Paul Cooper is one of a small band of anglers we use to Field Test our venues. Over the course of several Blog Posts he’ll take you through his 2010 trips;
39lb of stunning Golden Oak carp!
Golden Oaks lake
This was to be a family holiday for my wife, Diane and myself. With a top quality gite and a 5 acre lake only 30 yards from the back door, it was a perfect venue. At the far end of the lake the depth is around 18 inches and gradually deepens off to Around 10 foot in front of the gite near to the dam.
It was now the end of September and the temperature had dropped down to 9C in the day with frosts overnight, autumn had come early.
Carp fishing in luxury!
Fortunately the gite has all the home comforts which include a log fire, fully equipped kitchen and 3 en-suite bedrooms. This would be Diane’s refuge for the week; mine was one of the bivvies supplied by Dick and Jo, the lake owners.
Having plumbed and leaded the lake I settled for a wide grassed area halfway along the near bank. Bait again was Shaun’s Chilli Chocolate. I picked up a couple of twenties from this swim but I felt that there was bigger fish to be had in the deeper water off the dam.
On the move once again, I settled in the swim in front of the gite on a large flat grassed bank. I found a nice hard patch at 40 yards range into the lake and decided to use my rattlers to allow me to fish a slack line so as not to spook the fish. I had changed my rigs slightly due to the colder weather, only 4 inches in length , made of 15lb Merlin with the line aligner on a size 4 Smart Point SP310 hooks, long hair, 10 mil bottom bait and a 10 mil pop-up.
Good move, within 2 hours I was into a superb fighting 39lb 9oz mirror, with another fish on a second rod. Was I in for a run of fish, I hoped so as Angling Lines had arranged for Martin to visit me at the lake to film some action shots for the web site and for the DVD. He arrived on the Wednesday, camera at the ready, but I failed to have a single run. That night I had 3 fish that could not be captured on film. The following day was fruitless and with only 2 hours to go before Martin was due to leave, both deep in conversation, off roared a distance rod, what a stroke of luck. I landed yet another thirty, weighing in at 39lb 10oz mirror. He captured the whole event on film, job done, Martin was on his travels back to Oakview in North West France.
I plodded on ignoring the high pressure and cold dull days and by the end of the week I had banked 23 carp. By the time we came to leave this beautiful venue, the weather began to improve slightly, and the lake came to life, too late for me though.
You can read the full article here.
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