Scotty K: Handling The Pressure

Some readers may recognise you from a few appearances in books, but you have never really done anything for the mags, why is this?
“Firstly, I would say that nobody has really asked me to be honest. I have always kept my pictures to myself and a few friends and never really felt the need to share them about. They were fishing the same lakes as I was and none of us wanted to attract any more attention to the places.

“I have never had a sponsorship before, so haven’t felt obliged to give my pictures away. I have had a reduction in my bait cost, but they never really asked for anything in return; I’ve always been happy to pay for things and get on with my fishing and not have to do anything that might jeopardise the attention on the lake, if you know what I mean.

"Some of the lakes that I’ve fished are ‘No Publicity’ and it was frowned upon to publicise anything from there. I fished one particular lake from a young age that had such rules and I guess I just carried it on from there. If anyone asked to see a photo I would show them, but with the onset of social media, a picture can go from between a few of you, to thousands of people in an instant.”

Two rods is a rule on most of the lakes that Scotty has fished

With an area code that boasts an impressive list of waters, have you fished all the lakes you would have liked to, or did you miss out on some in their heyday?
“I definitely missed out on the North Lake, back when Bazil was in there. I used to fish a club water nearby and a few of my friends left to go and fish the North. The Yateley complex waters were a little bit ahead of me in terms of experience, so didn’t fish it; but would visit them all the time.

“They used to fish the Match and the Copse and I would visit them a lot, especially at the weekends. They then progressed to the North Lake and I loved the place. It was the same as the Car Park, you never really feel ready for it and being 18 at the time, I thought it was a bit too much of a step-up.

“I saw a lot of the fish on the bank, including Bazil, and I just loved the place. The pits were full of weed and an atmosphere like nothing I had experienced before. I used to tiptoe past anglers on the Car Park to see my friends on the North and it felt like you shouldn’t be there.

“Before I got over to that side of the road to fish, Bazil passed away. The Causeway fish is another one that I would have loved to have a go for. I never fished it but photographed it for a friend and what a carp that was!”

Speaking of the Car Park Lake, it was known to be one of the trickiest pits in the land, yet having spoken to people that fished it in the past, you were incredibly successful on there. What was the secret?
“I think it was the hours of walking, chatting and learning, leading up to actually obtaining a ticket. I had a few friends fishing it and for two or three seasons, I would go and share stories over cups of tea and through watching a lake, you begin to build a picture or a plan in your mind.

“I got to know the people that fished there and by the time I got my ticket, I knew the lads and had seen a fair few of the carp on the bank.

“I was lucky too, that the first carp I caught was on my fifth night, which gave me a lot of confidence. It removed that doubt of your bait or rig not being effective and from then on I could just worry about getting in the right area and making sure everything was bang on.

“I caught two the first year and five the second season. I think I fished there for 18-months and absolutely loved my time on there; it truly was a special lake. I was at a bit of a loose end because one minute you think this could take five years, but I was lucky in the sense that it didn’t take that long at all.”

Did you have a favourite one in there, and what was the most memorable capture from the lake?
“I would have said before I joined, Chunky was my favourite. I never caught that one, but I did see it on the bank and it was such an impressive carp. It died on the opening day of the second season that I fished it, which was such a shame.

“I would say that my favourite capture was Arthur, mainly from the way it was caught. I was fishing the bars a couple of weeks before and my friend had caught a fish from up the road. His phone battery had run out, so he came to get me for photos. On his way round he spotted a big fish roll only close in off the Island swim.

“He told me about it and at the time, the spots that everyone used to fish out in the pond were ‘blown’ and covered in old bait, so the swim was fairly left alone and I was intrigued to see what was going on close in. I think the swim had been free for 11 nights, which was a lot for that lake at the time.

“I got in there and had a cast around with a lead close in. It felt really odd flicking around so close in, a rod length from the bank. Right at the bottom of the shelf I found one little crack down among the soft surroundings. It was totally different to anything else around it and it took a number of casts to get it right, such was the size of it. I found another spot a couple of rod lengths to the right, which was a nice, smooth silty area. I baited that one with a couple of hundred little boilies and just fished a single bait on the ‘crack down’ spot.

“Sure enough, at about 10pm that night, the single hookbait was snapped up by an angry carp, which turned out to be Arfur, one of the real tricky ones to catch and a special fish for sure.”

When your time was up on the Car Park, did you find it hard to find somewhere to fish that held such prestige and with such a unique atmosphere?
“Yes, totally. I didn’t live in Yateley at the time, but actually moved there not long after. I would still pop in to the lake most days after work, because I loved the place so much.

“It had been such a huge part of my life for so long, I found it hard to let it go. I wasn’t fishing it, but my friends still had tickets and I would go visit them and almost relive the wonderful times and experiences I had on the lake.”

Have you always been a weekend angler?
“Yes, since day one really, I’ve fished the weekends. When I fished the Car Park it was busy, but quite often I would go down on a Friday night and if I couldn’t get a swim, I would be back first thing on a Saturday morning. Then I would squeeze it out until Monday morning and start work late. It normally meant that I could get a decent swim at least on the Sunday night.

“It was weird at times, because some people would even swap swims. If one person had caught Arfur and it was in his swim, and someone had Heather in their swim and they wanted to catch it, they would sometimes swap.”

Did you ever have a certain fish showing over you and get totally mugged off?
“Yes, loads of times. I think because the lake was small and the fish were big. Chunky and the Big Orange were hard to tell apart, but other than that you could tell what fish it was over you. Arfur was the one with the reputation for being tricky to catch, but I only ever saw it show over me once. But then the Big Orange went over three years without a capture and he had been feeding it for a couple of weeks and I remember him saying that it was a wonder how it ever got caught the way it fed.”

Having most of the lakes that you’ve fished quite local to your home, is prep work something that you put in to your fishing?
“I must admit that it’s something that I don’t tend to do and never really have. A lot of my fishing is with single hookbaits and when I started fishing on this lake as a kid, we used to always find the fish and set-up on top of them. I prefer the opportunist style of fishing: setting up on the day where the fish are and reading the situation there and then.

“A lot of the time when you pre-bait you get obsessed and often disappointed. If all you can think about is that swim, only to arrive and find someone in there; you are on a downer from the off. If though, you can turn up with no preconceived idea of what you are going to do or where you’re going to go, it’s a nice way of fishing.

“I have pre-baited recently, but that was because I couldn’t really fish at the time and the lake wasn’t busy. I knew that I would be the only one there or certainly in that swim, and on such a big lake I thought that baiting it was going to be an advantage for me for when I could actually fish it. But on a busy club lake like this, pre-baiting is near enough impossible, without others seeing it or of course, actually affecting other anglers fishing. They’ve paid their money to fish the lake so you can’t claim a swim; they are perfectly entitled to fish there too.”

Weekend viewing

That’s interesting that you say that you fish singles a lot; is that throughout the year too?
“I like doing things that others aren’t and that’s something that you rarely see. Some people are afraid of it, but with wise old fish they know that if they stay in an area pigging out on bait for too long, there is a good chance that they will get caught. However, if they have a little mouthful and move on, they don’t tend to get caught a lot. With a single you are not giving them any chance of missing the bait. If you have something that they want, an effective rig and a sharp hook there is a high chance of catching one.”

Would you class yourself as a technically ‘riggy’ person, or would you just fish something very basic?
“I don’t have many rigs that I use, but I use certain ones for different lakes. If I was fishing here, I have a bottom bait rig that I’ve used for years, but it works really well. It’s a pain in the arse to tie, so I think a lot of people wouldn’t use it, which is why I think it works so well. So yeah, I guess I do think about rigs a lot; I suppose you have to if you want to try and catch carp that have seen it all in the past.

“If I am going somewhere that the fish are not overly pressured, then rigs like the Hinged Stiff are perfect, as they are simple to tie, always fishing and give you great hook -holds. But on lakes that have been fished heavily, I’m sure a lot of the fish have learned by association and hooking them on rigs that they’ve been caught on time and time again can be hard.

“If it was a case of fishing a pre-baited spot and I knew the fish were really having it, I don’t think it is as important as it would be fishing with a single hookbait or a little trap for example.

“I had a break from fishing this lake for a few years and when I came back I struggled. It wasn’t until I conjured up all the old components to a rig I used successfully before that I started catching again, from that first session using it in fact. I then caught two the following week and my confidence was sky high. I remember telling everyone at work that week that I was going to catch another one that weekend. Sure enough, I caught one of the big commons and I was sure that it was the rig that helped me do achieve that.”

Son of Triple Row, caught from a hole in the weed that took ages to find

Returning The Son

You have referenced ‘here’ quite a bit. The place where we are today is known to be a very tricky lake and you’ve fished it on and off for years. What keeps bringing you back?
“My first session on here was 1997 when I left school. My friend told me about the place and we had to take a trip down. We went for a walk round after his dad dropped us off and we used to fish together a lot, but had never fished a weedy lake.

“Sure enough, there was loads of weed and the place gripped us. We had the summer holidays and the club at the time decided to kill the weed and by the time we arrived all of it was dying. We struggled all year and didn’t catch anything until the following spring.

“As the fish got bigger and the years passed, it got more and more popular. There wasn’t a time limit at one point, so there used to be thirty people fishing round an eight-acre lake at times.

“The fish by this point had seen everything, and from good anglers too and it got harder to catch. With a barbless hook rule too, I think the fish have learned the hard way that running off with it isn’t a good idea, so some don’t panic and manage to spit the rig out a lot.

“I remember sitting there with two rigs out - one short and the other slightly longer - and I watched with a friend as these bubbles were pin-pricking around the two baits positioned only six-feet apart. On the longer rig I had a couple of beeps and I was convinced I had been done. I reeled the rod in and as I swung the lead to my hand, I saw a subtle show from a common over the spot.

“Whether they sussed one rig and thought it was out of the equation and safe I don’t know, but ten minutes later the other rod was away. I know some people don’t give carp too much credit, but on some lakes, they are masters of their environment and know the score; that’s for certain.”

Being someone that has always fished on the tough, big fish lakes, are you really meticulous about the spot that you fish?
“I would say yes, but mainly on weedy lakes. There is always that sweeter spot within a spot. You might get a crack-down, but that may be the light weed around the small dinner plate that is the actual sweet spot. I spend a lot of time with the leading rod at times. I think Dinton was very much like that when I fished it. I saw the holes in the weed like cones going down and you would get a drop in the weed, but that spot was in the middle and if you could get the rig on that, it would often lead to a bite.”

Dinton White Swan in particular is known for being a really tricky lake, would you agree?
“I would say yes, due to the number of carp that swim in there, to capture ratio; it is a tricky pit. However, I think it is more a presentation thing than them being ‘riggy’ or spooky. I was always happy to make 100 casts there to make sure I landed on that spot and quite often get a bite the next day. I don’t think that was the issue, the presentation on there had to be so right and that’s why I think so few fish seem to get caught. The fish would back off when you cast, but the weed seemed to shield the noise from the casting. After the initial disturbance the fish would generally creep back over the spots.”

When it all comes good: a truly special carp

A fish known as Two-Fold and a rare one for the lake

Have you had a stand out season that sticks in your mind?
“I would say the second season on the Car Park was up there. I caught a couple from there, two from the Club Lake to over 40lb and then had three more back on the Car Park. I felt like I was fishing really well all the time and just couldn’t put a foot wrong.”

Is there still a lot of fishing for you to do in the Berkshire area or are you finding that you are beginning to look further afield?
“I am going to have to soon, and I’m looking forward to it. I still have some unfinished business on White Swan and there is of course, Black Swan; that could be tempting. Burghfield is up the road, but I’m not sure I have the time to commit to such a challenge.

“I’ve spent a lot of time fishing busy, pressured circuit lakes and do fancy somewhere quiet. A big lake where you have your own space sounds appealing. Now I am working in the trade, it would be nice to escape the fishing chat for the weekend I suppose, so maybe I will find somewhere like that next.”

The social scene is a big thing in the Yateley area

You mentioned working in the trade, this is a new thing right?
“I’ve always been a graphic designer by trade and an opportunity came up to work with my friend at Thinking Anglers. It meant that I could combine both things that I like doing into one. I’ve loved it so far and it’s exciting helping out with product design too, working with both Ben and Oz is great. We have all fished for a long time and they are people that I enjoy spending time with and I feel that between us we can come up with some good stuff.”

The big Stockie, caught during a mad spell and weeks of pre-baiting

Bringing it to more recent times, you said you had a little stint on a lake that you had pre-baited. I know that was quite a success, can you expand on this?
“It’s a lake that I’ve been walking round since 2005 I think. I knew what fish were in there and said that I was going to fish it, but for one reason or another I never got round to it. When I left my previous job, I had a couple of weeks in-between that and my new role, so thought I would capitalise on this time.

“I walked it all season on and off and the weed was savage. It was like a football pitch in areas, so I sorted out some weed rakes to make somewhere fishable. I had a swim that looked good and the fish would often be seen in the area. Soon though, the weed was so bad the whole area was unfishable; it was time to hatch another plan.

“I noticed the fish were spending a lot of time in a hole in the weed, particularly in the wet, summer weather. It was a small swim that not many people would fish and the spot was only close, so I planned to bait the area for a few weeks.

“I was baiting with a mixture of seeds and 12mm Krill boilies, with a few 16mms. I knew from mates that had fished it in the past that they liked small baits, so most of the mix was 12mm samples.

“In that two weeks I had off, I kept going down and baiting the spot, as well as a silty area a bit further out in the pond. The weed was unreal and the line-lay was a problem, so I had to spend hours with the weed rake, and even then it wasn’t making much of a difference.

“I didn’t see anything show over the spot in the first week, but I could feel something was feeding there. I spent every morning watching the lake and after dawn fizzled out, I began to rake the swim.

The biggest in the pond at 45lb 14oz after a memorable session last year

“A few days passed and the spot now was getting really clean and I raked the last bits of weed out and I could now fish it. There was a huge pile of weed on the bank, so I had to move it all out the way so it wasn’t noticed.

“I had just a few days left before I started work and the line-lay was still impossible. I wouldn’t have been able to land anything I hooked as it stood, and after seeing a couple of fish show over the area, I knew I had to go for it and do everything I could to clean the swim.

“I felt like I had wasted my two weeks off, but although I hadn’t fished, the bait had been doing the work for me. I had two nights before I started work and decided to fish elsewhere, just so I could at least get a bit done. As I pulled off the drive I decided I needed to at least have a look, so I headed over to the big pit to have a look.

“I big westerly had sprung up and it had shifted a lot of the weed. I got to the swim and the weed had drifted and the line-lay was now perfect! I got a couple of rigs out there and topped up the spot with 20 Spombs. I caught one the following morning and got the rod straight back out. I caught another one straight away and gave them another hit of bait. It carried on from there and I caught a number of carp, including the biggest in the lake at over 45lb, so it was all worth it in the end!”