40 acre lake.........daunting

[james barbeltench]

Hi all

I am in a bit of bother my local club owns a lake which is 40acres and conatins aprrox 50-60 fish they go to around 25lb(some fish maybe uncaught?size unknown) but the water is massive and very very daunting has anyone any tips for a water of this size ive had a walk round a few times and seen the odd fish crash are theses worhty spots? what do you do when fishing a new water of this size please help !!! there are loads of island margins to fish to and gravel patches were the shallow water is

james

[Steve Burke]

My lakes at Wingham are 40 & 15 acres. The bigger one is similar in character to your club's one in that it has a low stock density and masses of features. Very few of my members are prepared to tackle it - and some of them are very experienced indeed!

 

My advice would be to learn your craft on an easier water first. Otherwise the chances are you'll get many blanks and become disheartened.

 

However, if you do decide to tackle it I'm sure we can come up with some advice for you. For a start take a look at Jim Gibbinson's first piece in the articles section here on Angler's Net as it deals with just this problem.

[pokey joe]

Good advice from Steve,You will not learn a lot from blanking time after time,and unfortunately the chances are you will .

Sitting behind motionless rods session after session makes you doubt even the most basic of tackle and methods you are using,and thats not good for confidence.

[JoninItaly]

It depends upon how much of a challenge you're looking for. I'd agree with the above up to a point, but don't forget the possible advantages i.e. presumably lower angline pressure and more peace and quiet, and less of the 'hassle' which can be a pain on smaller waters, not to mention the satisfaction of landing a carp from such a lake. You can always go back to a smaller, easier water if you get cheesed off with it.

My advice would be to spend as much time as possible looking for 'em. Get some polaroids and get up trees etc.

If you've already seen fish showing then that's a start. Don't be in too much of a rush to start fishing, time spent observing the fish and their movements will prove far more valuable than time spent sitting behind motionless indicators.

I'd say that location is likely to be the key, as far as rigs and baits are concerned, stick with what you've done well on in the past.

When you are fishing, be prepared to up sticks and move if you are not confident that you have fish near you....it keeps you fit!

Give it a go, it'll be hard work, but the potential rewards are tremendous.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Jon

[james barbeltench]

Hi all thanks for the help i am considering whether to go today i went for a walk round there were a few carpers asked them if they had caught one had a 17lbder a 20lbder and an 8 while the other had nothing one thing which i did find out is that it is very very weedy! has anyone got any tips for fishing in weed ? rigs baits (Pop ups bottom baits particles fluros singles or pva!!!??)i am thinking of having a few sessions here and a few sessions at another local water aswell which is catton park which isnt to hard anyone got any help for me weed problem!! please thankyou lads

james

[Peter Sharpe]

Forty acres, that's a puddle There is a lake of 80-plus acres quite close to where I live, containing less than thirty carp, yet several have been caught this year. It's just a matter of spending a lot of time walking around at dawn and dusk, noting any areas where the carp seem to be seen regularly. If you see them rolling, it's a matter of getting some bait to them as quickly as possible, in the hope of holding them until you can catch them. They might have a tendency to follow the prevailing winds, but you can't take this for granted. If you are very lucky, you might even be able to introduce some Chum mixers from the upwind bank, and get them to follow them to a place where you can get at them.

[will this name be ok]

This might be a stupid reply as i'm not a carp fisher and admit i don't know alot about them but can you pre bait for carp as you can for other fish?

[james barbeltench]

yeah i think you can but this is probably a dumb question but how do you remember where you baited up exactly not sort of????

[Newt]

pre-bait for carp - absolutely yes.

 

As to the large water, my suggestion is that after study time (which you have done) you mentally break the lake into sections and treat a section as if it were a complete, small water.

 

The carp likely will not be scattered randomly thru the lake and will concentrate on areas they appeal to them.

 

And BTW - this from an angler who rarely can find a lake of less than 1000 acres to fish. 10-20 miles long and 1/2 to 1 mile wide is common where I live.

 

Turn left and it is at least 6 miles to the end. Turn right and it is around 4-5 miles to the end.

 

And you will pass here if you turn left.

[singy]

Newt has got it spot on, another thing you will find is that the more time you spend down there, these kind of lakes shrink, if you know what I mean and no longer fell as daunting.