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ONCE upon a time you had carp venues and you had match venues. There was a clear distinction between the two and the size of carp which they held.
Over the last few years, though, the lines have become somewhat blurred. Many match venues now hold doubles, and even the odd 20- pounder and, as such, have become an increasingly enticing proposition for serious carpers. On such lakes it is commonplace to see pole and feeder anglers sitting alongside specimen boys with two rods on bite alarms.
These lakes tend to have much higher stocking levels than the average big- carp water and, with multiple bites on offer, it’s easy to see why these lakes appeal to focussed carpers, especially those short of time or just wanting to brush up on their skills and catch a few fish.
Indeed, it’s a situation I often find myself in. When I’ve only got a few hours to get the rods out, I’d much rather visit a venue where I’ve got a realistic chance of catching, rather than sitting behind silent alarms.
Carping with match rules
The only inconvenience with many of these fisheries is that the rules tend to be geared towards match anglers. Restrictions such as ‘ no braided lines or hooklengths’ and ‘ no hooks larger than a size 10’ are common.
Such rules aren’t particularly compatible with the majority of popular carp rigs and tactics which you read about. But before you discount a venue based on its rules, consider how many carp match and pleasure anglers catch from the fishery every day without a Ronnie rig and size 6 hook in sight. Exactly, a lot!
To prove that it’s possible to fish big- carp style but without typical big- carp tactics, I planned a session at Biggin Lake. Situated on the outskirts of Oundle, Northamptonshire, it’s a typical example of the type of venue described above. The heavily wooded estate lake is full of carp – the majority being high singles and doubles – and you can expect a few bites whatever the time of year.
The fishery doesn’t have many rules but they do include no braid, no floating baits and barbless hooks only with a maximum of size 10.
I’d never fished the lake before but had a couple of tactics in mind that would ensure I adhered to the rules while remaining confident of putting a few fish on the bank.
No braid in sight!
As I pushed my barrow along the dam wall and along the woodside bank, I passed a real mix of anglers. There were a couple perched on seatboxes with poles, several fishing with feeder rods and just as many with two- rod setups on bite alarms.
I eventually settled on a peg towards the narrower end of the lake where there were plenty of fish milling around just below the surface. Actually, from my quick walk around there appeared to fish all over the lake but, the peg I’d selected had an empty far bank and no one either side, so I’d have plenty of room.
I decided that I’d start by casting a flatbed Method feeder over to a large platform on the far bank and then fish my second rod with a running rig in open water and scatter 12mm boilies over the top with a catapult.
I threaded a large flatbed Method feeder on to my line and then attached a ready- tied Method rig that incorporated a size 12 hook and a hairrigged bait band.
Into this band I fixed a small dumbell wafter. The feeder was then filled with micro pellets using a Method mould and cast 40 yards across the lake towards the platform.
With rod number one on the rests, I set about sorting the second rod. My preparations were
constantly interrupted by bleeps on the alarm as something was obviously investigating the Method feeder causing my bobbin to twitch up and drop back down. I had to keep hopping over to the rod in anticipation of a proper run.
I finally managed to thread a large running rig and buffer bead on to the mainline, tie on the swivel and clip a 2oz lead to the running ring before my alarm screamed loudly and the bobbin jammed up against it as line was stripped from the reel’s spool.
Despite this, when I lifted up the rod and expected to feel some resistance on the other end, there was nothing. Oh well!
The feeder was quickly refilled and cast out so I could get a hooklink attached to my second rod and get that in the water too.
I’d tied up several long 7lb mono hooklengths the night before using bog standard hair rigs with a small piece of shrink tubing steamed over the eye of a size 10 hook. I looped one of these through the eye of the swivel on the mainline and threaded on a 12mm boilie straight out of the bag, and a small piece of fake corn.
On venues that don’t allow boilies, I’d use exactly the same rig but with a 10mm pellet hookbait. Prior to casting out, I nicked on a PVA mesh bag and then scattered a couple of pouches of boilies where the rig had landed.
Giving it the Biggin!
Now, I know the whole point of this feature was to prove that match venue rules needn’t be a negative for carp anglers but, as I sat watching countless carp moving around just below the surface, I couldn’t help wonder how much fun I could have had if floater fishing was permitted!
But any misgivings were quickly forgotten when I had a positive bite on the running rig rod. And this time there was definitely something on the end when I picked up the rod and tightened the clutch. After several spirited runs up and down the margins, a pretty little mirror with a row of scales all the way along its body and across its back was landed.
The Method feeder rod rattled off shortly afterwards and from then on, barring the predictable lull in activity during the middle of the day, bites came steadily on both rods for the entire session.
Although I didn’t keep tally, I think the running rig probably just edged the day in terms of takes. Neither of my rigs would have won any awards in terms of ‘ carpiness’ but they worked extremely well for the size of fish on offer and made sure I stayed on the right side of the rules. What more could you want from a day’s fishing?
“Barring the predictable lull in activity during the middle of the day, bites came steadily on both rods”