Basecamp for the JRC/Berkley Trip

Hi All

Well its been just over two weeks since I returned from Crystal Waters in France with the JRC/Berkley Team and as previously written up on here my fellow Consultant Ellis Brazier had a really good trip with a fair few fish out and a lot of work done for JRC and Berkley which I am sure you will all see in the future. As Ellis stated in his blog all on the trip caught so with all the work and all catching fish – a great success. You can check out the day by day progression of this trip on the JRC Facebook site.

40lb for myself on the Crystal Trip

Since my return from France I have been really busy workwise but managed to fit in a 24 hour session on one of my local waters. It hadn’t been fishing very well and the water was absolutely freezing. But I did manage to bag mylself a couple of fish, the best being a very nice 19lb common taken on the very reliable 12mm double tuna spice presentation. In the last week certainly in the south east we have had some warmer weather and this has slowly been warming the water up and this hopefully will get the fish on the feed for two good reasons the obvious for fishing but also these fish need to get feeding to create some weight and strength for their forthcoming spawning or these fish could be too weak thus causing problems on many fisheries.

I’m back out to Crystal in just under 3 weeks but I also have before that a 48 hour session on one of my syndicate waters and I have unfinished business with a large common which I would love to report in my next blog – fingers crossed !

A nice common !

Well if your getting out on your waters now, good luck tight lines and hopefully we will see what you catch in your blogs, catch up soon, Drafty

I have just returned from a work party at Crystal Waters in France. Myself and my good friend Mick Henley arrived there a couple of Fridays ago, when we arrived we met up with 7 of the lads who had been there for over a week and despite torential rain for them they had completed some fantastic work. We had dinner with them that night and learnt that 4 of them had been fishing the nights during the week, landing fish up to 48lb so this sounding very promising that the fish were on the munch. We didn’t fish that night and said our goodbyes to them all late the next morning. Now there was just myself and Mick there. Our work was to include the decorating of the inside of the unit, staining all existing wood work and cleaning everything for the start of the next season. So with only a few days of time available to us a lot of work needed doing so we would only be fishing nights.

Late that evening after a good days productive work we set ourselves up in the two swims next to the main unit. The weather that day had been bright and dry and 10 degrees but it was now 7.30 in the evening and the temperature was dropping rapidly as we were setting up, in fact for the whole time we were there it was dry and bright and up to 12 degrees in the day but dropping to a very fresh -2 at night.

I made a decision with only 3 nights ahead I would go in on a heavy baiting approach on the assumption that it had not been fished during the winter and after the other guys had caught a few I was of the assumption that the fish were hungry – a gamble I know ! So 3 buckets (3 kilos each) of 20 mm red crustacean was promplty put out with a throwing stick over a wide area at about 110 yard distance which was a drop off area which I knew of 2-3 ft deeper than the area around it. 3 rods with 20 mm dipped red crustacean boilies tipped with a 16 mm white irish cream pop up snowman style were cast out. Going in on the large side for this time of year I know but when these Crystal Carp move over the bait and start grazing they soon go through it.

Through that first night till 7.00 am that morning I had a fish on each rod so 3 fish landed the best fish a lovely winter coloured mirror which moved the scales round to around exactly 40lb – result !

40lb on the money !

Again the next day after another hard days work my fishing started later and I found myself baiting up and casting in the dark but within an hour of this my middle rod was away, after playing it half the distance back it was off – gutted ! But quickly re-baited cast her out and put the throwing stick into action and by the following morning another good night 2 thirties and a high 20 and a bit tired but back to work. I done things a little bit different this day and at lunchtime put another 3 bucket fulls out in the previously baited area but no rods, so here we were the last night and at 8 pm all three rods were out and an additional 100 baits put round each one. First fish came at 11.30 pm a lovely long 29 lb common that was obviously a member of golds gym with the fight it put up, this was then followed through the night by a further 3 fish, the best being an awesome fish that had wintered well and weighed in at 45.08lb

45lb 08 a proper fish

So my final score was 10 fish landed – not bad for a working party eh !! One little tip I would give when you are fishing at distance is to use a longest length of shrink tube and when steaming it set an angle on this which acts as a kicker and pushes down on the fishes lip holding that hook well in and we say when we look down in the net at our capture and see the hook hold “proper nailed”

The large kicker keeps that hook in the bottom lip ! Nailed !

tight lines, catch up soon, Drafty.

Well I haven’t been on here for a while the winter hasn’t been that kind to us. I have been out piking in Norfolk but even that has been a struggle at times but a few more trips are planned to Norfolk before the rivers have their closed season so hopefully the Pike will play ball.

With the odd mild spell here and there I have been doing some carp fishing. The waters I have been fishing are very spring like with clear water and visible rotting debris (old weed, leaves etc) on the bottom. So to counteract this and the winterised fish I have been sizing down all the end tackle.

The success I’ve had have been in fining the hooks down to the Owner CT-3 and CT-4 in sizes 8 and 10 and matching these hooks I have been using the Gulp 8 mm tubbed bottom baits in Red Crustacean (these are available in all our baits). Also using 12 mm baits sometimes tipped with half a pop up. I would really recommend you give these 8 mm baits a try using a double bait.

So come on Gulp Army give it a go and lets see your success on a blog. Also for your diary coming up at the end of February and the start of March are The Big One Show at Farnborough and the Carpin On Show at Colchester I will be there on the Team/Berkley stand so come on down and introduce yourself, meet the team and see some of our new products, but in the meantime happy hunting and put one on the bank, all the best Drafty.

I recently went over to Bedford to Manor Farm Fishery and Tackle shop and spent the day doing a bait display in their Tackle Shop. I met a number of people and we discussed Gulp Baits and applications and had a really good day.

It is a really well stocked Tackle Shop with very helpful staff and to compliment it this year they have added their new display Bivvy Barn, there is everything there you could possibly want with a good stock of our Berkley Gulp Bait and also not forgetting a choice of several day ticket lakes with a variety of fishing with carp to over 40lb. So if you are live nearby, are passing by or just fancy a visit for some great fishing get yourself down there. Tight Lines, Drafty.

Once settled into our swims out came the marker rod and he hunted out a nice hard clear area followed by 15 spods of particles, flavours, pellets and some special goodies creating a nice bed of bait on our clear area, Matt then set up a chod rig on one rod and a bottom bait rig on another, that evening and night produced nothing but Matt’s dad stayed over and we enjoyed a good chin wag and a beer.
At 6.30 am the following morning Matt’s chod rig roared off and resulted in a lovely 15.08 mirror Matt was chuffed and so was I we were off. The day turned into a very hot one and the fish came up onto the surface, Matt changed over to a foam zig rig 1ft under the surface and by the end of the day Matt had bagged a further 3 fish, he was in top form.

By the time I was due to leave the following morning Matt was up to six fish all good lookers and in excellent condition his angling had been excellent I am very impressed with Matt’s ability a name for the future in the fishing press I do believe.
So finally I would like to thank all the staff in the Mega Store at Manor Farm for their help and support it really is a top venue and finally well done to Matt really enjoyed meeting and fishing with him and very pleasant meeting all his family, I will be back in the next few weeks doing a rig and bait demonstration in the Mega Store so why don’t you come down and visit the store and have a look around the seven lakes on this fishery, cheers for now tight lines.

Drafty

Go Outdoors....

It is predominantly in reference to carp fishing but all our consultants are across the board anglers and will be able to cover most fishing categories, so why don’t you check out your local Go Outdoors store and see if we are going to be there, and if so come on down and meet us.

showing how rigs and PVA behave in a tank....

I have visited two stores already, Bedford and Basildon and was made very welcome and met a fair few anglers and passed on some good information, the first store I visited was Bedford it had a very good display of fishing tackle and I met up with their fishing expert Hugh Lanberton who is very approachable helpful and knowledgeable.

Go Outdoors fishing expert Hugh Lanberton

He is also a member of the Perch Fishers Group and has had perch to well over 5lb so if you are in that area why don’t you pop down and see him, enjoy your fishing, see if you can get involved in the National Fishing month.

Tight lines Drafty.

I have just returned from Horton Church Lake in Berkshire. I was fortunate enough to get myself 24 hours fishing on this historic lake currently run by Cemex Angling.
This water is one of Cemex high profile venues and countless famous anglers have pitted their fishing witts against the willey Church Lake carp. As I am sure most carp anglers are aware Cemex has put up for sale all of their waters so the future is very unsure for Horton. I was joined on this trip by Bob Naisbitt who is part of the Gulp Carp Army who jumped at the opportunity to tread foot and try and put one of these special fish on the bank. Neither of us had been here before and as we approached up the small gravel road passing a current Cemex digging as we turned over a small hump back bridge we were greeted by the Horton Gates with the name of the complex and two carp mounted on these gates, the hairs on my neck stood up what a first impression !

I can only describe Horton Church Lake as a very well run French holiday destination with manicured lawn areas, ornamental ponds stocked with home bred carp a comfortable lodge with a full kitchen and welcome cup of tea on arrival, they even have Sky TV in the lodge. There are good toilets and a shower on site what other facilities could you want for.

After logging in and reading back through a book which went back to 2001 we were then shown a chart of all the named carp in the lake with details of what had been caught and what hadn’t since the start of the current season. Del the resident Bailiff at Horton recommended to us two swims at the far end of the lake that he had seen fish movement in. After showing us the swims he then returned to his sit on lawnmower to carry on manicuring the lawns.

The only criticism of Horton Church Lake is its position ! it is obviously at the end of one of Heathrow Airports runways and I could not believe how busy and how low some of those planes were.
Well after setting up finding our spots with a light scatter of bait our traps were set, the kettle was put on (actually Bob was teaboy for the entirety), we sat down and enjoyed a brew. We sat to the early hours of the morning taking in as much of the lake as we could, finally tiredness got the better of us and to the bivvies we went. All too soon the night has passed without any action and we were sitting having a brew again enjoying the ambiance of the lake, Del came down to see how we had got on, nothing yet I replied ! anything out I said? his reply was quite remarkable, although the grass carp record has been disbanded a grass carp had come out during the night at 52 lbs this would be a British record also one other angler had two of the named carp in the lake one of these was called “The Missing Carp” and this had been the second time it had been out in 10 years !!
Well the 24 hours passed far too quick and it was time to leave I met a few of the syndicate guys, and what really nice guys they were, forthcoming with information, good will and an offer of a brew. This had been a truly enjoyable experience and I would like to think that I may get back there and get one more chance before this venue changes hands. I hope the new owners do not change anything and leave this jewel in the crown as it is.
Finally I would like to thank Pete Newman the Fisheries Manager and Sue Stringer the Office Manager for giving me the opportunity to fish this bit of history.

Tight Lines, Drafty

As she had watched me playing these fish and also landing them for me when the alarm sounded for the third time the pressure was on “it’s yours” I shouted with panic on her face (and mine in case it was one of the biggies) she laid into the rod and she was in ! coaching her all the way it wasn’t long before the fish slipped over the landing net that I was holding, a fantastic sight and we were both overjoyed and at 19 lb not bad for your first carp eh !

at 19 lb not bad for your first carp eh !

We did have a wet week but it didn’t stop us getting out and about seeing the sights and enjoying the local food although when I did prepare a meal one night Julie did think the escargot was just a bit too fresh for her liking.

As we took the photos of Julie’s fish another rod was away but this time she was pushed aside this was my fish. We had a good week a few fish and can’t wait to get back. (pic 3) and (pic 4).

Another little edge I have been using is just a two boilie bait stringer using the JRC all seasons PVA string this will then give you two extra baits around your hook bait over the top of the ground bait you have already pre-baited, this is a perfect presentation and different than a big bed of boilies. (

And here the end of result.