Gulp Carp Army Blogs

Last Gasp Lump…….Nigel Warner

admin_uk — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:41:29 +0000

It started with a text last year, ‘do you fancy a week on Gigantica’ well that got my attention. I checked with the boss and got the ok, having never been to France I fancied having a go. So for 6 months I researched all I could on the lake, the most helpful was emailing Danny T at the lake. As he is there 24/7 his knowledge was invaluable, also the reports on the website from the last couple of years gave pointers to weather and swims which may be an option at the draw. Christmas came and went; phone calls and texts to Dave ramped up the excitement. Finally the day arrived; I was loading the gear in to the car to get too Dave’s to stay over night then on the road first thing. First things first, breakfast, then we met up with Ed and his Dad, Martin. Then Rich and Pete arrived and off we set for the arduous slog on Britain’s motorways. All went well until the concrete car park that is the M25, a little glitch getting on the ferry and we left Dover. The banter then started, which is all part of carping, mainly taking the rip out of the holiday hair styles, which as you can see by the photo’s I don’t have that problem. The French toll roads are what we need, straight and everyone drives sensibly. We stayed over night in a hotel about one and half hours from the lake. Saturday up and on the road, I was like a chocoholic in a chocolate shop and could not wait to get there. On arrival we where met by Danny T, he gave us last weeks news; 5 fish had been out all on zigs. Now I have not done much zig fishing so I felt a little uncomfortable at the prospect of casting out 18-22 foot hook lengths. We had a quick walk round, most of the swims where flooded to some extent, and guess who had not brought his boots! Anyway when it comes to draws for swims I am normally last or near last, when I pulled out number 2, I was taken aback. I now had to make a decision; normally I just take what’s left. Two lads from Essex drew number 1 and choose the Alamo where the fish where caught the previous week, I choose the Stink as it had a large amount of water either side plus the Pink was closed because of loosing fish in the snags. Danny T briefed us on were the weed beds are and to get straight on the zigs.

Rich went in Alcatraz, Ed in Pole Position, Martin in Baxter’s Hole, Dave in The Beach, Marcos from Germany on CO’s Point, Pete in Big Southerly, me in The Stink, the two Essex lads in The Alamo and Barty done the odd night in Oblivion.

Set Up on The Stink

• Saturday night Rich had a mirror, Shoulders at 48lb 8oz
• Sunday night Rich had a mirror at 25+
• Monday our confidence was high fish coming out on the zigs, and then it all went quiet.
• Tuesday morning I saw a huge common swim past me about 2 rod lengths out, the weather was changeable and we had a frost during the night.
• Wednesday it was hot, spent most of the day watching huge carp in the tree line, fascinating.
• Thursday was even hotter and it was beginning look like a blank was on the cards, the forecast was for rain, on Friday.
• Friday when Barty delivered my breakfast baguette in the rain to my swim, he informed me that Dave had had a stunning 42lb mirror, once I had demolished brekkie I text Dave congratulations he had earnt it after blanking last year on the lake. The 2 lads from Essex had packed up and gone home, which meant 6 less lines in the water to my left, how handy was that. Lunch time I reeled in; grabbed my wash kit and went for a walk round. The rain had slowed down a bit, when I got to Dave he informed me he had 2 more fish a 29+ mirror and Fudges at 76lb+ I was blown away and so happy for him what a result all on 18 foot zigs. We all raised a glass at dinner to Dave, I got back to my swim and the rain came back with me. Casting out 18 foot zigs into a head wind and rain is not my idea of a holiday but there you go. Size 6 hooks barbless with approx. 15mm of foam in 3 different colour combinations, red&black, red and black&white. All 3 casts landed bang on the clip spaced out at 70 and 80 yards. The rain increased and I turned in for the night.

Around two in the morning I woke up, the rain was still beating down on the over wrap of my STI, I slipped my crocs on and sat on my chair and had a drink. It was just coming up to 5 hours before packing my gear up for the journey home. I had mixed feelings about the trip, a bit dejected I suppose. But that’s why it’s called Carp Fishing and not Carp Catching. With no warning my left hand rod tore off the sounder box wailing. Yes! This is what we came for, as I got out the door my right hand roared off. Funny how quickly your mood can change. Nothing all week and then two at once, I picked up the left hand rod and tightened down it felt strange playing a fish on long hook length, as for some reason the lead did eject on both fish. Pete and I had agreed that should we get a fish on we would shout to each other to do the netting, and did I shout! The other rod was still ripping off, I put a bit more tension on the clutch to try and slow it down a bit, Pete arrived and picked the rod up to keep tension on, in the torch light we saw the first fish was an upper twenty, I walked back and Pete did the honours with the net. Pete passed the other rod to me, enquiring if it was still on I replied ‘I think so’

I gained some line and then felt the kick as it took more line from me. Pete went and got his net, I was shaking with excitement something heavy was plodding about in the darkness. It went into a weed bed and went solid; my legs were shaking as I put steady pressure on with my JRC J2. What seemed like an age but probably was not I stood there looking up at the rod tip, with the rain pouring on to my face. The rod pulled down as the fish freed its self from the weed. Pete returned with his net, we caught a glimpse of it, Pete said something, I said something, it plodded about in the margin with me dancing around with the rod trying to guide it in to the net on 18 foot of 12lb line. It more or less swam in to the net; Pete lifted it, quickly I bit the line as close as I could to the net. We both stood their in awe at the lump that lay in the net; Pete congratulated me and phoned the bailiff Danny T to witness the fish. Danny sent Mick and Joe to help with the weighing.

Two nets in The Stink.

The first went 27lb 8oz mirror nice and scaley, which fell to red&black foam. Pictures done and fish returned.

27lb 8oz mirror

We then maneuvered the second fish into the weigh sling in the water and carefully lifted it on to the mat. Uncovering the fish, what a sight, on the scales it weighed in at 52lb 3ozs a fish called The Weld, first time at fifty + which fell to red foam. I could not stop smiling as you can see from the picture below.

52lb 3oz mirror.

We rested her in the sling until she was ready to return to her home. It was then I realised how wet I was, I had been playing the fish in water that was just over ankle deep, in my crocs and socks, the rain had soaked the rest of me. I recast the one rod that was left and got in the biv to dry off and change my clothes. I made a brew and had a biscuit or two to celebrate. As soon as it got light I started packing up; luckily the rain had stopped, not that I cared! I was still smiling. I walked round to Dave, who had already heard the news, he congratulated me and I told him what had gone on. Before leaving the lake for the drive home, Danny had got some fresh croissants for us to have with a coffee, whilst I recounted what had happened. Dave drove home with a grin on his face and I sat their with a big stupid grin on my face; and to think I even thought of not bothering to cast out when I got to my swim on the Friday night. It’s a shame we all did not catch in our party, I am sure their time will come on there.

Thanks to Peter Rees for doing a fine job netting both fish for me.

Will I go back to Gigantica; yes I will, at some point.

Tight lines Squire.

FIRST 24HR OF THE YEAR……Sean Rand

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:10:52 +0000

Hi I’m Sean Rand I’ve been doing bait testing for Berkley since just before Christmas and I have been using the squid and liver boilies on my local lake and over 3months I have got the fish loving it. I did a 24 hour session on the pool last week and with the pool quiet for the day with no fish on the bank I set up at 5.30pm and baited the area with the squid & liver boilies using my boilie stick spreading baits in a big area. I then left it for 1 hour before casting into the swim with a small PVA bag of half boilies and a chopped down 16mm squid &liver tipped with a bit of plastic corn. By 6.45pm I had my first fish and then by 7.20pm I had 3 on my tally. Including one that I had to get a picture of. It was this stunning pure white and spotless ghost carp weighing in at 13lb 3oz.

By 10pm I had 7 fish and thing were looking good. Through the night there was nothing but the odd beep. In the morning the fish were on the bait, with baiting up again and recasting not so much as 10minutes I was in a nice double. As the sun rose into the clear blue sky, no more fish where coming into the net until after a slow pull off the reel I picked up the rod and it doubled over after a slow and powerful fight the fish was in the net and he was a biggie a nice common that weighed in at 20lb 8oz.

With the day getting warmer and the sun getting hotter I packed up at 12.45am with a total of 15 carp, five of them being double figures and one twenty it was a brilliant result. After giving a handful of bait to another fisherman on the opposite side of the pool before it got dark. I found out that he had 5 runs and landed 2 fish through the night, one at 14lb 10oz he was very happy. Knowing the bait was working and that I had been partly responsible for his fish made me smile.

Till next time, tight lines.

Quick Session…….Chris Cox

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:48:34 +0000

Following a date cancellation with my girlfriend an opportunity for a quick overnight session arose. Of course I didn’t need asking twice. Arriving at the lake at 8pm, the sun was just dissapearing over the treeline surrounding the lake. A full moon and bright night was on forecast and for once the weather report was correct. I set the rods up in a corner of the lake which has good form for an evening bite or two.

I despatched a kilo of 16mm tuna & spice boilies over a snaggy tree line which I knew was fairly clean bottom as I raked the tree line on a work party 3 weeks ago. The rigs were the usual snowman hookbait blowback rigs accompanied by size 6 longshank hooks.

Once the bivvy was up and the alarms set I got into the sack and watched a film before dozing off at about 11pm. I was awoken by a screaming delkim at 1am, after picking up the rod the fish had already got right into an out of bounds corner of the swim and after a few minutes the hook pulled, too say I was gutted was an under statement.

I tied a fresh rig and got it back on the spot with another kilo of boilies over the area. The rig had only been in place about 25 minutes and I had another take, getting to the rod in a hurry I immediately applied side strain to edge the fish away from the tree line and to my surprise she did just that hugging the bottom of the marginal shelf for a few minutes, when all of a sudden a hook pull AGAIN !

I decided to change the length of the rig by shortening it from the usual 6-7 inches down to 4 inches and increased the lead size from a 2 oz to a 3.5 oz. A carp hitting the impact of that lead was surely going to be nailed. Sometimes using something a bit different from all the other anglers on the lake can pay dividends.

My change came good at 6am as a strong take on the altered rig went off like a steam train. The carp came straight out into open water and kept low in the fight using all her weight to hug bottom just like the previous fish. After a ten minute scrap she boiled on the surface and took a breathe and was encapsulated in the folds of my net. Looked a good fish too and an original.

I took her over to the cradle and lay her there, whilst appying some mouth care treatment for the hook wound she was passing bait out everywhere.

Just going to prove tuna & spice, the carp find very nice !!
Weighing in at 28lb 2 oz I was delighted.

Another carp gulped on a quick sesion.

Chris Cox

Teardrop…….Jack Thomson

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:35:21 +0000

As you know I have been chasing a common in my syndicate water for two seasons now, not the biggest of fish but what a warrior.
I have been on the bank as much as possible recently, with this warm weather kicking in the fish have been moving, so I knew there has got to be a chance. Last season I was top rod with 30 fish, this season I am well up there again but just cant seem to bag my target. On the 3rd of may after work I shot up to my water to start a session for the weekend. I had been introducing quite a bit of tuna spice to the lake the week before, so hopefully the fish had been moving over the spots. after thirty minutes of being at my swim I had one rod out, just sitting in the bivvie taking it all in, thinking about what rigs I will be starting on my rod screamed off. as soon as I was in contact with the fish I could feel it was half decent, fishing at 70yrds it took me somewhere around 25 minutes to see her surface in front of me. I couldn’t describe the joy that was rushing through me when I could see it was the fish I had worked so hard for. trying to bring her to the net softly because I didn’t want a hook pull, was becoming hard work she did not want to give. ten minutes later I mighty great shout went out as I had slipped the net under her. I had to hand it to her she was a old looking warrior and she fight like one too. tuna spice was the bait responsible for the capture of teardrop at 30lb 14oz, a bit down in weight, but the pursuit is over.

Fish waking up……Chris Cox

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:30:23 +0000

The lake hasn”t been fishing well lately due to the cold conditions. With average depths of 14 feet the lake was going to take a little time to warm up. With some warmer weather forecast I decided I would fish a large pit next door to the small lake as this lake is shallower and thinking that the carp would be more active in there due to the water warming quicker.

However, upon arrival at the water it became apparent that every carp angler in the area thought the same and I couldn’t get a swim. Immediately I checked the lake next door and there was one angler on. I walked the lake 3 -4 times looking for signs of activity when a few carp treated me to a circus act , crashing & jumping all over a snaggy tree line, presumably ridding themselves of leeches they had aquired in their winter slumber.

I quickly got the rods set up and cast 2 blow back rigs on size 6 longshank hooks accompanied with snowman hookbaits into the area. I spread approx 1.5 kilo of tuna & spice 16mm boilies over a clay spot.
I also had added some Gulp amino mix liquid and rock salt to the boilies the day before I came to give them something extra.

Within the hour there were fish rolling over the spot and big plumes of fizzing bubbles ascending to the lakes surface. Soon after I had a drop back take on the left hand rod which was on a clean clay spot approx 35 yards out. After a bruising battle I had a fat mirror in the net, weighing in at 29lb 12oz I was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

I topped up the swim with another 2 kilos of boiles and got my head down for the night ahead.

The following morning I had a strong run on the right hand rod this time and then preceeded to land a stunning old original carp of 23lb 14oz. This carp was long lean and in great condition.

After returning the fish to the water it was time to pack up and head off home.

Chris Cox

Tench on the Gulp Squid and Liver

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:22:10 +0000

I joined a new hard fished private lake in February now with the weather is starting to warm up and the carp are now starting to munch which is a good sign.

I found a corner of the lake were it seem on one fished as there were overhanging trees and snags. I put in a hand full of squid and liver in a couple of days a week also with a handful of pellet just to get some fish interested, I went down a week ago and I had 5 tench out with the biggest at 6lb 4oz from this swim so I carried on baiting it up with squid and liver and pellet.

I went down for 24hours last Friday to the swim were I had been baiting I did not get anything on the first day and the evening I had a screaming run but I could not do anything with it and ended up losing it, the next morning I put out some fresh bait on the rods and it was about 111 oclock I had a run where I lifted into a 5lb tench.

OK it was not a carp but it was a nice looking tench so re-baited and went back out to the same spot and a couple of hours later my rod went off again it and it was my first carp from the lake it was 6lb 2oz it was not big but it was my first carp after about 3 mouth of fishing this lake I was over the moon with it.

It just to show keep at it and all your hard work will pay off.
All the best Andy

Farlows 48hr Session

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:02:15 +0000

This had been in the diary or a few months not being a weekend angler, it is very rare for me to get out on the banks for a weekend. Well arriving at 11am on a Friday, we thought we would be in with a good shout of a reasonable peg. After a walk round two thirds of the lake was already occupied. We settled on a peg on the M25 bank giving the both of us water in front that couldn’t be disturbed by other anglers, an island in front and a channel between islands.
Needless to say I haven’t been on a session in the last year and abit where it hasn’t rained and true to form, no sooner was the TX-2G set up, the heavens opened. Stepping up from a 4oz nylon bivvy to the TX 2G I have been really impressed. Watching the water bead up and trickle away, and ending up with a virtually dry bivvy after a couple of shakes is superb. I can’t recommend this bivvy enough, very versatile, easy to erect, the peak is an excellent addition in the rain, best bit of kit I have purchased in ages.
Opting for the squid and liver and various presentations throughout the session, I baiting all along a tree line margin with 16mm Gulp! Squid and Liver with 1kg going out all along the margin in front of me. Three rods went out with snow man presentations, 16mm bottom baits topped by 12mm Gulp! fluro pop ups on two rods, with a 16mm Gulp! coco banana on a hinged stiff link on the other. By night fall I was receiving a lot of liners, come 5am I was awoken to all three rods dancing. Unsure of what was going on, my friend was into a fish but thought it was trailing line and snagged him up. After wiping out all three of my rods (really not amused) we netted the fish, to find he had in fact hooked it, using two 12mm Irish cream pop ups (he had pinched from me), popped up an inch off the bottom. Needless to say it was a stunner and despite me not catching it thought it well worth including here. It went 29lb on the button.

After the chaos and having to reset all three rods, I was back in the water but missed prime bite time. An uneventful and rainy day passed, with more Gulp! Squid and Liver being introduced along the island. A bite eventually came at 5 am on the second morning, only to lose it after snagging me up in the trees. The Squid and Liver/coco banana snowman proving effective, but I failed to land the fish, but was encouraged that the fish were taking the bait.
Not the best off starts to the season, but two nights next to the M25 left me with the worst headache I have had in a long time and enough was enough call time, mid Sunday morning.

Short Session……Chris Raftery

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:54:53 +0000

Decided to pop down the lake for a short session with my mate Burty. We didn’t
get down till around 15:30, this was due to Burty not finishing work until then,
I was also having a look at the order that I received, must admit the JRC cocoon
bivvy is a very good buy, most impressed!
We decided to set up in the trees swim, this controlled the main body of water
in the lake. I had seen carp show in this area over the last couple of days and
sure enough when having a look before setting up, a carp showed right in front
of us. I put out my first rod on a 16mm pineapple fever boilie topped with fake
corn and with a bag of crushed boilie, a handful of boilies placed around the
spot as well. This was at about 45 yards in around 6ft of water over a shallow
silt bed. My second rod I put on a adjustable zig rig, set at around 4ft, with a
cut down pineapple fever pop up, which was also glugged in the pineapple dip.
This was put in the area about 40 yards out where I had seen most of the carp
show. My third rod was out to my right hand side just off a bush on a chod rig,
this was also used with a 12mm pineapple pop up and a scattering of freebies.

At around 7pm, myself and Burty were talking about my up and coming trip to
Napoleon lakes in France on the 18th and then our trip to white springs in Wales
on June 1st, when suddenly my zig rod went into melt down. The alarm screamed
and the rod was bent round, I jumped up and lifted into it and saw a big bow
wave across the lake as it shot off. It put up an amazing account for itself, it
ploughed on for a good 6 minutes. These carp do put up a good fight. Burty got
not the water to help net it as the margins were fairly shallow. Finally after
what was an epic battle, she was in the net. A beautiful common which came in at
19lb 12oz. Not a monster, but a good result none the less.

After a few pics we returned the carp as quickly as possible due to it still
being a rather hot afternoon. Also this was a first glance at a zig caught carp
for Burty, I think he is getting on the zigs now.
Unfortunately this was the only action on this session. My mate Dazz and Josh
paid a visit just after I released the fish. We sat around for a little while
talking endless nonsense enjoying the evening sun as it set. Finally all came to
an end at around 9pm, work beckoned in the morning.

Until next time

Chris Raftery

Gulp! Thorney Weir…..Michael Worrell

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:51:11 +0000

Gulp! Thorney Weir
I have been fishing more times this year so far than the whole of last year and I have been really enjoying it. Given a long commute I extended the offer to a work colleague to join me for 24hrs at Thorney Weir. Now he’s fairly new to carp angling, so I knew I would have my work cut out for me, but enjoy passing on my experiences to others and if I can get another angling into carping, all the better.
Well a busy day and usual outer London traffic meant we didn’t arrive until 6:30pm. A quick walk round, indentified, the two swims right round the other side as free. Now anyone that fishes Thorney will know exactly the swims I mean. Having caught from them previously I was pretty confident they would be a good shout for the night.
Knowing the spots from previous sessions made life easier and it wasn’t long before the rods were clipped up and my favourite spod mix of buckwheat, Gulp! Micro seeds and halved Gulp! 16mm Irish Cream baits. 12-14 spods went on to my chosen spot, with ½ kg of Irish Cream catapulted out with two rods following, with my favoured snowman presentation. Using Irish Cream bottoms and 12 mm Gulp! Tuna Spice fluro pop ups. The other rod was a roving PVA bag full of mix Gulp! Halibut and Bloodworm pellets and various 12mm Gulp! fluro pop ups in various flavours and colours.
From 11pm onwards I received nothing but line bites and twitches on the indicators. Eventually I received a bit of a nothing take at 9:00am, striking but nothing on the end. Two fresh baits went back onto the spot with another top up of 5 spods. By 11am all had gone quite and the sun was up and a colder easterly was blowing across. Opting to move one rod from my spot and utilize two roving PVA bag rods, with me wandering up and done the margins and into the bays and nooks and cranies to see if stalking would become an option. Much to my surprise after writing the day off because of the weather and not seeing any movement, the snowman ripped off at 1pm. A short fight, with the lead being ejected on the take, a low double figure common graced the net. At shy of 13lb not the biggest, but welcomed none the less and another on the Gulp!

A change in fortune. Jon Angell

admin_uk — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:45:37 +0000

Hi all,
I have managed to get 4 overnight sessions in since my last blog and 2 of those have been successful at long last. It was only a matter of time until the bait worked. I have been using a mixture of Particle bomb and Pineapple fever boilies.
The first fish of the season came on a quick session on 11/4/13 at 5am. A boilie tipped with a white pop up ripped off from a clear spot off the reeds and resulted in a perfect common carp weighing just over 15lb. It’s always nice to get off the mark.
The second fish came a few days after a blank Saturday night. The weekend weather had been very cold at night with frost on the overwrap in the morning. But the weather forecast was showing a nigh time temperature of 9 degrees for the Tuesday night (23/4/13) so I made the effort to get down there for a quick session.
The night passed without incident and just as I thought I was going to blank again the right hand rod hooped round and the Delkim burst into life. The bait fished on a sandy patch at the entrance to the back water was away. Again the boilie tipped with white had done the trick. After a nice fight I landed my first twenty of the year, a 21.8 Mirror.

In the last week more catfish have been caught than carp which is a bit surprising, maybe the cats are putting the carp off feeding. I’ve just taken delivery or 12kg of squid and liver boilies so I think some more action is on the cards. And in two weeks time I’m fishing the Jacobs creek lake at Suffolk Water Park for 48 hours so I will let you know how I get on.
Bye for now,
Jon.