Carp Fishing – Day Ticket Carp Fishing Trip

I must admit I’m not a big fan of day ticket carp fishing, mainly because of the silly prices fisheries are charging for a 24hr session these days!. If I do fish a day ticket water I want to be sure I’m on the type of water that offers me big fish, after all, if I’m paying over the odds, I want to be in with a chance of a big carp. I’d actually given up day ticket carp fishing many years ago when I thought Linear Fisheries were getting greedy and starting to charge too much, my opinion of Linear hasn’t changed and I haven’t been there for a while now. The one day ticket water that persuaded me to part with my cash again was the famous Cemex water known as Sandhurst . I’ve fished this cemex carp water a couple of times now and on Friday 24th April 2009 I headed back down to Yateley for my third go at this amazing big fish carp water. The journey to the lake was uneventful, the only thing that crossed my mind on the way down there was how on earth long distance carp anglers ever managed without a Sat Nav !. My trusty Tom Tom took me straight to the lakes gate and at around 3pm on Friday afternoon I met up with 14 of my mates as we’d booked the lake for our exclusive use. I had a good walk around, the carp seemed to be fairly well spread and the whole lake seemed to be fishing quite well, the only area that looked devoid of carp was the famous swim known as bailiffs, whilst fish showed everywhere else, this normally productive peg looked like a dead duck as far as catching carp was concerned!. Eventually we drew for swims and I couldn’t believe my bad luck, on my last trip to this cemex water I’d drawn last out of the bag and had to watch as all the decent pegs disappeared. This time I came out second to last and suffered the same fate!. I ended up stuck with ‘bailiffs’ and I knew straight away I’d be in for a struggle, what made it worse was the lake fishing very well and I had to watch as my mates banked an amazing amount of big carp, I haven’t counted them all but over the weekend at least 16 x 30’s came to the bank along with an obscene amount of 20’s!. My own fishing over the weekend was poor, I was right about the bailiffs swim not having any fish in front of it and I struggled big time. The best I could manage was a lost fish in the early hours of Saturday morning, I had a one toner on my left hand delkim which was fished on a silty patch at around 40 yards. I hit the rod quickly and it thumped over nicely as I struck into a solid lump. I was really pleased to be into a fish given how bad my peg was but that happiness lasted roughly 20 seconds before I felt that sickening feeling as everything went slack and the hook had pulled. I wound in and examined the rig and hook point and I could find nothing wrong so I rebaited and recast the rod. Nothing happened the next day, at 1pm I wound in and went to the barbeque the lads had organised, I wasn’t feeling too good, I had a headache brought on through lack of sleep and I felt a bit sick, with this in mind I went easy on the food, just a couple of burgers and sausages washed down with a bottle of oasis rather than a beer. After the barbeque I took a couple of headache tablets, retied all my rigs and cast them out. As the evening wore on I began to feel a lot better, I had a bit of a sleep and when I woke up I had just one thing on my mind and that was moving asap as there was still no carp around!. BBQ in the Cemex Sandhurst car park. One of my mates was also keen on moving, he’d had 2 fish from peg 11 but he wasn’t happy, the swim he moved to was the second pipe, I’d looked at this swim and hadn’t fancied it so when he left peg 11, I moved onto the road bank and set up again, the move was a quick one, I was only fishing under my stealth brolly so I was packed and round the other side of the lake in no time. Once settled in I got the rods out and just sat watching the water. I couldn’t understand why my mate had moved out of peg 11, there were fish in front of it and the swim looked good for a carp. I stopped up late that night to watch a film on my Ipod and it was midnight before I got my head down, I hoped for a fish as we got towards first light as this seemed to be a good feeding period on the lake. I didn’t have to wait that long, just an hour after settling down to sleep my middle delkim suddenly burst into life and my line was peeling off my infinity bait runner at a fast and steady rate. There was no way this fish was anything but a carp, the hookbait was a 16mm snowman presentation, a real mouthful that was meant for a carp. I hit the rod and sure enough there was a dead weight attached to the other end. I kept the pressure steady, not too much as I didn’t want a repeat of the hook pull I’d had earlier in the trip. The carp kited left towards peg 12 and I had to drop the rod tip and apply some severe side strain to stop the fish kiting through my mates line next door. I managed this but my heart was in my mouth!, everything held firm and I managed to get the carp close in and ready to net, the fish ploughed up and down the margins for a while and all the time I kept praying it wouldn’t come off. I don’t have many hook pulls, my rigs are extremely efficient and its amazing how one lost fish can play on your mind. I had no problems with this fish and after a long fight under the tip I eventually netted the fish. I was relieved, despite so many fish being caught by everyone else I’d struggled and this fish had saved me from a blank session. I grabbed my head torch and using the more discreet red led lights I set up my unhooking mat , got my scales ready and sorted out my camera ready for the photos. The carp was a mirror and it was well nailed, no chance of loosing this one!. I weighed the fish at 22lb 14oz, not as big as I’d hoped but it had prevented a blank session and considering how bad I’d drawn, I was well pleased with this fish!. 22lb 14oz Cemex Sandhurst mirror carp. I rebaited the rod with another snowman hookbait and cast it back out. The rest of the night passed uneventfully and I slept in until well gone 8am. I was due to be off the water at 4pm that day but I wanted to leave earlier to avoid any rush hour traffic. I had some breakfast and began packing up, there were quite a few carp in my swim cruising round in the upper layers, these fish appeared over all 3 of my baits during the morning and I left my rods out as long as I could whilst I packed the rest of my gear away. Sadly nothing happened and at midday I wound my rods in and packed the last of my gear into the car. Sadly I believe this will be my last trip to Cemex Sandhurst . Just like Linear Fisheries, I believe Cemex are now getting greedy. The introduction of the Cemex plus ticket at a cost of £35 per year has meant a big increase in the price of fishing not just Sandhurst but all Cemex carp waters so for a second time, I’m now retiring from day ticket carp fishing to concentrate on my club and syndicate tickets. In this day and age £25 for 24 hours fishing is just wrong, putting an extra £35 on top is down right despicable and I hope Cemex come to their senses and abolish this fee, one things for sure, I’ll not consider returning until they do. Tight Lines.

Posted on May 31, 2009 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Report, Lake Fishing | Leave a Comment

Using A Largemouth Bass Fishing Tip

Nothing beats a great time with friends, and a largemouth bass fishing tip is just the thing to bring your friends and family close together all for the sake of one cause and common goal: landing the biggest fish in the lake. You can impress your friends by reeling in the biggest largemouth bass you

Posted on May 29, 2009 Filed Under bass fishing, Fish, Fishing | 1 Comment

Go Fishing 2009

We are pleased to announce we will be attending this years Go Fishing show being held on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July at Cudmore Fisheries. Be sure to visit our stand (next to Avoca Lake) as competitions will be running over both days.

Posted on May 29, 2009 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

How to use Sea fishing floats

Sea fishing uses lots of different approaches to land that prized specimen. Matching the technique to the situation is the key to improving your success. Float fishing allows a different approach to solve problems and cover ground. You can also present baits very attractively and target all the layers of the sea i.e. the surface right down to the sea bed. Floats and bait are not the only combination. You can very successfully lure fish using a float. Read on for a few more float fishing tips. Types of sea float Bubble Float – Clear plastic floats that allow water in to add ballast and casting weight to the float. Weighted Cigar – As above, but self cocking. Pop bottles -  Yep, good old fizzy drinks bottles. Mount a swivel into the lid and add water to cast and cock. You can cast them miles. Cork -  From a bottle of wine. Match Floats -  Coarse fishing floats. Slider floats -  Large cigar shaped floats, very popular for pier fishing . Balloons -  More often used for boat fishing for shark, but has other applications. How to use floats for sea fishing What I am trying to do hear is open up your mind to approaching old and new fishing marks with new ideas. We often do the same thing every trip, coz it works, but are you getting the most out of that mark? Another great advantage with float fishing is you can balance your tackle to your species, enjoying the fight and the whole experience of catching fish. I hate just winding fish in like clock work with heavy gear and small specimens. Anyway, here goes, a few tips for using floats to improve your sea angling experience, Surf fishing for Bass – If you can get on a pier or rock outcrop and cast into the back of the surf, use a bubble float with live prawn / sand eel / crab. Allow the float to be carried in the current, you will cover loads of ground.  The bait will stay preserved as it wont be dragged across the bottom, perishing it. Lure fishing in saggy ground – Again, employ the bubble float. Use a leader length short enough to prevent the lure catching the bottom and you can work a heavy sinking lure tight to the rocks and into the gullies. Long range Mackerel / Garr – If you use a pop bottle and mackerel feathers, you can fish at long range to find deep water. Using a knot on the line, you can adjust the depth the lures work at to find the fish. This is called a running float. Light match floats – Mullet fishing employs a lot of light coarse fishing gear. Typical float fishing gear is used to great effect to capture mullet. Flounder – Flounder like a moving bait as they are aggressive hunters. Using any of the floats above with a long leader allows the bait to gently move around on the sea bed. Spoons, beads and sequins can be used to great effect. You can also keep the bait just off the bottom to keep crabs off your bait. Try small live prawns. Balloons – Great for fishing larger live baits for Bass. Again you can fish at different levels and at huge ranges. Corks – You can always find one on a beach and they make a great make-do float. If you are fishing and decide you want to target Wrasse over rocky ground, use your cork – hey presto! Sea fishing with floats can add a whole new dimension to your sea angling. Look at your mark and consider other ways of presenting bait in a natural way. Consider, if required how to cover a lot of ground, seek out the fish, don’t be static, work for your fish. Game anglers spend a lot of time moving and trying to calculate where the fish are likely to be in the current weather / water conditions. Do the same! and enjoy your fishing. Let us know what other situations you can use a float for to imparove your sea angling. Image thanks to Izik Related Posts: Diy fishing float Fishing with a Bubble float float fished prawn Westbay in September, Bass, Mullet, Mackerel and Garfish Pier fishing

Posted on May 27, 2009 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Trips, Lake Fishing, Sea Fishing | Leave a Comment

Such A Nice Day

I had thought my chances to get out over the weekend slim, maybe a late few hours was going to be my limit. A phone call from Phil “who had a free day” only made it worse. I was planning on going to see Mike who was fishing a stocked water I had mentioned, he had a good session looking at his report on his blog…… http://www.manchesterfishingfiend.blogspot.com/ The fishing gods smiled on me though, a phone call from Melanie’s Dad asking if the kids would like the day out with them freed up the day. I called Phil and we packed up the fly rods and made our way to the river. Phil wanted to fish some spider patterns I was intent on bugging upstream to start with and so we spent our first hour or so fishing both methods. I had a few small Trout and some nice Grayling . Most fell to the point fly . I have been tying up some new patterns I have been inspired by good tying but losing bugs that take a good while to create is frustrating. They look good and so I have created my own inventions although inspired by other peoples patterns . I was especially pleased to take fish on my new nymph and creeping caddis these are quick to tie and very bug looking. The fish seemed to agree, my thoughts had been do fish count? just legs or tails or a rough imitation will do, when trying a Oliver Edwards imitation this can save time so a lost fly not so bad!! I would say the flies are Oliver Edwards ” esk ” but without the long process. It struck me when watching his DVD that the flies he used did not seem quite as exact as the ones you see him tie at the vice so to answer my question fish don’t count and if they see a bug with four legs or six they don’t care. The Grayling may not be quite as good at maths!! Not big fish but all in good nick even though out of season. Phil had made his way to fish the fast pocket water with me. Very fast takes seemed to be small Trout hard to hit but it kept me on my game. I moved downstream to a nice bit of water and decided to relax, fishing down and across with some traditional wets, another Grayling soon obliged taking a Red Tag very nice. My last fish fell to the dry to end what turned out Such A Nice Day.

Posted on May 26, 2009 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Trips | Leave a Comment

Bream Fishing Tips – Some Common Tactics to Catch Bream

Of all the many types of fish to fish for, bream are claimed by many to be some of the easiest. Bream fishing is also some of the least expensive fishing you can do. Once you know where they are and what they are biting, the process of catching them is pretty simple. You don’t

Posted on May 25, 2009 Filed Under Fish, Fishing | Leave a Comment

Detoxification Diets And Recipes

It is a good idea to carry out detoxification of our bodies often. This necessarily may not mean swearing off hamburgers, French fries and beer for a couple of days. Our bodies accumulate waste and toxins that in due course of time will attack our immune system and other areas of our body hampering our

Posted on May 25, 2009 Filed Under Fishing | Leave a Comment

Florida’s Top Catfish Waters for 2009

There aren’t too many people that think of catfish when you talk about fishing in Florida.  There are so many saltwater opportunities to go along with some excellent bass fishing throughout the state that catfish seem to be pretty low on most anglers’ priority list when they are in Florida. For those of you that plan

Posted on May 22, 2009 Filed Under bass fishing, Fish, Fishing, Fishing Trips | Leave a Comment

Florida’s Top Bream Waters For 2009

For those of you that don’t know what a “bream” is, bream is simply a term used locally throughout the southeast that includes a variety of panfish such as bluegill, redear sunfish, spotted sunfish, redbreast sunfish and warmouth.  Another southeastern term is shellcracker which is another word for redear sunfish.  Now that you’re caught up

Posted on May 22, 2009 Filed Under Fish, Fishing, Fishing Trips, Lake Fishing | Leave a Comment

Florida’s Top Crappie Waters For 2009

A quick recap of Florida’s top crappie waters for 2009 based on the FWC.  Lake Talquin is located west of Tallahassee and this seems like the place to go for catching monster crappie in Florida.  The state record crappie that was just under 4 pounds was caught here and 2 pounds crappie are fairly common here.  That

Posted on May 22, 2009 Filed Under Lake Fishing | Leave a Comment

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