New Tickets, New Dog, New Plans...

The last sentence of my previous blog entry in March read; "This year will see me return to Bundy's when it opens on June 16th then some time at Birch Grove in the winter. Beyond that?... maybe a return to Elstow but on pit 1 this time. Who knows where I will end up..."

Little Stocky

Well, I didn't see it coming but it all changed so very quickly. Shortly after my last blog Bundy's shut down for the usual 3 months and, as planned, I did a work party there the following weekend. While I was there the owner decided that there wasn't to be a closed season this year. Otters had been sighted a short distance away and it was felt by having anglers around the lake it would help to deter them until a suitable fence was installed. The lake was to be open from that night onwards and I just happened to have my tackle with me in the car. After the hard days work I was unsure whether to do the night or not but in the end I stayed and in the early hours of the morning had one of the lovely stocky commons for my efforts.

To the owners great credit a few weeks later an otter fence was in place and we could all rest a bit easier knowing it was far more difficult for any passing otters to visit the lake.

Otter Fenced

A Bundy's 27

I had a few fish to upper twenty during the closed season but failed to get amongst the real big girls. I couldn't make the most of this opportunity and I missed some time in April due to going abroad with the wife and also some of the better weather during May as I had to stay home with our new dog while he settled in. Our previous dog, Jake, died quite suddenly back in March which was quite a blow but we now have a Border Collie, called Max, for company. Hopefully, he will make a good bankside companion one day.

Jake - Gone but not forgotten

Something surprised me in May - I was offered a ticket for the Mangrove Swamp!!! I initially thought of passing it by but 10 minutes later temptation got the better of me and I went for it! The thought of spending some time in that part of Shropshire again was too much to resist. I had been a member for a good few years up until 2008 but I had missed it and looked forward to having another go there. It really is one of the nicest places I've ever fished! It will also be handy to fish closer to home when I come to introduce Max to the joys of carp fishing.

Max

That wasn't the end to the pleasant surprises. June arrived and with it an offer for a place on the BCSG syndicate water Korda Lake. I'd been on the waiting list a few years for this special Colne Valley water so the cheque was written without a second thought. I'm looking forward to wetting a line down there I can tell you! More about that later though hopefully...

With work parties done at Birch Grove and a reccé in the boat around Mangrove, with fellow member and long-time good friend Steve Guy (@stevie_gism), I was buzzing to get the rods out over there again.

A Trip 'round Mangrove in the Boat

I was unable to fish opening weekend due to one thing or another so it was the Friday of our second rota before I got down there. Steve had got down Wednesday but told me all was quiet. Conditions looked great though with a heavy sky and south/southwest winds. It had fished very well at the start of the season but the carp had took a hammering and had been absent for a few days.

In between showers I managed to quickly load the boat and get across the lake with all the gear and set up in the Fallen Tree swim. It just started to drizzle again as I was finishing off baiting up. A kilo or so of whole and crumbed boilie and a bit of sweetcorn was deposited about 50 yards out with the Spomb. Two rods were put on that and one went down the pads to my right with a handful of boilies for company.

A short time later, I was getting twitches and liners on the open-water rods and was beginning to doubt my brilliant idea of using the sweetcorn. The silver fish were obviously having a field day out there. That evening before the England/Sweden match had kicked off I had a twitchy take that I promptly struck, and then reeled straight in, a Bream of about 5lbs or so.

That was all that happened and the next morning at about 11am I decided to freshen up the hookbaits and put a couple more Spombs of boilie out. It was an uneventful day and I just enjoyed and soaked up the glorious atmosphere of the Mangrove. A lot of the time was spent bivvy-bound due to the rain but I was loving this June 16th - a special day in years gone by - it was great to be back at this special water.

I was at the windward end of the lake on the side of it but that day it had slowly turned and was now blowing more into my corner of the lake. It looked good and I heard a couple of fish in the pads that afternoon which boosted my confidence of a bite.

Mangrove Sunset

I busied myself with some photography trying to capture a decent sunset picture. It was the perfect place for it. In fact it was originally called the Sunset Swim before the tree came down. I'd just finished doing that and started to review the images on the camera when I had another twitchy take. "Bream again", I thought, as I hit it. The fish had run towards me and as soon as I caught up with it it rolled and I then knew it was a carp.

Somehow it had crossed my other line when it ran towards me but it wasn't posing too much of a problem at this stage with the bail arm open on the offending rod. It rolled a few more times and I saw that it was a fair-sized mirror. The tangled line became a bit more of a problem as the fish got closer and was dragging the lead around. It fought really hard and caught me out a couple of times when I was juggling rods and it decided to go on long runs. In fact I strained my wrist at one point due to its power! All good fun!...

Eventually it was within netting range but with the platform I was on being so high above water level it was tricky to get it into the net without the line angle being far too steep. I bungled it in there in the end and it was mine. I slumped down after that epic battle relieved and nursed my wrist. A pleasurable pain!

Paw Print - 37lb 12oz

The mirror looked wide across the back and as I leaned down to have a look at its scaling I thought "I know what that is, but it can't be surely!". I doubted myself because it's not a long fish and I thought perhaps it was a smaller fish with similar scaling.

She looked great on the mat and up on the scales it confirmed what I already knew when I'd lifted her from the water. Paw Print at 37lb 12oz. I'd only gone and been jammy enough to catch the biggest in the lake on my first session back. What a welcome return! Thank you Mangrove.

Until next time...

Craig Banks.

From the Canal to the Deep Pit

I thought this blog would make more interesting reading in the future if you knew a bit more about where I've been in the past, so here goes...

You can read a little about me in my profile on the right but here I will tell you more about my fishing history. I'll keep it fairly brief so as not to bore you...

I've lived most of my life in various places in Staffordshire but a few short years were spent in Derbyshire. Fishing seems to have always been a part of my life but in reality I think I was about 10 years old before I picked up my first fishing rod - I'm now 42.

Early Piking

My early fishing trips were spent on the Trent & Mersey canal which ran close to the back of my home. I could while away hours, even full days, catching the gudgeon, small perch and sticklebacks. I even remember surface fishing with old casters for the rudd. I couldn't get enough of it and sometimes in the summer I would get up at dawn and fish a few hours before going to school.



Teenage years

Carp angling became a part of my life when my dad (he wasn't an angler) took me and my friends to Docklow Pools in Herefordshire where I caught my first small carp. After that all I wanted to do was catch carp and the bigger the better. All carp looked huge to me back then. Carp fishing was pretty limited locally and all there was that we knew of was a small farm pond where I would have great times and learn a bit more with my mates. Most of the time was spent catching the tench though and just looking in awe at the carp. Eventually I got some basic tackle together and fished for the carp properly and caught one or two somehow upto low doubles.

First twenty

The passion grew and parents were pestered to take us further afield. Calf Heath Reservoir, Staffordshire - Bache Pool, Shropshire - Willesley Lake, Derbyshire and Sheepy Magna, Warwickshire all became very memorable places for me. Bache Pool in particular has a very special place in my mind because it's where I caught my first 20 pounder back in 1985. It was a common too which made it extra special. 

Once we acquired our own transport there was no holding us back! We travelled all over the place and flitted from one water to another fishing as many waters as we could. Our catches suffered no doubt but it was great fun and I think we learnt a great deal by experiencing so many different waters. We even fished Savay a few times on a day-ticket just 'cause we could and to experience the great Mecca after reading Hutchys book The Carp Strikes Back. We were well out of our depth but boy what an experience. Sleeping in the car after a drink in the infamous Horse & Barge or doing a night at Farlows - all great fun.

Sometimes we found our own pieces of heaven and went after certain carp - namely Penns Hall in Sutton Coldfield, a certain nature reserve and Swarkestone in Derby, Fletchers Pond and Attenborough Gravel Pits in Nottingham and Gibsons and Canal Pool at Kingsbury Water Park.

Gibsons at Kingsbury Water Park

In the mid-nineties I realised a dream by somehow managing to book 5 days on Redmire Pool. That experience was beyond words. I couldn't get enough of the place at one time, so much so, I somehow even got myself on the Redmire Winter syndicate. They were a very special couple of winters. Blanking no end but having the time of my life. I've been very fortunate over the years.

My Redmire Dream

I have dropped lucky many times regarding getting onto waters and other times not so fortunate. For example, I wrote to Tim Paisley a few years ago on the off chance of getting on Birch Grove or Mangrove just as a place had become available! On the other hand I'd always wanted to fish for Heather at Yateley but the year I got my ticket she died on opening day. It was quite probable that I'd never have caught her but it would have been nice trying. The Mangrove was another dream realised. I could not get enough of that place - it really is an atmospheric water.

A Bundy's ticket was offered shortly after getting into the Mangrove. I took it of course but it would have to wait while I fished the Mangrove bug out of my system. I'm now similarly obsessed by Bundy's pit. A water that is totally different to anywhere else I've fished due to the extreme depths and oh what a magnificent stock of fish! It contains some of the best looking commons and mirrors I've ever seen.

The Mother

Somehow I've missed out my time at Elstow. I fished it a good few years ago but I didn't really have the time available back then that such a water requires. Later, I fished it on and off when I could pull myself away from Bundy's and in 2010 I went all out for the the big one, the Mother, and was extremely lucky to see it in the bottom of my net that August. That was another dream fulfilled... I can't believe how lucky I've been to have experienced the waters I have. The old history fish of the Mangrove were very special to me also - Conan and The Linear especially. A few years ago I had the big one from Bundy's - a 44lb common - the times I spent looking at Dick Walkers record in the Redmire Pool book back in the '80's and dreaming of holding a fish like that, I never would have imagined it would become a reality.

Bundy's 44

There's been other waters of course but haven't spent much time at such as Farmwood in Cheshire, Horseshoe in Gloucestershire, the Derby Railway lakes, Branston Water Park and Packington Somers that I can name and one or two others that I can't I'm afraid. Looking back, I can see I have flitted from one water to another and would have had better results had I concentrated on one at a time but what is certain is that there is no way I could have enjoyed myself any more than I have done.

Stowe Pool, Lichfield

Willesley Lake, Ashby

I still love my time spent on the bank. Every sunset and sunrise is still special. Ive realised it's not just the fishing I am obsessed with its being out and about with nature.

It hasn't all been about carp though. As a youngster I dabbled at a bit of pike fishing, mainly at The Pretty Pigs lake in Tamworth. Later years in the winter would occasionally see me at Branston Water Park and Staunton Harold reservoir in Melbourne for the pike they held. I also have memories of stalking chub and small barbel in a clear tributary of the river Severn. If I had more time I could easily fill it by fishing for other species again but at the moment the carping passion burns brightest.

Markeaton Park, Derby

There will be a few trophy shots hereabouts but believe me when I say the most special memories are not necessarily the captures but certain moments in time in between those highs. To use a cliché - it's all about the journey, not the destination.

Branston Water Park

I'm lucky in the fact that I have a very understanding (second!) wife and I can get out on the bank quite regularly. I usually manage something like 3 weekends per month on average. Sometimes it's less than that when I have to catch up with domestic chores and my social life!

This year will see me return to Bundy's when it opens on June 16th then some time at Birch Grove in the winter. Beyond that?... maybe a return to Elstow but on pit 1 this time. Who knows where I will end up...

Be lucky,

Craig Banks.

Get This Blogging Started

Well, where to start eh?!

I was inspired to have a go at this blogging lark by fellow Tweeters blogs due to them being so good and entertaining. Cheers guys - if mine is half as interesting as yours then I'll be happy!

I'll aim to blog at least once a month but hopefully I'll have enough to say to update it far more often. There might not be many captures but I will do my best to keep it interesting and if nothing else I'll include plenty of pictures to look at.

This year I'm intending on fishing Bundy's Pit over Cambridgeshire way again. Unfortunately that is just due to close this week as it has a traditional closed-season in place so I've got to wait until June 16th now. Barring any major disaster and my name coming out in the draw I will be there for opening night... can't wait.

In the mean time I'm not quite sure what fishing I'll be doing. I have an Elstow 2 ticket but that's unlikely to be used to be honest, a Birch Grove winter ticket that finishes end of April so I hope to get up there for a session or two and I also have a club ticket that I want to make use of fishing a large local gravel pit to see if I like it there. I've also got to fit in some work parties and a couple of weeks in the Canaries with the wife.

Until next time...