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Finally the spring is here! The worst winter ever seems a fading memory as the sun starts to climb at 6am and the first of many fly hatches dimple the lakes surface. Although this is a fantastic time to be out on the bank, it is also my busiest time of the year for producing bait! I swear there is a conspiracy to keep me working all the hours when the fish are well and truly having it down the lakes. I can just imagine 10 or so anglers covertly synchronizing their orders and placing them in one foul swoop, in a bid to put me behind on production and giving me little chance of angling that week.
Well, I now have a solution up my sleeve, in the shape of rolling machines! What a god send. It has taken me three years of scouting and sourcing and finally I have what I want sitting in my unit. The fact that we made it ourselves was very, very satisfying, so a big thank you to all the guys who helped out.
So, with the bait orders taken care of for the week, I have been out and about looking for fish and trying to take advantage of any opportunities I see. Walking the dog around a certain lake, I could not help noticing the fish travelling to a corner of the lake to generally sun themselves and warm in the spring sunshine. I tried to tempt them with floaters drifting down on a nice gentle breeze, but the result was the carp moving out of the area and not paying any attention to the free meal above them!
I repeated this for a couple more days before giving up on the surface baits altogether. I did notice that when the fish vacated the corner they were heading for a silty channel around 150 yards away. Armed with the new information, I set about introducing 3-4kg’s of boilies into the channel prior to my overnighter at the end of the week.
With the bait rolling finished on Friday I hopped in the car and pulled up at the venue. Two hookbaits were cast to the pre-baited spot and I set the home up for the night full of anticipation. A ripping take at 5am had me scrambling out of the bag and into a very angry carp. After 10 minutes of tussling, a 24lb common was in the folds of my net. This was a very old fish that had striking colours… I'm sure you will agree! I think one or two more sessions in the area is what’s called for. Hopefully the fish will keep the same routine, but then again they always throw a spanner in the works at some point, don’t they?
Until next time, good luck.
Mark
