The Baron's Blog

Well it would seem my last blog entry caused a bit of a stir, making it onto one of the popular forums and all!! I did chuckle to myself as the comments made were not even aimed at the said individual. The person in question has by all accounts made a right menace of him self by breaking loads of rules and generally being a tit! Glad I didn’t angle too much at the venue due to work. I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting him yet and I hope it stays that way. It would seem that in carp fishing we tend to attract more than our fair share of idiots and this guys right up there.

Right onto more fishy related topics. Running a bait company like I have for some 6 years does put you in contact with all anglers all over the country and abroad. One such chap who started using the bait last year was Belgium angler Robby Malfliet.
Robby has been knocking them out over in Belgium for years now so to have him now using our products is superb. I think the feeling is mutual due to his captures of late on our boilies. A few of us managed to go over to Belgium a few weeks ago to fish and meet up with the Belgium connection. Three days angling for myself with the guys at Cotswold Rods (Tom, Dan and Robby). Although the weather was cold (-2 at night) we managed to catch a few fish with the best going 30lb. Pictured is a long 27lb male common that run me ragged at 11am that fell to the new prototype Fluoro pop up I am testing. It was great to spend some time on the bank in great company, nice one Robby; we will have to do it again sometime?

Now the clocks have gone back this means I can finally have some much needed time on the bank. 2 nights a week! Wahoo! The next two months are actually a very busy period for me as product development and adjustments to our production out put all needs to be finalized in what is the only quite period of the year. There are no short cuts in the bait making game and sacrifices made now will hopefully make for more time on the bank in years to come, then again, kids, family etc…ahhhh!!!

Talking of bait companies it still shocks me the amount of so called bait companies that seem to sprout up out of nowhere and suddenly make bold statements regarding there products when I know full well they buy in either pre rolled boilies or base mix from another company and sell it as their own! I know of over 10 companies who currently do this and advertise in the carp magazines/forums how their bait is the best on the market. Unbelievable. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that the poor guy who buys the bait is the third one in the chain. The first two have to make a profit, this does not leave much room for their QUALITY ingredients as they state. Not that all quality ingredients are expensive but when these companies declare on their websites the make up of the boilie and list expensive milks/fishmeal’s etc you have to ask the question of honesty. With no legislation in the bait world this can open its self to being taken advantage of. Can a bait maker add 100grams of Robin Red to 1000kg of base mix and then declare the bait contains Robin Red? Hmm, be carful where you spend your money. Thankfully most of these bait companies only last for a year or two at most. As the end user it must be a right headache as to decide what to believe and what bait to use.

Well that’s me finished for another month or so, by the time a blog next time we will be well into winter. Let’s just hope we do not have a freeze out like last year?

Good luck with your fishing

Summer? What summer!! You gotta love old England haven’t you? One minute its blazing hot and the next its horrendous rain. The poor fish in this country don’t know weather they are coming or going. It would seem yet again we have lost some more of our historic fish and also some others that were well before their time. With a climate that is set to change dramatically over the next decade we can only hope that our carp come through each year, but hey, these are wild animals…..they always have a knack of staying one step ahead.

On to my summer, or lack of! Here at Baitworks we have seen our biggest growth spurt since I started the company in 2005. This summer has been very hectic as im trying to expand the company at a steady pace and also employee staff on a full time basis. As any of you guys who work for yourself will know, failure is the single biggest fear you will have when running a business. This has a funny effect on myself as I almost feel guilty when im out on the bank, even after working 12 days straight, you see there is always something to do! Even at home I find myself sneaking up to the computer room to check on orders or to update the website etc.
I do love it though! Having worked in every possible job known to man. I more than most know the value of working in an industry I absolutely love and never take that for granted.

Every now and again a group of us here locally at the Cotswold Water Park go out for a few drinks to let off some steam so to speak. 20 or so ill dressed carp anglers descend on the local town to awkwardly shuffle to a constant beat while trying there best to keep their balance with one eye on their pint and the other on the local females. I do find that these nights are very insightful as well as sorely missed from today’s carp scene. A time and a place for every thing and 20 anglers away from water and rods is how it should be……long may these nights continue. Poor old Garth Ethelston lost the bet on the night and had to wear the Noddy outfit into town. I must say it did look very good on him….Years of practice no doubt.

I have been getting out and about but sadly not as much as I would like. Fishing down at one of my chosen venues has been a struggle due to the volume of orders and the shear number of anglers fishing there at the start of the season. Some that ‘do not work’ have been camped in areas for week upon week, frustrating other anglers who have only one night per week to angle. I must say I do feel sorry for the latter as busting your ass all week at work only to be confronted by a so called anglers who’s been in the going area for his third week must be very frustrating, especially as your taxes our helping him to be there! Oh well, sign of the times and all that.

Pictured is a 32.8 mirror that has caught on an overnight session. Moving onto showing fish in the morning helped catch this cracker. A welcome capture amongst the madness of the park! With September looming im already counting the days until I can finally start fishing with any consistency. Two nights a week, Wahoo! Sounds like heaven! Hopefully I can get amongst some of the Water Parks finest, time will tell. This month I also managed to get out on the bank with Simon Scott over at the stunning Yateley South Lake for a couple of nights. Although we were there in a work capacity we did manage to catch a few with ten fish to 27lb between us. All fish were taken on a mixture of Atlantic Heat/KingFish 15mm boilies and floating trout pellets covered in KingFish and HotFish oil. A very enjoyable two days as I don’t usually get a long time with Simon as we are both so busy.

Well I will sign off here as I still have to roll yet more little balls today. Good luck with the remainder of your summer…….Roll on the winter I say!

Mark

I have just gone through what is with out doubt the most stressful winter ever.
Moving house while trying to run both Baitworks and Born and Bred and organising the Cotswold Carp 2011 event has had me running around like the old cliché ‘a head less chicken’. Throw in a DVD to make and other commitments and there is no wonder why it has stretched me to almost breaking point! I am glad to say im out the other side and looking forward to the spring. With all the lakes starting to wake up we are set for some carp action over the next few weeks.

The winter is usually a time when I get my fishing head on as it spells a quite period in the bait industry and allows me the time to concentrate on stringing a few nights together. This winter though has seen me climbing the walls as all the pits across the country were held in what seemed like a ice age leaving me no choice to walk the dog countless times wishing for a break in the weather. When the break finally came it was like a dinner bell going at a junior school! Every carp angler wanted to be out angling after not being able to angle for 9 weeks. This was a blessing for the bait industry as we recorded our best January in our six years of trading. The flip side was I had limited time to go angling. Doh!

I did manage a few days at a large southern venue where I had been fishing during the summer. Although the venue was busy I managed to slot myself in a fancy able area that I’m sure would give me a good chance if the carp decided to play ball that day. Three rods were sent out to silt beds at varying ranges followed by fifty free baits (18mms). Only an hour or so later a 23lb mirror was in the folds of the net! Result! I was hoping to return soon in the week.

With orders starting to build up I knew time on the bank was going to be limited. With that in mind I Worked all the hours and even the weekends just to catch up on orders so I could pinch a day and a night to fish! The joys of running your own business! A day on the dam wall saw nothing to show for my efforts and had me pushing the barrow north bound for the night. I dropped into a swim that covered a large area of water and hoped that one of two fish had ventured up here to avoid the angling pressure down the bottom. Setting up in the dark I positioned all three rods into deep silty areas at varying ranges, feeling for that crucial soft landing as the 4oz lead dropped into the collection area. I lightly scattered 50 baits over the general area. With a stiff southerly blowing I soon was pushing up zzzz’s when one of my alarms sang its tune in the early hours of the morning. After what seemed like 5 minutes I finally managed to untangle my chest waders and put them on the right feet (don’t ask!), all the while the fish was hammering off at great speed due south! I must say, this carp ran me all over, by the time it was within netting distance my knees had gone to jelly. Could this be one of the lakes whackers? Another 10 minutes of battle up and down my margin with the big southerly wind battering my face this carp bobs up in the waves and I quickly make a lung for the beaten carp. Yessss! Flicking the head torch on I could see a very angry male common carp bucking and twisting in the folds of my net. The carp was very long. Only the day before one of the local anglers was commenting on a large, long common that’s been spotted but doesn’t get caught, could this be it, time would tell but for now it looked a very impressive fish that needed to be weighed!
On the scales he went 35.06 and marks a PB common for myself. Proper common from a proper water as my Bristolian friends would agree!

Thanks to Liam Mason who dropped in to help with the pics, thanks fella.
So, that marked the climax of my winters fishing! I now find myself working all the hours to get the bait out of the door and thinking some more weekend shifts could be in order as the weather is staring to look very favourable…..hmmmm, night shifts could be the answer!

What rubbish weather to return to!! All the pipes at the Factory are frozen! Oh well, gives me a chance to sort some new products out…..Did someone say pellets?!!!!

With the now diminishing greenery, my thoughts are firmly fixed on the autumn and winter ahead. Over the last few weeks, Baitworks production has been in overdrive with thousands of little balls being produced and then dispatched every day. Most nights I have been working away into darkness just to keep up. This does have its advantages though.

I have been fishing a notoriously tricky park lake for the last month or so and was very happy with my early result in my last blog. Leaving the unit in darkness to fish at the park gave me the benefit of not rushing as it was already dark and besides, what’s the point in rushing to make a decision on where to fish for the night? By turning up and walking round to a few likely areas the fish would often give themselves away with a subtle roll or head poke out of the inky black still water. It was on one of these nights that I managed to locate a number of fish that have given their presence away under the cover of darkness.

After a hectic night, three very welcome carp were having there photo taken in the morning sun. All fish were secreting Atlantic Heat in the sacks, which gave me huge confidence once again. Fish of 19lb, 21lb and 31lb 10oz meant that I could pack up and in sit in the morning rush hour traffic with a very large grin on my face!

I did return the following week and managed to sneak out a low twenty again on an over nighter in the darkness. I will have to use this tactic more often! Unfortunately, over the next couple of weeks I have had other commitments to complete so I could not get down for my usual overnighters. Typical. Hopefully now as the nights draw in I can find some time to get out on the bank before I’m off on my holidays to Egypt; oh, can’t wait!

Until then, more carp please.
Mark

Popped down to the coast for a couple of days. Back on Sunday to roll yet more bait!

The summer is now slipping away from us! What a mad year for the weather and the sad loss of many of our historical fish; a truly horrendous year for our sport. For me, this has been one of the busiest summers for bait orders and trying to keep up while jugging fishing, a girlfriend and promoting my company has stretched me to the limit. All positive I may add, Christ, it sounds like I’m moaning! I think Baitworks is at the point of yet more expansion… scary but very exciting.

On to the fishing or lack of it. After my main target fish spawned early (May) I was a little lost on where to angle for the summer. I had joined a few waters this year and in all honesty I was never going to do them all justice. I just do not have the free time at present. Only in the last couple of weeks have I found walking the banks and actually fishing.

One of the lakes I did join was a busy Park Lake not to far from where I now live. Having fished this venue a few years ago I always felt there was some unfinished business to put right. The lake itself has been written about many times before and I for one was not relishing the thought of angling there due to the parks inherent problem of youths that seem to walk around all hours of the day and night! This made looking round and moving very limited as you always had to have one eye on your tackle and one on the lake.

Knowing the lake from previous experience, I knew that blanks and no visual sightings are par for course and braced myself for the long haul. Only three nights in I managed fish of 26lb and 28lb 8oz, both commons. I was very happy with such an early result and had managed to locate these fish from a session prior when they gave their presence away by crashing at night. I ear marked the location for my next visit and capitalised on the rare show of fish.

If it was a clear night I would sleep under the stars and made sure to turn the radio off and listen for as long as I could into the darkness before I inevitably fell asleep. Would this pay dividends? Time would tell but with a couple more nights under my belt I felt sure I could pin down the movements of these nomadic carp. Until next time, keep year ears open and your eye on your tackle

Managing to now sneak a night in once a week! Did a overnighter but alas no fish.

Just got in from yet another busy day at Baitworks HQ. Bagging loads of Atlantic Heat and KingFish for the bank holiday madness. Time to kick back and relax…..

Bank tramp!!