The Sessions - April 2015

02 April – Chestnut Pool

My plans for the close season were to dust off my English Carp rods and have a go at getting a biggie from this side of the pond. Having not fished for them seriously since 1994 over here I was looking forward to it and had a lake in mind with a good stock of decent fish to have a go at.

However I had one day off work and fancied one more Perch trip before I started so I got to Chestnut for a lunchtime start. Previous trips have shown the morning surprisingly hasn’t been good so I was in no hurry.

I set up in a swim I know well with a deeper margin really close in that the Perch do like to hold up in. Two crystal wagglers were lowered in, one with a lobworm and one with king prawn, I fed maggots, chopped prawns and 2mm pellets soaked in worm extract little and often.

The swim was fizzing and bubbling nicely but unfortunately it was Bream, one after another!! A 12oz Perch was the only one to turn up. Just as it was getting to the witching hour I tried something different, I pulled the float back so it was touching the reeds, that left the line running down the margin touching bottom all the way down the slope so that fish would not see or feel any line hanging through the water. The result was instant and the lobworm float slid away and the strike met solid resistance, very solid in fact that took a good while to land, any thoughts of huge Perch were quickly dispelled as a 17+ Mirror Carp came to the net!!

I thought it may have trashed the swim but had one more go, the float went again and the same result an 11+ Mirror that fought like crazy and definitely trashed the swim so I packed up just on dark.

07 April – Ginger Bread Lake

I’d spent an evening walking round the lake with a rod leading around so had a good idea of depths and weed beds in most of the good swims, preparation time that is never wasted. The lake has a good stock of 30’s and three known 40’s so I felt I had a good chance of a good one. It has the added bonus of big Tench too that have a liking for boilies.

I was up at the crack of dawn and standing on the bypass looking over the lake for signs of showing fish and then spent time waking round until I saw something. I’d got a day only ticket so had to make the most of my time.

I’d been told the fish like to “show” and it wasn’t long before I saw one roll in a swim called the dug out, after watching for a few minutes another popped up so I set up.
Two stiff hinged rigs went out onto a plateau at 60-70 yards and the third in the margin to my right. 15 baits around each and I was set and feeling confident. I didn’t put too much in as the swim gets regular bait and there could still be plenty out there from the previous angler.

Well the fish put on a show all morning and to be honest I should have caught but didn’t. I packed up at 16:00 hours and my conclusion was a rethink on my set up for when I returned.

20 April – River Segre, Mequinenza, Spain

CatMaster Tours is having its busiest year to date with 500+ anglers booked in for trips already this year. But my good friend Colin Bunn (CatMaster ownwer) and I always find time for our own fishing where we can try different things and areas that can then be factored into the tours.
We always like a spring Catting session but due to my own work commitments and my Barbel challenge I didn’t make the usual March trip and arrived on Sunday 19th to find it very warm at 24 degrees and clear and sunny.

Looking at the previous few weeks results it was evident that the Cats were spawning as the fish being caught were smaller than average and covered in bite marks, all the signs of spawning.

We offer a mixed tour that involves the best of both by Carp fishing in the day and then Catting 18:00 – midnight, this has been very popular over the last two years since its introduction and so it proved this spring as the Carping had been very good.

So with this in mind we decided to Carp fish and if the Cats came back on the feed we would change over.
For those not familiar with my diary piece we identified a good area on the river Segre back in October 2014 where we had a great catch of big Carp. The fish were showing over this area so we decided to start there and set up for a 17:45 start.

The weed was fresh and new and the flow was normal so I went out in the boat and found two small clear areas, one just in front of the weed and the other right back in the weed and put bamboo markers on each. Three good double handfuls of maize / tigers went over each area along with six 22mm halibut pellets, previous experience has shown too many pellets spells Cats!!

My set up was my standard Segre rig, 12” hooklink and leads on clips, I started with 4oz leads but as always if the weed became a problem the leads size would be increased. My hooklink was one of my favourites, Suffix Camfusion 15 pound. The bottom is very silty in the area we were fishing and previous experience has shown a long hooklink is needed as the weed and flow drag the lead into the silt, if the hooklink is short the bait then follows. My hook was a trial for me in a Korda Krank size 2 tied with an eight turn knotless knot. The general feed back was they don’t pull out often so the only way to find out was to try them. Hookbaits were a single 22mm pellet tipped with a piece of fake corn, the hair was peeled back to give it freedom and the hook then drops down when picked up.

The weed was causing problems as usual coming down in the flow catching the line and eventually moving the rigs, so we were having to rebait hourly. A move to 10oz leads sorted that problem out and we were able to row out and clear the lines without moving the rig…….
All you need for Segre Carping…

Once we were sorted the bites started coming and I had Commons at 18+, 26-02, 22-08 and 33-02 during the evening, Colin had the one take at 32-12. The police were active so we wound in at midnight.

Tuesday 21st

We were up and had the baits out early, the night had been clear and cold but the river felt warm and as I was rowing out to drop the rigs in the Carp were very active. I had two takes within 30 minutes a 21-08 and a magnificent fish at 44-14

The hook holds with the Krank hooks were very good but the point of the hook was going almost every time, so it was a new rig every fish unless I was lucky. I tried touching them up with a sharpening stone but this wasn’t so good but I did save a few. I’ve had this problem with my Barbel fishing, the Teflon coated hooks don’t keep their point well which is annoying and expensive.

The short feeding spell was over and it started to get really warm and was 28 degrees by lunchtime and the Carp started to spawn like crazy. Previous experience has shown that when the fish are spawning the big Carp seem to get caught. The fish had smashed the weed beds so badly I couldn’t fish most of the day as so much weed was coming down in the flow.

Colin was back in the swim by 18:00 hours and we got baits out. I had a small Cat and a Common at 23-10. Colin had a 25-08 and a huge Common at 47-08 that went round the marker and caught his other line, he ended up hand lining it to the boat and hand landing it. That was it and we wound in again at midnight.

Wednesday 22nd

The weather changed and was cloudy and very cold, this had stopped the carp spawning instantly. The water was colder too where the warm weather had brought snow melt down from the Pyrenees.

Predictably this affected the fishing and the day was slow with Colin catching a small Carp and small Cat.

It warmed up a bit later on and was sunny by 18:00 hours. I had a client with me for the day and the three of us fished the evening. The client had three small Carp, I had fish at 18+, 28-04, 33-10 and 38-02, Colin had one take but a good one at 44-01.

Thursday 23rd

I got up early and had the baits out for 05:00 hours, it was warm, the levels were up and all the loose weed had gone. Colin was away for four days with family in the Pyrenees so I had the spot to myself, this made baiting up tricky but I soon worked it out. I put some sponge in the butt ring and wrapped a sock round the spool, this allowed me to row out with an open bail arm with the rod in the rest, no tangles…perfect.

I had a 23-00 in the morning and by lunchtime it was hot and sunny. The afternoon was hot and still but the Carp fed and I had fish at 14-00, 26-15 and 41-01.

I rebaited again at 17:00 hours and I’d settled into a pattern of baiting with maize / tigers in the morning and again at 17:00 hours and half a dozen pellets each time I had a fish. I had two more during the evening at 13+ and 32-13 before reeling in at midnight.

Friday 24th

It was hot and sunny but with gale force south westerly winds. The wind broke up the weed and caused loads of problems. Fishing was difficult for all and most of the boats on the river came in it was that bad. I managed a few fish but nothing special.

Saturday 25th

I had the baits out for 07:00 hours, the wind had gone and it was warm and sunny. I had a student, Steve Moncaster with me for a couple of days and we were sitting chatting in the sun when I had a good fish at 37-04.

I then learnt a valuable lesson…….
I rowed the rig back out and when I got back nature was calling urgently, so it was a hasty trip back to the house for me. I left Steve with the rods but didn’t expect a take as I’d only just put it back out, fishing in 4 foot of water and with a boat to bait up there was obviously a lot of disturbance in the area. How wrong was I…..
When I got back to the swim Steve had a good fish in the net and a huge smile, we got it up and weighed it and at 43-14 it was a new PB for him, to be honest I had a wry smile but was really pleased for him, when you see some one so happy with a fish there are bigger things to worry about in life.

The weather was fantastic and we just sat chatting in the sun all morning, it was the type of day only anglers can relate to and long may they continue.

At midday my rod top knocked over and I lifted into a fish that wasn’t heavy and came towards me, I knew straight away this could be a good bonus and I wasn’t wrong, it was one of the Segre’s jewels, a Roach at 2-08.

A little later in the afternoon my right hand rod roared away and when I struck it just carried on, I could tell straight away it was good Cat and would take some landing on Carp gear in the weed. I managed to stop it and get it back through the weed and then it all went slack……”oh bother” or something like that. As I was reeling in it still felt like something was on and it was a very stunned / smashed Roach that had hooked its self and been taken by a Cat, it still weighed 2-00 after the ordeal and did swim away.

Not long after I had a Carp at 29-14 that had been hit by a Cat and was quite badly damaged, I did take pictures but the poor thing didn’t look good.

The evening looked perfect and I thought I would be in for a few but only one low double was the result.

Sunday 26th

The weather had changed again and was cloudy and muggy with showers. I had a 30-02 in the morning but didn’t take pictures as I had a old Spanish guy trying to talk to me in Catalan which was a challenge.

The rain carried on all morning and by mid afternoon it cleared and was sunny but cooler. I was fast running out of Kranks so tied up some rigs with size 2 Gardener Continental Muggers. This is a pattern I like a lot and do prefer a straight point.

Another point worth making is leads, I don’t drop my leads on the take and cannot see why people insist on listening to the tackle companys!! Bear in mind we are fishing at 70 -170 yards depending on the swim with 10oz leads in the weed and don’t lose very many, draw your own conclusions…….

The afternoon and evening passed and I had another two, both on the Muggas at 22+ and 37-08 and lost another good Cat.

Monday 27th

The day started of cold, but cleared and was sunny with gale force winds again and this carried on all day and night. The fishing was a non event with only a small Cat coming to the rods.

Tuesday 28th

The wind had dropped and it was back to spring weather again, warm and sunny. The fish appeared to have moved away from the area as I wasn’t seeing any show. I fished all day with only a low double common for my efforts.

Colin arrived back from his holiday so we decided to get the boat out and fish some different areas.

We were both looking forward to this as we had some new Nash Scope rods to try, mine were the 9ft 3 pound versions. We moved further down towards the confluence of the Segre / Ebro and continued to fish in the shallower weedy sections.

Wednesday 29th

I had a low double to christen my rods just before midnight. As we were out in the middle of the river we could get away with night fishing so carried on through. This proved worthwhile and Colin had fish at 37-08, 30-08 and I had fish at 24-12, 24-00, 19+ and 33-06. The Scope rods were awesome and a pleasure to use.

I fished all day without any more takes so we moved further down and dropped the mud weights at 20:45 hours in an area full of fish, they were showing every where it was ridiculous. I found a clear area in the weed that was a 30 yard cast but over big beds of weed that was to prove costly! Almost straight away I had a take before Colin had his rigs in, it fought hard and was difficult to get through the weed but I got it at 27-08. The other rod went while the first was in the net, this was a real battle in the weed but I got it in the end at 33-08 but that’s when we realised what had happened. With the fights being difficult in the weed it had pulled the boat out of position and with the wind being strong we had lost our spot.

It was dark by the time we had pulled up the mud weights and finding the spot again was gone. We found another spot that looked clearish and dropped the weights again. After a bit of casting about we found small clear spots in the weed and got them out for the night.

Thursday 30th

At 04:00 hours Colin had suffered a hook pull when mine went, I got this one and it was another good one at 35-08.

Once it was light I still wasn’t happy with the position so we moved again to an area we could see fish regularly showing. Colin went back in to do his work and I sorted out two spots for my rigs and rowed out some maize / tigers. The day was hot and sunny and it was good to be out on the boat away from passers by and the bird life is something else.
I’d had a low double and rebaited when I had another take and straight away it felt a strong fish. I was struggling to get any control and it went past the boat and through two weed beds and went solid. I got the net into the dingy and went out after it, after playing for some time I was convinced it was a monster Carp. Once I got over it I applied pressure and it started to tow the boat around, if you’ve been in this position you know how it feels I was buzzing!! Then after what seemed like an age a tail popped up with a hook and piece of fake corn well in it, I was gutted but still had to get it in. Eventually I got it in the net and went back to the boat, I weighed it at 31-04 and put it back thinking what might have been.

The day passed with further fish coming to the boat at 24-12, 17+, 27-00 a Cat and two lost.
Then like a light switch it stopped and they went mad spawning, it was incredible and like fish soup.

Friday 1st May

We fished the night and had one each, with mine going 34-08, but they were not interested in feeding and we sat on the boat watching all morning, I’ve never seen so many Carp.

That was the end of another fantastic trip, I finished with 53 takes, 11 thirties and 2 forties.

Tackle conclusions:

• My rig with the 12” hooklink works well
• Krank hooks, great hook holds but losing the point every fish is annoying and expensive
• Mugga hooks, superb!
• Scope rods, excellent
• Don’t drop your leads…….there is no need!

Tight Lines

Julian Barnes