50's from six countries for Steve Briggs

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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..............