The Why’s, Where and What for’s…….

I Have seen a few blogs now and decided it was about time I had a go, and what a great way of keeping an account of our fishing adventures. Just two ordinary anglers with a passion for Carp fishing, no finesse, just as it is, the ups, downs and hopefully a little humour on the way.
Both Jim and I are based in the rural county of Shropshire, for those who have never heard of it, in the Midlands, sandwiched west of Birmingham to the Welsh borders. The only reason I mention this because having spent a lot of my adult life abroad, I didn’t know where it was either.

I will write a little more of our backgrounds later in the blog.

How we met.

On a trip to a newly opened water, not far from where I live I had the pleasure of meeting Jim, if my memory serves me correctly was the 24th Jun. After a quick chat, by the way we don’t have quick chats, we decided to hook up on Facebook and take it from there. We had both been solo fishing for sometime and it is always nice to share an experience and to chat to someone other than yourself. Also on the plus side we could swap notes and tactics on how to outwit our scaly, slimy quarry, the carp.

I hope you enjoy reading this as we go and I will endeavour to keep you updated on our adventures. You can also follow us at Tale of two carpers on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/TaleOfTwoCarpers

In Loving memory of my Dad

Second to life, my Dad introduced and taught me the wonderful art of Fishing. During our time together we have had many adventures and wonderful hours spent on the bank. I feel sure he will be fishing now. In loving memory to a wonderful man and Dad, I will miss your company. Rest in peace, and don’t forget to leave some for me…..

John Anthony Reeve 1935 – 2013

Winter Campaign 2012/2013

Well we are now getting to the end of March, and the weather has turned for the worst, 12cm of snow in Shropshire last night and more to come, when will it end.

It Hasn’t stopped Jim and I hitting the bank from November last year onwards. Not a lot caught and more blanks. We have fished our local water Earl’s View a few times between us but to no avail. Jim was determined to catch in the snow (on is kick the bucket list), however the fish were well hunkered down for the winter and we could not lure them out.

We then had, well I did on the 17th Feb, our first break. On a cold but sunny day I managed 4 firsts, 1st fish of 2013, 1st 20lb+ winter fish,  1st over 20lb from Merringtonand a new PB Common, well made up. This 24lb  bar of gold, common graced my net, caught on a CBS Blackcurrent and plum, pop-up on a naked chod rig.

Next was Winterley, Cheshire, early March. 22 CBS members braved the elements for round 2 of the England V’s Wales grudge match. Only 4 fish were caught in total all on the match pool. Nobody in specimen lake got anywhere close. The wild fowl caused havoc the whole weekend, price you pay when fishing in 2/3 feet of water. Needless to say a great time was had by all and new aquaintances made. England now lead 2-0…….until next time.

Drayton Resevoir 28th Dec 12 (CBS – England V’s Wales Rd 1)

It was a cold wet windy start when I met up with Simon and Malcolm at 05:45 hrs on the M54 services. After a quick meet and greet we were off to Drayton. Jim couldn’t join me for this trip as he was on an extended Christmas break and wouldn’t be back until later that day. As the journey progress I was hoping the weather would get better…but it didn’t. We arrived about 07:30, even though still dark, head touches on we had a walk around with the bailiff Mark. The water was well up and still rising, not surprising with all the rain we have had of late. We walked the boards first, they we a few spaces left, they were very slippery and the water was lapping through them. So it was decided to look elsewhere, even though a prime spot to fish, we weren’t going to fit 12 more anglers on them. It left the dam wall which is very exposed or a sheltered stretch to the left. Mark stated that fish had only come out during the night or early morning on the sheltered part, so for us three only staying the day it was a no brainer, the dam wall for us. We opted for 3 pegs in the middle of the dam and set up. It was still bucketing down with rain and the wind hadn’t abated, it may even have got stronger. Day shelters up, the ground on the wall was rock hard and the pegs had to be hammered in, something I usually try to avoid. However when needs must. It wasn’t long before we were in the water, more people were arriving as the morning light broke, total of 12 in all, more were expected. The stands on the dam are more designed for match fisherman, by the time you setup your rods, weigh slings/mats and net there is little room for much else, mind with the weather as it was it was back to the brolley and wait it out. Brew on and a little breaky and see what the day will bring. Drayton is full of fish and I have been told in the warmer months it is none stop fishing….a fish today would be very welcome.  I met some new people from the Carpbait Solutions crew (CBS) Richie, Nick, Sam, Cieron, Curtis, Andy and others I had met before. Some joined us on the dam and some went for the sheltered side..it did cross my mind had I made the right choice..time will tell. There is a boat in the centre of the lake ish surrounded by bouys, I had decided to fish just inside the ring. 2 hours pasted and nothing…decided to put some bait in, scattering bollies with my throwing stick. I was fishing 16mm Entice and Lo30 topped white entice with a small stick mix bag. What I hadn’t accounted for was the seagulls, as I soon found out, masters at catching flying boillies, if I got 1 in 5 to the fish I was lucky. They must be able to spot a throwing stick from 200 yds …lol. After a couple of attempts I gave it up as a bad job. Plan b, Simon had brought 10 kg of spod mix so up with the spod rod and between us we started to fill it in. I got the easy job, filling the spod. I must add here he woke up with a sore back the day after, bless him. Job done, and within half an hour I had my first run. A lovely 17lb mirror graced my net, one for the team. 1-0 to England, but it was still early days…

It wasn’t long after when one of Malcolms (Muggs) rods screamed off and he landed a cracking 12lb mirror, caught on a 18mm Entice bollie topped with a light pink banoffee pop-up with a stick mix. The Welsh were back in the game 1-1. Time passed and the rain finally stopped, however the wind had picked up and was battering our bivvies and day shelters. We had only seen one other fish caught today from another group so it certainly wasn’t fishing its head off. Simon persevered with his pop-ups and I stuck to bottom fishing until hopefully we found the right combination. We put out some more spod and at about 2 ish I had my second run and landed a 12lb mirror, and very welcome too. We showed off out baits to the Mark (Bailiff) who seemed impressed and is considering an order for his next French trip in the forthcoming year and he got to meet the Chef Darren who was fishing with us. Hopefully another lucrative order for CBS. It was now 3 o’clock the light was already drawing in, dark by 4, so time to start to pack up, well for the 3 of us anyway. The weather for the night was not looking too clever, with gail force winds forecast, which for those staying on the dam wall would be a bit tricky. Having said our goodbyes we left about 5, leaving the scores at 2-1 to England with 12 hours to go. Richie kept us updated through out  the night, and yes the winds hit them with a vengeance, with one lost bivvy the match was aborted for safety reasons at 11:00 pm. They battened down for the rest of the night and weathered the storm. Andy Dixen. from Cheshire sealed the deal for England with a nice fish early the following morning. Final scores England 3-1 Wales and Round 1 clearly in the bag. Needless to say a good day had by all, and was great meeting old and new people which I am sure some will become life time friends. Looking forward to the next one.

The next round to be held on Winterley, Cheshire sometime in March.

Some of our Fish Caught in 2012

This gallery contains 26 photos.

Now that we have seen in 2013 and new challenges, thought we would post some of the fish we caught in 2012…

Jim breaks the lake record at Earl’s View Fishery, Shropshire

It was a Sunday morning, I had loaded the car the night before, I intended to start of early because now in November the day light hours are shorter, but looking out the window I felt gutted the forecast was a light showers followed by sunshine, but somebody lied, it was p***ing down like there was no tomorrow.
Being the big brave person I am I ran for the car bloody key wouldn’t go in bo**ocks, I’m in, now what!fu** I’m going, wipers going ten to the dozen.
I approached the motor way thinking shall I turn back no on a bit further, at the next turn off I’m coming back, no fu** it go on, I arrived at the pool the bloody gates locked, but as I know the owner quite well he let me know the combination of the lock so I let myself in.
I got out of the car and walked up to the pool looking for signs of where the fish maybe hiding, but nothing was showing except to owner clearing dead leaves from the outlet. I walked around to him greeting him with bloody
gate was locked, not good morning as i should have done,didn’t think you would come in this weather he said so didn’t bother.
Right then now I’m here where are all the fish, there all in that wet stuff Jim you just have to find em says he. (Bloody Funny i don’t think).
So i left him to it and carried on walking around, the rain was easing off, and i decided to fish up against one of the islands and another along the reeded margins. The rain stopped the sun came out and i fished all day recasting every hour, but by 3 clock I was knackered and sat back in my seat and my eyes closed, and i was off, but not for long the rod to the island danced in the rest and the bite alarm sang out Beeeeeeep and I’m on it, no need to strike the hooks are megga sharp and go deep.
She wasnt’ giving in easy i played her until she was knacked and drew her over the draw string of the net till her nose touched the spreader block and then lifted.
Once in the weight sling i raised it up and the scales said 21lb 6oz, bloody hell a lake record on the phone to the owner who came up straight away and took the photo’s and reweighed taking the sling off we settled for 19lbs 4ozs  I was buzzing,so let’s get home and print the photo.
It was a Sunday morning, I had loaded the car the night before, I intended to start of early because now in November the day light hours are shorter, but looking out the window i felt gutted the forecast was a light showers followed by sunshine, but somebody lied, it was p***ing down like there was no tomorrow. Being the big brave person I am I ran for the car bloody key wouldn’t go in bo**ocks, i’m in, now what!fu** I’m going, wipers going ten to the dozen. I approached the motor way thinking shall i turn back no on a bit further, at the next turn off i’m coming back, no fu** it go on, I arrived at the pool the bloody gates locked, but as I know the owner quite well he let me know the combination of the lock so i let myself in. I got out of the car and walked up to the pool looking for signs of where the fish maybe hiding, but nothing was showing except to owner clearing dead leaves from the outlet. I walked around to him greeting him with bloody gate was locked, not good morning as I should have done,didn’t think you would come in this weather he said so didn’t bother. Right then now I’m here where are all the fish, there all in that wet stuff Jim you just have to find em says he. (Bloody Funny i don’t think). So I left him to it and carried on walking around, the rain was easing off, and I decided to fish up against one of the islands and another along the reeded margins. The rain stopped the sun came out and I fished all day recasting every hour, but by 3 clock I was knackered and sat back in my seat and my eyes closed, and i was off, but not for long the rod to the island danced in the rest and the bite alarm sang out Beeeeeeep and I’m on it, no need to strike the hooks are megga sharp and go deep. She wasnt’ giving in easy I played her until she was knackered and drew her over the draw string of the net till her nose touched the spreader block and then lifted. Once in the weight sling I raised it up and the scales said 21lb 6oz, bloody hell a lake record on the phone to the owner who came up straight away and took the photo’s and reweighed taking the sling of we settled for 19lbs 4ozs i was buzzing,  so let’s get home and print the photo.

The CBS Team will be taking Blackthorn by Storm – 28/30 Sep 2012

Carpbait-Solutions is holding there first outing at Blackthorn Fishery,  Oswestry, North Shropshire.

http://www.blackthornfishery.co.uk/

It is in the form of a meet and greet, 7 of the team fishing and a few visitors over a 48 hour session. It will be interesting to see which of our baits proves the most successful on this venue. The first of many planned trips throughout the UK and France in the forthcoming year.

A full report to follow….

Coole Acre’s Fishery 12/13th Aug 12 (First visit)

When time allows and I am not fishing I popped to my local Angling centre in Shrewsbury, Total Angling for a bit of retail therapy. Whilst there I picked up leaflet on a new fishery that had just opened in June. Returning to the car I put the post code in my sat nav and as it was not far decided to pay it a visit. It was easy to find and I was through the gates in 40 minutes. They had opened a Anglers lodge on site so in I went for my second love coffee and a chat. Brian the owner then took me for a walk arround, 4 lakes in all one specimen, one tench ( Crucian carp to be added at a later date) and the other 2 with smaller carp up to 15 lb. After my tour and another coffee I booked for the following weekend and headed back to Telford.

The week pasted quickly and Sunday soon came around. Jim couldn’t make it as he was away in Jersey for a short break,  so another friend joined for a 24 hour session. We arrived spot on 8:00 am, got booked in and settled on two pegs north side  of the specimen lake ( Biggest one). It was a warm day with an north easterly wind blowing in our faces. I had spotted a couple of fish rising on the island points to our front left and right plus  a couple rolling in the middle of the island, which is an usual shape, 3 pointed star or Y like. After a quick lead above I found that there is a 1/2 meter shelf on the far bank  (which I found out later surrounds the island) about 2 foot deep and weedy. I put my first rod with 12mm pop-up straight in front of me on the shelf tight to the island. My second to my right, on the tip of the island point, bottom 15 mm bollie topped with a white 10mm pop-up, snowman rig. I put out a few freebies to start on both spots, as I do normally.  Four hours passed nothing happened apart from a couple of fish brushed past my lines, the weather was turning it had now become very overcast,  ideal as I don’t really like fishing in baking hot heat. As the fishery is new there is little to no shade either. As things were a little quiet we decided to take advantage of the lodge and go for a bacon bap and a coffee, not only that we had been informed most fish are caught late afternoon/night time, well thats our excuse anyways. Whilst we were part-taking in coffee the weather turned in and started to rain. We returned to our pegs re-set our traps and battened down a bit to ride the storm, the wind had got up too. After about an hour the weather settle and whilst sorting some stuff in my bivvy my right hand rod screamed off…boy what a take. Well what a scapper that was, these fish really do put up a good fight, A 18lb 6oz, beautiful common fought it’s way into my net. I was made up, my first common of the year so far. The fish here are an orchid/horseshoe cross bred on in Shropshire, and what stunning hard fighting fish they are too. Weighed and pictures taken the little beauty was returned to the water ready for the next one. It was late afternoon and I noticed a fish called split fin and a couple of others moving along the shelf to my left moving towards me. I decided to have a go and cast a little in front of them. I had also scattered bait on the shelf earlier and it wouldn’t belong before they were on it. I could follow their progress with ease as they popped their heads out the water, 3 fish at least. Rod in hand my heart was pounding…alas they pasted without a take. I reeled in and cast out again, hoping not to spook them and waited. This continued for an hour or so to no avail, up and down the shelf until eventually they moved off, the best I got was a liner…and my heart missed a beat or 2..lol. I recast my rod close to the other near the spot I had my first fish and put the kettle on. It wasn’t long before the rod screamed off again and I was on it in seconds….

To be continued….

Merrington (Summer visit) 26/27th Aug 12

I had managed to book Jim and myself on Merrington carp Fishery,  Bank holiday and all and we knew it was going to be busy. I had just received my new bait from Carpbait-Solutions and was dying to try it out. I picked Merrington as we had history, it is probably the hardest water that I had fished…first time 3 years ago after a 12 hour session I had blanked. So it became a challenge. Second year I didn’t return as I had found a few new waters. Earlier this year I got on for  a short 24hrs and managed to bag one 15 mins before I packed up..result. Just to make sure I returned the week after only to blank… again….Dam… Steve 1 Merrington 2. So that brings us to where we are now.

We arrived at 8:00am, well I did…Jimbo decided to have breakfast…and didn’t invite me. Hmmmm.. no stew for him tonight..lol

Yep it was busy, 18 pegs and all full. Decided to have a walk around check the place out, ask a few questions and find out who was leaving and how the fishing was going….armed with a bucket off I went. By the time I had walked round Jim had arrived and no one looked like they were going anywhere and there had only been a couple of fish caught. Had a quick chat with the bailiff,  Luke who told us a couple were leaving from pegs 5 and 6 about 10:30. With an hour or so to kill Jim suggested we look at another water, not to fish but to look at for the future. We returned and started to get our kit out the cars and make our way to our pegs to be. Armed with my new bait from Carp-Bait solutions (CBS) I was eager to get on the water and give it a whirl.

Before I move on I would like to share how this came about. A chap on FB contacted me about a new group starting up and what I thought then a new bait company CBS. A quality bait at a good price. I took it on blind faith ordered some, nothing ventured, nothing gained. The group started to grow and my Bait arrived made by a guy called Darren, from Llay, Wrexham. A very helpful chap too. I was really impressed with the smell and quality of the bait. I had chosen, well it was highly recommended, their En-tice (Plum & Garlic) and Mackeral-XT (Really fishy) Which brings me back to where we were.

When we reached our pegs we met two chaps,  we now know as Chris Buck and Andy Brown and after a quick chat we had something in common…CBS yes we were on the same bait.  Fate is a strange thing, you might think, whats so strange about that, well there are a lot of named big bait companies out there, why not have the same bait, my thinking was new company, not a lot of peeps know about it yet. If you get my drift… As the conversation went on Chris told me he uses nothing else and has been on it for 10 years or so. It did cross my mind that this must have been one the of best kept secrets yet. Chris and Andy were very helpful, had been on the water for some 48 hours, Chris had netted 4 fish up to 27 lb and Andy had had a couple too. Pointed out the spots there had baited and then we walked out our lines and clipped up before they left. Needless to say we are now friends and we look forward to meeting them on the bank another time.

It didn’t take too long before were set up and traps set, armed with our new baits, I decided to fish one on their prebaited area and one off, to the left about 15 rod lengths out. kettle on and I was about to erect the bivvy and the alarms screamed, it had been in the water 55mins. An upper double mirror graced my net and we were off the mark, first one to En-tice, I was well pleased. There are 18 pegs on Merrington, and people changed as the day went on, so the fish were under pressure. The weather remained warm, but our alarms remained quiet apart from a occassional line bites. As the afternoon went by just before last light the traps were re-set and more bollies were scattered in our swim. Jim and myself had rotated baits throughout the day to find the right combination and method, something we do now as a matter of course. A couple of fish crashed out in front of us over our spots but no more takes. We had supper another of Angela’s stews, again highly recommended when out doors quick  and  easy to clean up after. Daylight pasted to night and it was off for some kip and wait it out. I heard a couple of alarms in the night but we never had a touch. It wasn’t until 11:00am that one of my alarms leaped into life and another mid-double entered my net, this one fell to mackerel XT. As the afternoon drew on the weather turned and it started to rain. We had packed away most of our stuff before it really started. Jim was a little disappointed he hadn’t caught…but that’s fishing. I was made up…and had I finally learnt the secrets of Merrington, and with the help of some new baits who knows…time will tell. Out of 18 Anglers in the time we were there only 6 fish were caught, two to us…..must have been doing something right. Until next time…Tight lines

Merrington..our next adventure..

Jim and I have managed to get on Merrington this weekend, bank holiday and all. We are locked and loaded with a new bait to try, and with a bit of lady luck should do ok. It has been a couple of weeks to get our fishing diaries back on track…either way it will be a hoot…

Watch out for what we got upto and how we got on…

Armed with these and these…how could we go wrong.

g

Carpbait – Solutions

 

With a handful of chosen men, we will be field testing new baits..watch this space for future results….If your are not on it yet…you will be soon…