29 July 2012, Lake 1 (Monk Lakes)

Today was the annual Godalming AS match at Monk Lakes in Kent - it's a bit of a trek but it is usually well worth it as the fishing is so prolific. The weather was a real mixed bag - mainly bright sunshine combined with two really heavy downpours that made it feel more like early April than late July!!!

Excerpt from Russ Evans Commercial Barbel DVD on YouTube

(As I don't have any of my own photos from Monk Lakes I've include a link to some footage from a Russ Evans DVD filmed on Lake 2 at Monk Lakes to give an impression of the venue above.)

This time we were on Lake 1, which didn't seem as well stocked as Lake 2 or Lake 3 as the winning weight was only 41lb and I was second with 39-4-0.

Lines fished today

I think it is fair to say that I started on plan A and ended-up on plan Z, but my hard work paid-off and one more fish would've won it! Here is a summary of the methods I worked through today:

1) On the deck at 11.5m with worm over 6mm pellet (1 tiny perch)
2) Heavy rig with an 8mm pellet shallow at 11.5m (nothing)

3) Light rig with a 6mm pellet shallow at 11.5m (nothing)

4) Left margin with meat over meat and hemp (3 carp)

5) Worm over pellet at 5m (nothing)

6) Banded 8mm pellet on the deck at 5m (2 carp)

7) Straight lead with 8mm pellet at 25m (1 carp)

8) Right margin worm or dead maggot over groundbait and dead maggot (nothing)

9) Method feeder with groundbait and a fluro pop-up or 6mm pellet at 25m (8 carp)

Unfortunately I didn't set-up the method until 2 hours to go, and my pre-match intention of fishing it was so low I didn't even bring any 2mm pellets!

With hindsight Lake 1 is much less prolific that the lakes we've fished at Monk Lakes before so I should've adjusted my approach accordingly - the fish certainly didn't respond to big piles of bait and it was certainly far too windy to fish the pole at 11.5m. In addition the fact that others on the far bank weren't catching on the pole should've pushed me onto the tip much earlier - the method being a banker on most commercial venues when the weather is poor and the fishing tough.

However my hard work in swapping approaches turned a potential blow-out into a frame position - the advantage of fishing well stocked venues in the summer is that when you do get things right you are normally rewarded with a bite immediately!!!

Monk Lakes website

22 July 2012, Broadwater (Godalming AS)

Broadwater is a 10 acre lake set in a public park and is home to numerous big carp to in excess of 30lb. Summer matches on this venue always yield big winning weights, but as you are fishing for specimen carp (the average must be 12-15lb) many of the Godalming AS regulars spurn these matches as standard match gear really isn't up to the job.

Link to Broadwater section on Godalming AS website

Much of this lake is very shallow (no more than 3 feet deep) and notoriously silty - in fact as I understand it the central island was constructed from silt dredged from the lake a few years back!

Broadwater schematic



In keeping with many specimen lakes certain pegs at Broadwater have names - I was fortunate enough to draw a peg called The Point today and this is a peg that has won many matches over the years. As you've probably guessed this peg on the inside of a bend in the bank and is on the far side of the lake from the car park near to the out of bounds area.

Thanks to the way the pegs are positioned being on a point means that you normally command a larger area of water than if you are on a straight section of bank and this was true for me today as I had a large expanse of open water to the left of the central island to work in.

Strong gear and big leads

It seems to me that the carp in Broadwater move around a great deal and bites normally come after your bait has been in the water between 60 seconds and 3 minutes, with noise definitely playing a part. As a result I settled on a two pronged attack today - a straight lead line constantly fed with 8mm pellets at 25m and a PVA bag of 6mm pellets cast around the swim with a 10mm boilie. (Given the deep silt the method feeder isn't really viable as it can literally disappear into the bottom, so straight leads with 12" hooklengths are much more effective.)

At the start I could see a number of fish moving over the 25m pellet line so I stuck with this for the first 30 minutes or so - however this proved to be a big mistake as I never had a bite during this time, and as soon as I switched to the longer line dropping my PVA bag around the swim at 50-75m I was straight into fish!

In the end I had 8 or 9 carp for 117-9-0 which was only good enough for fourth place behind 150lb, 130lb and 125lb weights. All of the fish bar one fell to the PVA bag approach - however the one fish that I caught on the 25m line went 20-4-0!!!

15 July 2012, Pond 4 (MBK Coloured Ponds)

After quite a few days of rain it was nice to have a dry sunny day - this time on lakes 3 and 4 on the MBK Coloured Ponds complex in Rake, West Sussex. I drew on the far side of lake 4, one peg from the south east corner - as the lakes at Coloured Ponds are essentially rectangles with pegs on the two long banks the corner pegs really do dominate, so like everybody else I was really hoping to draw one (so near yet so far)!

Pole floats used today

As it is probably 50m from bank to bank I only set-up the pole at the start, five rigs in all:

1) On the deck at 13m with a 4x14 KC Carpa Chimp on 0.17 Reflo Power into 0.13 and a size 18 B911

2) Shallow with a 4x10 KC Carpa Shelf on 0.13 Reflo Power into 0.13 and a size 18 B911 (eyed with a pellet band)

3) On the deck at 5m with a 4x12 KC Carpa Chimp on 0.17 Reflo Power into 0.15 an a size 14 B911 (eyed)

4) Right margin with a 4x10 Preston Durafloat Plus 6 on 0.19 straight through to a size 14 Guru MWG hook

5) Left margin as number 4 above

I started with rig number 1 on the deck at 13m but could only catch tiny (2 ounce) skimmers and micro perch on chopped worm and caster, so I soon switched to rig number 2 in order to try and catch shallow with pellets at 14.5m. Despite seeing plenty of cruising carp I never had a bite on it! Next up was meat on the 5m line - with the same result!!!

Straight lead gear

As a result after 2 hours I had about 2lb in the net and was going nowhere fast so I decided to set-up a straight lead rod and started flicking 8mm pellets in groups of 4 to about 20m. This turned-out to be a great move as I caught on it steadily through to the end of the match, and with the exception of one carp caught on the pellet waggler I had the majority of my weight on it.

Meat and corn for the edge

Unfortunately despite feeding heavily to the right margin with meat & corn and to the left with 2 kilos of Sonubaits krill groundbait I had no margin munters today!

In the end my 46-10-0 was enough for second on the lake and fourth overall. Well done to Brian Stevens who every time I looked-up (he was pegged virtually opposite me) was playing a big carp hooked from his left margin and won the match by miles!

Link to MBK Leisures website

08 July 2012, Harris Lake (Marsh Farm)

After a week back at work following the Old English Cider festival at White Acres this match was a bit of an anticlimax for many reasons - despite my one tench on the method feeder and a few roach on the pole for 5-7-0 being good enough for a surprising section win in this Godalming AS club match!