Ben jij klaar voor het vroege voorjaar?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.