Jon Finch joins Billyo on the Blue Pool at Burghfield for some proper winter carp action...
Blue Pool Bashing | Angling Masterclass
Blue Pool Bashing
A Blue Pool Bashing
It has been a while since I've really fished properly over the past couple of months due to the shop being so busy, so when I was invited to fish RMC Blue Pool in December for a couple of days I jumped at the chance. Before I knew it the kit was packed, plenty of bait in tow and me and my knackered old van were speeding up the motorway in search of a few carp. As I passed some of the big pits near Reading I wondered whether the fishing would be such a good idea. Burghfield on my right looked daughnting and the foggy, gloomy day certainly didn't wet my appetite. However, when I met up with Billy O the RMC website main man at Burghfield clubhouse my enthusiastic motivation was thrown away with a warm cuppa, a cigarette and Billy's shady jokes. Anyway enough of the boring stuff and lets get to it as just down the road the Blue Pool awaits.
On arrival I was amazed that no one was fishing. Billy had done a bit of research and we opted for the far corner along a snaggy bank, in fact exactly where the Korda Part 3 footage was filmed. With quick observation of a few fish present I opted not to rush in getting the rods out and sat back to get a feel for the place. It was actually quite pleasurable watching the cogs tick round in Billy's head as to how he was going to set up his recently bought Fox bivvy, which at that stage looked more like a windswept shack compared to my nice warm Armadillo living quarters. A Simple Plan
After Billy had settled down I thought it best to formulate an action plan, one that was very simple, but would eventually pay dividends. I recalled as I visited the snaggy bank when we first arrived that the fish were motoring through open water and entering the snags about three quarters down its length. I decided to bait just off the snags on the bottom of the shelf quite heavily and then place the right hand rod in open water to try and intercept the fish on their way through. The theory was that if they missed my trap in open water the snag rod would have enough bait to hold the fish before they decided to disperse and venture elsewhere.
As I sat with an empty bucket I began to chop up two kilo's of large Dendrabena worms, to that I added three kilos of hemp, one kilo of each size of the bloodworm pellet and a few handfuls of mini Grubber pellets. This was to be the first time I had tried dendra worms in any quantity and to be totally honest the mix smelt disgusting but looked great. The worms had been inspired after talking to several of my customers, who at the time were catching lots of barbel with large dendra's and varied worm mixes. The worms being 100% digestable protein certainly wouldn't harm the mix and in fact on entry to the lake via a spod, several silver fish became very inquisitive as it slowly filtered through their shoals. The whole bucket was deposited but not tight. I wanted to create a dotted baiting pattern as I envisaged that most anglers would bait tight as the bank was easily accessable.
A Slightly Different Approach
The right hand rod was fished slightly different in open water as I imagined that that the fish wouldn't feed to heavily on their way through but rather pick a few baits up and then seek sanctuary of a safe place. A single PVA bag was placed at about 10ft depth on a level bottom with two to three spods dotted in the area. Bait wise I opted for a mix of mini Grubber and 3mm Biofeed pellets and a dash of liquid bloodworm poured into the bag. For hookbaits small bloodworm hookers were to be the order of the day with a small unobtrusive bottom bait on the snag rod and a 10mm pop-up on the open water rod, with the aim that a pop-up would hopefully stop their senses on their way through.
As regards to rigs both rods had 3ft Berkley Snide leaders on. These are the next big step in carp fishing; 30lb heat treated nylon coated in tungsten and teflon that sinks quick, follow the contours of the bottom and are incredibly thin but impressively easy to use. From there a size 8 ring swivel was loop to looped onto the leader followed by an Armaled shokka plug and 3oz in-line pear lead. Small braid hooklinks of about three inches were tied on with size 8 ESP Raptor D7 hooks.
This a new pattern formulated alongside the Drennan shrimp hook but slightly thicker in the wire and teflon coated. The rigs where knotless knotted and the hair held in place half way down the shank by a piece of silicone tubing. Hookbaits were then mounted with about 3-5mm spacing between bait and bend of hook. These were placed in solid PVA bags with everything set inside the bag ready for action. Action Time
Amazingly by this time Billy had actually made a cuppa and as darkness set in we were left pondering if the cold night ahead would give us action. By this time everything looked dead, cold fog and tempertures near to freezing and our humorous antics dispersed as our fight to keep warm became more important. At around 4.20pm a liner on the right hand rod signalled some interest and before the kettle had boiled the rod was away. A short battle ensued and a double figure mirror lay in the net.
Contrary to what my missus says, that size matters, this was a plesurable sight and I was well chuffed. This was not to be the only sound coming from the buzzer and within a couple of hours I'd managed to bank three more doubles on the right hand rod. Amazingly nothing had happened on the snag rod where most of the fish had been seen, so I decided to recast and rebait.
On closer inspection I found that my rig had been twisted to about half its length and concluded that at some point the little blighters had done me! Time For A Change
Something couldn't have been right and I was concerned that a fish would prick itself and spin on a small rig only to use the weight of the lead to eject the hookbait. Off came the heavy lead and replaced with a small 1.1oz in-line lead and a small hooklink of about one inch. The theory was that the shorter link may stop hesitation and bait ejection and if they were to spin the rig the light lead wouldn't aid a pivot point to eject the hookbait.
Forward thinking, tweaking tactics and talking carpy stories had eventually worn off and we decided to call it a night.
Plenty of single bleeps and a couple liners ensued but all four rods had remained motionless. As daybreak lifted the carp dispersed and continued their daily task of dissapearing. Billy awoke at his usual early time of about one in the afternoon (boy that bloke can sleep) and we discussed what we were going to do for the duration of our trip. I continued to bait heavily on the snag rod and light on the open water mark and Bill stayed with his Burghfield approach of big baits, big carp. A Change In Weather
The night was soon upon us, but the weather had changed and the tempurature was rising. By about 6 O'clock nothing had happened and we wondered whether to move a couple of swims down as the fish began to show in numbers in the middle area of lake. I thought it best to stay put and sit it out as I had a feeling that the snags would eventually lure the fish in after their upbeat activity. It was about 1 O'Clock when we decided to call it a night, with the comforts of a warm bivvy and sleeping bag looking more attractive. No sooner had I just got to sleep and began dreaming of lucious young ladies smothering me, than the Neville buzzer was smoking and for the first time the snag rod was away. Taken by surprise the fish pulled hard and decided to kite around the back of the island, then as the rod tip knocked it became obvious that the fish was now stuck, however lady luck was on my side and after a couple of hard pulls the fish was under control. At 19lb plus it wasn't massive but a good sign that fish were moving back in. Time For The Big-Uns
This was to be the night for the big-uns as within a short space of time the snag rod produced another two fish of 23lb and 26lb. I was buzzing but at the same time felt for Bill as he was not going to sleep until he caught one. I wished him luck as I departed for bed and thought he would keep himself amused as he sat glaring at his screen saver on his laptop of Izzy from Holyoaks, mmmm tasty!! Another Chunk
At around 4-ish a faint cry awoke me as low and behold the Keyboard Fiddler was in. Cheif netsman was now fully awake and before we knew it I was netting another chunk for the night. At 25lb plus Bill was well pleased, a couple of pics and then we both retired back to our homes. As morning came we decided to pack up, that nights action had been hectic, we had a result and unfortunately I had to be back at work. I had thouroughly the enjoyed the experience, with great company and plenty of laughs. Thanks go to Ian Welch for letting us on and we shall now continue around the other RMC venues as part of a series of articles for the website. Until then...
Jon Finch
www.banksidetackle.com
The first of the fish, and even at 14lb I was chuffed!
