Sharpes 'The Carp' autumn campaign

[GregF]

Really enjoyed reading that, SofaSurfer. Proper carp fishing and superb looking rods.

[Nigel Rainton]

GregF,

Thanks. I agree, proper carping. There is nothing better than sitting behind double barrelled cane and Mitchell 300s knowing there are carp about. It's not often one of my Cunning Plans is successful but this time everything fell into place.

[Nigel Rainton]

The Cunning Plan part II.

Nobby’s suggestion about bait stayed in my mind over the weekend. I decided to use prawns throughout my next session. I had arranged to meet my daughter at lunch time but she cancelled and that left me free all day. The lake would be quiet so I got the prawns out of the freezer and packed some banana cake and a flask of coffee. Tea stews in a flask and I can’t be bothered with a Kelly kettle.

I wandered around the lake for 90 minutes and saw nothing so I decided to fish my ‘Thursday Swim’. I took my Sharpes ‘The Carp’ and my Mitchell 300s. I stretched the line (Fox Illusion Flourocarbon) with two casts along the bank, reeling it back through a wet cloth. The only problem with this line is that it is stiff and springy, too much memory. I was using rubber bands below the lowest reel bands to stop the reels falling off when I strike !




I decided to stick with the same set up; 6lb straight through, self-cocking crystal waggler, no shot, barbless hook and a short home-made hair. I used a baiting needle and a small white boilie stop to keep the prawn on the hair. It looked yummy ! It couldn’t fail.






I cast out just beyond the decaying lilies. The wind was from the south-west and the corner of the lake was full of floating leaves and scum. The line sunk like a stone and both floats held position nicely. It was time for coffee and a piece of cake.
I sat in the sun eating cake, changing the baits every hour to keep the prawn juices flowing. There were fish moving through the swim. The water was muddy but I could track the carp by their bubble trails. They passed very close to my bait but I didn’t have any bites.




I was confident that as the sun went down, I would get a bite. I only needed one bite. At 5.00pm I hadn’t had a bite. I lost my nerve and decided to change Rod 1 to luncheon meat. Within a few minutes I had a line bite, the float swayed and twitched. It was probably a pectoral fin catching the line near the bait. In the next 30 minutes I had several more line bites. The bubbles were frequent and close to my ‘meat’ float. The ‘prawn’ float hadn’t moved at all.
I looked at my watch, it was 5.25pm. I thought ‘nearly time for a bite’. At that precise moment the ‘meat’ float shot away and I lifted into a carp. The fight was odd, it felt like a very large tench. I had the usual trouble with the lilies and after about 20 minutes I saw the fish for the first time, it was a nice linear mirror. It dived into a lily bed at my feet and I had to poke it with the net to get it out ! I need a ghillie. It weighed 23lb and swam away strongly. It’s always nice to see a fish swim off safely.

It was dusk and my iphone camera doesn’t work very well with flash, it can’t focus quickly enough.




The plan didn’t quite work out. I think I would have blanked if I had not switched one rod to meat. I will never know ! I might try prawns again next summer.
Two bites = two 20lb plus carp, the hair certainly improves hookups.

[Julian]

Excellent result - a fine carp to end the day with

[StalkingLuke]

Congratulations another lovely carp.