by Martyn Russ a.k.a. Voodoo
The sun was shining bright and at 7am it was already feeling warm so i was looking forwards to a nice day at our local Carp fishery, Cefn Mably Lakes. When we arrived there was already a couple of people set-up at the over flow pond so we quickly grabbed the swims we wanted and prepared for our fishing adventure. My mother was the first one to cat6ch fish and started the day as she meant to go on by landing a couple of nice size mirror carp 
around the 3 to 4 lb. mark and Brian was second to follow up with some larger Mirrors and a few common’s. I had started off catching a few small Rudd and Bream and then hooked a pretty little mirror carp around 3lb. The second i hooked into was a huge one and when it 
ran it took off half way across the pond and then snapped my line. It hen decided to put a stronger rig on in case i came a cross it again. It must have been a good size as the rig i was using had 15lb main line with a 6 lb. hook line. We all continued to catch quality fish for most of the morning and and all caught our selves a little chunk topping with Brian’s best at around the10 – 11 lb. mark with both myself and my mother catching close to the 9 lb. mark. Around lunch time the swims went quiet and i wasn’t surprised as it was 
starting to get very hot sat there in the sun and even though i had put on factor 30 sunblock i was still burning on my forearms. When the swims went quiet and i saw a couple of carp playing
around the reeds i decided to stalk them and snuck along the bank to place a small piece of meat soaked in halibut just in front of them. it was a little awkward as i was squeezing between two trees but it soon paid off as the smaller of the 3 snatched my bait and off it shot. It weighed around about 5 or 6lb so wasn’t massive but put up a geed fight. There were a lot of families up at the lake as it was bank holiday and quite a few with kids. Its 
nice to see the youngsters paying an interest in the sport but just some times i just wish they wouldn’t run about screaming, enough said on that one. Even though the swims had gone quiet my mother continued to catch a few carp whilst we stopped and had 
lunch.then around 3.30 – 4 pm the second feed begun and the swims started to liven up again. With a small but steady flow of feed i managed to get the carp competing against each other and managed to get myself some tidy fish. My best of the day was just before we had decided to pack up and i managed to get my self a little 8 or 9 lb. common that gave me a right good scrap. We all continued to catch right up to packing up time at around 7 pm and really enjoyed our little fishing trip. Considering i had decided to only fish the pole 
and left all my other tackle at home i have to admit i had hours of fun and miss the match fishing techniques at times. Ok i do enjoy fishing for the larger carp and look forward to the fight of the fish
and feeling your heart in your throat but you have just as much fun with the smaller fish and catching quantity as well as quality. Cefn Mably lakes is a great fishery and one that i recommend any fisherman to give a try. they have plenty of lakes to choose from offering specimen and pleasure angling to all ages and i for one can’t wait till my next visit and adventure…
Wet Nets & Tight Lines …..
