Guest Ticket On Knipton Res Not So Happy Return

My boss had brought me a weekend ticket to fish Knipton for a christmas bonus so i could have a few days with my brother who is a member on there. I made my mind up to fish the easter bank holiday of 2011 that way it would not get in the way of fishing the nene valley complex when the ticket started in june also it was just before we was due to go to France and i thought it would get the juices flowing get the buzz back ready for the Trip abroad. Well it did not go to plan well the fish didn't anyway the sun came out and just ruined the weekends fishing totally not a sniff from any of the rods a big fat blank.
I thought that i had blown my chance of a knipton fish when my brother phoned me and said that Antony from ajs fisheries had invited me back on a guest ticket i over the moon. We made arrangements to fish the next bank holiday which was August. I fished the same swim because after reading the catch report book it had been throwing a few up in the last few weeks plus it was easy to get your gear round there too as you can drive to the swim drop your stuff off before parking the van in the carpark.
We did 2 nights the 1st was very quite and the second not being much better to be honest. The fish are very shy at knipton and don't show that often so the sights of carp are very scares indeed. The only show we did have was when i spotted what i thought was a lose buoy only a small one which was heading up the lake towards us which was very strange because the wind which was not strong was blowing down the lake away from us. But this buoy was bobbin a long nicely as my brother was in the next swim to me i walked round and told him about the orange buoy that was coming towards us Although it had been a few minutes since i had spotted it i still had not clasped what it really was. My brother started to laugh as he was telling me in fact it was a local woman that swims the 40 acre lake on a regular occasion.
She had not seen us tucked up in the trees in the swims we was in because as she made her way out of the lake she stood on the porch of the lodge to dry herself down and peeled her swimsuit off there she was stood in her birthday suit drying herself down oblivious to the fact that we stood watching from the other side of the lake be rude not to now wouldn't it not.

At 7.00am i was up and about with a fresh brew on the go when the right hand rod pulled up tight held for a moment or two before the bobbin dropped back to the floor nice i thought as i sipped on the hot cup of tea. Then the right hand rod gave a single bleep intresting i thought i had fish moving threw my swim and seemed to be have a little taste of the bait that was down there. All went quite for 10 minutes or so when the bobbin on the right hand rod slowly tightened up to the rod butt the rod tip was pulling round and i could see that the fish was hooked i grabbed the rod and pulled in to it That's the bit the carp did not like it shot down the lake to my left trying to pick up the middle rod's line as it did so but i was not having any of it so i bullied it away from the line and started to get line back of the carp that had my hook in it's mouth.

The fight did not last long and it was soon in the net a nice dumpy mirror laid in the bottom of it and as i left it in the net to rest Andy came walking in to my swim asking if i had had one. We weighed it at 28-06 took the photos before slipping back the mirror. Revenge was sweet and i was happy to no that i had banked a carp from a water that i had blanked from previously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIT6LIjqpmw


But my happeness soon changed to sadness because as we packed away the rods and put the gear back in the van ready for the off i had the radio on in the van when the news came on and the tragic news came of the death of marco simoncelli a motogp rider that had been killed at the start of the race at the Malaysian MotoGP in Sepang at the age of 24. Both me and andy have been folowing the motogp all season and we was real fans of the young rider and had watched him come threw the ranks to be such a great if not a little crazy rider. So i would like to dedicate this chapter of the blog to marco simoncelli may he rest in peace.

Very Lean

After i had the big common the idea was to carry on fishing the lake as there was other fish to catch. But the next time i went down the swim was taken so i walked further up the lake only to find that the next two swims i had in mind was taken by anglers. So it was time maybe to move on to another lake after all there was three more to have a go at. I found myself having a go on all three over the next few month's and not one of them was kind enough to throw a fish my way.
What i was finding and i was not on my own with the problem was that the weekends on the complex found that the main lake was rammed and the carpark lake was seeing enough anglers too. The trouble was that anyone that joined and paid the £600 price tag worked during the week so like me the only time that they can go is the weekends hence why the lakes are full on a weekend. You cant blame the anglers they had paid there money just the same as i had. Also with so many lines in the water the fish would do the off. After a word with a mate of mine Tone we came to same conclusion about the weekend so i decided to sunday night as well think that when everyone had gone home the fish would go on the munch mopping the bait up that had been put in over the weekend.
I had got down there on the friday and was camped up on swim they called the baby elephant a cracking swim that is up the first arm which meant you was fishing in to the first bay. Saturday came and went leading in to sunday not a fish had been seen by mid afternoon i was the only one on the lake time to see if my theory was right. Ed Betteridge turned up and after a brief chat he made his mind up to fish the 2nd point which turned out to be a good move on ed's part.

The Baby Elephant swim


As dusk started to drop the sun down the fish started to show first off the top of the arm at the point to my left little shows that all at first it seemed they was making there way in to the bay as the fish started show more and more with full blown crashing as they lept right out the water on several shows. It was like i was on a different lake all together. It did seem that me and Tone's idea's was right my Confidence was pretty high by the time it got too dark to see any movement.
It was five in the morning when the fish picked up the bait from a hole in the weed i had found while leading about a rod length out by the time i had the waders on and pulled in to the fish it had bolted a good 40-50 yards in to open water in the bay. After a brief scrap it was under the rod tip plodding left and right hugging the bottom for a few minutes till i managed to pump the fish to the top and with just one gulp of air it was beaten and the net slipped under the common. What a fish it was a stunner with a nice dark back and mint scale pattern and to top it off it was another 30 plus carp tipping the scales at 34-08



The other side


Sadly that is the last fish i had out of the complex in 20011 i still fish there and i will keep on fishing it till the ticket runs out in june 2012 so plenty of time to maybe bag one or two more if the carp gods are on my side that is.

Till next time tight lines

Russ

In Again

It was a couple of weeks before i could get down there again. As i pulled up to the gate to unlock it i could see that there was a lot of cars at the bottom of the track. I started to count them 21 that cant be right i thought so i counted them again i was right 21 cars plus me that was a least 23 anglers as i could see Ants car and he sometimes brings his mate Steve. I had never seen that many on before normally it was 12 -14 on a friday night so this was going to be a wasted weekend or so i thought.

The van was unloaded and barrow was loaded i had a quick peep at the carpark lake that looked full up. So off i went at a steady pace towards the swim in which i had been in when i had the linear. I was all set up for the disappointment that someone would be in there already so was was shocked to find it empty i parked the barrow up and had a walk down the causeway to see how many was on the lake i was going to fish.
Seems everyone was not interested in my lake as there was only my mate yoda set up in his normal swim 22 anglers dotted around the complex and not one of them set up on the prison lake Thank you very much i thought. Not wanting to waste anymore daylight hours so i soon had the waders on and withg a baitbag full of belecan and seasnail i was marching round to the other side to bait up THE area where i had had the linear from. Half a kilo was soon on the zone then it was back round to set up the rods. One rod was placed on the zone which was a snowman rig. The second rod was placed on the other end of the reed's near the corner of the lake with 50 baits around the hook bait which was a double bottom bait And the third rod was put on a gravel spot about 30 yards to my right that was just a single bait again with about 50 baits placed around it but was nice and tight rather than spread in a wide area. Everything went pretty smooth so i still had time for a brew and watch as the sun set on what was a cracking summers evening.



I had not been in my sleeping bag that long when i had a bleep on the left hand rod that was the one on the zone i switched on my headtorch and sat looking for line pick up it bleeped again it was like that scene out of jaws where he gets a touch on the rod and he starts to strap his self into the chair. I new i had a fish on i was waiting for a more positive take before i lifted into the fish i was trying to get the waders on and keep my torch fixed onto the bobbins when bang all hell broke out alarms reels and line bobbins all started to sing and dance as the fish took off down the lake with my hook and bait in its mouth.
Within a second i was on the rod and pulled up the line and it was game on i could not believe it two fish in such quick succession after all them weeks sat there seeing nothing week after week then like buses 2 bugger's come along but i was not complaining not by any means. The carp had started to come towards me as the rod's arc started to straighten up so i reeled in what seemed a hell of lot of line before the arc bent over again the fish rolled it was only 10 yards out i must have reeled in about 50 yards of line. The fish started to just use its weight to hug the bottom and go from left to right i was in no rush to bully this now and have the hook pull after all this time would have been madness so i was happy to let do what it liked for a minute or two which i did just to wear it's self out a bit. Right it was time to get its head up so i started to lift the rod up and gain some line within a few minutes it broke the surface once or twice on the last time it was all ready for giving in and i slid the net under the fish. I put the rod on the rod rest and looked inside the net to see what my prize was laid in there it was a very big common at well over the 30lb mark.
I left the fish in the net to rest while i got the scales,mat,camera and bucket of water set up. I was ready so lifted the fish out of the water and placed it on the mate unpeeled the net and unhooked it slid the fish out of the net into the weigh sling and raised it up the needle was bouncing around as i struggled to lift the weight on my own. I was just not strong enough to hold it up steady so i could see what it weighed all i could make out was the needle was around the 38lb. I needed back up so only one thing for phone yoda ask him if he would help with the weighing. As i had a trakker retention sling it was easy just to put back in the lake while i waited for yoda to get round.

We both lifted the sling out and placed it back on the mat as we had to drain the the sling i unzipped it to show the common to yoda he took one look and said 'Well done that's the one' 'what you on about that's the one ??? i said 'it's the big gal' was the reply i had only gone and caught the biggest carp in the lake which at the right time of year was 40lb plus but was it that time?? We both lifted the fish on the scales and i let yoda tell me the weight 38-15 is what he said not the right time of year then but i was not bothered not one bit it was a new pb common and the biggest in the lake just to top it off.

The photo's was done and the fish was slipped back into the dark water back in to it's home ready to fight another day

As you can see it had a swim bladder lump sticking out

Over she goes to take photos of the other side you can see how wide its back is from this photo

After the capture of the big common i never got to fish the swim since because the following week the swim was took up so i just moved from that lake and fished the main lake or the Island lake once i had had a go on them two lakes i felt that i needed to catch from them so i just moved between the 2 lakes depending on how many and which lake had swims free.

success at last

Things was just not going to plan and frustration was creeping in so with friday come all to quick the van was packed and off down the lakes by 7.30pm set up and rods in and we are fishing. The kettle is the next thing on as darkness once again starts.

Over the past few weeks of fishing the same swim i had notice that when the carp did show they was showing up against the reeds on the other side of the lake. After another fish less night i sat watching the water when one or two fish started to roll and show against the reed's I sat and watched them for maybe an hour before they finished there show for the morning. Mid afternoon and i was wading out to the reeds where i had seen them after a quick marker and lead about i was happy to put a bait in there. I spread by hand about a killo of belecan and seasnail went back to the rods and put a baited hook over the zone.
Night soon came round and having the last brew i slipped into the sleeping bag it was not long before i fell asleep because before i new it the sun was bright in the sky. I lay there for a minute or two before i turned my head and just looked at the gardener bugs they was still in the same position as they was last night when i set them. I just closed my eyes and thought to myself why am i bothering when one of the alarms bleeped twice. In the mood that i was now in i slowly raised my head off the bedchair to see which one it was i stared at it for a few seconds then threw my head back down on to the bedchair mumbling something under my breath when the alarm went into melt down it was a bloody run at last.
Within what seemed an age but was just seconds i was up out and was trying to climb into the waders the reel was peeling line and i couldn't get the dam things on. There prologic waders and the welly top of the boot is squashed and not round which makes it a mare to slip your foot in sometimes and this was one of them times. In the end i sat on the floor and just pushed my foot into the boot jumped up got the straps pulled up around my shoulder's they where on. I grabbed the rod and pulled into the fish. The rod arched over and the line pulled up tight out of the water i was in fish on let battle commence. This was the rod i had up against the reeds the other side. The carp came towards me and it was soon within netting distance it made powerful runs dropping deep into the depths trying to shake the hook.

Three times i went to net it and three times it was not ready i had seen it up close now and saw it was a big un not wanting to lose it like the last big fish from last year i made sure on the fourth attempt she was in the net i was one happy boy i can tell you. I placed the rod back on the rest's and looked into the net there laid in it was a big linear and a cracker too.
I phoned yoda and asked if he could take some photos for me He was soon round and was happy to see what was one of the A team carp laid in the net. After taking the photo's it was time to put her back i watched as the carp swam off back to her watery home. By this time it was still only 7.00am still time for another one i thought the rod was rebaited and cast back out to the far side. The kettle was put on and a brew was soon on the cards I was feeling pretty dam pleased with myself i can tell you i thought things was coming right after all these weeks i had only the one carp but what a fantastic looking one it was.


Here is a link to a small video of the carp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMp310ZrYfE



31-02 of stunning linear


Water shot


















Back she goes

Blanking why ???

After a few trips and fishing the same spots with no action from them and the bait going in every weekend it seemed to me that it was not working. After all it had been 7 nights in the same swim and nothing the carp was really shy we had not really had any shows to speak of. It was now Saturday night and a nice breeze was on the lake i had had my tea and was stood watching the water when the first show was seen. A nice common that would have made 20lb plus that was out towards yoda he had spotted it too. Then with out warning another bosh further down the lake then another but this time just to my left. Things was starting to look very good for both of us within an hour we had seen fish roll and top all over the lake all in all we had something like 10 -12 shows in an hour which was more than we had seen since we started to fish there.

My confidence was very high and so was yoda's we both thought that it was going to happen after all this time and effort it was going to pay off. The shows stopped was that because they was feeding i thought. The light was fading fast it was getting more and more difficult to see if anything was moving or showing i just had to listen for any carpy sounds that might have gave me some kind of clue as to what was going on out in the lake. I stayed up as long as i could and heard no more or saw anything so i got into the bag and soon fell asleep. It was 9.00am before i woke up i just lifted my head off the bedchair looked at the bobbins that had not moved and just threw my head back and was feeling gutted thoughts started to go threw my head then what was i doing wrong is it the bait the spots all the things you think about when it just is not working.

By 11.00 i was up and about so to speak. Yoda had already packed up and had barrowed his gear round to my swim as it is on his route to the car park. A quick chat on what had happened last night or not had happened and he was off to make his long journey home. But things was about to change for both of us over the next few weeks.

Buzzing

The first trip was great got a bit of a feel for the place and was very surprised on how nice and carpy the place was you see it from the road and it don't look that good but when you are down by the water's it really is nice trees line themselves around the place and all the lakes are reed lined.
As you can see the rods have to go in the water which makes wearing chest waders a nightmare to get on in the middle of the night when all hell breaks lose when a run goes off.

This is a video of 2 of the lakes i did when down there one weekend you can see just a how nice and grown up the trees and lakes have become.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwdrjDnGyTM&feature=channel_video_title

The following weekend i was down again on the friday night this time i settled into a end swim because the weather was going to change over the friday night and bring in some strong south westerly winds which meant they would blow straight up the lake and hopefully push the fish up my end of the lake. Again the baits was placed on the zones i had found with the marker and the marlarky was put over the top about half a killo per rod. The wind started to get stronger about 2.30am and by 5.00am it was up to 25mph. The wind was good and strong all day but still no carp was showing. Yoda was in his swim across the other side of the lakes he had a better view of the whole lake where he was sat and a quick text to him and and he was the he had seen nothing all day too. I was beginning to think there was no carp in the lake with the wind howling in to the top of the lake like it was i could not figure out why i had not at least had one show.

All was very quiet during the night the wind slowed down to next a breeze and by morning it was hardly putting a ripple on the water the sun was up and it was going to be a warm pleasant day. I like to fish till midday sunday if i can to get hopefully a morning bite. Yoda was packed up and barrowing his kit round by 11.30am With a quick chat on how things was panning out so far we both said that we would again carry on on the lake. Both of us was putting bait in before we left as it seemed me and yoda was having the lake to ourselves at weekends which was good no fighting for swims then.

I packed my gear away just after dinner and put in 2kg of the marlarky on the areas i was fishing. Even though i had not seen a fish yet or had one i was still happy and relaxed i new it would come good and it was going to take a bit of time and effort to catch something but that is how you get the rewards.

Thats it from me for the time being i just want to wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year. I hope that 2012 will be kind to you and you get that fish of a life time.

Till next time saty lucky
Russ

The new waters

Looking forward to the summer and a new water's to get to grips with. I first saw these lakes when i was fishing wellingboro lakes i had seen anglers set up across the river but finding anything out about them was hard work everyone i spoke to seemed not to no or did not want to say anything so info was the 1st step to over come. Then on a forum a guy called Dani on there was doing his dairy on his season on a set of lakes. The fish was stunning big common's after big common's was going in to his net along with other big carp mirrors and linear's graced his net all stunning fish. And they was all coming out the lakes i was looking at. After a few pm's between dan and me i had phone numbers and names of who to get in touch with my name went on the list and it was a case of finger's crossed and hope for the best. The old members are asked in march if they want to rejoin so i was to find out in April if i had got a ticket or not. One or two of my mates where getting the phone call to see if they wanted there tickets when i had a call off Richard (The head bailiff ) saying if i wanted a ticket i had so many days to accept it i did not need any days to think about it and told him i would take up the offer there and then on the phone Happy Days.

The ticket would not start till 1st june i would be in France the first week so could not get down there for my first trip till the 3rd week of june. Also because of my leg still not 100% right i could not arrange to meet up with Richard and have a walk round the lakes to see what i was getting for my price tag of £600.

With France out of the way and we was well in to june the first friday that i was going to go down the lakes had come work seemed to drag that day but 5.00pm came in the end and it was home bathed fed and watered and the van loaded in double quick time. I was heading down the A1 by 6.10pm looking forward to the weekend. An hour and fifteen minutes later and i was unlocking the gate while counting the cars in the carpark. 12 cars was there all ready so not too bad. I loaded the barrow up went over the foot bridge had a quick think to which way to go left or right. I had had a look on google earth so new that if went right i would go between two of the lakes so thats what i did sure enough i came to a split that was between the lakes both lakes looked carpy and time was knocking on so i walked down the causeway to the middle of the lake on my right it was a biggish swim with reeds that had cut outs in them to put the rods in it was a case of putting the rods in the water ( Good job i had chest waders ) I thought it was a good place to start lets get some rods in for the night and have a better look around the next day.



I manged to get a couple of choddy's chucked out and a bit of bait on the zones before it started to get dark with the bivvy put up and the bedchair sorted the kettle was on the go i thought i would look on the website and see what lake i was on i had no idea to be honest. After a quick look on the mobile seems i had picked the prison lake and looking at the website it seemed to have the most fish in with a common that goes to 40lb at certain times of the year. With only me another angler on the lake a mate of mine called yoda i thought well this lake will do The idea being that i would stick with it till such times i got fed up or i caught all the fish in there lol Why fish the other lakes when this one had everything going for it lots of carp up to 40lb and only 2 of us on it every week

After a good nights sleep i was up at first light watching the water again the kettle was on and the sun was getting up everything was looking good for a bite . Yoda was up too he had all ready started his campaign 2 weeks earlier and he was still yet to see any signs of carp so spotting carp was not going to be easy. After 1.00pm i reeled in and went for a walk around the lake and for a chat with yoda Every swim was the same rods in the water and cut outs for the rods but the lakes was stunning they all oozed carp the lake to my left was the carpark lake that had the biggest common in on the complex at 45lb. After a good long chat i went back to my swim got the rods back out and watched the water some more till night time came it was a stunning nene valley sun set that slowly turned in to night i sat there till 1.00am listening for any thing that might sound like a carp in the water before falling a sleep.



Morning came and a round 10.30am yoda came round to say he was off as he had a 2 1/2 hour drive home we both agreed that we would stay on the lake and see what happens in the next few weeks. Not long after i said my farewell to yoda i was locking the gates behind me ready for my trip home but as i did i took a look at the lakes thinking how exciting the coming season was going to be.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwdrjDnGyTM&list=UUP6_SJaTPwi2VJH8S-LwpfQ&index=12&feature=plcp