and more typical of the lake. As I’d started to catch, I decided to put a few Spombs of fresh bait out for the night—I was ultra-confident, I’ll tell you that!

Sure enough, the next morning I woke up to another bite, but the fish was a completely different animal compared with the other two. It really did tow me about through all the thick weed, and just didn’t want to give in. I knew it was going to be a better one, and my thoughts were confirmed when, along with a massive ball of weed, I bundled a huge common into the net. It was absolutely immaculate, and perfect in every way. I was so taken aback by the looks of the fish, that the exact weight soon slipped my mind. The memory of the fish and its sheer perfection has clearly overtaken any importance of its weight in my mind, but it was somewhere around the 37- or 38-pound mark. 

Dan came down to do the photos and with me just using the lake as a bit of a time-burner whilst slogging it out on the Boating Lake, I let him fish that swim for the night. We always have a good laugh fishing together, and it was nice to have some company for a change. 

We had a barbecue that evening and talked the night away. The following morning, Dan had a bite off the spot, and lo and behold, he soon had another mega common in the net. The fish was known as the Long Common. It was such a magical morning, and being able to share the moment with Dan was very special. It was so nice to return the favour too, taking photos for him, rather than it being the other way around. He had travelled to me many a time, and had taken some insane photos for me—even when on a promise! In fact, that session started a running joke between us. As he barrowed into the swim that night, he said, “How many wraps mate?” Obviously I told him the perfect distance! Ever since, that phrase has stuck with us.

KEY PART 8 - PUT THE EFFORT IN AND THE REWARDS WILL FOLLOW. THE SPAWNING PUT AN END TO SPORT ON THE BOATING LAKE, BUT IT DIDN’T STOP ME FROM STAYING

After that run of action, the fish started to spawn on the Boating Lake. Obviously, I didn’t want to fish for them any longer, so I dropped on Farnham Flint. I fished in the famous Murders swim the first night, and was on fish the entire time. Through the night and into the next morning, I had non-stop liners, but nothing materialised in terms of takes. I knew something was wrong, and I had to figure out what the heck was going on!

I found the spindliest, dodgiest looking tree, but nonetheless decided to climb it and get a bit of elevation. Instantly, I saw what the problem was, staring me in the face. There were two really shallow bars between me and the spot I was fishing. My line was hung like a washing line across this bay—the fish must have been swimming into it, constantly… what a muppet!

With my newfound information in mind, I wound in a couple of rods and dropped them on the bars, keeping one on the other spot, just in case. If I remember rightly, I lost one that night from the original spot. The day then passed quietly, but the fish were still there, so I stayed put for another night. 

Early the next morning, I had a double-take, banking fish off each bar. Both were thirties, a cracking result considering how little time I had done on the lake. Yet again, the fish were very contrasting, which is clearly a draw for the anglers who fish there, as you never really know what you’re going to catch! One was a plain Jane, Blue Pool-style mirror, the other a mega, two-tone common. 

That capture marked the end of that period of fishing in the area for a short while. I moved on and fished Shallow Pit, did some tuition on Christchurch, and fished a variety of other venues in-between. I did drop onto the Boating Lake a few times over the next couple of years, fishing the early spring period. I never caught anything very special, though, just a couple of small, but quite pleasing commons. This started to get my back up a little, though, as I was putting a lot of effort in during my short spells there. Put simply, the ends didn’t justify the means. All the walking and chasing the fish around the lake was catching up with me, and to be honest, I almost gave up on it!

KEY PART 9 - NEVER GIVE UP AND NEVER SURRENDER! I WAS CLOSE TO CALLING TIME ON THE WATER, BUT THOSE BIRDS SAVED THE DAY ONCE AGAIN

There were so many waters that were much more appealing to me at the time, and I did end up leaving the pit alone for a while. It always remained in the back of my mind, though, and I knew I could never totally forget about it. I hatched a plan which would help keep me motivated, and still give me a decent enough chance of banking the ultimate prize. I decided not to slog it out through the good and bad on there, and wanted instead, to take advantage of specific windows when the fish were more obliging. This is something I have worked into my fishing more and more over the years. Any given lake isn’t going to fish consistently throughout the year, and there are always going to be more prolific periods. I chose, therefore, to target several lakes, each at different times. This ultimately kept my drive and motivation strong, as I knew I had a limited period in which to produce the goods. Then I’d move on. 

As it happened, a target fish of mine from another lake was caught. I made the decision then, to start fishing the Boating Lake again, a little earlier than I’d originally planned. I was confident that this was the right move, as the fish was very ‘due’ and the weather was perfect… even the moon phase was right! 

Having arrived at the lake, though, I just couldn’t find them anywhere, so I plotted up in a swim with a great view, ahead of the morning. As I suspected, nothing happened that night and I popped over to a mate for a brew. Whilst in his swim, I saw a fish show right down the other end of the lake, next to one of the large blue drums which the sailing club use as markers. I legged it down the bank, along the overgrown paths and back onto the road, before finally arriving in the swim. 

As I stood in the peg, I could see some fish milling around just under the surface, and every now and then, their backs broke the water. Several of them looked super crusty and old, giving them away as the ones I was after. My thoughts were cemented further when the birdlife in the area began to show specific behavioural patterns. The swans were first to give the game away. They had cygnets, and they were attacking the carp as they swam towards them. Now, I know from experience, that they don’t do that with small carp, only the bigger ones… it was game on!

I waited patiently before getting the rods out, and found the perfect spot amongst loads of thick eelgrass and weed. I got the rigs in position, and given the birds and the weed, I used pop-ups on Hinges. This was just to make sure that the point of the hook was off the bottom, on the off chance the rigs might be dragged along and moved by a passing swan or drifting ‘weedberg’. To make life easier, I piled a load of old bait into the margins, to keep the swans busy, and away from my perfect, neck-depth spots! 

KEY PART 10 - A PIVOTAL MOMENT OF WATERCRAFT WHICH HAS STAYED WITH ME EVER SINCE…

As the afternoon become evening, the fish were certainly still in the zone. With the swans busy along the margins, the grebes and coots were giving the game away. The coots were stomping their feet and the grebes were spooking as they returned to the surface. Everything was falling into place, and to this day, I honestly believe it was my greatest example of angling watercraft to date! In fact, if you want to see exactly how the session went, check out the Reflections film on Sticky’s YouTube channel, and the TA|RAW vlog on Thinking Anglers’ channel. Both films really highlight what I went through, and what led ultimately to an amazing capture.

Anyway, back to the story… I went to sleep and woke up to a twitchy bite at 1 a.m. The fish didn’t really do a lot, and felt like a tench, so in all honesty, when it fell off, I wasn’t too disheartened. I dropped back off to sleep before I was woken up again later by another bite, and this fish most certainly wasn’t a tench! It absolutely beat me up, also going through my other rod. I was very conscious that it was the fish I was after, as it was known for fighting really hard. After a huge amount of toing and froing, a snake-like mirror drifted over the net cord, and I knew it could be only one fish… the Baby Black was mine! 

It was a super-special moment. I put the call out to a few lads ready for a first-light photoshoot. Dan was first on the list, of course, and he shot down to do the filming and shots. What a carp it was! At over 46lb, it looked plump as well.

That fish was the one I was after, obviously, and it put an end to what was a couple of years of mixed emotion, a hell of a lot of stress, and a smattering of good times. You know what they say, though, you have to endure the bad to appreciate the good… and boy did I appreciate the good!