A Winter Obsession! - George West

A Winter Obsession!

George West

 

It was the winter of 2014 when I finally decided to venture over to a park lake nearby, known as lakeside country park. I had been looking for a decent winter venue to target, as I'm not one for hanging the rods up during the colder months and actually find it my most enjoyable time of year to fish. Whether that was due to the banks being quieter I don't know, but I always got more satisfaction bagging a proper one in the winter, as opposed to in the warmer months.

One of the main reasons for joining this particular park lake was because it contained a fish known as ‘seven scales’ that regularly topped the 40lb mark and was a 'proper' looking carp. There was also a good back up stock of fish in there to keep me occupied while in pursuit of my target fish. The social side of things was also good, as I knew a couple of other lads on there at the time, which always helps during the long cold winter nights.

That first winter I experienced some savage weather while on the bank and at times I questioned my sanity but I knew the reward was there so I kept at it. On the other hand the weather was unusually mild for winter and the fish kept coming and I banked a number of fish to over 29lb. 

The biggest of the winter at 29lb 2oz

The big girl eluded capture for the whole winter that year, although we regularly saw her show which kept the spirits up. Although seeing her show on your spot and then having a mid double common raffle off wasn't ideal! Still the fishing was good and I averaged 2 or 3 fish a session so I knew I wasn't too far away. Eventually though I had to give up as my syndicate was calling but I would definitely return the following winter. 

Another nice winter common at 25lb 8oz

During that summer I was put onto Oxford carp baits and in particular the mc nut by a friend. Winter was soon upon us again and I decided to get back down lakeside early December, to try and bank my target fish. A similar scenario to last winter saw me a bag a number of commons on my first couple of sessions and at times I felt like given up as there was so many factors against me. The weather was a lot colder this winter and the small commons took a particular liking for the mc nut, which kept me on my toes.

2015 soon crept upon us and my first session of the year was surprisingly mild and I knew something had to come out. I had the obligatory upper double common during the evening but I then hooked into something completely different. The commons usually do a lot of head shaking but this one stayed deep, producing powerful lunges in its bid for freedom. As it got closer to the net I noticed it was a mirror with a huge set of shoulders and thought to myself this is the one. Eventually I slipped the net under her and on closer inspection I realised she was a carp known as the 'dumpy lin', which looked very similar to my target fish. She tipped the scales round to 31lb 8 so I definitely wasn't complaining! 

‘The Dumpy Lin’ caught on a Linch Special over MC Nut

That turned out to my last session until the end of Feb so I was itching to get back as the big girl still hasn't been out. There was 4 of us on that night and we all tucked into our takeaways talking about the prospect of bagging her and how big she might just be. Just before dark I moved onto some showing fish and received a take straight away. After a mental fight an angry 23lb 6 common has me convinced I was attached to my target fish but it wasn't to be. I followed this fish up with another 3 to 25lb 6 during the night, all on the pink Linch specials, which was a good result for the time of year. 

An angry Common at 23lb 6oz

I knew time was running out before I ventured off again for the spring, so I thought I'd give it one last go. I arrived early Monday morning and a steady wind rippled the surface. The odd fish pushed itself out of the water, in the same area I was fishing last week which was encouraging. I preceded to the get rods out and put around 100 baits out as I knew this is the time of year where they start to wake up and their heads down. 

Around 1:30am my left rod signalled a twitchy take which alerted my attention. As I struck into it I was fully expecting another one of the resident commons to be on the end and this was still in my thoughts as I played the fish into the margins with relative ease. This was when it suddenly woke up and I must admit I was rather bullish with it as I tried to get it in the net. The fish refused to give up though and after another 15 minutes of cat and mouse in the margins I was starting to think I was attached to a better fish. Finally I caught a glimpse of a huge frame in the water and my legs turned to jelly as I knew it could only be one of 2 fish, either the ‘dumpy Lin’ that I’d previously caught or the big girl herself. My thoughts were soon confirmed a few minutes later when she was engulfed in the net and there was no mistaken it was her and my target for the last two winters. An 18mm mc nut wafter hanged loosely from her lip as she sulked in the net and the reality finally hit in. I hoisted the sling up onto the Reuben’s and the needle settled on a healthy 41lb 4 which was a new pb……What a buzz! I made a few phone calls and mumbled a load of rubbish to a couple of mates in the excitement. They both agreed to come down in the morning for the photos which was more appreciated.

She looked lovely in her winter colours!

Throughout that winter I baited heavily and the fish really did respond to it. The combination of Linch specials and mc nut was proving hard to resist most sessions and in the end I managed 12 fish in 7 nights. I thoroughly enjoyed the fishing and socials on there and it will definitely be missed, although the bream and small commons waking you up at two in the morning won’t be!

Good things come to those who bait!

George West - Noble's Fishing

Lake Juvanze - George West

Lake Juvanze

George West

Another year had flown by and it and it was time for the annual trip across the channel in search of some French lumps... We set off on the Friday morning and decided to stay in a hotel Friday night so we were ready for the Saturday morning fishing spotting. Unfortunately this didn't quite go to plan as we found a bar right next to the hotel and a few Stella's later we stumbled back to our room regretting what we did in the morning.

We arrived at the lake not quite as clear minded as expected but after a quick look round and a chat with the bailiff we soon found a fair bit of fish activity.. The lake itself was called Juvanze Lake and was only around 2 acres in size so the fish spotting wasn't too tricky.

Sunrise!

 There were 5 of us in total and as luck would have it I came out first in the draw….. Ideal! I picked a very carpy looking swim with obvious carp holding features and I excitedly went about getting 3 rods out with little disturbance, as it was clear there were fish in the area. Two were cast tight to the far margin, as it looked like an obvious patrol route for any carp and the other was placed in open water where I'd seen some activity. 

The first night was un-eventful for all of us and although the fish were still active it was clear the fishing wasn't going to be as easy as we first thought. The weather had been all over the place recently so maybe this would have an effect upon the fishing. That was our excuse if we blanked anyway!

 The following day we sat around the dinner table getting stuck into some of the lovely grub they prepare there, when I had a couple of beeps on my receiver. As I went down to my swim which was only a few meters from the table, I shone the head torch down at my bobbin and saw that it was jammed to the top of my rod with an ever increasing bend on my right hand rod. I struck into it and felt solid resistance straight away. Initially the fish wallowed into my margins without too much of a fight and it was then that I saw a great big common appear from the depths. It was a proper lump and I knew I just had to get it into the net but as is always the way it decided to beat me up from then onwards, fighting hard along the marginal shelf. The other lads were by my side at this point and kept reminding me just how big it was which didn't do the nerves any good! Finally the energy started to fade from it and bit by bit I slowly teased her up towards the net until Matty managed to bundle the huge frame over the net cord.

We were all buzzing at what was clearly one of the bigger fish in the lake. To get the first one in the net is always a relief but a potential 50lb common was even better. The usual handshakes followed and then the weighing was done and when the needle settled on 50lb 10oz I was more than made up. The bailiff then informed me that it was the biggest common in the lake, not bad for my first fish!

 

50lb 10oz Common

Back She Goes!

That same night I somehow managed to lasso a mid 50 mirror, which must be some sort of record. Obviously I slipped it straight back but I'm sure some of the lads would have claimed it! I then received another bite which resulted in a 35lb 5oz mirror, that was this time hooked in the mouth! With over 85lb of fish in one night, I could now relax a little and enjoy the next few days.

35lb 5oz Mirror

The next couple of nights were fairly uneventful but on the fourth day my middle rod cast next to an overhanging tree finally did a bite. The hook bait had been out there for 48 hours which may suggest the fish didn’t feel too confident about feeding on baits straightaway and that a more washed out bait would be more likely to get a bite.  The fight was incredible and time after time line zipped of a burning clutch before a 39lb 2oz mirror finally succumbed and was embedded in the mesh of my landing net.

39lb 2oz Mirror

As the session progressed a few of the other lads started to catch the odd fish but the fishing was still far from easy.. One particular fish in front of me kept ‘boshing’ out repeatedly, so we decided to nickname it ‘boshing billy’! On the final morning it did it once more and this time I sent a single white pop up on a multi rig to the zone and within minutes the rod tip buckled round and she was in the net, which made a decent end to another memorable French session. At 38lb 8oz it was another good fish as well.

The fishing was hard going at times but the social side of things more than made up for it, which is what in my eyes going to France is all about.

38lb 8oz Mirror

George West - Noble's Fishing

Short 24 hours - James Fox

Short 24 hours

James Fox

I arrived at the lake to find roughly 12 anglers on the lake and considering there is only 14 pegs its was safe to say it was rammed! There was a few people coming off during the day so I decided to leave the gear in the car and walk around with the water butt and try to find a decent peg, but I couldn't get in a peg anywhere near the fish. So for the rest of the day I spent up a tree watching the carp patrolling the island margin and the spit coming out from the bank. Whilst I was up the tree I noticed a few of the fish seemed to like hanging about under a sunken tree on the spit and a few seemed to tip down for a little feed. At this time it was about 5pm and I had only just got my barrow out of the motor! 

I trundled off down to the swim not all that confident but I knew there was at least a few fish in front of me. I started getting the rods ready to go out, both rods were going out on 'Hinge Flops' and sticky vortex pop ups over about a kilo of freebies. I got both the rods out about 30 minutes before last light so I sat down and made some tea. 

I only had to wait about 20 mins and the right hand rod pulled up tight and I was into a what I thought was a bream but soon found out it wasn't it was just a big heavy weight! After a pretty uneventful fight I slipped the net under a decent common! Before getting the fish out i slipped the hook out and stuck the rod back out on the spot just in case they were still down there. I got her out and strung her up and she went 28lb 2oz proper chunk! 

28lb 2oz Common

17lb 2oz

Apart from dropping another two fish in the snags nothing else happened. As morning came I saw a few fish against the island in real shallow water maybe 2-3ft so i cast one rod over there and fished for a shallow drop. The rod was only out for maybe 20 mins and I had an angry carp on! This time it was a 17lb 2oz simmo. 

The rod went back out to see if there was anymore out there. But about 10 mins later I got a few bleeps on the slugs and thought I had been picked up by a coot because one had just splashed right on top of the rod. I preceded to reel the rod in to re-cast it & when I got the rig within about 20 yards of the bank and the rod hooped over and i was into a very angry carp! Another 20+ minutes past and I hadn't even see the fish yet! Eventually it popped up above the shelf and I sneakily netted her unawares! This on was something a bit special! I couldn't unhook her in the net because the hook was a good 4 inches back! I got her onto the mat and slipped the hook out and gave her a quick weigh and she was a 25-10 scaly beaut!

25lb 10oz Scaly

That was to be the end of my session! While I was there only one other person had a bite! So out of 10 anglers there was 6 bites and i had 5 of them!

James Fox - Noble's Fishing

Syndicate Stunners - George West

Syndicate Stunners

George West

 

It was that time of year again when  myself and Tom Pothecary go on our yearly social for a few nights. We had decided to take the hour and a half trip up to Farlows, after hearing a lot of good things about it. We spoke to the bailiff the week before and informed us that the lake would be quiet when we arrived on the Friday morning. How wrong was he! After arriving at the lake nice and early it was apparent it was very busy. After doing a circuit of the lake it was evident there wasn’t a single swim free and people were even queuing up behind others to get into a swim, what a joke and really not my sort of thing!




One in the sling already!

In the long run this turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for me but after a quick chat with Tom, we decided to head over to my syndicate for the planned 4 nights. We made the long drive back down south towards Ringwood and the syndicate was a complete contrast to Farlows with only one other angler on.

After a quick look round, we both saw a number of fish sticking there heads out in a swim known as “Armchair”, so decided to set up here for now.

I quickly attached a single white pop up on and cast to the showing fish, which had worked well for me in the past on there. Within 20 minutes this rod was away and a fish known as Cluster was landed at 26lb 4, what a start!



“Cluster” 26lb 4oz


After a quick lead around I found a small gravel strip in amongst weed down to my right hand margin and I had noticed a few fish moving in and around this area, so quickly tied my ever faithful multi rig up with a white pop up over a kilo of Steve Renyard’s Contrast and cast onto the spot.

After a quiet night I decided to re do this rod and got a nice hard thud on the end of the rod tip, to indicate I was on the gravel and not in the weed. An hour later, the rod bent viciously round to the right and I was attached to my second fish. After a hectic battle under the tree line to my right, an angry male carp of 26lb 10 was landed and what a stunner it was!




26lb 10oz of angry male carp!




How they should be, mint!

Another 2 fish were landed on this rod within the next couple of hours and it was evident a lot of fish were moving down to my right into a shallow bay and that I was picking them up as they came through. The other 2 fish were nice scaley ones at 27lb 9 and 17lb 8.

27lb 9oz of big plated Mirror Carp!

 

“The Big Finned Linear” at 17lb 8oz

After a hectic afternoon me and Tom were just about to get stuck into some Gammon Steaks, when my right hand rod pulled up tight yet again. Again the fish kited into my right hand margin but as ever the multi rig did its job and the fish was nailed.

Previously I was speaking to Tom about one particular fish I desperately wanted and he kept joking around that he was going to have it before me. The fish was landed and safely in the net and we both guessed it as an upper twenty. I went up to sort the scales and sling out and it wasn’t until I heard “You haven’t seen the other side yet” from Tom that I realised I may have landed something special.  As I peered into the net and looked at the distinctive scale pattern on one side it quickly clicked that I’d only gone and caught my target fish. We were both buzzing, as the fish was simply stunning. The fish,  known as “HND” weighed in at it’s top weight of 32lb 14. It was well worth delaying dinner for a while anyway. We got some good water shots and then watched her waddle off in the crystal clear water, what a buzz!

Target fish “HND” at 32lb 14oz, what a fish!

 

“HND” 32lb 14oz Water Shot!

The action didn’t stop there and I had a recapture of a fish called Fingers at over 36lb, which wasn’t ideal. The worrying thing was there was otter damage to it, which could spell disaster for the fishery, unless something drastic is done. Worrying times!

The previous day, the action slowed up, which was expected as the weather had changed for the worse, with increased pressure and light winds. I did manage another one at 26lb 12 late afternoon though, which gave me a real beating. If I would have lost it I would have thought it would have definitely been one of the big girls but I still wasn’t complaining as it was another stunner.

26lb 12oz

No wonder why it fought so hard, massive wrist and tail on it.

That was it on the carp front for the rest of the session but I did manage a tufty and a Tench in the early morning, not the one! We woke up to a lovely sunrise on the final morning so the lack of action for that night really didn’t bother me, was just nice being out there. What a session, with good company. Big up Tom Pothecary for the photos as well!

 

Early Morning Sunrise!

 

George West - Noble's Fishing

Broadlands Record - 'Henry Cooper' - George West

Broadlands Record
George West

I had a couple of weeks available for a work placement from my university and as I’m current doing a Fishery Management course I decided to do it down Broadlands lakes. Broadlands is arguably the most popular day ticket fishery in the country, with the final of BCAC (British Carp Angling Championships) being held here. They had also been badly affected by the high levels of rainfall received recently and the majority of the lake was flooded, so there would be plenty of work to do once my placement started.

With the work being based directly next to the lake and hearing of a few fish  being caught, I thought I might as well make the most of it and fish a couple of nights in between work. With the lake still badly flooded, a lot of the swims were inaccessible but as I had a pair of waders I could still fish the majority of the lake. For the first night I decided to fish in an area known as carp alley as it has always had good winter form. I got the rods out around 3pm after managing to wing an early finish to get a bit of extra fishing in.

 I was fishing tight to an island and was made up when the bobbing pulled up tight about an hour later and the first fish was landed after a lively battle , which was a lovely 20lb 8 common.


20lb 8oz

Before dark I took a further 3 fish to around 18lb but as soon as darkness fell everything went quiet. As the temperature had dropped dramatically I had a feeling the fish weren’t patrolling the shelf of the island anymore due to the shallow water and cold temperatures. I decided to bring the rods back about 10 yards and instantly the action started again. I banked another 5 fish to 19lb 14 during the night and it was fair to say I was tired for work the next day!



19lb 12oz

I had all my fish on white pop ups over 3 kilos of freebie boilies, making sure the swim was topped up after every fish.

I still had another 10 days left of work but it wasn’t until the following week that I was able to get the rods out again. While I had a good result in carp alley, I had a feeling there weren’t many big fish present, as I only had one over 20lb from the 8 fish caught. While I was working along a fence line clearing debris caused from the floods I noticed a couple of fish stick their heads out and good ones at that, so maybe this was where the bigger fish were holding up.

I was planning to fish that night and as the swim was free I set all my gear up during my lunch break, with the intention of fishing their after work. Once again I made it clear I was keen to get fishing and finished earlier than usual so that I could get plenty of fishing time in.  My mate Gareth Birch was fishing in the swim next door as well so luckily I had a cameraman for what turned out to be a hectic couple of nights.

Again the same presentation as before was used, with my multi rigs and white pop ups used on all 3 rods. The marginal bush I’d seen the action on was around 80 yards away and I placed all three rods towards it around 12ft apart. I was expecting a few fish but it took me by surprise when my delkim roared off only 5 minutes after getting the rods out. It felt like a much better fish as well and my thoughts were confirmed when a 23lb 5 common was in the net, not a bad start!



23lb 6oz

The action again was hectic and I even had a double hook up before I reeled in at mid night to get some sleep for work. I had 9 that night along with 3 20s which was a decent result when not a lot else was getting caught.

I was speaking to the boss about my result that night and he seemed pretty impressed but he kept mentioning one particular fish known as “Henry Cooper” which hadn’t been caught for over a year now. It was last out at 34lb+ and I jokingly said to him she’s mine tonight, in which he laughed and said “not a chance”. 

 



20lb 12oz



 

 

Although I had a few bigger fish the previous night, the so called “a team” were eluding me. Again I fished to the same spots as the night before and the action was mental yet again but the biggest was only just over 20. I then hooked into a fish that got me caught up in a snag and me and my mate could clearly see it was a better fish (25+ at least). Just as I managed to coax her out the snag the line parted and I threw the rod on the floor in anger. It was around 10pm and it had wiped out one of my other rods and I didn’t have the buzz to get the rods back out after the earlier loss, so was fishing with just one rod at the time.

It was 3 hours later when my last remaining rod signalled out a few beeps and I was into another fish.  This time the fish came in nice and easy until it got near the net and it shot off on a number of deep heavy lunges peeling line from my spool every  time. I told my mate it was another small one but deep down I knew I was attached to something better. I caught a glimpse of a big pale shape in the moon light and instantly recognised it as the big one known as “Henry Cooper”, as there is simply nothing else like it in the lake. Luckily, before I had time to panic my mate slipped the net under her and I looked down in awe at how big she actually was. She was last out at around 34lb and I was expecting her to be the same sort of weight but when she swung the needle round to 37lb 3oz, I was buzzing! 


'Henry Cooper' 37lb 3oz

She was in mint condition and the fact she hadn’t been caught for over a year is saying something considering how busy Broadlands gets. She was the finale of my 27 fish caught over the 4 work nights and set a new venue record. What a way to finish!

Back She Goes!

George West - Noble's Fishing