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07/02/22
In Search of Antique Carp – Trevor Johnson
Black Water Valley
A New Adventure
Although it was a few summers back this spell of angling I’m about to relive brings back extremely fond memories. The lake in question is quite a famous venue in Blackwater Valley that holds a wonderful collection of old, Claremont and Leney strain carp. As well as the old guard the venue has also been stocked over the years with some fresher strains of lovely fish, making this complex of 4 lakes a perfect retreat with some beautiful carp to target.
Confidence is Everything
Natural Attraction
As with any new campaign the planning is just as enjoyable as the angling itself. Curious as of which bait to use I’d always fancied trying Baitworks Atlantic Heat, mainly because I’m a great lover of a good quality fishmeal. After seeing how much attraction that the bait gave off in attracting all naturals it had to be a no-brainer, Atlantic Heat was my weapon of choice. After observing the snails, shrimps and caddis hammering the Heat during my early bait ups confidence was off the scale and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Off to a Flyer
The Russian
From the very first session I had instant results and the more bait I applied, the more they ate, these carp seemed to be very hungry and they loved the Heat.
In terms of tactics, each rod would be carefully presented on hard drops in amongst the eel grass at short range. Bait application was also easy due to the spots being close to the bank, so the area would often receive a constant scattering of heavily glugged Heat and matching pellets. What unravelled over the next 48 hours really blew me apart, resulting in 6 fish in the first 4 hours of the first afternoon, one of them being this elusive Russian at 35lb!
Crazy Session
10 Fish Haul
Pleased as punch and overwhelmed with the previous day’s action, I couldn’t help feeling a little surprised I hadn’t received any action throughout the night. So come first light I decided to recast the rods and freshen up the area.
Two hours later the rods were off again resulting in a 10 fish haul… Another carp in amongst them was a mirror that only ever gets caught once a season, a dark looking linear of 35lb totally mint even has its full curtain remaining in it’s mouth!
Total Confidence
Roll on 2022
In total I landed 14 carp with a couple of losses, three of which were thirties and the rest being either low twenties and a couple of doubles. Phenomenal in the grand scheme of things and it’s certainly a bait thats given me total confidence wherever I’ve taken it since. Be lucky and roll on 2022!
