RESERVOIR HOGS!
How do you go about catching big carp from an open, featureless concrete bowl of water? James Armstrong reveals all as he goes on a quest for a reservoir ‘lump’…
HAVING bumped the barrow down the track and opened the chains on the gate, I was greeted by a large, windswept expanse of water.
The lake was around 10 acres and little more than a uniformly-shaped and weedless concrete bowl filled with water. Predominantly a boating venue, as far as I knew it held carp to around 30lb, as well as lots of bream.
The eyes have it…
To say the lake looked barren was an understatement. There were no lily pads, overhanging trees, islands or any other obvious fish-holding areas, meaning I was going to have to rely on a combination of instinct and eyesight to track down the resident carp.
I knew that my best hope was to keep walking the banks, scanning the surface for any likely-looking signs of activity. With my trusty carp companion, Barley, in tow, I headed off along the concrete-lined banks.
Although I was going to be relying predominantly on my eyesight for locating the fish, on my ‘reconnaissance’ lap I also took along a rod rigged up with a device known as a Deeper Pro.
Essentially an echo sounder unit that can be cast out on rod and line and which beams back pictures of the make-up of the lakebed, it is particularly useful on barren, featureless venues, where it can reveal the tiniest of depressions or variations in the bottom that you would have never found with a bare lead.
At times, such information can be a real ‘edge’.
Location pointers
My first port of call was to the far end of the ressie on the end of the prevailing warm wind. Natural food can drift into such areas and the carp will follow, more often than not.
As the turbid, murky water crashes into the concrete, the water can colour up and cause a stew of suspended food particles in the water column, attracting fish to the area. You can often find the fish surprisingly close in on these winds.
I flicked the Deeper Pro around, but to little avail. The bottom was uniform and pretty unappealing, so I carried on walking, stopping every 100 yards or so to watch the water. Coming to the end of my first lap, I noticed an almighty eruption in a sheltered bay which, as it happened, was off the back of the wind – hardly where I expected them to be, but it goes to show how eyesight is your biggest location tool on such featureless venues.
With location sorted to a degree, I wandered back to retrieve my barrow. This was loaded with very little kit, as I knew I would have to stay mobile to stand the best chance of catching.
Deep into the bay where I saw the fish show there was a row of pontoons. They were the only real features of any note on the lake, and so before long I was creeping quietly along them, armed with my bait bucket.
As the water was the murky colour of weak tea, I opted to use potentsmelling boilies – Odyssey XXX – which I’d customised at home before the session by placing a few kilos into a bucket and filling it up with boiling water. I left this to stand for a few minutes with the lid on until the baits were boiling hot, and then drained off the water. This makes the baits much softer and oozing with attraction, as well as more porous.
Next step was to enhance them with a healthy hit of Liquid GLM Extract – a potent, fishy liquid additive – followed by a sprinkling of Full Fat Green Lipped Mussel powder, to further enhance their smell and appeal in the murky water. I also introduced some tigers to the mix for extra ‘crunch’ appeal!
Simple, strong rigs
After baiting up near to where I’d seen the fish show, I crept back along wobbly boards and set about tying up a few rigs. I kept things simple, opting for a combination of Ronnie Rigs with size 4 hooks on two rods and a critically-balanced pop-up on a standard bottom rig on the third. As for hookbaits,
because of the murky water I decided upon a selection of bright orange Acid Pear or pink and yellow Northern Specials.
The ‘Ronnies’ were mounted on 23.5lb fluorocarbon booms because, with the bottom being so firm, I wanted something that would kick the hookbait out on the cast and be stiff enough not to tangle.
With the bottom being fairly uniform, I mounted these on helicopter leadcore rigs with the bead pulled up just a few inches. Relatively light 2oz leads were the order of the day to keep disturbance to a minimum, as I knew that fish were present in the area.
Each rod was flicked out and, because of the concrete banks, the sticks were simply rested on the ground, propped up by the reel handles.
Action stations
Within 10 minutes or so of casting out, the right-hand rod-tip bounced before the line picked up and then dropped back.
This could only mean one thing… bream! I reeled in and returned the snotty critter as quickly as I could before attaching a new rig, casting back out and introducing a little fresh bait to the area.
The clouds were starting to gather and a light drizzle began to fill the air. It felt good, really good. On went the waterproofs and I sat there for the next few hours, wondering whether the fish had vacated the area.
I was pacing up and down the banks, desperate to see fish show, but nothing did and gradually my confidence began to wane.
As the day began to draw to a close, I decided to start reloading a few bits back on to the barrow when, out of the blue, the right-hand rod ripped round.
As soon as I picked it up the rod took on its full battle curve, forcing me to walk backwards slowly to ease the fish away from the pontoons.
After enjoying every moment of the fight, I soon had the fish safely enclosed within the folds of the net and I found myself peering down at a truly epic fully-scaled carp!
I left her to rest for a few minutes while getting the weigh sling ready but, just as I was about to lift her on to the mat, the other rod went… unbelievable!
I was attached to yet another angry reservoir carp. This one also gave me a hectic battle as it did its best to get round a floating buoy, but I eventually got the better of it and soon slipped the net under another mirror. Two fish in the net at once!
The next 20 minutes were thoroughly enjoyable as I held up two beautiful mirrors for the cameras, proving that the effort of finding fish on such expansive, featureless venues before you cast out is never wasted.
As I slipped back the brace of beautiful carp, the rain came down more strongly, so I called it a day. I was over the moon with the result and as I pushed the barrow back to the car park, I was beaming like a Cheshire cat!