2019, what a year the prospect of a move to Cornwall looming and my fishing time very limited with getting my home ready for sale and all the other things associated with relocating to a different part of the country. Sooner than I wanted the time had flown by and I had moved and settled into my new home. The fishing bug had definitely caught up with me and it was time to think about my seasons plans. Now, Cornwall unfortunately is not blessed with the greatest of choice when it comes to big carp and this year I had no plans to travel for my fishing. I decided to get myself a club ticket for a collection of local waters. This ticket gave me access to some large reservoirs that held some fish worth having a go at. I decided to start on one only a few miles from home, now knowing nothing about this water was in a way very exciting, so I got myself up there for a good look around. It was a large reservoir with a deep dam wall at one end and a shallow area at the farthest point. This is where I located a few fish and was going to be my starting point. The lake sees very little pressure and I was able to pre-bait this area heavy with mixed size ASBO.
So to my first trip down, I dropped into the zone that I had been pre-baiting and despatched three single wicked white pop-ups onto spots located in the clear areas amongst the weed. A few hours into darkness and one of my rods was away, which resulted in a lovely dark common, my first bite from the lake, what a great start. At first light, I was called into action again and this time I was rewarded with a big old 30lb plus common. I was enjoying this, very few anglers and some stunning fish. It adds to the excitement when you have no idea what you are fishing for. I carried on until the fish started to spawn. The final tally from my short campaign fishing ten single nights I managed twenty-one fish, fishing over pre-baited areas, putting in five kilos every four days, definitely kept the area live and consistent. The summer slipped away with a few day sessions, I did also manage another couple of trips to a very big pit further down the county and had a great result with a seven fish hit on my first trip, again falling to the whites and ASBO combination.
Into the Autumn, I managed a handful of trips to the big reservoir catching a few more of its lovely residents. This has been a very enjoyable little dabble on a water I will definitely be back.
With a syndicate ticket on the cards for the Winter I was sorted for my favourite time of the year. Now this place has two lakes on site with the main lake available to fish as I please and a small pool that you have to book. This little gem holds some stunning fish to over 40lbs. My first trip on the main lake resulted in a three fish hit falling again to the ASBO, but this time using pear drop pop ups from the compulsive range. These particular hook baits are great in the winter as the attractors and flavourings work excellently when the water temperatures plummet. The fish in the main lake are all lovely dark scaly characters and I am definitely looking forward to getting stuck in on there. Just before Christmas I dropped onto the small pool and was blown away to catch my target fish, the stunning big linear. To my surprise I also managed a 20lb plus mirror, one of the younger stock fish in freezing conditions. You guessed it the ASBO and pear drops working from the off.
So this takes us into the New Year 2020, I managed to get out for a single night on the small pool that resulted in a blank. That was me done for a few weeks with work getting extremely busy. That brings us up to date and my latest trip with me back on the small pool, fishing in the storm I was convinced this weather front would throw up a fish, and it did not disappoint. This time it was the pools zip linear, a perfect dark winter zip, fancied a picture and some ASBO. Going forward this year I have a special ticket starting up country in the spring. I will still concentrate my main time on the local syndicate but when conditions look good I will be on a road trip to Middle Earth – lol. Hopefully it will be another good year with a few more fish, a load new memories and of course a bag full of ASBO, tight lines Jay.
