Solar Tackle - For the Sharper Blogger!

Cassien Christmas crackers

2012-01-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

Steve Briggs had a great session down at his favourite venue recently, Cassien in the south of France. It started off really well when in the first two nights Steve landed mirrors of 40lb 4oz, 44lb 8oz and 48lb 12oz. The weather was warm for the time of year Steve fished a variety of depths, baiting lightly with 20mm Club Mix boilies.

As the session wore on the action remained consistent although he had to move a couple of times to keep on the fish. After the first three mirrors it was the commons that fed more strongly and the next seventeen fish were all commons including Steve's two biggest ever from the lake at 55lb 4oz (25.1kg) and 56lb 8oz (25.6kg) . The run of commons continued until the weather turned really cold at night and then when a mirror did arrive it was a big one of 56lb 4oz (25.5kg).

It was a session where everything went to plan but also all the gear was working perfectly. 32 runs were received and 32 fish were landed which speaks volumes for the effectiveness of the Stronghold size 4's which every fish was landed safely on.

Christmas Day was another special one as Steve landed six fish that day including his biggest Christmas Day fish so far, a lovely mirror of 50lb 10oz. A great session from start to finish!!!!

Happy New Year Briggsy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Around the venues

2011-08-31T05:44:00.000-07:00

I've been fishing all over the place since my last post at a number of different venues at home and abroad and have been having some great fun! For the last week or so I've been concentrating on a local venue which is literally a stones throw from where I live. It's all been short session stuff either mornings or afternoons and I've had fish every time I've been. As much of my fishing involves long sessions away it's been good to scale the tackle down and travel light, but one of the important things is to get fishing asap with the minimum of fuss and the Worldwide Pod has been the business in that respect. I'm used to using it on the big waters abroad but the adaptability means it can be used on literally any venue and scaling it down in size it's perfect for quiuck assembly for the short sessions! Yesterday it was fishing well so I stayed on for the day and ended up with nine fish up to 27lb+ with one lost

Apart from that I fished with my old mate Crowy down at the Church Lake in Essex and we both got amongst the fish. I got the ball rolling with a cracking 30lb+ mirror before Crowy got in to gear and he landed a few up to 32lb although he did lose a proper lump right at the net which we both had a good look at and it had to be a mid -40 at least!! - unlucky mate!!

A couple of weeks back I went over to Gran Canaria for the first time. It was one of the places I'd always wanted to visit so it was good to finally get there. I met up with Dave Beecham who runs a guiding service over there. He was brought up on the same waters as me in the Darenth Valley all those years ago so we had plenty in common and he is sponsored by Solar so he has all the right gear out there! The fishing isn't difficult as hardly anyone fishes there these days. The important thing is to use strong reliable gear, so I went with the Easy Strip 25lb hook links, size 4 StrongHold long shank hooks and Solar lead clips and we never lost a fish! All the action came at night - which wasn't surprising as it was over 40 degrees most days in the blazing August sun, but we had some stunning, heavily-scaled mirrors up to mid - 30's which all fought like demons!

Lastly, I fished one other session over in France at Bob Davis' Lac Serreire which has always been one of my favourite commercial venues. We shared the Big Lake with Tim Paisley for the week and I fished up in the shallows where I'd enjoyed some success the previous October. It's a fantastic lake with stacks of carp and the action started from day one with some chunky mirrors up to 41lb. They were quick to move in on the baited areas but would then move off after a few fish had been banked so I had to keep moving the rods around, but the Club Mix was as good as ever and invariably action would come quite soon after a new area had been baited. The best of the week was a long mirror of 48lb 8oz that picked up a double Club Mix bottom bait in about 1.5 metres of water next to bed of lilies.

So there's been plenty of variety in my fishing but as always the Solar gear has been well up to the job and I feel confident whatever the situation. I've got plenty more fishing to do over the coming weeks so I just hope the results keep coming!!

Cheers Briggsy

August update

2011-08-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

Crowy has continued to bank a few during the last few weeks, including some lovely fish from Church Lake (Essex), Emmotland (Yorkshire), Manton New Lake (Lincolnshire) and White Cottage Lake (Sussex). Best of the bunch was a 32¼lb mirror from Church Lake, whilst at Emmo he landed fish to just over 30lb from Pond 1 and mirrors to almost 29lb from Pond 2. At Manton, he fished for less than an hour and banked a mid-twenty common off the top, whilst at White Cottage he banked one of the biggies known as The Long Common during an overnighter, weighing in at 29lb 10oz.

A mixture of tactics has produced the goods, including surface fished Mixer flavoured with Dairy Cream and Pineapple, whilst on the bottom he’s been using Club Mix and sweetcorn to tempt his catches. He’s been using the new Easy Strip Coated hooklink as well as our new Sediment Black Lead Clips and Tail Rubbers.

He commented: “I’ve done quite a bit of mileage lately, fishing short trips at waters all over the country. It’s the first time I’ve used the new hooklink and it’s looking good so far as I’ve not lost a fish on it. As for the Sediment Black coloured clips, I love these for fishing over choddy bottom as they really blend in well.”

Mr Consistent!

2011-07-06T02:13:00.000-07:00

Solar’s Simon Crow has been Mr Consistent, notching up 30-pounders from five different UK venues already this season. First up was a couple of thirties topped by a 32¼lb mirror from Emmotland’s Pond 1 in Yorkshire, shortly followed by a 30½lb mirror known as The Linear from Menards in Sussex.

He then ventured to Shropshire and Acton’s Bottom Lake where he landed a 33lb mirror as well as the Big Common known as Bill at 51lb.

He then banked a trio of thirties from Grenville in Cambridgeshire, topped by a 32½lb, and this week he’s just returned from the Isle of Wight where a 42-hour trip on Rookley Park resulted in a 31lb 2oz!

Crowy revealed: “It would have been six lakes but unfortunately I managed to lose a fish known as No Name from Orchid Lake a rod length out!” All of Crowy’s fish have come on Solar’s Stronghold X-Wide Gape hooks (size 6), and fallen for either Club Mix, Top Banana pop-ups or sweetcorn.

50's from six countries for Steve Briggs

2011-06-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Steve Briggs made history recently when he became the first person ever to catch 50lb carp from six different countries. His latest capture came during a six-day session on a private 80 acre low-stock lake in Belgium. In good conditions Steve started catching from the start on the difficult venue and after landing a small stockie and a 35lb mirror, he then latched in to the lakes largest mirror, a fish named Zeus which weighed in at 61lb 8oz! Steve baited a shallow spot in amongst thick weed with Club Mix and BYT boilies and matching pellets and was surprised by the action after fishing the lake on two previous occasions where he landed just one carp. Fishing at 150 metres range with braid, he used a three-metre length of 40lb Unleaded to keep everything down on the bottom in the clear water.

Over the next two days the action continued and amongst eleven fish in total he banked two of the other known big fish both of which were commons, The Long One at 51lb 8oz and The Leopard at 42lb 8oz. After that conditions changed and the fish switched off but Steve was more than happy after landing his main target fish from the lake.

Steve commented: "I'm over the moon to have had a result like this and to have caught a big Belgian carp. The lake is very tricky and to give you an idea, there were just 27 carp caught from there in 2010 and the one carp that I had caught previously from there back in 2008 was in fact the only capture of that fish in seven years! But the big mirror Zeus was one that I'd seen a picture of several years ago and I'd always wanted to catch it so it was a magic moment - and of course to become the first person to make it 50's from six countries is a bit special too. Thanks to Theo and Jonny for making us welcome and for putting in the hard work to create this challenging but rewarding venue."

Six of the best at Rainbow

2011-05-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Lake was on good form recently and it was yet another incredible session on the best carp water the world has ever known. I was in swim 18 for two weeks, it's a swim I know well and it seems that the fish spend more time there than ever now since the storms of February 2009 when several more trees were blown over in to the lake. The fish continue to grow well but the latest result still surprised me. I started catching straight away but on the third day I latched in to a 68lb 4oz mirror and I would have been happy with that one - but that was just the start!!

The fish kept feeding and action came most days. Normally in April it can be tough but the fish average can be on the big side as the smaller fish tend to spawn first but they head for the other end of the lake, it certainly seemed to be the case again as the smaller fish were just nowhere to be seen.

Some of the fish I'd never seen before but at least three of the 60lb+ fish that I caught I had previously landed when they weighed a bit less. Re-captures are never what we want but it is good to see how the fish are doing and without exception they are just getting bigger every year!

Bait for this trip was the new Chinese Takeaway boilies and pellets and also the ever-reliable Quench. The right bait is always important and also the right gear, the fish were fighting extremely hard this time and the Stronghold size 2's were definitely put to the test but came through with flying colours.

Over the last few years I've had some great Rainbow sessions but this one topped most of them I think with 24 fish landed in total but with six of them over 60lb and a further four 50's and eleven 40's.

We all hear about the big Rainbow fish and you can get a bit blase about what goes on there but there simply isn't another place like it in the world and when you are there catching them it's a bit special - there isn't anywhere that can compete with it. But of course you only catch them if they want to eat the bait, so well done Martin on coming up with yet another winner!!!

Big Bill falls to the Clubs

2011-05-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to fish one of the most exclusive lakes in the country, so when the chance to fish at Acton Burnell’s Bottom Lake for a week with my good mate Steve Briggs came up I jumped at it. The two of us fished the rock-hard 7 acre estate lake a couple of years back, Steve coming away exceptionally well with six carp from seven nights of fishing. When you consider there are only 21 carp in the venue, he did amazingly well, with a little bit of luck also coming his way.

On that occasion I only fished four nights, losing one on my last morning, so I really did want to make amends on this occasion. The first night I managed to get off the mark straight away with a cracking 33lb mirror, falling to Club Mix 18mm bottom bait in a deep channel in the middle of the lake. The following day I decided to rest the swim as the Bottom Lake doesn’t tend to fish very well in daylight hours, putting the rods back out at 8pm. The conditions were absolutely electric, perfect for big fish, and less than an hour later I was latched into the venue’s most sought after fish, Bill at 51lb, a stunning old common that’s seen the net of some really famous anglers over the last twenty years, including Kevin Maddocks, Alan Taylor and Dave Moore to name just a few. It only comes out a couple of times a year so I feel very privileged to have caught it in such a short space of time.

The amazing Club Mix had done it once again, assisting me to land yet another good fish. It seems to keep catching the biggies wherever it is used, just ask the rest of the Solar team who have also been having some exceptional success with it. Long may it continue, that’s all I can say!

Simon Crow

Top Banana for Crowy!

2011-03-13T00:38:00.000-08:00

Solar consultant Simon Crow joined our very own Steve Briggs as being the only two anglers in the world to have caught 50lb-plus carp from five different countries! This amazing feat was achieved last week when the 40-year-old fished at Domain de la Ribiere in France, topping an eight fish catch with a 50lb 10oz mirror. Crowy’s successful bait was the ever-faithful Top Banana readymades fished on size 6 X-Wide Gape hooks and Solar lead clips.

Commenting on his trip, Crowy revealed: “I’ve not really done much fishing in France over the last ten years, and prior to that I tended to fish the public waters like Cassien, Madine etc. My biggest French carp was a 46lb from Lac du Der Chantecoq. However, there’s been a boom in 50lb-plus carp in the country since the commercial lakes took a hold, and I decided it was time to go and have a look what Ribiere was like as I was hearing lots of great things about it. I chalked up my fifty during a week-long trip with friends Steve Briggs, Rob Hales and Dave Treasure. We had a great time, Rob also getting amongst the fifties, with Steve landing them to 47lb and Dave to 43lb. I struggled to get on the fish for a few days, but once I did, it was the always-reliable Top Banana that did the trick for me.”

The other countries Crowy has landed fifties from are England, Romania, South Africa and Austria. A huge Top Banana to him on a great achievement!

Quench does the trick

2011-02-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

The winter fishing down at Rainbow Lake can always be a bit tricky and you have to be a little bit lucky with the weather. I've fished every year in February since 2004 and it's a case of 'some you win some you lose' although I have managed to catch at least one fish each time. This year the weather turned just at the right time though, and it was getting in to double figures for the first time this year. The water was still quite cold though and it meant being very careful with the baiting approach. In the winter I generally go for the Quench with its lovely fruity aroma and it turned out to be a real winner. It started off with me catching 3 small commons over small beds of the Quench with matching 365 pellets. Hook baits were double 14mm Quench.

As the first week wore on the fish started to move in more and they got bigger. The first real biggun was a 54lb common, which was the start of a really good spell of action. To that point my mate Gary had been struggling on tigers and after changing over to the Quench he got his first fish of the trip, a 36lb mirror. That was the start he needed and we both caught fish consistently every day after that with Gary landing his new PB of 65lb and also his 3rd biggest ever, another good mirror of 62lb. Most swims were producing one or two fish but I'm sure that the Quench was responsible for keeping the fish interested out in front of us.

Besides the bait there was one other thing which seemed to make a difference and that was the new Solar Unleaded braid. This stuff is just amazing and will make leadcore a thing of the past. you can see from the pic how supple it is and while it is heavy, it contains no lead wire. It is designed as a leader material but I caught a few fish using it as hook lengths too!

Thankfully the sun kept shining all through the trip and after last years struggle when it was all about snow and ice it made a nice change to be able to sit outside all day and feel that there was a chance of a run at any time. As usual most of the action came during the day

and that is always a feature of the fishing at Rainbow, which suits me fine - a good nights kip and then up for a bit of carp action! The Quench has served me really well in cold water conditions and I find it really helps to match the pellets to the boilies. I've done well with Quench and Dairy Cream pellets in conjunction with Quench boilies, whereas in the warmer months the Red Herring or Club Mix 365 pellets work a treat with the Club Mix boilies. It was a good start to the year anyway and I'm just looking forward to the next trip now!!!

Cheers Briggsy........................

Top Banana!

2010-12-17T03:04:00.000-08:00

The last time I fished Orchid Lake was in June 2009 when I came away with some nice fish from off the bottom and top. In late November, however, I put aside 48 hours for my first trip back, arriving just before dark on the Sunday afternoon so that I could get set up. I know most of the swims at Orchid like the back of my hand so it didn’t take me long to get three rods out. I was in the swim known as Island Dug Out with a set of dying lilies to my left and a large island at 50 yards straight in front. There’s a few good spots to the right, too, including silt and gravel, but the two main areas worth focusing on at this time of the year are the lilies and the island. The lilies especially hold carp throughout the year, and it was here where I decided to put two rods for the first night.

I had the rods in place for 5pm all on tiny 6mm Top Banana hookbaits over seed. With the carp being so active in the pads I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before something happened, and only a short while later a good fish crashed not far from my middle rod. Despite a forecast of cold and driving rain in the region, I sensed that for once I’d timed my trip perfect and less than an hour later the first fish was on! A scrappy battle followed amongst the outer edges of the lilies and it was clear a dynamite double was on the end. The next morning a hard battling 22lb mirror followed, and then a few hours later I was in with a really heavily scaled mirror and a cracking 28lb the next day, all on the little 6mm hookbaits. It was a great return to a venue that I hold dear to my heart.

Always wanting to make the most of a good thing, I was back down a few days later, after I’d got some work out of the way. Amazingly the fish were still in the swim and I was able to get back into it. Arriving at first light, by the end of the first day, I had one of my target fish on the bank, a mirror known as Sampson which is one of the oldest carp in the lake. This particular fish has been around for a very long time, even making the cover of Carp-Talk way back in the mid-1990s. At its heaviest weight, it has been as high as mid-30s, but on this occasion it went 29lb 8oz.

My lucky roll continued with an absolute corker weighing just over thirty at 30lb 4oz the next day. This one came right on packing up time when I had everything packed away apart from the essentials!

Another trip to the lake a couple of days later saw me land a cracking 29lb 2oz heavily scaled mirror. This fish looking stunning in its full winter colours. Sadly the cold weather put an end to something good, although I’m sure the fish had moved out after I landed the 29lb 2oz. I’m itching to get back down once the weather warms up, and I’m certain the Top Bananas will continue to produce the goods!

Check out the latest Orchid Lake news at www.orchid-lakes.com or telephone Marsh Pratley on 01865 341810.

Weed Effect uses

2010-11-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

The Weed Effect gear has been a revelation since it came on to the scene and it's helped me to put a few extra fish on the bank for sure. But what has really got me excited about this stuff are the different uses it has and the situations where it's helped for reasons that weren't obvious to start with.

It was back at Cassien in the summer when I realised that although the obvious use for the Weed Effect gear is to help camouflage everything, that certainly wasn't the only use. Back then I was using it in very clear water in areas which had no weed, but I was catching plenty of fish and it was obvious that although the Weed Effect gear was easy enough for me to see, the fish didn't connect it with anything dangerous.

But more recently I was across in France fishing a fairly shallow lake which is also very silty. The problem has always been one of presentation and casting out at any range with a heavy lead would invariably bury everything with the force with which it was landing. The Weed Effect gear helped in two different ways; firstly I noticed a while back that the leader material slows down the drop to the bottom considerably, almost like a parachute effect which definitely helped to stop the rig sinking in to the silt. But secondly the Weed Effect leads dont bury in to the soft silt anywhere near as much, instead they plug in almost on the surface but at the same time they are harder to dislodge. So not only is the presentation far better but so is the hooking potential when the fish picks up the bait and moves off. So there's a lot more to the Weed Effect gear than just camouflage!
cheers Briggsy..............

Club Mix continues to catch em’!

2010-11-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

I know I’ve gone on about The Club Mix quite a bit this last year in UK magazines, but I really can’t speak enough about it. It just keeps on working wherever I take it, the big fish really taking a liking to it. My latest biggie isn’t a monster by national standards, but it’s from a lake that’s very well stocked for its size, yet the Clubs still managed to single out one of the better fish on my first ever trip there.

I had a two-day trip planned for CEMEX Angling’s Chigborough Lake in Essex as part of a slot for Rob Hughes’s Extreme Carp Show which is to be aired on Sky Sports in the New Year. I knew virtually nothing about the lake other than what the bailiffs had told me, and settled into a swim known as Bailiffs Corner. It was a lovely swim with lots of overhanging bushes in a bay to the right and a nice gravel bar in front at 30 yards which stretched from the corner of an island to the right-hand bank.

Being a two-rod water, I put the left-hander off the gravel near the island over a handful of 20mm Clubs, with the right-hander going towards the overhangs on the same tactic. Almost immediately I was into a low-double mirror from the right, followed by a low-twenty on the left. The action was fantastic during the night, slowing down once day broke the next day. I’d landed five nice fish to low-20s. Nothing happened until dusk the next day when the action kicked off again. Each rod would go with some really hard fighting fish, and then at 8pm I struck into one I knew straight away was a decent lump. It kited to the right along the bar and then plodded its way towards me. It put up a great scrap in front of the cameras, and when it surfaced in front of the net I knew it was a decent kipper.

On the scales it went 32lb 8oz, a big mirror known as Two Scale. For my first ever time on the lake it certainly made me smile and just goes to show that Club Mix can produce the biggies without any pre-baiting whatsoever. It’s an awesome bait and has accounted for some great fish to myself this year, and like the rest of you I’m not out on the bank 24/7. I’ve a busy lifestyle, dashing here there and everywhere. To know there’s a bait around that can produce the goods without any previous introduction gives me masses of confidence every time I’m out there doing it.

The success of this bait globally is second to none, whether it’s monsters from Rainbow or biggies from your local lakes.

Crowy

Snag fishing at Rainbow

2010-10-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

I´ve just returned from a week session at Rainbow. Since I´ve start fishing the lake I love the place. The lake is beautiful, has got the right atmosphere and of course big carp! This time I was situated in one of the most snaggy areas of the lake. From a session earlier in the year I knew that I only had a couple of little spots to fish to. That made me decide to fish the small piece of the big island – what was my water in 17 – only with two rods.

In the spring I started with four rods and found out that I only could get takes on two of them. So I thought it would be better to get les lines into the snags. After an early wake up I was already fishing within an hour after the guys to my left had gone home. Because the guys around me were not fishing yet I was hoping to get un early take. So far I never had a take within the first hours at Rainbow. Only an half on hour later happened were I was hoping for – the first rod went – and I could land my first fish of the session. When I saw the fish I knew directly that it was a good fifty. What a start!

During the hole week I could manage to catch fish every day. Later in the week I tried a third rod on several spots but again I could only get takes on the two hot spots. The most funny thing about this session was that I fished with very sweet Top Banana boilies and I didn’t caught a single mirror during hole the week. All of my fish were commons!

Arjen Uitbeijerse

BYT does the job!

2010-10-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

This summer I focussed my attentions on a club water local to where I live in the north. Situated in South Yorkshire, the venue offers both day and night fishing, although I myself only had day-book access due to a lengthy night permit waiting list. Having landed my target fish from another water in the spring, the start of June was the ideal time to put in some effort for the two targets I wanted from the new water, known as Trigga and Trio. Both mirrors had made forty-plus in the spring, Trio having topped 42lb when it was landed in May off the top.

Knowing the fish in the venue had a liking for yeasty-type baits I put my faith in the ever-consistent BYT. Being very weedy, I spent a lot of time searching with the marker float for areas worth fishing. The weed was especially bad in most areas, covering almost 90% of the lake bed. It took some serious effort locating the areas where the carp had been rooting, as where the weed was, it was almost top to bottom in 8ft.

I started pre-baiting the areas I’d found with copious amounts of 20mm BYT and then started fishing short trips before work in early June. Immediately I got amongst the fish, landing four on my first morning. Later that week I then got lucky with Trigga in my net weighing in at 37lb 2oz. Being one of the best looking carp in Yorkshire, it was a lovely start. I backed it up with a further eight fish that week, including a nice scatter-scaled 26lb mirror.

Due to work and family I commitments, I didn’t really get much time to keep the trips consistent during the rest of the month, July or the start of August. I was mainly fishing short evenings when the weather looked good for a bit of stalking. On one particular day I stumbled across the venue’s biggest common, hooking it straight away on a Mixer, only to lose it at the net. Gutted!

I didn’t get back to any serious static fishing until the middle of August when I heard a whisper that Trio had been out at 39lb. The weight really got me excited as I had a feeling it’s next capture could see it over the magical 40lb mark. Arriving at the start for 5am I went on to land a little un’ on my first trip back, followed by a blank the next day and then four fish the next day. The BYT was working wonders, and the next morning, with the rain lashing down all around, I finished my time on the water with a low-double and Trio amongst a mass of weed! Weighing in at a whopping 39lb 10oz, the old character had fallen to a 20mm bottom bait fished over the top of 4kg of BYT freezer baits. It was the perfect result, and proved yet again that with a good bait fished in the right spot, even with limited time on your hands it’s possible to have a result!

Crowy

Rainbow Whackers!

2010-10-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Lake is simply in another league when it comes to sheer amounts of big carp. September saw so many big carp banked that I think it probably broke all sorts of records! The great thing was that the the Solar team made up many of the anglers fishing at the time. There's no doubt that the Club Mix has been the number one bait at Rainbow for some time now and it never fails to produce the goods.

I was back in swim 18 for another two week session - only my second trip of the year, but right from the off the fish were out there and they were hungry! Literally every day of the trip brought action of some sort and normally with a big fish or two amongst them. Martin and Alfonse were getting amongst them too in 19 and especially Alfonse who was having the trip of a lifetime with fish to over 70lb (nice one Alfonse). Meanwhile Pidge and Steve in swim 5 were stacking them up too with something like 12 fish over 50lb!!

The island margins hold most of the hot spots in swim 18 and you have to get fairly close to the snags but the fish this time were pulling harder than ever and just to be on the safe side I fished a little further away and in slightly deeper water, but it seemed like the fish wanted the food and just followed it to where it was!

The best combination for me was a mixture of 14mm and 18mm Club Mix boilies along with Red Herring pellets, it's just a personal thing but it has worked really well for me. Double baits on the size 4 Stronghold Long Shanks accounted for every fish I banked. It was another great Rainbow session and great to be down there with all the lads. Roll on the next trip!!!
Keep catchin 'em - Briggsy

WCC 2010 Lac du Madine

2010-09-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've just got back from a weeks fishing at Lac du Madine competing in the 2010 World Carp Classic. It's a pretty good social event as well competing for £10,000 and a stack of section prizes. I fished with Gary Peet from the Tackle Box so I knew I'd be pretty well fed and watered. He likes his food and drink!

We fished together last year in the WCC and didn't make the most of our swim. We took literally hundreds of kilos of particles last time but that soon proved to be the wrong choice of bait. This time we were prepared with some nicely air dried Club Mix boilies in 18mm and 22mm. We hoped the bigger baits would keep the pesky bream at bay.

There's about 130 pairs competing around the lake divided into sections. Some of the sections had a good history of producing fish and others were real no go areas. The draw was kind to us and we had an ok swim in an ok area. It wasn't a flier but with a bit of graft we had a chance doing ok.

After a bit of negotiation with the competitors either side about swim boundaries we headed out in the boat to see what we had in front of us. There was alot of weed in about 7ft of water which then dropped off quickly into 12ft. Gary put baits in a hole in the weed on the top and one at the bottom of the drop off. I headed further out and found another nice point which had 16ft on the top and 23ft at the bottom. There were fish showing on the sounder which all adds the the confidence. They could we have been bream but I figured that if the bream were feeding there then there's every chance the carp will take a look as well. The area is not normally fished so it couldn't have been anglers bait they were on. I had a silly grin on my face when I came back in the boat. Two baits on the slope of a drop off with fish showing on the sounder and proper baits on the hair. What more could I ask for?!

Through the week we had a take or two each day, always at first light or last light. These two feeding times are so common around the world yet so many anglers think it's a good time to bait up and disturb the swim. I don't know what you think?

I caught the biggest fish of the week which won biggest fish in section at 23Kg (50lb 7oz). We came second in the section and somewhere in the top 20 over all. Using the bigger dried boilies certainly kept the bream away and the carp seemed to like it more than the competitors bait either side who were not fishing far from us at all.

A real edge for us was using the running rig attachment for the lead clips. This gave the fish something else to deal with once pricked but also let us know if a bream did hook itself. So many anglers using a normal lead clip and heavy 8oz/10oz lead had no idea they had anything on until a catfish took it or they wound it in when re baiting. The lead still ejected on the take from the carp but I'm convinced fishing in this way put extra fish on the bank for us.

I'm back to fishing my syndicate lake for the rest of the year so hopefully give you an update on that soon.

Until then, enjoy your fishing.

Myles

New Weed Effect range

2010-08-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

Having been a user of other hooklinks for many years now, I’ll admit I was a bit reluctant to change over to the new Weed Effect range that’s been recently released by Solar. When Locky sent me through the samples though I liked the look of them, and during a recent trip to Grenville Lake in Cambridgeshire I decided to have a go with them for the first time.

I was invited to the lake as a guest of the owner for a feature in Carpworld magazine, and I had 40 hours ahead of me. Knowing the lake was quite weedy I stripped down my rods to the bare essentials, then attached one of the new Leadcore Looped leaders, followed by a lead clip and finally one of the ready-tied Weed Effect hooklinks. I completed the set up with a 3oz Weed Effect lead. The whole lot looked liked a ball of weed it was that well camouflaged, and I’ll admit I wasn’t that sure about it at first so I decided to try it on just the two rods to begin with to feel my way in. The other rod I kept my regular set-up on.

During the night I had four takes on the Weed Effect rods which obviously caught my attention. One of these rods was fished over a heavy area of Club Mix 20mm freezer bait, whilst the other was on a single Top Banana, so it may have been something to do with the strategy which produced the takes, rather than just the end tackle camouflage, but it was certainly an interesting first-time result.

20 hours into the session I moved swim to where I’d seen a lot of fish showing. My original swim had not produced a fish during daylight hours and I fancied having a go somewhere else as it was a short and sweet trip. I ended up with just the one fish during the remainder of the trip, a 32lb mirror, and interestingly, that fish came on one of the rods with the Weed Effect set-up on.

It’s still early days for me to say that the Weed Effect range conclusively catches you more fish than with other simpler set-ups, but with me having all of my takes on the range during my first time out with it, thus far it certainly gets a massive thumbs up from me. I’ll keep you posted on how I progress.
Simon Crow

Cassien Fun in the Sun

2010-08-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

I hadn't been down to Cassien for the last couple of summers so I was keen to get back for another go. It is a wonderful place to be for sure but isn't without its problems. The sun and scenery make it a very popular place, not just with anglers of course but a whole load of holiday makers. But with water temperatures of 28 degrees I was swimming as well as fishing every day!

Despite being almost devoid of anglers at the start of the trip, it soon filled up and became quite busy. Fish were showing well but weren't feeding that heavily and although it wasn't difficult to find them it was a little more difficult to catch them. It was strange that some swims would produce while the areas either side just wouldn't and that was happening all around the lake.

Getting the baits right is never an easy thing as there are so many other species that will eat them in the warmer weather, especially in the shallower water. One thing which I did find to work well were the new cork dust pop ups. I only tried the Dairy Cream ones but for some reason most of the pestrs would leave them alone while the carp still picked them up! They weren't full-proof but at least I was able to fish fairly normally. Some extra-hard baits that someone had made for me some time back only lasted less than two hours in the water once the poisson chats had found them.

In the shallow water I was also keen to try out the Weed Effect gear as the visibility is so good at Cassien that I'm always worried about the fish being able to see hook lengths and mainlines and I hoped that the Weed Effect gear would look a bit more natural. It all worked very well anyway and leaders and hook lengths caught me a few fish in what were fairly tricky conditions.
One other thing certainly worth a mention are the Line Biters which actually saved me a bit of line! The boaters, pedalos and swimmers can be a nightmare in the summer and you have to be vigilant all the time because sooner or later they will wipe you out, but with the Line Biters even the most stupid of the boaters managed to see that something was there and divert around the lines!

Summer on top

2010-07-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

The arrival of the summer months is one of my favourite times of the year as it means I can practice what I most enjoy about carping, fishing on the surface. I absolutely love watching carp taking baits off the top and there’s no adrenaline rush like watching a fish near the hookbait and then eventually take it.

My favoured method is getting the carp in close and selecting out the fish I want to catch. It takes a lot of patience to do this as very often you need to spend upwards of an hour feeding them streams of surface bait. It sounds easy, but when you’re fishing for spooky fish, all it takes is for one of them to spook on something and you can be back at square one.

Only this evening I fed a group of six carp Mixers for almost an hour, and before I’d even had chance to cast the hooker out, one of the smaller ones came up for a bait and spooked the rest of the group. The carp lost all of their confidence and they wouldn’t come within eye shot for quite some time. An hour or so later, just as it was going dark they eventually came in close, but it was too difficult to pick out which fish was which so I had to abandon it for another day.

The key to getting carp in close is to feed Mixers one by one, the aim being to create as little water disturbance as you can. Catapulting or hand throwing handfuls seems to put them more on edge and they end up being much more wary which makes the job that little bit harder. It pays to be as stealthy as you can, even on the lakes where they appear to be fine with anglers making noise on the bank.

I love flavouring my Mixers, and my current favourites are Dairy Cream with a slight touch of Esterblend. You can be quite generous with the Dairy Cream, and I generally use it at a level of 30ml per kilo of dry baits. With the Esterblend, however, this is a very powerful additive and I prefer it used at a low dosage of only 3ml per kilo which is enough to make it noticeable. The extra attraction does Mixers the world of good, and you’ve only got to watch how quickly the carp close by begin searching for food once they get a whiff of it.

I’ve done quite well recently, fishing one of my local ponds which doesn’t contain anything massive, mainly doubles and twenties. Fishing short three-hour trips after work I’ve had some nice fish, including three nice mirrors that I singled out from the smaller fish and targeted. The best looking one was a fish I particularly wanted to catch as its believed to be one of the Leney strain which are quite rare in the north of England where I live.

With a bit of patience and the right bait, it just shows that even when time is limited you can have some success with your local carp in the summer months. If you’ve one or two good fish to go at, you never know, you might just hit the jackpot, so get out there stalking them in close as nothing quite beats the buzz that this type of fishing brings.

All the best for July and August.

Crowy

Attention to detail

2010-06-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

We're always looking for those little edges and ways to improve our results and over the last couple of months there are a couple of Solar products which I believe have really made a difference. The first are the Ball Bearing swivels. They've been around for a while now and I must admit I never realised until recently just how good they are! I've been messing around with the Chod Rig a fair bit this year and for a rig which appears so simple, is in fact very adaptable and as technical as you want to make it. One of the main factors is the movement of the hook link itself and for a good hook hold it needs to rotate freely. Like most people I normally used the standard ring swivel - that was until I tried out the Ball Bearing version and the difference is amazing! The movement of the hook link is improved dramatically and so therefore is the hooking potential of the rig. It's a real edge for sure and a great Solar product!

The other thing which has helped me this year are the Weed Effect leaders. I've been fishing a water that is not only extremely difficult but the water is like tap water and the visibilty is so good that at times you can see the rig in over ten feet of water. If it's that easy for me to spot the rig then imagine how easy it must be for the carp which are seeing it from much closer! I had it in my mind that should the opportunity arise to fish on some close-in spots I would use the Weed Effect leaders in the knowledge that they would blend in much better with the surroundings and as if to prove the point, they were very difficult to pick out on the bottom. Of course the real proof is if they can help to put fish on the bank and I had two opportunities this spring (I said it was difficult!) and both times I ended up with a carp on the bank, two stunning commons of 34lb 2oz and 32lb 4oz both of which are real history fish and have only rarely been caught in the past.

The month of May

2010-06-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

Crowy’s run of good form continued throughout May, with Club Mix yet again proving its big fish pulling power! Concentrating his efforts in the north of the country on Eric’s Angling Centre’s Willows syndicate, our man on form notched up two more really big fish for Yorkshire, including a lovely 35lb 12oz mirror followed by the lake record in the shape of The Toffee Fish at a whopping 43lb 14oz.

Crowy commented: “Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, they did! I was baiting quite heavily with Clubs during most of my trips, and although I did catch a few twenties and smaller fish, it once again proved its worth with the biggies when just fifteen minutes into an overnight trip I landed a stunner weighing 35lb 12oz at the beginning of the month. Two weeks later, during a very busy weekend when the lake was almost rammed with anglers, I contemplated pulling off because nothing was looking likely to give. Somehow I talked myself into staying another night, and I freshened up the swim with a few kilos of Clubs. I’m glad I stayed because at 5am on my third morning I had a one toner that just didn’t want to come in. It fought hard all the way in. I caught a glimpse of its flank in the clear water and knew I had a lump on the end. After some fifteen minutes of plodding in the margins, eventually it eased over the net chord. What a sight it was! At 43lb 14oz I was buzzing! Good old Club Mix singled out a biggie yet again! An awesome bait and certainly one to put your faith in if you want a particular big fish from your target water.”

2010-05-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Lately i spend the little freetime that I have in the center of France and fish some public lakes over there. The drive of 600km for a few nights fishing i take for granted. The weather conditions were hot and a lot of the fish were sunbathing on the surface. With a sig-rig baited with a Solar Fluor during the day and a standard bottom rig baited with a 22mm Byt boilie during the night , i manage to catch a handfull of good fish up to 40lb. Satisfied with this result i'm already planning my next few nights to France , but first 12 days of Afrika Fishing!

You can see a small movie from this session with the link below :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9icczfMppA

Have Fun

Greets Roderick

2010-05-09T05:45:00.000-07:00

First succes of the year!!

Last year I have fished this very pressured lake in Holland with no result. As the temperature is getting better I went of the do some serious pre-baiting with the famous clubs. I had a two night session and the wind was blowing mad from south-west. the first day is saw a fish jumping just in the margin, and I place a choddy with a pineapple fluor pop-up on the place where the fish came out of the water. The lake is very low stocked with only eight fish on 4 acres. So I knew I was in fish.. On the last day just before sunrise I had my first take off the year, after a fight of 10 minutes I had the fish in the net and what whacker a big female lether carp of 40,2lb. I was realy over the moon.

Keep it up guys,

Ronald margadant

First outing on Solar Baits

2010-05-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last week I was invited to visit Freedom Lakes near Poitiers and fished the biggest lake of the complex(Louane). I fished this wonderful lake with my mate Jan and we ended up with some very lovely fish.

The fishing was not easy as they prepared for spawning, what they ended up doing from Wednesday on.. We tried building up some feeding spots but most bites came from the middle part of the lake near the shallows around the central island. We ended up with 17 bites with an average of 15kg+(33lbs+) and the highlights were a 49lbs complex record common and a 42lbs long mirror for me and for my mate Jan a 44lbs mirror.

It was the first time to use the Solar Baits since joining the Team and I choose the shelf life version of the Secret in 14,18 and 22 mm combined with 15mm Pineapple pop-up fished snowman style. This combination resulted in 6 of my 8 bites. Two fish were taken from showing fish using Pineapple pop-up choddies.

Set-ups consisted of leadcore leaders with leadclips or helicopter style and coated hooklinks with Stronghold Longshank hooks.

All 8 bites were landed, so a very pleasing result.

Freedom Lakes is a very nice venue with 3 lakes to be fished. The biggest lake, which we fished, is the one with the biggest fish in it. The lake record is 50lbs+(last season) and the growth rate is very impressive. I had a 42lbs mirror that was caught 6 months ago at 31lbs(and it was not heavy with spawn)! There are some 200-250 fish present in around 9 hectares/22acres and a maximum of 8 anglers can fish 14 swims.

If you want to try your luck have a look at http://www.freedomlakes.com/

The confidence in the Solar Baits range was already very high, but after this first result it has become skyhigh!! As you can imagine i’m looking forward into the rest of the season haha

Dennis de Wilde

The month of April 2010

2010-05-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

Solar consultant Simon Crow has been having a romping good time of it lately, banking carp from both the north and south of the UK, including the prestigious Black Eye from Chad Lakes’ Home Pool. The capture of the legendary fish took Crowy into an exclusive club by becoming only the fifth angler in the world to land carp of 50lb or more from four different countries (we should add that Solar’s consultants make up three of the five anglers in this little clan, the others being Steve Briggs and Alijn Danau).

Crowy takes up the story about his run of good form: “I know full well that in the spring you need to put your faith in a really attractive bait, and there’s really only one choice here and that’s Club Mix. I did ever so well on this bait last year in the early part of the season and I had no reason to change. I didn’t do much fishing during the winter time, but once the equinox arrived I went at it all systems go. My first session out for the year was a short over-nighter to Chestnut Pool in Hertfordshire for an Open Access Waters feature in Carpworld magazine. It was just manic, and in the end I had to reel in for the night because the action was just none-stop. Wherever I put bait it went, and in the end I gave up counting how many fish I caught. The best wasn’t massive, only around 18lb, a pretty scaley mirror, but it was a great way to kick the Spring off."

"Next step was The Willows syndicate in West Yorkshire where the Clubs really worked very well for me. The lake received a healthy stocking of smallish carp around 5lb during the winter and I expected these to be a bit of a problem. However, the Clubs singled out the lake’s better fish for me without giving me any problems with the nuisance fish. I kicked off with a cracking common of 26lb, followed by mirrors of 24lb, 24¾lb, 25lb, 25½lb, a couple of 26s, a 26¾lb, a 34lb, a 35¾lb, a 36lb, and a 36¾lb, plus a rake of doubles and low-20s."

"If that wasn’t enough, I also booked myself onto the famous Home Pool at Chad Lakes for a few days, only to find myself attached to the lake’s biggie Black Eye just six hours into my trip! A single 20mm Club was all it took, fished over a few handfuls of freebies and pellets. The great fish is a regular 54lb-plus carp so when I had it in the net I was chuffed to have joined fellow Solar consultants Steve Briggs and Alijn Danau as having caught 50s from four different countries. It didn’t end there though, the lake contains no more than thirty carp and in the three nights I fished there I also chipped in with a low-20 mirror, another of 23¾lb and the lake’s Big Fully at 28¾lb, all on the Clubs! It was great fishing at a truly wonderful lake! I’m now itching to get back out and hope that May is equally as rewarding!”

All of Crowy’s fish came to rigs comprised of our very own X-Wide Gape hooks with leads presented on Solar lead clips with matching tail rubbers.

Scaling down

2010-05-07T04:37:00.000-07:00

By the lack of posts on here it would appear that not too many of us have been having a great time out there? My old mate Crowy has been getting amongst them and big congratulations go out to him on catching his first English 50, the superb Black Eye at 54lb from Chad Lakes Home Pool. With him catching that fish on his first day of a two-week session I was grateful when he offered me a few days of his trip.
Any thoughts of catching the big one myself went out of the window as the fish went and sulked in a weed bed where it stayed for the next two weeks (but then so would I if I'd been nabbed by Crowy - only joking!) Dropping temperatures with clear nights and a full moon didn't help - and neither did the end of the lake which I had to fish - a quick look through the catch reports revealed that my end had only produced one fish all year!
But fish were visiting the area so I was in with a chance but as ever with small waters, they were very shy and very riggy. I was able to watch on a few occasions fish cleary avoid the rigs. Eventually I found two fish 'clouding up' the bottom right in the edge and I scaled everything down to a size 10 hook, a six inch 12lb mono hook length and two Dairy Cream 10mm hook baits (The small Solar needle was ideal for such small baits)I placed the bait carefully right next to the tuft of grass in the picture around 1ft from the bank and at 3.15am the next morning a one-toner had me running up the bank. A good scrap followed and with just hours to go before I had to leave I banked my first Home Pool carp of 28lb 2oz. Not quite as big as my old mate Crowy's but a pleasing capture all the same.

South Westerly Warmth

2010-02-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

After spending a couple of days submitted to arctic temperatures, it came clear that i was a lucky bastard to be wearing the southwesterly clothing to keep me warm!
There came some carpy action as well, so no need to complain.

To all you sharper carpers out there: enjoy your time being out there!

Geert Ooms

Lockey's World Record

2010-01-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

Solar Tackle boss Martin Locke last week smashed the world record for a carp with the capture of the Steve Briggs Fish from Rainbow Lake, France. Here's a short interview with our legendary man, to tell us all about how it happened: “There were only four fish out of the lake all week. There’s so many big fish in Rainbow, and there’s so many places the carp can hide away in the snags, so I feel really lucky that one biggie decided it wanted to have a nibble on my bait! The conditions were freezing and that rod had been cast out since Saturday! I’d not had a sniff since I got here. Then on Wednesday morning, I had a few bleeps in the night, then it tightened up on me at 6am. It felt like it was snagged on the bottom when I got above it in the boat, and I was thinking to myself, the line will ping off the snag any minute. As I pulled it felt like I was connected to a tree, and I expected a log to come up off the bottom because it was like a dead weight. I then saw the leader knot come up, and then I saw this absolutely massive fish hit the surface! It never even nodded the rod during the fight! I knew straight away it was going to be a huge fish, but I never expected it to weigh 94lb! It was in great condition and I went and got Alijn Danau who was fishing further along to come and witness it. I tempted the biggie on two Solar Club Mix boilies fished kebab style with an 8mm Top Banana Everlasting pop-up in the middle. My winning rig included some prototype hooks and our lead clips, plus a 12oz Rainbow Special lead and a Ton-Up hooklink. My thanks to the lads I went with, Brooksey and Nige for everything they've done over the last week, plus thanks to Pascal and his family for their great hospitality."

Christmas at Cassien

2009-12-31T03:09:00.000-08:00

It was so good to be back on the banks of Cassien for the Christmas period once again. You see the last couple of years have been a bit hit-and-miss and I was determined to make it back there for the end of 2009. It wasn't particularly straight forward as with the release of the book this year I have to attend most of the shows, including the VBK show in Belgium, but what a great show that turned out to be! It really feels like one big get-together of friends and of course Martin and the Solar team were there too so a great time was had by all - thanks to all the VBK team for making us so welcome.
It was straight after the VBK show that Joan and I left for Cassien, it was during the start of the cold spell and we drove through snow and sleet but we made it in good time. The news was that the lake had been fishing quite well with the water level rising after heavy rains, but the sudden drop in temperature had halted things somewhat. I expected a tough time to be honest, but was just glad to be back at the place which means so much to me.
It was all very quiet for a few days. Not many anglers were on but there were no signs of carp and it was very cold, but finally, five days after arriving my Club Mix boily was picked up in the early hours and it was like I'd never been away. After a tough battle in the freezing darkness I landed a nice mirror of 44lb 8oz and to be honest that made the trip - I didn't need another fish.
A change came in the weather - it turned much warmer, but with it came the rain - lots of it! It rained for almost five days solid and I was so glad for the South Westerly clothing which meant that we could carry on with things and remain dry! The warm spell did bring with it a bit of action and two more cracking mirrors of 41lb and 47lb 8oz followed. From a tough start with limited time it was actually turning out to be a great trip.
Christmas Day started in the best way possible - I was dragged out of bed at 6am by a screaming run! I always hope to get a fish on Christmas Day but I hadn't actually achieved that since 2005 so this was quite a special moment and the 26lb common which was on the end was most gratefully received. Needless to say the rest of the day was spent eating, drinking and just smiling really!
The only problem with the Christmas period now at Cassien is that you know the crowds are going to arrive and they did from the 26th onwards up to the point where it really became packed-out. We were due to leave on the 28th so it didn't matter too much. I wasn't expecting any more action as the fish often turn off when it's busy but as we were packing up with the just the rods and the bivvy to go, one of the rods roared off but unfortunately the fish got around a snag and I retreived the rig minus the carp. It was a shame to end that way but I couldn't complain with the fish I'd already caught and after all it was just nice to get back and spend some time at my favourite lake.
Happy New Year - Briggsy

Autumn beauties in deepest France

2009-10-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

I suppose autumn didn't really happen this year - summer turned in to winter almost overnight and I was able to witness it at first hand whilst fishing at a lovely French lake just recently. The weather was lovely when I arrived and even at 2am in the morning I was comfortable in just a tee shirt, but within a few days I was wearing all the clothes I had with me and thick frost was covering the ground at first light!

Thankfully the fish seemed to sense that the weather was turning and they fed most days, except for the very coldest. It wasn't an easy trip and for the first couple of days I had no action even though fish were showing over the areas. It took a bit of working out but that always makes it more rewarding when you do bank a fish or two. In the end the answer came from fishing areas which were rock hard on the bottom in depths between two and three metres and switching over to the Quench boilies which thankfully I'd picked up from Christian at Solar on the way down. I was just fishing small areas next to snags or close to the dam wall at the end of the lake and not baiting too heavily, just twenty or thirty whole and broken boilies with a sprinkling of 365 pellets seemed to be what the fish wanted and on the third morning I got things underway with a 37lb mirror. hook baits were fished snowman style with the pop ups being either Quench or Bunspice and Aniseed. The other thing which really made a difference was fishing very slack lines as I'd sussed out that they were very line shy. To combat that, I used long seven metre lengths of lead core - just two from every spool, but it really helped to pin everything down. Two good fish of 41lb and 40lb 4oz came during the following nights along with some smaller fish, but it was 3pm on Wednesday afternoon when I latched in to something which felt much heavier, and after quite a battle I slipped the net under a 54lb 8oz mirror which was enough to make the trip a good 'un!
A few fish followed the next day but then the temperature really dropped and the action stopped and I thought that would be the end of it, but on the final morning it just lifted a little and the fish responded immediately. A final flurry brought three more fish to the bank, two commons of around 20lb apiece and another cracking mirror of 50lb 4oz which looked lovely in the early morning sun. It was a great trip on a water which I hadn't fished before and although it wasn't easy fishing the rewards were certainly there. It took a little bit of thought and the help of the right bait to get things going and it turned out fine - but it looks as though summer is definitely over for 2009!

Clubbing 'em at Rainbow!!

2009-10-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

Most people know that when Rainbow Lake fishes well that something special is always on the cards, but the last trip there was just incredible. For me this trip was special as it was the first time that I'd had the chance to fish from the Island Swim which controls the central area of the lake. I just hoped that when I finally got there that it wouldn't be a disappointment - well it was far from that, in fact it was one of my best sessions ever!

There's no doubt that the Club Mix is the number one summer bait at Rainbow and no matter how much the carp see of it through the year, they always come back for more. So needless to say the Club Mix formed the main part of my baiting attack along with Red Herring and BYT Pellets and a few bags of the Up and Down Mix. Hook baits were all fished snowman style with an 18mm Club Mix bottom bait along with a 14mm Quench pop up.

It all started well enough when I landed a 46lb mirror a great start but my only fish of the first day. But after what was quite a slow start it just got better and better! From then on for the next 13 days I always had between five and seven runs per day. The great thing with the Islands water is that there is room to spread the baits around and there is always a chance of a run at any time without putting too much pressure in one area. Baiting spots consistently really paid off and the fish kept coming back for more of their favourite food! During the first few days the fish were all very much in the same weight bracket, between 25lb and 35lb - nice fish but not huge by Rainbow standards. But then on the Thursday morning a cracking mirror of 57lb 8oz slipped up and that signalled the start of an incredible run of action. Over the next seven days I managed to land at least one fish over 50lb every single day. Fish of 53lb, 53lb 8oz, 51lb 8oz, 53lb, 52lb 4oz and 59lb 2oz soon followed amongst a whole host of other fish up to 49lb 4oz. With all that action I thought that a 60 couldn't be far away and on the Tuesday morning of the second week I finally managed that with a cracking mirror of 64lb 8oz!

It was a session that I've dreamed of having for a long time now - everything was working perfectly, not just the bait but the rest of the gear too. The size 4 Stronghold Longshank hooks have always been great and they were really being put to the test this time but there was no worry - they did the job well as did the lead release clips which discharged the lead every time in the snaggy conditions.
One more great fish followed the next day, a cracking common of 57lb and then the spell was broken. I carried on catching fish just the same but the big ones were gone and the best after that weighed in at 36lb 8oz. It was just incredible, the final tally was 59 carp with nine fish over 50lb and a further nine over 40lb. Everything has to be right for the action to stay that consistent and I knew that I had the right bait and the right gear for the job and thankfully I was also in the right place at just the right time. Get on the Clubs!!

Almost autumn

2009-09-03T09:17:00.001-07:00

The need for plumbing and searching out the ‘hot spots’ becomes more obvious in early autumn than at any other time of the year. Generally speaking, results can be a bit hit and miss in September because the fish in your target venue are likely to have been bombarded with hoards of baited rigs in the preceding months. Yet if you track down the spots they visit regularly, you can certainly sneak a few chances before they really get their heads down when the big winds of Autumn arrive.

Obviously a well planned pre-baiting campaign will help overcome any shyness built-up by the carp, but a good plumb around now will uncover all sorts of otherwise hidden areas, especially those which are generally termed by the carp angling fraternity as ‘cleaned areas’. These areas of the lakebed may only be a few feet across, but as the weed density drops off with the cooler water, such ’hot spots’ can be uncovered fairly easily.

Some weeds take much longer to die off than others, but one type which tends to go much quicker than most is the cotton wool algae. Algae is present in all fisheries, but come the end of September/early part of October, blooms tend to lose their green colour and die back taking on a darker appearance, making lakebed examination a lot easier. Where cotton wool blooms have been present during the summer, you tend to get a light coating of black fluff that resembles hair which can easily be picked up by the marker rod or lead. A smooth ‘cleaned’ piece of bottom is what I look for, and usually one which is at least a yard or so across and surrounded by black fluffy algae.

One of the best ways of uncovering ‘cleaned areas’ is with a boat and some sort of looking glass, but not all venues allow anglers to do this so it is necessary to have a good cast around. I use two rods to do it thoroughly, the first armed with a simple marker float set up, and the second loaded with a baited rig. I’ll simply cast the marker out to the area I want to check, and then follow it with the rigged rod, taking note of anything I bring back on the hook. I’ll cast all around the marker, giving the rig plenty of time to settle on the bottom, before retrieving it and moving my attention to another area.

Marking territory
Obviously a ‘cleaned area’ may well have been created by the feeding activities of the fish, in which case, should I uncover one, I will have hit onto a sure winner, but another suggestion offered by anglers is that they are ‘cleaning spots’ – areas where the carp have rubbed themselves to rid any unwanted parasites and ‘cling-ons’ they may have picked up during the warmer weather. I tend to think that the later suggestion is a little bit misleading because I follow the line of thought that carp ‘clean’ themselves on the bottom in the early part of spring ridding themselves of the parasites that have taken hold in the winter. Their day to day activity in the warmer weather tends to keep most parasites at bay, with any rubbing on the bottom in the early part of autumn being done as a form of marking territory more than anything else.

As the food stocks deplete, the fish get more aggressive amongst themselves, and their marking of territory is a natural instinct. A lot of animals do it, the most notable being dogs when they rub themselves on the ground marking their smell after they’ve just had a good sniff. Like in the spring, this time of the year usually sees carp covered in red marks caused by such rubbing, or in the case of clay pits, covered with clay markings down the side. The marks won’t be as pronounced as they are after spawning, but nevertheless they will be obvious to the angler. Despite the fish all thinking that ‘cleaned’ spots are their own, it isn’t unusual for multiple captures to come your way from one if you get things right. Your presentation will usually be spot on because the bottom is clean, with the next important part of the equation being the choice of the right tactics.

Agitated and competitive
I can only speak about my own experiences here, and these very much point towards first tracking down the ‘hot spots’ and then keeping the baiting levels fairly light. Half a dozen or so freebies on a stringer alongside the hookbait would be my first choice in September, perhaps with a light coating of pellet just to increase the attraction. I always find mimicking nature is the best option, which is why I like to keep everything as tight as possible (e.g. similar to how the fish would find bloodworm beds). Early Autumn ‘hot spots’ tend to be quite isolated, so there’s no need for heavy or broad scatterings of bait just yet: these will come into their own towards the end of October, perhaps leading into November, when the weather will take a grip and the fish get into their pre-winter feeding mode.

If you’ve been targeting a venue with the same bait throughout the season then no doubt you will have lost a bit of faith with it during August as the catches dropped off. That is usually the nature of carp fishing, but my advice is to have confidence in your hard efforts because now is the time that they will really show through. The carp will recognise an established bait now more so than at any other time of the year.

Early autumn is a time when the carp begin to group up. They start to get agitated and competitive amongst themselves. They know winter is on its way and they head towards the areas they mark as their own and know there will be food. Such ‘hot spots’ are there waiting to be found by the angler. They may take some time to uncover, and they may be very isolated when you discover them, but early autumn is a transition time when the results generally only come to those who get each piece of the jigsaw right.
Crowy

Pre-baiting with Clubs pays off

2009-06-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

The last week I’ve been down at Chad Lakes’ Home Pool, home of the famous Black Eye. As always, it’s been a mad rush style of fishing for myself, venturing down for two days, then coming back up north to work for two days, and then heading off back down for the remainder of the week (an all round trip of 800 miles). The first two days I was lucky enough to have the lake to myself, and what a lake it is. At all of two acres, it’s just amazing how somewhere so small can produce a home-grown UK fifty-pounder, as well as several great back-up fish to almost 43lb. Everywhere I walked on the banks there were lovely fish looking back at me, but straight away I noticed how spooky they were of me when I moved.

A quick glance through the catches book showed that the lake responded better during the day, with the nights being almost fishless. I therefore spent the first two days close quarter stalking on the top and bottom. Straight away the fish were responsive to surface baits and it wasn’t long before I tempted my first fish, a nice scaley mirror known as CP’s, the same fish Terry Hearn is holding on the cover of his Quest for Black Eye DVD. The next day wasn’t so brilliant on the top, probably due to the weather being so hot, but just as the light was fading I managed a lovely 28lb common over a bed of 18mm Club Mix freebies and hemp.
The next day I was off early to go to work so scattered a healthy supply of Clubs over three areas that took my fancy. I was due back in two days time so I gave each of the spots a couple of kilos which would hopefully entice them to feed with confidence when I returned.

When I arrived back, out went the rods to the baited spots – one tight to the far bank which is out of bounds, another on a clear area half way across the lake, and the third close to the corner of an island which looked a perfect passing point. Unfortunately the fish were all down at the opposite end of the lake where my mate Adam was fishing, but at least the rods were in place for when they decided to venture down my way which wouldn’t take long being such a small water. We’d agreed to split the lake in half, with Adam having one side and me the other, and neither of us allowed in each other’s half.

I kept the bait steadily going out, topping it up every few hours with half a dozen Clubs and some matching 365 pellets. The next day turned out to be a blank, although I remained confident because Adam had landed five fish which would sooner or later spook the rest down towards me – which was what happened the next day. Just as it was going dark I found myself in battle with a nice double from the corner of the island. That night I then chipped in with a lovely 24lb 12oz mirror from the clear spot half way over, and then the very next morning at 11am the venue’s second biggest resident known as The Red One took a liking to the Clubs on the clear spot half way over and pulled the needle round to 42lb 10oz. A lovely fish, and my second UK forty of the season on the Clubs, yet again proving its big fish capabilities on the pressured venues.

Hookbaits were offered on size 6 X-Wide Gape hooks with eight-inch hooklinks, and 3oz leads to help drive the hook home. This was the first time I’d fished the lake, and once again The Clubs had come up trumps, certainly an all time classic instant carp bait. My thanks to Dave & Gay Ayres for inviting me to fish their lovely lake, and thanks to Locky and the boys for putting together an awesome bait.
Simon Crow

Tour de France

2009-06-01T01:51:00.000-07:00

Hi mates,
I recently got back from 3 sessions in france on 3 different lakes. All on public lakes. Not all the sessions where great, but i've managed to catch some nice lookin' mirrors. Eventually that's where i'm going for, lovely french mirrors on hard public lakes.
The main bait i've used was a mix of the squid and octopus mix and the fish force 5.
enjoy the pictures!

linear 26 lbs 11,8kg

30,6lbs 13,9kg

30,9lbs 14kg

pre baiting on madine

particle mix

two tone 32lbs 14,6kg

34,8lbs 15,8kg

two tone 36,1lbs 16,4kg

36,4lbs 16,5kg

39lbs 17,7kg

41,4lbs 18,8kg

41,9lbs 19kg

42,5lbs 19,3kg

44,8lbs 20,3kg

45lbs 20,4kg

'till next time!

Gunther Poelmans

Getting hairy!

2009-05-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Probably one of the fiddliest things about tying your rigs up is getting the length of your hair exactly as you like it. I use the knotless knot attachment for all of my rigs these days, so the hair is pretty easy to attach to the hook. The difficult part is tying the loop in the hair so that it’s just the right length for the size of bait I want to use and the pattern of hook I use, which is usually Solar‘s Stronghold X-Wide Gape.

For this set-up, a lot of lads favour tying the loop first, then attaching the bait, and forming the knotless knot attachment. Well, personally I find this method awkward, and once I tie the knotless knot to the shank of the hook, the length of the hair slips as the knot tightens, meaning the length isn’t exactly how I want it: it ends up either too short or too long, meaning I either have to tie a Granny knot into the hair to shorten it or attach a smaller loop of line to lengthen it.

I like the top of the hook bait to just touch the base of the hook so to prevent the slippage mentioned, I used to tie the knotless knot to the hook, leaving the length for the hair until last. I’d then take a bait and basically try to estimate how long the hair needed to be by comparing the two, and then tie the loop. I say that in the past tense there because Solar have now invented a fabulous new gadget which is a ‘must have’ item for all tackle boxes which makes this job so much easier.

Known as the Hair Gauge, it’s perfect for getting the length of the hair exactly right, if you fish with the knotless knot like I do. It helps you perfect your hair length down to a fine millimetre, whether it’s a 10mm or 40mm hook bait you’re going to be using. The photo included herewith is self explanatory on how you use it, and it really is perfect for helping you get those hairs exactly as you want them.

Check them out at all Solar stockists as they’re in stock now!

Yorkshire forty on the Clubs

2009-04-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

Big northern UK carp don't get any better than this one! Our very own Simon Crow has notched up his second Yorkshire forty in the shape of this 43lb 6oz biggie. The giant was landed from a tough day-only venue which Crowy has been targetting for the last two springs and summers. It is also the biggest known carp currently living in the county, and fell to a single 18mm Club Mix boilie.

Crowy revealed: “This is a real history fish for the north, a home-grown warrior that’s been around for years. The 20-acre lake has a very low stock of around twenty carp and has been my main focus for the last couple of seasons. It is 50 miles from my home, and I’ve spent the last two summers and springs making the 100-mile round trip to walk and fish it for short trips before and after work, sometimes twice a day.
“On this occasion I’d walked the lake the day before and seen no signs of fish. When I arrived at 6.30am to set up I had it in my mind I’d try a swim called The Lawn which offers some good water. It was a drizzly morning and my gear was soaked from having fished at Eric’s Angling Centre’s Willows syndicate during the night. Just as I put the last peg in my Razorback I turned and saw a fish roll three swims to my right. The fish very rarely do this so I shot round and got a mark on it, and packed down in a frantic rush because other anglers were arriving for the start.
“Ten minutes later I was in the new swim, and I put my left-hander bang on where the fish had rolled at 30 yards range, and then just as I was doing the middle rod I saw a smaller ring and some fizz 50 yards out so put this rod bang on that mark. The right-hander went closer. I was buzzing with confidence, and less than an hour later my middle rod produced a fish known as The Little Linear; frustratingly my third capture of it so you can probably understand that at times I was wondering if I’d ever catch the Big ’Un.
“I was intending to leave for work at 12pm, and at 11am I began tidying some of my gear away when my middle rod dropped back to the floor. Thinking it might be a bream, I was pleased to have the rod almost wrenched from my hands as I tightened up to the fish. Most of them hardly fight in this lake so I was confident which fish it was because it ripped 50 yards of line off me before it stopped and made a loud ‘slap’ on the surface well out in the middle. It then plodded its way towards me, went through my left-hander before I netted it a short while later to the left of my swim.
“As I stood there and peered over the net it didn’t quite sink in that I’d got the Big ’Un. There’d been all sorts of rumours surrounding its whereabouts but I knew it was still in there after seeing it on several occasions last year. My thanks to Vince for the photos and the weighing, and also to my mate Wonky Pod who’s been as addicted to this fish as I have.”

The biggie fell for a single 18mm Solar Club Mix readymade fished alongside six similar sized baits, three of which were BYT and three Club Mix. Crowy’s hookbait was offered on a size 6 Solar X-Wide Gape hook and Solar lead clip loaded with a 3oz lead. He completed his set up with a Venture VXR2 rod.

BYT strikes again!

2009-04-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Solar consultant Simon Crow chalked up his first Yorkshire thirty of 2009 when he slipped the net under this 30lb 6oz old warrior. The 38-year-old from Brough in East Yorkshire (a northern region of the UK) tempted the scaley mirror using his ever-faithful BYT ready-mades.

He revealed: “Fish of this calibre are great targets for northern UK carpers as they're quite rare up here, and it was a wonderful memory catching it. I watched it chugging along at 30 yards range only moments before it went down and picked up my hookbait. I’d baited a silty depression with a dozen 24mm baits, offering my hookbait on a size 6 X-Wide Gape hook and Flexi-Ring Swivel.”

The mirror came during a very short early morning three hour trip from a difficult estate lake which contains no more than 20 carp. Crowy had spent a lot of time watching the fish in the build up to the trip, and put his result down to perseverance and quality bait.

First time out with Spikers

2009-02-24T12:08:00.000-08:00

I’ve not done much fishing this winter, but I took advantage of a nice mild spell this weekend and set off down to Birchwood Pool in Shropshire for three days. Temperatures had been very cold leading up to the trip, with Friday showing a great increase to almost 10-degrees. It stayed mild throughout the trip, and several other members also saw a good reason to get out onto the banks and have a go which made it quite tight with only 2½ acres to go at.

Luckily for me, I picked the right area to fish, as well as the right tactics too. Using Dayglo Yellow Juicy Pineapple 14mm pops dipped in the ever-awesome Esterblend 12 I kicked off my trip with a nice plump mirror known as Lumpy at 4pm on the Saturday afternoon. The sun had been very high in the sky and was shining directly onto a nice set of reeds which I had a feeling the carp would be patrolling.

The next day wasn’t so productive or warm, but a day later on the Monday I was into another fish named Flid from the same spot at roughly the same time of the day. It was the same tactics that produced the fish too, offering pops on Spikers connected to size 6 Stronghold’s alongside the PVA Bag Clip System filled with a few broken BYT boilies. This was the first time I’d used the Spikers, and although I lost another fish shortly after landing my second, two on the bank in February proved to be a good first time test for them.
Crowy

IJSVISSEN

2009-02-12T09:36:00.001-08:00

Voor het eerst sinds lange tijd hebben we te maken met een echte winter. Met sneeuw, ijs en vrieskou. We zijn afgelopen jaren flink verwend geweest want op de meeste plaatsen viel er het ganse jaar door (ook tijdens de wintermaanden) vis te vangen. Het milde weer lokte meer dan anders vissers naar het water. Datzelfde milde weer deed ook de karpers actiever blijven. De combinatie van meer vissers en actievere karpers resulteerde in nog actievere karpers. Want karpers die voedsel vinden blijven eten, ongeacht de temperatuur.

Echter niet zo dit jaar. Koning Winter is terug van lang weggeweest en dat zullen we geweten hebben. Hij laat zich gelden, strooit met witte vlokken, doet slecht geïsoleerde waterleidingen springen, gijzelt automobilisten en jaagt het energieverbruik de hoogte in. Hij heeft ongetwijfeld aandelen in de petroleumsector en speelt onder één hoedje met de olieindustrie, dat is duidelijk.
De vrieskou houdt Europa nu al sinds december in haar greep. Wateren zitten ingepakt in een ijskleed dat elke confrontatie met de karper verhindert. Deze temperaturen zullen er trouwens voor zorgen dat het een flink stuk langer zal duren alvorens de vissen in beweging komen. Fluitende beetverklikkers zijn in deze contreien dus nog niet voor meteen.

Met al deze wetenswaardigheden in het achterhoofd besloot ik om mijn geluk zuidelijker te gaan beproeven. Rainbow blijft doorgaans gespaard van extreme koude en uit ervaring weet ik dat je er elk moment van het jaar, zelfs in januari, een kans (hoe klein ook) hebt op karper. Martin Locke had tijdens de eerste week van januari drie stekken geboekt en door het uitvallen van iemand met griep rees plots de kans om de Belgische winterse koude voor even achter me te laten en misschien al de eerste karper(s) van 2009 op kant te trekken. Het vooruitzicht aan kromme hengels, een vleugje zon en op zijn minst wat milder weer was te aanlokkelijk om naast me neer te leggen. En zo vertrok ik samen met Dirk van UCP op 2 januari richting Bordeaux.

Januariveertiger
Het is al enige tijd een ambitie om in elke maand van het jaar een veertiger te hebben gevangen. Tot op heden ontbrak enkel nog de eerste maand van het jaar in het lijstje. Nu vis ik weinig tot niet in januari. Eigenlijk is het pas mijn derde januarisessie ooit, dus het is niet onlogisch dat net daar het hiaat zit. Maar deze sessie biedt de mogelijkheid om er verandering in te brengen.

Toen we op 3 januari vanuit de hotelkamer naar buiten staarden en het landschap in een winterse tooi aanschouwden, zakte ook onze innerlijke thermometer een paar graden… Min 7°C…
Echter van zodra we een half uur aan het rijden waren om de laatste 100 km naar het water af te leggen, zagen we het witte, winterse landschap veranderen in een groene versie en klom de temperatuur gestaag. Het is me vaker overkomen. Ondanks het feit dat het slechts een uurtje rijden verwijderd is van Bordeaux, toch heeft Rainbow vaak een ander weertype. Ook nu was het er gemiddeld 10°C graden warmer, dus dat was een meevaller. Al is 3 à 4°C nu ook weer niet meteen van die aard om de zonnebrandolie en de zwembroek uit de reistas te halen.

Er waren in de week voordien 13 vissen gevangen verdeeld over 20 vissers. Geen vetpot, maar er was tenminste kans op vis. De Duitsers die op stek 12 hadden gezeten (de stek die ook wij zouden bevissen) hadden tijdens hun 2 weken durende trip 4 vissen gevangen. Drie 20-ponders en een 21 kg spiegel. Dat is 1 vis/man/week…

De watertemperatuur bedroeg 5°C. Niet meteen van die aard om een massa boilies overboord te kieperen. Ik strooide spaarzaam een tiental Solar mini Secret boilies. Ik kende de stek van eerdere sessies en had een vrij goed beeld in mijn achterhoofd waar ik al dan niet kans maakte op een aanbeet. Ik had het volste vertrouwen in mijn aas. Zeker met deze koude is The Secret een absolute aanrader. Dat bleek trouwens al snel want op zondagmiddag lag de eerste vis al op de mat. Een amper vechtende 17 kg schub werd mijn eerste karper van 2009. Mooie binnenkomer!
Een paar uur later kreeg ik alweer een aanbeet. Dit keer op een hengel in een totaal andere zone. Ook deze vis bood, ondanks zijn gewicht van 18 kg, weinig weerwerk. Niet dat ik daar om maalde. Hoe sneller ze in het net belanden, hoe liever het me is. Het is trouwens typisch dat ze bij dergelijke temperaturen minder vechten, door de koude staat hun metabolisme op een lager pitje. Even later kreeg ook Dirk een aanbeet maar de vis kwam nagenoeg meteen los. Dit ging onverhoopt goed.
De start mocht er alleszins zijn, dat beloofde voor de rest van de week.

Op maandag, iets na de klok van 13h, kwam karper nr 3 aanbellen. Enkele korte bliepen van mijn meest rechtse muziekdoos deed ons luttele ogenblikken later alweer het ruime sop kiezen. Dirk stuurt de boot richting verdwijnpunt van de lijn en ik draai in opperste concentratie strak. Het is dezelfde hengel die gisteren een 17 kg opbracht. Een gerenommeerde stek, zowel ‘s winters als ‘s zomers. Het betreft een opening tussen een strook land die de eilandstek van stek 12/11 afsluit.
De vis zat in eerste instantie schijnbaar ergens achter vast, maar van zodra ik de druk opvoerde kwam ook januarischub nr 3 gezwind naar het net. Een langgerekte torpedoschub van 18,2 kg. Onvoorstelbaar! Er zijn voorlopig slechts vier vissen op het ganse water gevangen. Een Italiaan op stek 8 heeft de jackpot beet in de vorm van een 27 kg schub. Het zal zijn enige vis worden deze week, maar ik had beslist mijn drie willen inruilen voor die van hem, er valt best te leven met één zo’n vis/week, niet?

Gerard en Eino, enkele Nederlanders die op stek 14 zitten, vangen hun eerste Rainbowkarper. Een schub van om en bij de 13,5 kg. Heel opvallend, het zijn weer nagenoeg allemaal schubs. Er zouden gedurende de rest van de week alles samen 11 vissen op kant komen en 9 ervan zouden schubs zijn. En dat terwijl de verhouding schub/spiegel toch 50/50 is. Ik heb het hier ‘s winters eerder meegemaakt. Vermoedelijk zijn schubs ‘s winters toch actiever dan spiegels. Is hun metabolisme net wat anders en heeft koude er net wat minder vat op?

Sneeuwtapijt
Even later vallen ook hier de eerste sneeuwvlokken en ziet het er naar uit dat ook dit meest zuidwestelijk stukje van Frankrijk door de winter wordt ingehaald…

Dinsdagmiddag, alles is wit. Het is koud of wat dacht je? Het levert mooie plaatjes op dat wel, maar we hangen meer boven de kachel in de bivvy dan we achter de hengels zitten. Ik denk dat ik hallucineer van de koude als even na de middag het geluid van een fluitende Delkim over het water klinkt. Mijn Delkim dan nog! Deze jongen vecht in tegenstelling tot zijn voorgangers wel naar behoren en het duurt een volle tien minuten alvorens hij het opgeeft. Een schub (jawel, wat had u anders gedacht?) van net geen 12 kg zal zo meteen voor schitterende sneeuwplaatjes zorgen.

De watertemperatuur is intussen gezakt to 4°C. Denk niet dat ik al ooit een karper heb gevangen bij een dergelijke temperatuur.

Ook Martin en zijn maat vingen vandaag elk een vis. Een twintigponds spiegel en schub. En dat binnen hetzelfde kwartier! Daar zal en zou het voor hen bij blijven, maar dat wisten we toen nog niet.

Het is intussen woensdag en het heeft flink gevroren. Er is ijsvorming in de kant en hier en daar ligt al een baai onder een laagje ijs. Dat belooft weinig goeds. Vanavond draaien we de hengels binnen en worden we door Pascal, de eigenaar, getracteerd op een post nieuwjaarsmaaltijd. Een vast ritueel voor en na nieuwjaar. Pascal geeft drie weken op rij een banket voor zijn vissers. Spijtig genoeg wordt de gezellige avond wat ontsierd door enkele Italianen die het nodig vinden om hun hengels onbeheerd in het water achter te laten. Pascal komt er achter en gooit hen stande pede van het water. Ze druipen met de staart tussen de benen af.

We herbeginnen pas op donderdagochtend met vissen. Door de vrieskou van vannacht was het weinig opportuun om na middernacht nog vier hengels uit te varen. De watertemperatuur bedraagt intussen nog 3°C. Het blijft de ganse dag stil.

Op vrijdagochtend worden we wakker onder een pak ijs. Het water ligt voor 90% dichtgevroren. Al onze lijnen zitten vastgevroren in het ijs. Tot mijn verbazing zie ik dat één van mijn polyballen weg is. De andere drie liggen vast in het ijs. Ik moet dus een aanbeet hebben gehad vannacht. Echter doordat mijn draad vooraan vast zit in het verglaasde water kon ik onmogelijk een beetindicatie krijgen. We doen er zowat 40 minuten over alvorens we genoeg ijs hebben gebroken (met behulp van onze beider boten varen we het ijs in een min of meer rechte lijn stuk) om bij de vastzittende vis te komen. De vogel is helaas al gaan vliegen en zo is de laatste kans op nog een extra vis verspeeld. Aangezien er onder deze omstandigheden niet verder te vissen valt besluiten we maar om in te pakken. Het duurt nog 4h alvorens we alle hengels hebben bevrijd uit hun ijsgevangenis en we vervroegd huiswaarts keren.

Ik heb dan wel geen januariveertiger gevangen, maar ik ben ontzettend tevreden met het resultaat en met de al bij al aparte belevenis!

Alijn Danau

Ben jij klaar voor het vroege voorjaar?

2009-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

Het is zo’n rare periode, die overgang tussen de winter en het échte voorjaar. Meestal zijn de watertemperaturen erg laag en het weer vaak wisselvallig. Dat maakt het vissen in deze periode zo onvoorspelbaar. Ze zijn nochtans te vangen hoor, als je tenminste wat extra aandacht aan je manier van vissen schenkt.

De laatste jaren hou ik in de winter een winterstop. Doorgaans zijn de maanden januari en de eerste helft van februari periodes waarin je mij zelden aan de waterkant zult treffen. De omstandigheden om die periode aan het water door te brengen zijn niet alleen erg slecht, maar de vissen lijken dan echt op non actief te staan. Het is pas vanaf half februari – begin maart dat ik er weer op uit trek. Vroeger, toen ik nog stug de winters doorviste, merkte ik al dat pas na de vele beurzen, begin maart, de zaken weer wat op gang kwamen. Vooral op het Kempisch Kanaal leek het vaak of de karpers deze meetings afwachtten om weer actief te worden.
Ondertussen heeft de “global warming” er voor gezorgd dat we geen echte winters meer kennen (ook geen zomers meer, als ik mag terugblikken op’t voorbije jaar) en we bijgevolg enkele weken vroeger aan de slag kunnen.

Door de klimaatveranderingen is het weer minder standvastig en lijkt enige vorm van consistentie in de heropleving van de natuur langer te duren waardoor de resultaten elk voorjaar weer sterk wisselend zijn. Zeker ondiepe waters blijken lastig als de zon, na een heropleving, weer plaats maakt voor maartse buien en aprilse grillen. Daarom zijn de plaatsen die ik kies om in het vroege voorjaar te bevissen vaak de iets diepere plassen met een behoorlijke populatie aan karpers. Op deze plassen blijft de watertemperatuur langer constant en is minder onderhevig aan plotse temperatuursschommelingen. De ondiepe plassen mogen dan wachten tot ergens eind april of begin mei. Voor velen klinkt bovenstaande misschien onlogisch want vanzelfsprekend is een zachtere periode vangstgewijs sneller merkbaar op een ondiep water, maar omwille van de wispelturigheid van het weer kan de activiteit al zeer snel weer over zijn. Daarom zijn ondiepe plassen in het vroege voorjaar niet echt mijn ding. Voor mij liever watertemperaturen die rustig aan omhoog gaan en langzamer variëren.

Op vele diepere plassen kan op het einde van de herfst en in het begin van de winter, zeg maar tot eind december, goed gevangen worden omdat de diepe waterlagen trager afkoelen. Zodra het water echt koud is, lijkt de activiteit weg te vallen. Echter na enkele weken merk je dat de vissen “wennen” aan de koude en er toch een opleving is wat activiteit betreft. De vissen verblijven vaak langs de taluds waar ze bij wisselende weersomstandigheden naar diepere waterlagen kunnen afzakken waar ze een zekere graad van comfort ervaren. Om te azen komen ze nog wel ondiep. Vanaf eind februari vang ik mijn vissen op minder dan 3 meter diepte, terwijl er toch gauw een meterje of acht te vinden is onderaan het talud.
Je merkt wel dat, afhankelijk van het weer, de vissen niet elke week in dezelfde mate actief zijn en bijgevolg ergens op half water vertoeven. Maar geloof me, ik heb ze op die diepe plassen op amper 1,5 meter diepte gevangen terwijl het sneeuwde en vroor dat het kraakte. Dat was de constante: vrieskou, zonder echte verandering in het weer.

’s Winters kies je best voor waters met een behoorlijke bezetting. Dat geeft een iets grotere garantie op actie. Het is nogal lastig om resultaten te boeken in de periode waarin de vissen het minst actief zijn. Daarom laat je die plaatsen met kleine karperpopulaties best links liggen tot het water daar behoorlijk is opgewarmd en er meer karperactiviteit te bespeuren is. Dat helpt tenminste om de karpers te lokaliseren. Net omwille van dat lokaliseren kies je beter voor die plaatsen met wat meer vissen, dan is de kans veel groter om ligplaatsen te ontdekken en eens een hengel krom te trekken.

Maar er is meer. Voeren helpt ’s winters ook, maar dan enkel als je dat met beleid doet.
Op plaatsen waar het ganse jaar de vissen moddervet gevoerd worden, tot hun boiliebuiken over de bodem slepen, valt de activiteit schijnbaar geheel stil. Wel, ook daar hernemen de vissen hun gewoontes wanneer de temperatuur lang genoeg constant blijft en de vetreserves op raken of deels aangesproken zijn. Als de honger begint te knagen en geen andere karpervissers zo stom zijn om ondoordacht veel te voeren, kan je de vissen aan’t azen krijgen. Hierbij is het steeds weer zoeken naar de ideale hoeveelheid. Dat is de fragiele grens tussen vangen of koukleumen.
Je voert dus beter te weinig dan te veel. Pech dat met deze alinea mogelijk enkele karpervissers geïnspireerd raken en er dit voorjaar weer te veel voer in gaat…
Het is eveneens een kunst om geduld te oefenen en niet te vaak op een aangevoerde stek te gaan vissen. Als je de vissen in de koude periode met je aas vertrouwd wil maken, moet je ze de tijd geven. Het is maar al te gek om telkens elke vis die de voerplek bezoekt er af te vangen. Een goede stek opbouwen heeft in deze koude periode tijd nodig. Hoe meer vissen weten dat er steeds wat voedsel te vinden is, hoe meer vissen terugkeren om hun kostje te vergaren. Wanneer dat dan kan zonder lijnen op de stek of potentieel haakgevaar, win je hun vertrouwen.

Welk aas je gaat gebruiken speelt natuurlijk ook een grote rol. Wat je echt kan missen zijn vette en zware boilies. Persoonlijk kies ik voor een goed verteerbare knikker waarin weinig of geen vismeel en/of oliën verwerkt zijn. Attractiviteit is absoluut te verkiezen tegenover voedingswaarde. Een te “rijke” bol zal gauw voor verzadiging zorgen. Een lichte samenstelling met een combinatie van vogelvoeders, tarwekiemen, biergist en enkele vloeibare en vaste smaakmakers helpen om regelmatig een ijsklomp te begroeten in je net.
Jammer dat veel van onze waters danig verbrasemd zijn dat het gebruik van kleine boilies haast onmogelijk is. Als er niet te veel brasems rondzwemmen zou ik een voorjaar opstarten met 14 mm boilies. Door kleine boilies te voeren bereik je gewoonweg meer karpers met minder gewicht aan voer.
Ook single hookbaits in de vorm van fluoro pop ups kunnen interessant zijn wanneer je ligplaatsen of trekroutes denkt gevonden te hebben. Hoewel deze blitse bolletjes in het voorjaar echte vangers zijn, vind ik een voorzichtig opgezette voercampagne op het einde van de winter veel constanter naar resultaten toe. De fluoro’s worden meestal snowman gevist met enkele losse boilies erbij of blijven in de tas tot de vissen echt rondzwemmen wanneer het voorjaar volledig van start is gegaan.

Naast voeren mag er ook wat meer aandacht aan de gebruikte rigs besteed worden. Omdat de vissen minder bewegen en trager azen, mag het onderlijntje al wat korter en het haakje kleiner. Snel prikkende rigs waaraan langstelige haken met een rechte punt geknoopt zijn, genieten mijn voorkeur. Een haakje zoals de Solar Stronghold Longshank in maatje 8 of 10 zijn prima prikkers in koude omstandigheden.
Bovendien blijkt een snowman aasaanbieding er in ’t vroege voorjaar letterlijk met kop en schouders bovenuit te steken.

Ook wat extra aandacht gaat naar het camoufleren van lijnen nabij de stek. Een los loodje, ook wel pin down lead genoemd door onze engelse collega’s, boven een leadcore of andere leader helpt om de eerste meters lijn na de leadcore tegen de bodem te houden.
Gevlochten lijnen zijn, wanneer ze genoeg zinkend vermogen bezitten, ideaal om elke verplaatsing van het lood weer te geven aan de lichte waker en beetmelder. Door lichte wakers te gebruiken en de lijn niet snaarstrak op te spannen bekom je een betere beetindicatie. Zo weet je tenminste onmiddellijk wanneer je rig verplaatst wordt. Tegenwoordig heb ik de “gatorbraid” van PB op mijn spoelen en kan naar volle tevredenheid zeggen dat deze gevlochten lijn voldoet aan al mijn criteria.

Goede stekken om in deze overgangsperiode te bevissen zijn dikwijls de zones waar veiligheid en comfort het dichtst bij mekaar liggen. Wat bedoel ik hier nu mee?
Zones die een schuilplaats bieden zoals overhangende bomen, dicht bij taluds of diepe rietkragen maar ook smalle doorgangen aan baaien en reservaten zijn niet te negeren . Natuurlijk ligt dit voor elk water verschillend maar doorgaans is deze periode nog te koud om de vissen echt in de uitgestrekte ondiepe zones op te zoeken. Zodra april ten einde loopt is dit wel het geval. Tot het zo ver is en het water nog verder moet opwarmen kies ik dus voor zones van comfort. Soms zijn dit ondiepe beken die met hun opgewarmd water in een plas uitmonden maar ook dan zullen de vissen bij barre weersomstandigheden toch weer de veiligheid van de nabijgelegen taluds opzoeken of onder de holle oevers bij omgevallen bomen gaan liggen.

Als je op helder water de mogelijkheid hebt om lijnen uit te varen, let dan vooral op zuivere plekken onder overhangend struikgewas. Karpers houden hun winterverblijf schoon. Op deze plaatsen zullen geen bladeren of takjes op de bodem liggen! Bladeren die in’t najaar naar de bodem zinken beginnen uiteindelijk te rotten onder water. Dat kan een reden zijn waarom vissen niet houden van zulk “afval” op hun schuilplaats.
Het komt behoorlijk vaak voor dat je het merendeel van de populatie op één bepaalde stek vindt. In zo’n situatie is het vaak dezelfde hengel die “gaat”.
Als het je lukt om zo’n plek te vinden, beleef je gegarandeerd verwarmende momenten tijdens de gure dagen!
Vang ze, en vooral, geniet ervan!

Geert Ooms

Overcoming shy feeders

2009-01-28T14:42:00.001-08:00

At this time of the year when the carp’s movements are still very slow and their feeding much less intense compared to other times, it’s important to pay attention to much more than just your rigs, location and bait. Only quite recently I experienced some really cagey fish when they regularly cleaned my freebies out without so much as a bleep on the indicator. Basically, wherever I managed to catch a fish from, the next day the area would be cleaned out as the carp sussed out that something wasn‘t quite right in the swim. I was using a boat which allowed me to take regular visits to the baited areas to see what was happening, and as seems to be the norm when carp do this, there wasn’t just the hook bait that was left, but also half a dozen other baits, one or two of which had been chewed up and spat out; and that was from about thirty or forty free offerings!

When does it happen?
When you know this is happening, obviously you know something needs to be done. The hardest part is often knowing it’s happening though, as not every lake has clear water to allow you to observe the environment. Initially I got round the problem recently by pre-baiting several spots that I didn’t fish until I knew the carp were sussing out my rigs, and then it was just a matter of re-positioning my hook baits to the areas that had been pre-baited, something which always pays off for you when you have time on your hands, as I did recently. At the beginning of the trip I picked a selection of areas in my swim which I thought looked likely to be visited by the carp, baited them all at the beginning of my trip, and then alternated where to put the hook baits once I knew the carp were up to no good.
Later in the week I did note that the carp began to really get cute as pressure took its toll, even on spots which I’d not fished before. Even then however, I managed to get round a few problems by adjusting the way I fished. One particular morning I woke up and hadn’t had a touch on all of my rods, including a couple of new spots that had not seen carp caught from them. A quick scout out in the boat revealed that all of the rods had been cleaned out and that the idea of pre-baiting obviously didn’t always work if the carp had their defences up, as they proved after a few days of pressure. I knew the spots were getting visited, so there was something in the swim which really put them on guard and it was just a matter of finding out what it was. At first I played with my rigs, dropping down a hook size from Solar X-Wide Gape 6s to 8s. I also shortened the rig slightly in case they had too much margin for error, however, none of my rig adjustments seemed to sort it.

Personally I think there’s a misconception amongst anglers that when you’re being cleaned out, you’ve a problem with your rigs. Whilst this is often the case, I knew it would be stupid to ignore other factors such as the obviousness of the main line and the way I had my indicators set up, so my fiddling didn‘t end at just considering my rigs. I was using Solar Quiver-Loc indicators and I had the sensitivity on my Fox buzzers at midway because there’d been quite a lot of heavy rain and snow during the first part of the week. The Quivers I had quite tight because I was using heavy 4oz leads, even at quite close ranges of 30m (I must confess I’m more of a tight line man than a slacker as I don’t like the margin for error carp get with slack lining, especially in the late winter when bites can be ever so sensitive). The trouble with Quivers though is they are great for keeping the line tight, but whenever a carp pulls at the other end (unlike coming towards the angler), because there is tension in the indicator pulling down on the line, it needs a lot of pressure or movement to make the indicator rise if you have them set fairly tight like I did.

Missed chances?
During the course of the week I’d noted a couple of drop backs which were ever so slight; both which had happened without a bleep on the buzzer. This is the reason why a lot of the time I fish with my indicators all set at the same height so that I can see if anything has moved. What I concluded was that this had happened whilst I was getting cleaned out, with the carp pulling at the rig, but because of the tension on the Quiver-Loc I had set, nothing had bleeped whilst the fish sussed the rig and dropped it, causing the indicator to drop back ever so gently.
Thankfully I’ve seen this kind of thing happen all too often in the cooler months when the fish are not as aggressive with their movements. I managed to overcome the problem by simply adjusting the tension on the Quiver-Loc, slackening it off so that it could freely rise once the rig end was pulled, whilst at the same time I upped the sensitivity on the buzzer. This is quite a balancing act really, as you want the tension not too light so that there’s none on the line at all, whilst at the same time you need the buzzers only to bleep when you know something is happening in the swim.
The very night I adjusted things, I started getting early warning signs of fish activity in the swim. The buzzer began bleeping two or three times (without any movement on the indicator) which I put down to liners. I also had two very slight lifts on the indicator which were on single bleeps, both of which I hit and turned out to be hooked fish. During the week I had a further two single bleeps coupled with a slight lift, and these too ended up as hooked carp, meaning that I finally sussed out the fish myself.

Confidence
I’ll admit it does take a lot of confidence to hit single bleeps, especially at this time of the year when all you want to do is stay in the warmth of the sleeping bag. However, I’m convinced plenty of us are allowing the carp to get away with it as a result of our ignorance.
A few weeks ago I was at Pool Hall in England for a feature in Crafty Carper magazine when a young angler commented on the fact that I was hitting single bleeps and turning them into fish. Although not every single bleep on that occasion turned out to be a fish, during my recent trip I hooked four from single bleeps, all of which coincided with a slight lift, perhaps as the fish tightened up on the rig which up until that point I’m sure I would have missed if I hadn’t adjusted my set up.
It’s all a fine line working out what is going on in the swim and then being able to counter any sly movements from the fish. Often all it is down to is confidence and effort, believing that the carp you are targeting are capable of sussing you out and that a single bleep actually can be turned into something positive. I suppose the effort comes with being willing to get out of bed fast enough to hit it, and knowing that even if it doesn’t turn out to be a fish, it really isn’t too much hard work to recast a bait back to where it once was.
CROWY

Picking & choosing

2008-12-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

There’s times when I just go fishing whatever the weather, but I must say that between the end of December and the end of February, I‘m getting more and more selective. Without question, the one kind of weather which really gets me ’up’ for a trip out between these dates is the arrival of a low front following a prolonged bout of high. Usually you’ll see an increase in temperature from sub-zero or even 3s and 4s, to almost double figures. This is a great window period, and you’ll usually witness strong wind blowing from the south or south west at the same time. The wind is likely to be quite high in the trees rather than low to the water, but there’ll still be a good ripple on the surface which will stir the fish up.
For some reason, in the UK we don’t tend to get many direct westerlies in the winter months, but when they do arrive along with a bout of low, then all the better and it‘s all systems go. This kind of weather has been very kind to me, and whenever such a front arrives, the lads in the Carp-Talk office know that the following week is sure to see an increase in catch reports on the news desk.

Whilst warmer winds are certainly much better, I’m also confident fishing into any really strong wind in January, especially if I’ve not been able to get out much and one arrives when I have a few days free. Even those from the north and east which usually have a very cold feel to them at this time of the year can be productive, especially when they are blustery and almost gale-like. It’s usually a case of ‘batten down the hatches’ and get hidden in the bivvy when they arrive, but they are most certainly much better to be out in than a really still windless bout of high pressure. Prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures usually sees the lakes with a lid on (depending on how early or late into winter we are). When they eventually start to defrost, I also like to go at least a couple of days following the complete defrosting. It always takes a day or two for the ice to completely mix in the water and I suspect this is one of the reasons why during a defrost I’ve never really had much success.

Another weather condition which has been kind to me in the winter months is when it’s raining. I’ve had some lovely fish during rain storms in January and February, even those which have come with biting cold winds from the east and north. Shallow water spots have always been the areas that I’ve caught from during these periods, perhaps the reason for this being that the fish have come up from the deeper water to investigate what the noise on the surface is, or possibly the rain brings with it an attractive taste or feeling to the water which is better realised by the fish when they visit the shallower areas where it is likely to be mixed quicker.
One thing I can most definitely say with confidence is that the days in winter have been better than the nights at the majority of the venues I have fished. Quite why this is so I can’t say, but whenever the weather looks right and I’ve a spare day then out on the bank is where you will find me. The period between 12.30pm and 2.30pm has been especially kind to me at plenty of different UK waters and I know that I’m not the only angler who has experienced this obvious winter feeding instinct.

It all depends how much time you have available to you if you want to go to the lengths of trying to pick and choose when to go. It might also be down to how resilient you are and what exactly you want out of your fishing. Just being out on a cold January day and seeing the sun rise and set is memorable in itself; or seeing a snow storm arrive and turn everything white over-night: simply breath-taking moments in themselves.
Happy fishing.
Crowy

poeli and the giant mirror

2008-12-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

This is the translated version of my article in the vbk magazine nr 50
It is about the biggest mirror alive in the benelux.
Enjoy!

Poeli and the giant mirror.

It was in 2001 that I finally got my driving licence and my mother was no longer obliged to drive her crazy little son to the local canal to throw in a couple pounds of his home made boilies. That driving licence opened the door to fishing a lot of new venues. During that same year, a friend of mine caught a giant common at one of those new lakes. Just looking at the pictures of that immaculate common carp, I immediately felt in love with this fish. Its heart-shaped tail, its dark colour and the enormous shoulders behind his cute little head made this fish all an angler could wish for. Over the following years this specific carp was all I could think of. Not so long after I found out about its existence, I started to fish the lake but it wasn’t going to turn out to be an easy job. The lake held only 10 to 15 carp, and except the giant common they were all small ones. Also the massive amount of weed and a ridiculous amount of natural food in there, made the assignment difficult. Extremely to the bone! From 2001 until the present time the common only visited the bank 3 times. Many anglers came to give it a try, but many left the lake as quick as they came. During all these years I’d tried many, many nights and weekends to bank the lovely common. But I only managed to catch almost the whole population, off course except that specific common. And how longer it takes me to catch that target, how more difficult it became for me to find the motivation to go. I suppose my name was just not written on there… during all those years I fished off course on lakes, canals and rivers elsewhere, and caught lots of others nice lumps, but they could all stand in the shadow of that massive, beautiful common. A common called “the eburoon”

Moving

In 2007 I left from underneath the safe wings of my mother and found a place for myself. And that move also meant that the lake with “the eburoon” was further away. Too far away! In fact the distance made it that I’d have to give up. I lost the thought of ever holding the eburoon in my arms…
But it was also in that year it came to my ears that there was also a giant mirror close to my new home. This offered the possibility to fish during the week and combine it with my work. By seeing a picture of that mirror with no name, its existence was confirmed. I had a new target. The mirror was possibly even bigger as the eburoon, but the lake was again not for pussy’s. This venue was about 25ha big and holds only15 carp. Memories of the quest for the eburoon rose up. Just like the eburoon, this carp was so mysterious, so unknown and so difficult. And it’s just that what I like about targetfish. The new adventure started here. The least I could do was give it a try. The main plan was to hit it hard in the spring of 2008.

Spring

Already in February I was visiting the lake quite often. Sometimes I went there alone, sometimes with my girlfriend and her dog. Always when I start on a new lake, I try to be there as often as possible. I want to feel it, want to get a grip on the surroundings, get familiar with everything in and around the water. On sunny days I also baited up a large area which featured a couple shallow bars. The amounts of bait that were put in, were kept limited because the water temperature was still under 10 centigrade. With this small stock of carp you got to be very careful no to overfeed them.
The chosen boilie was my favourite pink secret boilie from the Solar stable. But to be a couple steps ahead on the other few anglers I added a couple things as an extra. I like to add belachan powder to any mix I use and also pre digested green lipped mussel. When my baits are defrosted I also pour liquid L-zero-30 on my baits and let them soak in it for a night.
To make the finishing touch, I tend to cast my rig with a stick made from up and down mix. Lots of attraction and it also prevents tangles.
The first two nights were a blank. I was fishing nearby a parking where were lots of expatriate. Because the place was not quit safe for my car and myself, I always arrived around 11 o’clock in the evening and stopped fishing at 6 o’clock in the morning. Just 7 hours fishing does not seem a lot, does it? Those first 2 nights the main difficulties were the youngsters there and they didn’t motivate me the hit the sack for a good night sleep. I only dared to rest my head with one eye open. The 3rd night I decided to move a little further. Because I was feeding a large area, I supposed it wouldn’t make a difference. From this point it was even easier to fish the shallow margins.
Anyway, about five o’clock I’ve got a couple bleeps and saw my dangler drop back a little. First thing I could think off was that I got one of the few breams on my hook. I guess you can imagine how I felt. But when I picked up the rod I saw my line was heading to the left and that was the confirmation that it certainly was not a bream! Quickly I gained line until I got direct contact with the carp. The fish had decided to swim towards me, just above the bottom. He was not quite strong and quickly I could scoop my net underneath it. I was pleased with the first carp on the new lake and his weight made it even better. With 17,8kg common I could pack up my gear with a smile. I quickly made a couple pictures using the remote, witch I’ve been thankful for who’s ever invented that! ( I guess also my mates who normally get a wake up call to come over and do the honours are pretty pleased by this invention)

The following 3 nights were blanked, and resulted in some more problems with lazy younsters. There was one evening some people found it funny to play with a gun. Once I was safe at the water, I could lay back and enjoy the silence, but arriving without being noticed is always the hardest part. The question is: are they going to aim their guns at you, thash your car or just hit you in the face? What are they going to do or say? Scary that is. Even the police do not interfere in this area. For the law, this is a battle lost.
At the start of the 7th night I made it to the bank without strange encounters so around 23 o’clock my rods were casted out on the spots, precisely where I wanted them. About 01 o’clock again a couple bleeps announced action on the rod with the single secret pop up. Again the dangler was backdroppin’ and this time I was prepared. Yep, carp it was! This boy was not that lame as his friend last week, and he was determined to go left, no matter what. I got in some serious trouble with the other rod and switched off the delkim. To lower the risk, I waded with trousers and socks in the water. Because I forgot my headlight in the car and it was very clouded, I could see nothing in the pitch black. The first 2 occasions I failed to land the strong common. Luckily the Solar longshank did not let me down. The 3th time I tried to get it in, I succeeded. He finally came with his full length in the mazes. Again this was a good one. The long common brought 18,5kilo’s on the scales. It was still pretty early in the night and so I recasted the 2 rods back on the spots. But nothing else happened until 6 o’clock when time had come to pack up and leave for work. While setting up the gear to make some pictures on my own, I could admire this fish now in the daylight. This particular common is a beautiful banana shaped carp. Nice yellow colours and a pretty long length. Nice!

2 days later I’m back. This time it was raining a little and the result of that was that there was nobody on the parking lot but also no carp in the neighbourhood I guess. So I blanked.
I ‘d let the weekend go by, but on saturdaynight I went after midnight to the water for baiting up a little again. On the following Monday I went back with my gear. It was already after 23 o’clock because I went baiting up another lake in the meanwhile. But even it was late, there still were lots of “gangsters” near the lake when I arrived. No signs of fish, but enough active thugs right on my swim! I decided to wait for 30minutes and smoke some cigarettes. But after 15 minutes I got irritated and gave it one more cigarette before I would head back to the lake I just went baiting to go sleep some needed hours. Just at the time I finished my cigarette one of the bloke’s received a phone call and was clearly pissed off about something that was told on the other side of the line. I heard him say that he’d come over to settle things himself. Okay, just what I wanted to hear! The last ones to hit the road were a couple, they got in the last car on the parking and drove off. As quickly as I could I baited up a little and cast out my rods. I drank my traditional single beer and immediately after that I fell in a deep sleep. Somewhere in the middle of the night I received a hard run on the bottom bait rod. I jumped out of my coma and grabbed the rod with the spinning reel. The carp didn’t care and just kept swimming. When I set the drag heavier and heavier, the strong beast realized something was terribly wrong and headed towards the other direction. From then on it looked like he had enough of playing it hard and tried to work just with his weight. For me it felt just like I was pumping a dead weight towards the surface. The carp moved very slowly from the left to the right for several minutes. I was already until my knees in the water, because this was with no doubt again a good carp. After several nervous minutes, I pumped a lumpy weight on the surface and saw a big mouth break through the surface.
I put the net underneath it, pulled it up, and fitted the rest of the fish in the net. On first sight the massive carp laid straight up in the water and I saw scales on his back so I thought this was a common, but a very good one. A bit disappointed it wasn’t the giant mirror I pulled the arms out of the landing net but then the fish rolled over on his side, and damn, it was a mirror! My god, this could only mean one thing, this is the giant target I was fishing for!
In an adrenaline rush I carried the carp on the unhooking mat, but with all this adrenaline it looked like the massive mirror already had spawned and his weight would be a little on the low side. But when I hung him with the weigh sling on the scales which were hung on a tripod, he brought 34,1kg on it!
I just could not believe this was happening and I stared a few seconds in ecstasy to the scale!
Quickly I put the beautiful creature in a sack and rang Mark and Mario, 2 of my best friends. When I rang them they knew immediately what was going on but were also amazed with this weight. It had been over 2 years the mirror reached the bank and his weight then was 29,1kg. I could never think he would be as big as he is now.
Also I send a text message to Geert Ooms: “Job done: 34,1kg”. but unfortunately, his mobile was switched off so he missed out on the photo shoot.
After packing up my gear while waiting for Mark and Mario I smoked the most enjoyable cigarette ever.
When my mates arrived, hands were shaken. Everything was set up to film and take pictures. Everything looked perfect this morning. There was nobody to been seen, just me, 2 of my best friends and this beautiful, mysterious and enormous creature which came right out of my dreams. The red glowing sun came up and made the beautiful mirror look even prettier than he already looked. Everything is sweet this morning, the drops that fell down on the unhooking mat looked like sugar. Between the flashes of the camera I looked into the sun, thinking about “the eburoon”. I finally caught my dream , with a couple kilo’s of intrest.

I’m overwhelmed of luck; this carp has all the heeling medicine which I search for in a carp…
Magic, mysterious, and difficult. In my life I’m always in search for those things.
Things that move me, things that make me cry.
May be, I’m going back to look for that mystery, magic and difficulty…
In search for “the eburoon”…
There always has to be “something” in my pursuits of carps…
I don’t need to catch many massive carp on slutty lakes… it’s like sleeping with a girl just for the sex. Fun at the moment, but you can do nothing with it for the rest of your goddamn life.
Give me some unknown, hard to get lumpy’s… only then I prove myself, only then I can be really happy for all the work done… only then I can die happy…
But it’s a feeling many anglers just can’t (or will not) understand…

Gunther Poelmans aka Poeli

New products for 2009

2008-12-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

New 4 rod presentation sets. Due to demand we will be offering 4 rod versions of our popular indicator systems sets in all different head colours. These will be available in spring 2009. Just ask your local Solar dealer.

4 rod Fluoro head presentation set, traffic light

4 rod Power Glow presentation set, traffic light

4 rod Quiver loc presentation set, traffic light

Mix it up this winter

2008-12-14T05:58:00.000-08:00

A good tip to try this coming winter is to mix up your baits instead of just going in with the more traditional approach of using one specific flavour, mix and size. I’ve done quite well in recent times using a combination of small baits, mixes of Squid & Octopus and BYT Wedges, with 6mm Secret and Top Bananas, plus 18mm Dairy Cream and Club Mix boilies. There’s very few lads that go in with this approach, and I’m convinced it’ll work on most waters. You don’t need to go overboard with it in case you over-bait, keep it nice and light. Maybe a small bag filled with a sprinkle, or a handful in a hopper of a bait boat or a couple of spods worth is all that you need. I’m sure the different sizes, colours as well as the mixture of different chemicals in the swim draws the fish in, especially those which see a lot of angling pressure. It’s been working OK for me, so give it a try and see for yourself.
Crowy

VBK meeting op 13/12/2008

2008-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Nog snel even dit bericht aan de Belgische en Nederlandse blogbezoekers!

Op 13 december is er de VBK meeting. Wie graag de drijvende kracht achter Solar Tackle, namelijk Martin Locke, wil ontmoeten is dit de gelegenheid bij uitstek.
Er zal ook een stand van Solar Tackle staan zodat je de nieuwigheden in het gamma kan bekijken.

New products - Presentation sets

2008-11-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

In time for Christmas we have launched some new products for the Sharper Carper. Gold Presentations sets, Fluoro head presentation sets, Power Glow Presentation sets, Power Glow indicator systems, Zipped Urban hoodies, Limited edition 24 carat gold plated worldwide pods, Gold Fluoro indicator system in stock now! They are all perfect Christmas presents, guaranteed ...

Gold Presentation set Three Lions

Fluoro Head Gold Presentation set red

Fluoro Head Presentation set

Gold Presentation set (also available with I-Lite body)

Power Glow Presentation set

Urban Zipped hoodie

24 Carat Gold Plated Worldwide Pod

Gold Fluoro indicator system

Gold I-Lite with Gold chain and Gold Hanger ball clip

The Secret

2008-11-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Het is nu 3 jaar geleden dat ik met de mixen van solar aan de slag ben gegaan.

Aanvankelijk heb ik zoveel mogelijk mixen getest welke het beste past binnen mijn visserij. In die 3 jaar heb ik de meeste mixen grondig getest en zijn er enkele die mijn voorkeur zijn gaan krijgen. Met stip op nummer 1 is dat “the secret”.

Deze opvallende boilie noemde men in eerste instantie the winter secret. Maar doordat deze boilie ook in de warmere maanden enorm veel vis op de kant brengt, is het neerbuigend tegenover deze mix om hem enkel in de winter te gebruiken.

Een voorbeeldje: Afgelopen zomer heb ik na enkele dagen voeren op een klein water gevist. Het water heeft een reputatie om 1 of maximum 2 vissen per keer vrij te geven. In mijn eerste sessie van 8uur kreeg ik meteen 4 runs waaronder 2 dertigers! Ik bleef de stek ondertussen aanvoeren zonder te vissen, en collega vissers vertelden me dat ze vissen vingen die een roze substantie ontlastten. Duidelijk het bewijs dat ze er niet genoeg van krijgen!

De reden waarom ik deze mix zo graag gebruik is dat je er alle kanten mee op kan. Doordat hij enorm snel verteert kan je al eens flink doorvoeren en zodoende de vissen voor een langere tijd op je aas houden. Instant werkt hij dan ook weer voortreffelijk. Zo ving ik in september in de eerste nacht op een openbaar water in Frankrijk al meteen een spiegel van 22kg. Dat deze vis niet aan zijn eerste hap toe was bleek wel meteen, onmiddellijk bij het vangen lag mijn onthaakmat al vol roze ontlasting, zelfs ’s morgens bij het fotograferen hield het niet op.

The secret heeft een aparte, zoetige geur en is door zijn felle opvallende kleur een attractieve knikker, maar het vreemde is dat ik er niet meer witvis mee vang dan met een andere knikker. Ik vertel er wel bij dat ik graag experimenteer met deze mix, en het zoete combineer door hem iets meer “fishy” te maken.

Ik geef jullie nog enkele recepten en tips die ik graag toepas bij deze voortreffelijke, aparte mix.

Recepten:

1 kg secret mix

10ml stimulin amino

5ml fresh smoked salmon / squid & octopus koi rearer

50gr belachan powder

1 koffielepel squid & octopus powder

Deze mix gebruik ik graag bij koude watertemperaturen:

1kg secret mix

10ml stimulin amino

3ml estherblend 12/ esther pineapple

3ml candy sweetener

1 koffielepel candy sweetener powder

Tips:

-Zoals ik al aanhaalde, durf te experimenteren! Ik gebruik graag vismelen om ze daarna af te werken met zoetigheden, net zoals ik een zoete mix zoals de secret verwerk met vismelen en visflavours.

-Op waters met veel witvis of met zware hengeldruk.moet je opletten dat je niet té wilderig omspringt met wateroplosbare of overdreven attractieve producten. Je kan dan wel eens veel last hebben van witvis of kleine karper.

- Probeer je boilies telkens in kleine hoeveelheden te draaien, en telkens je toevoegingen aan te passen naargelang de omstandigheden. Als je in het voorjaar in 1 keer je vriezer vol steekt kan je na een tijdje met een boilie blijven zitten die niet volledig naar je zin is!

- Boilies moeten niet altijd rond zijn, ik voer en vis graag met "chunks" of gebroken boilies zoalng de omstandigheden het toelaten.

Succes!

Gunther Poelmans

Safety first with Solar's Lead Clips

2008-11-10T02:56:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I managed a few nights out last week, and had a chance to try out the new Solar Safety Lead Clips for the first time. I was confronted with some big weed beds at the lake I was fishing – you know, the stuff which is top to bottom in the summer months and breaks off in the autumn, causing you all kinds of problems if you’re not careful.
The weather was real cold for the first few days and I knew it was going to affect the carp, keeping them huddled around safe areas like weed. I therefore wanted to fish as close to it as I could. I couldn’t actually fish directly into it as it was so thick, but after a bit of searching with the plumbing rod I found some nice firm bits of bottom close by.
As soon as the weather changed for the better, I was into my first fish. As expected, it managed to find the sanctuary of the weed, but with some steady pressure, in she came. It was nice to see the Solar clip stay firmly attached to the swivel, courtesy of the little insert, rather than slip down the line and cause me problems. With steady pressure, the fish was soon beaten, weighing in at 29lb 12oz. It was also good to see the lead stay on the clip thanks to its extended arm as I’m not a fan of dumping leads every time I fish in weed.
Further success was just around the corner on the same rod, with another nice mirror of 28lb 12oz coming the next day. Once again I had no problem whatsoever with gliding her through the weed so I’ll certainly be putting the clips to further use this coming week. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Crowy

new PB common for Steve

2008-11-08T05:47:00.000-08:00

Seven days in swim 19 at Rainbow hardly seemed to be an exciting prospect, after all it has been my least productive of all the swims I have fished there. But as ever anything is possible at this fantastic water! I took the left side of the swim as my friend Gary Hillson was on his first trip to the lake and as the right side is normally more productive, I figured it was best to let him have that sider. It proved to be the case when on the Sunday morning he landed two carp of 20lb and 53lb, both commons and the latter being his second biggest common ever. We were both using the Club Mix, with single 20mm hook baits over a scattering of 18mm freebies and Club Mix 365 pellets. My side of the swim was slower to get started (as expected) but on the Monday I landed a couple of commons of 29lb and 37lb. From then on the action started to increase and the more bait we put in, the more action we received! As I've found before, the Rainbow Carp really do love the Club Mix - more than any other bait I would say. The right side was really doing the business for Gary with several more fish up to 46lb. But although I was getting less action, the quality of the fish was increasing and I landed three more fish, a mirror of 47lb 12oz and then two commons of 47lb 12oz and 50lb 8oz. But the best was saved until last, when at 2am on the Saturday morning, just hours before packing up, I latched in to something that felt a lot heavier than the rest! After a really good battle, Joan slipped the net under what was obviously a very large common. We weighed the fish at 67lb 12oz - a personal best by some margin and my long-awaited first 60lb+ common. The Club Mix has done wonders for my results ever since I first used it, but it seems to just get better and better, producing three 30kg carp for me this year - what a bait!!!
Cheers Steve

Met de winter voor de deur

2008-11-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

Door een matig najaar op onze Belgische rivieren en kanalen werd de drang naar wat actie en de bijhorende kromme hengel weer groter. Het vergt heel wat van een karpervisser om blank na blank te verdragen en te weten dat je wel alles goed doet, maar dat de vissen er gewoon niet zitten. De steeds langere nachten en het dalende kwik zorgen er dan voor dat zelfs de taaiste karpervisser z’n drang naar vis op de mat moet bevredigen door eens een ander water te bevissen.

Begin november lag er een duwvaartboot pal op mijn favoriete stek aangemeerd en het zou onmogelijk zijn om er te vissen. Dat was wel flink balen, want ondertussen zat ik weer een weekje of vijf te blanken en net nu de omstandigheden om een vis te vangen goed zijn, is de stek onbevisbaar.
Plan B leek nu klaar voor uitvoering. Een nachtje op een druk bevist water met een bijzonder goede populatie zou m’n uitvalsbasis worden. Tenminste, zo had ik gehoopt. Bij aankomst aan het water kan ik alleen maar vaststellen dat er veel volk aan de slag is. Dat er ook al enkele nachten met temperaturen onder nul gepasseerd zijn is te merken aan de vangsten. Iedereen klaagt over het uitblijven ervan. Slechts één vis had zich het voorbije weekend laten strikken. Waarschijnlijk zou het beter zijn om wat te wachten tot de watertemperatuur wat stabieler is om hier aan de slag te gaan. Hier zou ik dus niet gaan vissen.
Best wel frustrerend hoor. Een ganse periode had ik het razend druk op mijn werk, en nu ik eindelijk eens een dagje vrijaf heb én rustig zou kunnen vissen zit alles tegen!

Tijd voor plan C dus. Een half uurtje blazen op de autosnelweg leidt mij naar een water waar ik ooit m’n karperhart sneller voelde kloppen. Een plaats waar ik spannende momenten beleefde en mijn vissersinstinct het volledig overnam en primeerde op “normaal” menselijk gedrag. Ondertussen heb ik het op dat water wel gezien en is de magie verdwenen. Ik ben, in tegenstelling tot wat velen denken, echt wel een gevoelsvisser. Naar mijn gevoel heb ik op dit water niks meer te zoeken. De zon gaat langzaam onder, en ik weet dat er nog maar weinig opties zijn. Of toch, nog eentje!

Een klein maar schattig watertje ligt op een boogscheut van waar ik mij tijdens de zonsondergang bevind. Ik besluit om enkel wat te voeren en pas de volgende ochtend te gaan vissen. Voorzichtig werp ik met een throwing stick enkele “the secret” boilies tussen de overhangende takken. Als gevolg van de dalende watertemperatuur moet ik ook hier rekening houden met de mindere activiteit van de karpers. Wat dat betreft weet ik dat de gebruikte boilies niet snel voor verzadiging zullen zorgen. “The secret” is namelijk een boilie die door zijn samenstelling ideaal inzetbaar is tijdens de koudere periodes. Niet dat je er in de zomer niks mee zou vangen, hoor. Integendeel, tegenwoordig gebruik ik deze boilie, met volle tevredenheid, het ganse jaar door.

Als ik de volgende ochtend weer aan de waterkant arriveer, staan er tweehonderd kilometers op de teller van m’n oude bestelwagen. De hoogste tijd om eindelijk eens een lijn nat te maken!
Ik wil zo dicht mogelijk tegen een diepe oever, onder de overhangende struiken, vissen. Omdat ik geen voerboot meer heb, heb ik mijn montages aangepast om discreet en toch accuraat te kunnen vissen.
Een inline-lood waarvan de harde plastic tube is verwijderd zit op een contour leadcore leader gemonteerd. Om het lood op z’n plaats te houden en voor een goede inhaking te zorgen heb ik een leadcore backstop bead gemonteerd.
De onderlijn bestaat uit amper 12 centimeter gecoat onderlijnmateriaal waaraan een stronghold longshank bevestigd is. Een “secret” pop up wordt rechtstreeks op de hair geplaatst. De hair wordt op z’n plaats gehouden door een blowback ringetje. Om het geheel extra attractiviteit mee te geven bevestig ik een klein pva netje gevuld met “365” pellets op de haak. Simpel én efficiënt!
De eerste worp is meteen goed en het lood belandt met een dof plonsje vlak voor de overhangende takken.
De tweede hengel wordt in een dieper gedeelte gevist. Hopelijk kan ik hier een vis verrassen die het trager afkoelende diepe water opzoekt.
Een snowman vormt op deze hengel een prima aasaanbieding. Op de iets zachtere bodem voorkomt de pop up dat de gewone boilie te ver zou wegzakken. Ook hier weer een klein netje met “365” pellets om het geheel af te werken.

Her en der verspreid ik nog enkele boilies maar omdat ik toch zo weinig mogelijk kabaal wil maken voer ik de meeste boilies in de takken, zodat ze door de twijgjes in het water belanden. Bijna geruisloos vallen de meeste fluo roze bolletjes in het water. Dit moet wel goed komen…

Lang moet ik niet wachten voor de eerste aanbeet komt. De top van de hengel die het dichtst bij de overhangende struiken ligt wordt kromgetrokken en nog voor de beetverklikker een piep geeft, gris ik de hengel uit de steunen. Even is het drillen op het scherpst van de snee om te beletten dat de vis zich in de takken vast zwemt.
Als ik juist voor enkele dode takken een kolk zie verschijnen weet ik dat de vis zich gedraaid heeft en ik de strijd zal winnen.
Niet veel later zwemt een kastanjebruine spiegel rondjes onder de hengeltop. Als ik uiteindelijk de vis in het schepnet heb, weet ik dat het een behoorlijk exemplaar betreft. Een mid-dertiger, op z’n minst.
Verbaasd over z’n schoonheid en afmetingen graaf ik in m’n geheugen om uit te zoeken of ik deze vis al eerder ving. Volgens mij is dit er één die telkens de dans ontspringt. Ik ben dus dolgelukkig omdat dit een voor mij onbekende vis is.

Zodra deze breedrug weer veilig z’n rondjes zwemt voorzie ik de hengel van een nieuwe onderlijn, plaats weer een pva netje met “365” pellets op de haak en gooi weer in. Ook ditmaal landt het lood precies waar ik het wil. “Bang on” vlak voor de overhangende takken.

Tegen de middag breekt een flauw zonnetje door de laaghangende bewolking en besluit ik om m’n hengel uit het diepere gedeelte weg te halen en een stuk ondieper te vissen. Dat de invloed van de zon vissen op het ondiepe lokt, bewijzen de twee kleine schubjes die kort na mekaar een fout maken door de snowman op te pikken.

Zo zie je maar dat er soms niet veel nodig is om wat actie te forceren. Als je de middelen die je ter beschikking hebt maar goed inzet.

Halverwege de namiddag is het de hoogste tijd om huiswaarts te keren. De plicht roept. Er moet namelijk nog gewinkeld worden en omdat Annelies vandaag wel moet werken speel ik goede huisvader en zorg dat er eten op tafel staat wanneer zij van een lange werkdag thuiskomt.
“Schat, jij hebt zeker wat gevangen, niet? Ik zie gewoon aan je gezicht dat je tevreden bent,” zegt ze wanneer ze de keuken inloopt.
En of ik tevreden ben!

Geert Ooms

4 days on the river

2008-11-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

Hi All,
I made a quickly compilation of a 4 day session on a river a couple weeks ago with a friend.
We only caught 4 carp. A 22 lbs common for my friend, and for myself a 20+ lbs mirror and 2 commons of 37 lbs and 45,6 lbs.

Again the Secret mix did the job.

I hope you'll enjoy this short movie!

Cheers!

Gunther Poelmans

Belgische bak

2008-11-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

Een westenwind waait door de kaler wordende eikenkruin. Er heeft zich een eekhoorn in genesteld. Het diertje is druk bezig zijn wintervoorraad eikels en noten aan te leggen. Aangezien ik weinig of geen tijd heb gehad om m'n okkernoten te rapen heeft hij voedsel zat. Hij zal allicht niet omkomen van de honger. De herfst is al flink ingezet en ik maak me klaar voor een verre trip naar de andere kant van het land. Alle vismateriaal is verhuist van de garage naar de wagen en ik neem plaats achter het stuur van m'n oude en rammelende kar. Eigenlijk ben ik dringend aan een nieuwe vierwieler toe. De geluiden die de laatste dagen vanonder de motorkap vandaan komen klinken op z'n zachtst gezegd onheilspellend. Het lijkt wel of er een of ander wild dier onder verscholen zit. Een beest met vreselijke honger en een knorrende maag. Mensen op straat werpen me vreemde blikken toe wanneer ik kom aanrijden. Maar goed, de acht jaar oude vismobiel rijdt nog gezwind van punt A naar B en zolang hij dat doet is het me goed. De priemende blikken van voorbijgangers neem ik maar voor lief.

We schrijven de laatste week van oktober en ik geniet het voorrecht om een drie nachtensessie te mogen vissen op een syndicaatwater in Limburg. Dit op uitnodiging van mijn makker Theo Pustjens.
Een vistrip waar ik reikhalzend heb naar uitgekeken. In de weken voor de bewuste sessie kan ik maar aan één ding denken en dat is 'Zeus', de grootste spiegel van het water. 'Zeus' is werkelijk een fenomenale karper. Een oogstrelend mooie vis die uitzonderlijk geproportioneerd is. Groot, lang, breed in de rug, alles in de juiste verhouding en voorzien van een prachtig schubbenpatroon. Nu, er zwemt menige grote knaap rond in Theo's water en elke daar gevangen karper zou me een groot plezier doen, echter het vangen van 'Zeus' zou ik als het absolute summum beschouwen. De vis hangt daarom al dagenlang als een roze wolk boven mijn hoofd. Eigenlijk in achter mekaar schuivende wolken. Wolken met tekstballonetjes als in een stripverhaal waarin ik zelf ook een rolletje krijg toebedeeld. En uiteraard een stripverhaal met happy end waarbij 'Zeus' op het einde verdwijnt in mijn net. Ik ben er zo van doordrongen dat ik veel vaker dan anders foute antwoorden geef wanneer m'n Volschub tracht een gesprek met me aan te knopen. Het woord vis(sen) rolt enkele keren onbedoeld uit m'n mond. Bij het "wat gaan we vanavond eten schat", kom ik er nog net mee weg, maar als ik ook iets over karpers mompel bij de vraag of ik haar nog wel graag zie heb ik het finaal verkorven voor die dag.

Ik ben zo enthousiast dat ik een half uur eerder op de afspraak ben. Theo troont me eerst mee naar z'n kelder waar hij trots z'n nieuwste passie etaleert. Twee reusachtige aquaria met daarin samen een vijftigtal enig mooi beschubde karpertjes. Allemaal eigen kweek, nakomelingen van Theo's reuzen die hij opkweekt tot ze de vereiste aalscholvervrije grootte hebben bekomen en ze uitgezet kunnen worden bij hun ouders.
Eén van de vissen is bijna drie keer zo groot als z'n soortgenoten. Een supergroeier met de vereiste genen om het tot megakarper te schoppen. Hopelijk komt hij het komende, meest belangrijke, jaar in een karperleven, goed door en kan iemand hem in de toekomst verwelkomen op de onthaakmat.

Een uur later sta ik eindelijk aan de oever van de grote grindkuil. Er zijn recent nog werken uitgevoerd, dijken heraangelegd en de aarde voelt er nog wat onvast onder de voeten. Er staat regen op het programma en dat wordt dus geheid een modderbende als ik me hier ga neerpoten. Theo's verklaring dat het een uithoek is die weinig wordt bevist en daarom wel eens een school vissersschuwe karpers kon herbergen vind wel gehoor in mijn op volle toeren draaiende karperbrein. Echter, uiteindelijk besluit ik om aan de andere zijde van het water te starten en de bewuste uithoek eerst te voorzien van voer alvorens deze te bevissen. En mocht het flink lopen op de eerste stek dan is de noodzaak om uit te wijken naar hier misschien niet eens nodig. Ik heb 10 kg Secret boilies en 5 kg gelijknamige pellets bij me (voorheen Winter Secret maar de 'Winter' is intussen weggelaten omdat er daardoor onterecht werd van uitgegaan dat het aas enkel 's winters voor succes garant stond). Ik ben er tamelijk wild van want ik heb het enkele weken geleden voor het eerst losgelaten op Rainbow. De daar gevangen vissen hadden er duidelijk pap van gelust. De onthaakmat lag vol met het roze spul. Altijd een goed teken! Ook de vangsten van mijn teamgenoten Geert Ooms en Gunther Poelmans zijn adembenemend op de Secrets.

De dagen worden alsmaar korter en het is zaak de hengels te water te hebben alvorens het geheel donker is. Theo wijst me nog snel de meest interessante spots aan en ik neem elke aanwijzing en hint in dankbaarheid aan. De jarenlange ervaring van een oude karperrot als hij leg je niet zomaar naast je neer. Hij kent het water als geen ander en zijn raad kan wel eens van goudwaarde blijken. Hij geeft me de tip om de bodem uiterst secuur af te tasten naar grind en mijn rig (simpele snowmanrig met een Solar Long Shank nr 6 haak) en haakaas (14mm Secret boilies) te droppen waar het hard is. Geen sinecure zo blijkt, want het nog resterende grind blijkt een schaars goed. Het meeste is weggezogen door de grindzuigers. Grote slokoppen van machines toebehorend aan de firma's die deze en andere plassen in de buurt hebben doen ontstaan. Na lang zoeken en aftasten heb ik toch iets gevonden dat bevredigend aanvoelt en wordt het tijd voor koffie en een hapklaar brokje kip. Kip uit eigen hok en klaargemaakt door Volschub. Lekker!
Tegen 19h zitten we relaxed in ons stoeltje te genieten van de avond. Er staat een kille bries maar ach, wat deert het. Voor ons uit zwemmen beren van karpers, volgens Theo waarschijnlijk 5 stuks die de magische 50 pond overschrijden. Plus nog een aanzienlijke reeks dertigers en veertigers. Kortom genoeg om het bloed sneller te doen stromen.

In afwachting van livekarpers bekijk ik maar het uitgebreide fotoalbum annex logboek. Bladzijde na bladzijde vergaap ik me aan de schitterende bewoners van de plas. Man, man, man wat een verzameling schoonheden... Ik werp nog een laatste keer en blik op 'Zeus' en sluit vervolgens het boek. Laat die Delkims maar krijsen! Al is dat meer een wensgedachte dan iets wat ik ook echt verwacht.
En toch, amper twee uur later weerklinkt het zoete geluid van een Delkim over het water. Het is Theo's meest rechtse. Een gerenommeerde hotspot die al vroeg in de sessie een lage dertiger voortbrengt. Het blijkt om een nog jonge, pas enkele jaren geleden uitgezette vis te gaan. Hij is drie kilo aangekomen. Theo is blij met het resultaat. En ik zie aan zijn ogen dat hij nog het meest blij is met de stevige groei en de ruime gewichtstoename van de vis dan met het feit dat deze over de dertig pond gaat. Theo schept bijzonder veel plezier in het zien groeien van zijn stockvissen. Ik herken dat...
Deze sessie begint aardig. Amper enkele uren ver en al vis op kant. En het werd nog beter want exact een uur na de eerste aanbeet volgt er een fluiter op Theo's linkse. Hij springt de zware metalen boot in en stuift er achteraan. Hij is binnen de 10 minuten terug en eerst denk ik nog dat hij de vis is kwijtgespeeld, de vorige dril duurde immers een stuk langer, maar ik zie het net met grote schub erin op de mat in de boot liggen en besef dat hij het toch tot een goed eind heeft gebracht. Mijn ogen vallen zowat uit hun kassen als ik met behulp van onze lampen de omvang van de schubkarper zie. Theo heeft hem al herkend en weet dat het om een dikke veertiger gaat. Hij had dezelfde vis vorig jaar op 24 kg. Maar toen zat hij al zo vet dat er nagenoeg niks meer bij kon... En toch zwiept de unsternaald vlot door de 25 kg grens! Meer bepaald 25,1kg. Nou Theo heeft zijn start niet gemist. Wat een kanjer zeg...

Ik heb intussen voorgevoerd in de 'uithoek', maar het lijkt er sterk op dat er volop vissen zitten in dit gedeelte van het water, nu ja baat het niet, dan schaadt het niet. We genieten nog na met een lekkere dampende mok, praten over wat hopelijk nog komen gaat en kruipen uiteindelijk iets na middernacht onder de wol. Het is flink afgekoeld, de thermometer kruipt richting vriespunt en de kille wind is niet meteen uitnodigend om lange tijd op het water te vertoeven.
Ik kan de slaap niet meteen vatten, mijn hoofd loopt over van de karper. Zouden de Limburgse dikbuiken ook bij mij langskomen en proeven van The Secret of zitten ze zo geconditioneerd op Theo's aas dat ze niets anders blieven. Twijfel bekruipt me omdat ik intussen weet dat Steve Briggs deze stek laatst nog ook beviste en niks wist te vangen.

Iets na 01h. Ze zijn wel degelijk geïnteresseerd in The Secret want mijn linkse Delkim giert het uit. Een fluiter van jewelste. De draad vliegt in een ijltempo van de molen. Het is mijn verst liggende hengel die nog behoorlijk ondiep lag op een mini-kiezelrug. De vis snelt in een rottempo naar het open water. Een geluk, want als hij koers had gezet naar de andere kant dan zwom hij ongetwijfeld achter het schiereiland aan en dan was de kans op vastzitten een stuk groter. Maar de karpergoden zijn met mij en even later ben ik boven de vis. Het voelt goed aan en ik hoop op een dertiger, misschien zelfs een veertiger. En diep van binnen nog op veel meer... Eigenlijk hoop ik gewoon op 'Zeus', maar dat zou natuurlijk veel gevraagd zijn, niet? Eerste run van het water en meteen voor de top gaan. Nou ja, je kan maar hopen en dromen, toch?

Er valt behoorlijk wat licht van de straatlantaarns over het water dat trouwens kraakhelder helder is en ondanks het donker van de nacht kan ik wat later een wel erg brede rug aan de oppervlakte zien. De spanning is meteen te snijden want het is duidelijk een bak, dat is een veertiger, zeker weten. En wie weet, misschien zelfs... Nee, nu niet te overmoedig worden denk ik, maar ik krijg dat idee aan 'Zeus' gewoon niet uit m'n kop. En als de vis een eerste keer op z'n zijkant gaat liggen zie in een schubbenpatroon dat me o zo bekend voorkomt. Ik heb de foto's van eerdere vangsten de afgelopen dagen zo vaak bekeken dat de contouren zowat in mijn geheugen gegrift staan. Dan duikt de vis weer en vraag ik me af of ik dit niet allemaal hallucineer. Misschien is mijn obsessie met deze vis zo hard opgelopen dat ik hem overal en in alles zie... Maar als de spiegel wat later een tweede maal op zijn zijde ligt en ik hem het net kan inloodsen weet ik wel zeker dat dit hem is. Ik bekijk hem nog heel even met m'n hoofdlampje, zie dat het goed is en vaar terug naar de oever, die zeker driehonderd meter verder ligt...
Theo staat me al op te wachten en hij merkt aan m'n gedrag dat het iets speciaal is. Theo werpt één blik in het net en bevestigd meteen mijn vermoedens. Jawel het is 'Zeus', the one and only!! Dat het een vijftiger is staat buiten kijf, maar volgens Theo moet hij rond deze tijd van het jaar eerder richting 30 kg dan 25 kg gaan. De unster staat met weegzak eraan op nul en het is wachten op het verdict. De naald slaat met een klap door de vijftigpondsgrens heen en blijft wiebelen en vervolgens stilstaan op pal 28 kg.

Ben ik blij? Ben ik gelukkig? Nee ik ben door het dolle heen! Ik kan wel dansen en zingen van geluk.
We zakken de vis en hangen hem met een boei aan de zak weg tot de volgende ochtend. Slapen lukt moeilijk. Om de haverklap wip ik uit de bedchair om de vis te gaan checken. De opwinding blijft duren en ik stuur middenin de nacht enkele teksberichtjes naar m'n maten. Vrienden waarvan ik weet dat ze m'n plezier zullen delen. Pas tegen het ochendgloren vind ik wat slaap, maar lang duurt het niet want even voor achten krijg ik opnieuw actie, dit keer op de uiterst rechtse hengel, in Theo's gebied. Samen varen we met Theo's boot achter de vis aan. Deze vecht langer en hardnekkiger dan 'Zeus' en het idee aan nog een bak steekt op. Zeker wanneer Theo begint te vertellen over de grote schubs en hun uithoudingsvermogen. Wat later klieft er echter een rug van een spiegel door de oppervlakte en aan de vorm te zien is het niet meteen een vis uit de absolute toplaag. Dat hoeft ook helemaal niet. Elke karper is welkom. Het blijkt uiteindelijk om een 18 kg spiegel te gaan en dat is een prachtige bonusvis!

De rest van de sessie blijft het stil, maar wat deert het, we zijn beiden meer dan tevreden.

Alijn Danau

Top brands join forces for a great cause!

2008-09-05T10:11:00.001-07:00

Ordinarily you wouldn't put carp fishing alongside Formula 1 but when it came to helping young Liam Fairhurst catch as many carp in one hour as he could Lockey found himself in pole position alongside Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen of Finland!

We'll let Mark Fairhurst continue the story, you can read more on Liam's Just Giving page by clicking here.

"Thirteen year old Liam will be the first person to fish the facility’s famous semi-circular lake outside the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking after McLaren Group Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis set him a special charity challenge.

Liam isn’t an experienced angler. In fact, he has never fished before in his life. But after a dream visit to the Woking facility in July and meeting Ron Dennis Liam was challenged to fish the lake to add to his fundraising efforts for children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

Over the past 20 months, Liam has raised in excess of £250,000 for the charity – a remarkable achievement especially as Liam has been fighting his own battle with cancer for the past three years.

“Liam has one hour to catch as many fish as he can,” explained Ron. “But only he is permitted to handle the rod and only I can count up the number of fish before they are returned to the lake. Having said that, I’ll let him bring an expert angling coach. In return, I have promised Liam £50 for each fish he catches.”

Liam is looking to raise as much money as he can for CLIC Sargent – but he needs your help.

“If people sponsor me just £1 it will help make a difference,” he said. “CLIC Sargent has been there for my family throughout my treatment. I want to give something back so that they can help other families like mine.”

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It's also the most efficient way to sponsor; CLIC Sargent gets your money faster and, if you are a UK tax payer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

Thank you for supporting me and CLIC Sargent.

Liam wrote on his just giving page about the day saying;

"Thanks to my brilliant fishing instructor (Martin Locke) we were able to complete our challenge and in the process caught 25 carp!!! Thank you to everyone at McLarens who came out to watch me and/or added to my ever growing total on this page and to everyone who has donated. With Ron Deniss' money we are nearly up to £3K which will make a huge difference to families like mine and this now takes my grand fundraising total to just over £278K. I'm back in hospital for chemo this week but wanted you all to know how much I enjoyed yesterday and how it took my mind of hospitals THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!!!! xxx

(To help cancer victim Liam Fairhurst, Ron Dennis has agreed to pay £50 pounds for every fish Liam can haul out of the lake at McLaren’s HQ. Always a good cause, cancer charities stand to gain from Ron’s generosity. Although Ron would micro-manage the process. ;)