48 Hrs Chasing an Autumn Carp at Hendre Lake

Its the time of year where we watch the leaves fall and the first frosts in the mornings begin. I have to admit this year we have seen some extreme weather conditions where i found myself fishing in heat that is just unbearable. This session turned out to be just as strange with winter conditions in the mornings ending up with summer conditions in the evenings. This is also the time of the year where we find the fish will begin to feed up ready for the winter and then as the colder temperatures come in they begin to slow down as their metabolisms adjust ready for the winter conditions.  I had decided on doing a 48 hour session down at our local water, Hendre Lake in St. mellons, Cardiff. The swim i chose is one i have fished often and had good captures from there so i was confident in getting a bite. As Autumn has just begun i decided i would use the spod and put a small bed of bait down to see the reaction of the carp and whether they would be up for it or if they had already begun to slow down. I would then fish high attract hook-baits  and/or Particle baits over the baited area to see if i could get a few bites. 

I had decided on my favourite whipped D presentation fishing a Balanced Wafter on a size 6 Curve or Size 4 Gripz Hook depending on 15 mm or 18 mm bait size. For fishing particles i was using slow sinking fake corn on a size 8 Pallarax Gripz hook set-up Blow Back style . Each bait was finely balanced to get it to sink slowly in the water using toppers or popups and then the hook-link threaded into a small stick made with Godmans PVA Mesh and the hook pulled inside the stick. Some rigs i also attached bags of 4 or 5 boilies and/or boilie chops but some were cast with only the sticks and hook-bait. This was all set at 14 rod lengths, a distance that i had been catching many fish from in the same swim. The first rod was cast towards the corner of the island and the second half way between the corner of the island and the corner of the point (a well known feature on the lake). This is also the area that i spodded out the bed of bait. Once i was happy with the position of the rods it was time to set the alarms and wait.  It wasn't long before indications of fish feeding began and the the rods jumped into life. unfortunately not the target species, a 6 lb bream had snaffled the hook bait. now considering i was fishing 18 mm hook baits it amazes me the size of bait these fish can get in their mouths. I continued with a few more bream before i had my first carp of the session which came late in the evening. A small common of around 9 lb. This was then followed by a small mirror at 6 lb 4 oz and then the first double came at first light weighing at 13 lb 2 oz. 

Due to it being late in the year i didn't want to over feed my swim so didn't really put much bait in after each bite as they were not coming thick and fast and a few hours in between bite told me they just weren't getting their heads down to feed properly. I did throw a few boilies around the swim to keep their interest but the rods remained quite on the second day. My friend and fellow admin for the club Dean Curtis came down for a few hours and helped me with a couple of photos of the captures, we were discussing something on the bank when he suddenly saw the first sign of a carp showing just off the back of the baited area in a position the locals know at the batman due to a shadow from the tree lines that's cast at night.  At the same time we both wondered if they were holding off the back of the food, so i brought a rod in and re-positioned it on top of the area the fish showed. 

Within 20 minuets of re-positioning the rod it tour off with a screamer of a run. Only a little stockie of 7 lb but a stunning little mirror. That was enough for me to change the potion of my rods for the remainder of the day with one in the batman area and one cast longer towards the back of the baited patch and this seemed to do the trick with another coming from the batman patch during late evening and another 4 coming from the back of the baited spot during the night. It turned out to be an enjoyable session landing 10 carp total despite it being freezing cold in the mornings and sun-baiting weather in the afternoon

Now that Autumn has begun and winter is on its way we will see some of the fish now putting on weight for the winter and their winter colours starting to show. This is the best time of year to catch some really stunning specimens and I for one can't wait for my next adventure...... Wet Nets & Tight Lines.