ADTV Carp Chapters - My most Hectic Session!

I've had a walk around the lake and have decided to pitch up in a swim called the "dam", as this swim commands a lot of water, with both open water in front and a tree lined bay to my right. After a quick cast around with my Deeper Chirp 2+ to map the swim, I find that this swim also offers plenty of depth variation with several gravel bars, so I have the option of fishing both deep water where it is around 12ft and shallower water in anything from 2-6ft. Not only that the wind is tripping down towards the swim and the bay to my right.

We are in full on Spring now in early April, but it is very warm and after a walk around the lake with my hoodie on, I am boiling, so hopefully the carp will have followed this refreshing south westerly wind and we will be able to catch a few carp for the cameras! 

I’ve decided to start with two rods both on Ronnie rigs with my choice of hookbaits being the old faithful yellow Sticky Baits Mulbz Pop-Ups which have been goo'd up for the last few days in an Infuza pot for maximum attraction and leakage. I’ve got one rod cast a bit further out at range over 3 or 4 spombs of Sticky Baits Manilla Boilies and my second rod has been cast down into the far end of the bay to my right where I have seen a fish roll as I was setting up.

I do have a third rod with me which is still resting against my bivvy and I will wait until I see another fish to show before casting this out. At this time of year, I find hi-vis hookbaits score really well with an odd smattering of single boilies, so I will start on this and see how the session goes before making any changes. 

Not long after casting my rods out, the rod cast into the bay to my right, where I saw a fish move is away and after a spirited fight, I slip the net under my first fish of the session, an upper double figure common carp. With this fish in the net, I have re-cast my rod back into this bay straight away, as the wind is hacking in and at this time of year you need to make the most of any feeding fish.

To highlight, the importance of this, the rod is away again in no time with a small common. It may be the smallest fish I have ever caught from this lake but shows again how location is key! With 2 carp already in the net after only 45 minutes of fishing, it has been an amazing start and I think I have earned my chippy tea!

I have just seen a fish roll on a gravel bar at range slightly to my right, so I have cast my third rod to the spot where I have seen the carp roll. I’ve decided to fish on top of this gravel bar as this lake is quite deep (12ft) and as we are into Spring, I find the carp typically aren’t in deep water anymore, and are looking for shallower warmer water, so by fishing on top of the gravel bar where it is around 5-6ft, I feel this will give me the best chance of a take.

The weed is quite patchy on this gravel bar, so I have changed to a hinge stiff rig as I feel this will give me my hookbait better visibility then a Ronnie rig. I have also cast my rig out with a PVA foam nugget on the hook for two reasons, one to ensure my rig is fishing correctly and does not get caught on any weed, and to give me a visual marker so I can put a spread of manilla boilies with the old seagull caller (throwing stick)!

Fish location in spring is extremely important, as carp tend to show themselves more frequently than any time of year and if you can cast to them, you have a really high chance of catching them. 

I have just seen a fish move to the left of the swim in open water, so I have cast straight on top of where I saw this fish move with another yellow Sticky Baits Mulbz Pop-Up, flavoured with the Korda Tropical Supreme Goo on a hinge stiff rig as this area of the swim is quite weedy. To my surprise, I have literally just felt the lead down and I am about to put the rod down on the rod pod before I feel the line tighten in my hands and another fish is on. This one is another common again in the 17-18lb range and shows how effective a single bait approach is when cast to showing fish. 

We are now into the evening and I have had my first bite from the rod on the gravel bar and I can tell straight away that this is a bigger fish. After a nervy fight, I soon have my first mirror of the session in the net, a fish called 'pop eye', which is covered in small pin scales and she is agonisingly close to the 30lb mark at 29lb 8oz. Still a great sign going into the first night and before the night, I have decided to re-position all three rods. 

The first night has been quite uneventful, until the early hours when the bite alarm of the middle rod on top of the gravel bar has burst into life! Just like the last fish from this area of the swim, I can tell it is another good fish with several slow yet powerful runs and I soon have it in the net and at 31lb it's another mirror and my biggest of the session so far! 

The weather has changed now with the rain clouds rolling in and the wind picking up dramatically. Hopefully this will get the fish even more on the feed! I have had another mid double figure carp from the yellow buoy to my left and as I am seeing carp moving over this spot regularly, I have decided to put a second rod on this spot. 

This area around the yellow bouy has a lot of depth variation thanks to several gravel bars, and on top of these gravel bars is a layer of silkweed which I find carp absolutely  love in Spring.

I soon get a dropback bite off this spot, but I get in a right tangle with my other rods, tangling the tips, but I manage to sort myself out and soon scoop an angry slate grey common of around 23lb. A beautiful looking fish, and one definitely worth burning my breakfast for! 

In the middle of my last night, I get another screaming take off the gravel bar swim and funnily enough I am into another mirror this time a fish called the 'shoe face mirror' at 28lb. Unfortunately, this fish has had some otter damage earlier in its life and with a face only a mother could love, I have quickly slipped her back. 

This is my last fish of an amazing session and I have ended up with a total of 10 carp; 7 commons all mostly upper doubles and the 3 mirrors at 28lb, 29lb and 31lb. Weirdy, the only bites on the gravel bar slightly to my right have been mirrors where the yellow buoy has only produced commons. I guess this shows how important fish location is at this time of year. It has truly been my most hectic session for a long time and hopefully you have picked up a few tips & tricks that will help you have your most hectic session this Spring.