Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over four years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff so if you are new to fly fishing or spinning these are the ones for you).

15 September 2006.

More carp from the margins.

I know I've said it before but I do enjoy carp fishing. The other day I decided to spend a couple of hours at a local lake complex. I chopped half of a small white loaf into big cubes and stuck it in a poly bag and with a spinning rod, fixed spool reel, braided line and a size six barbless hook I set off. There were one or two anglers there but we had almost a lake each if we wanted. I dropped half-a-dozen bits of bread into a likely spot and waited.

Contrary to popular opinion I'm not the most patient man in the world so I couldn't resist lobbing a lump of crust into a likely spot under the bushes. It must have been fifteen minutes before anything happened and then it was a sucking noise in the reeds by my feet. I waited but nothing happened for ten more minutes so I retrieved my hook (leaving the bait still under the bushes), baited up afresh and dropped the crust in at my feet. Of course the next thing that happened was a carp took the bait that I had shaken off my hook - how often does that happen?

I waited and eventually my semi-patience was rewarded as the rod tip whanged down to a taking fish. After a good long struggle I netted a nice common in the middle teens of pounds. After the disturbance I decided to try another spot. I was next to a path which separated two lakes so I crossed over to the other lake and threw a few crusts into a patch of yellow water lilies, Nuphar or 'brandy bottles' as they are sometimes known. The rudd began to make short work of the crusts further out but they ignored the ones closest to the bank. I baited my hook and dropped it close in under the edge. Within minutes there were a few slurping noises and once again the rod jagged down as a fish took the bait. This time I couldn't let it swim off so I hung on as it crashed about among the lily pads. A passing angler offered to help so I asked him to hold the handle of my net as I steered the fish into the meshes. A nice mirror somewhat smaller than the first fish - excellent! It was time to fetch my grandson from school by now so I packed in and left well satisfied with my two fish (the other chap said no one had been catching much).

Carp territory.

Margin fishing.

Beaten!

Wonderful.

The second one.