As I write this rather belated blog, I've been reflecting upon the fact that I declined to make my weekly vigil to Wetlands this week, on the grounds that Monday would be a Bank holiday. Normally, I avoid Bank holidays for a couple of carefully considered reasons, but I now find myself questioning the wisdom of my thought process. Firstly, as a regular visitor to the lake, I have reservations about occupying a peg when other anglers, (who do not have the luxury of being retired) might struggle to secure a peg in the holiday rush. Certainly, I have no wish to deny others the joy of putting thei ..read more

This was my first time fishing this venue and boy did I have a fruitful introduction for a 9 hour session. I arrived just after 7am to be greeted by two very friendly bailiffs. They were very helpful with local lake tips and showed me around a well-stocked bait shop. I was recommended to fish peg 5, so taking their advice I headed straight over. When I arrived on the lake I was greeted with barky pegs, personal fishing huts and phone charging points; “Yes I did say phone charging points”. Not to mention the lovely well stocked lake full of an array of fauna and flora and CARP!!! To the fishing ..read more

During last Thursday's work party, I spent several hours removing some of the submerged roots and branches from peg 1, to make it safer for fishing. However, there was still much outstanding pruning to be done, so I was keen to make a bit more progress this week before starting my fishing session. The initial plan was to make a 7.00 am start and get fishing by midday. Unfortunately, events conspired against me to significantly delay my arrival. In short, my newly acquired Land Rover (an ebay purchase, delivered only the day before) broke down on the M1, on the way to Wetlands. Consequently, i ..read more

This week's session represented a major departure from the norm in more ways than one. For a start it commenced on a Thursday, which is just about unheard of in my scheme of things (some people say grand children are a blessing, but when they disrupt my fishing plans, I'm not so sure). Secondly, it coincided with a 'work party' day on the specimen lake, albeit it on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Consequently, I didn't actually start fishing until mid afternoon. I use the term "start fishing" in its loosest sense, meaning that the extreme heat, my dripping wet, sweaty state and my ..read more

Occasionally, peg choice is entirely out of our hands, in consequence of the number of anglers present on the lake. Interestingly, that's not always a bad thing. On more than the odd occasion, serendipity (defined as: "the fact of finding interesting or valuable things by chance") has played its part in facilitating memorable carp captures on my behalf. Would this week's session fall into this category? Such was my thinking as I turned up at Wetlands this week. Unusually, it was a Wednesday not my usual Monday (I'd had an early morning practice and gig on Tuesday morning in Sheffield). What's ..read more

Every now and then I like to subject my carp fishing to a totally honest, extensive review, to determine whether or not I have made any plausible improvement, since the last time I put my performance under the microscope. In most cases the result is virtually the same, namely that the numbers and quality of carp that I am privileged to catch are disproportionately greater than my 'just deserts', based on the lingering weaknesses in my approach. I refer in particular to the fact that I am poor, to the point of being abysmal, in my exploration and knowledge of under-water topography. Maybe, it's ..read more

One aspect of carp fishing that never fails to astound me, is the way that a hooked carp seems to instinctively know exactly which direction to race off in, in order to avoid being netted. It's as if they have received weeks of intensive training via an escapology masterclass. Certainly, if there is the even the remotest possibility of deploying some part of their surroundings to facilitate freedom, they will find it with unerring accuracy, be it the corner of an island, an overhanging branch or a sundry, submerged object. I have lost count of the number of times that a well hooked carp has m ..read more

If there's one factor that keeps carp anglers coming back for more, it's the fact that at any moment (whilst ever a baited rod is in the water), even the most unpromising session can be turned in the blink of an eye into a glorious triumph, should a fish of our dreams choose to suck in our bait and get firmly hooked. As I arrived on the banks of Wetlands Lakes at 7.00 am on 10th June 2019, had I known what epic adventure awaited me, I would have approached it with rather more enthusiasm than was actually the case. After several days of persistent and mood dampening rainfall, with only the pro ..read more

To be honest, I've always found May and early June to be distinctly "Hit & Miss" in the carp catching stakes. Certainly, I have many memories of being sat behind motionless bite indicators whilst indecisive carp mull over the question of whether to 'spawn or not to spawn'. This is especially the case where there are brief periods of tantalisingly warm sunshine interspersed by contrasting colder periods, when the sun disappears behind thick clouds. Under such conditions (humanly speaking), one minute a woolly jumper is required and the next a T-shirt is more appropriate. Without question, i ..read more

These days, I rarely book a peg in advance at Wetland, preferring to give the regular paying punters first choice. Hence, many factors arelikely to influence my peg choice, not least availability on the day. That's assuming that I fail do at least one lap of the specimen lake,scouring every inch of water for signs of carp activity. Sometimes, it's nice to choose a peg that sits on the back of a cold wind, for noother reason than personal comfort. Occasionally, I opt for a peg thatis as far away from other anglers as possible, to hopefully capitaliseupon any carp that are minded to avoid anglin ..read more