Carping Paradise

  • Thread starter Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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I was in my local tackle shop today and I discovered that one of our local clubs - Phoenix and Parkgate AC, has a small lake, about 2 1/2 acres not 5 miles from where I live.

This lake is set in a delightful valley amidst dense woodland. It contains numerous double figure commons and mirrors to high 20s. It is fringed with dense beds of rushes and lilies.

The ticket for the lake for the year is ?80.00, which includes night fishing.

Maybe this is the place where I can do some classic carp fishing. Margin fishing and floating crust for example.

Come on Big Rik, what do you think, is it worth the money?

Or will I get surrounded with baseball capped chavs?
 
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Les Clark

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For ?80 it`s worth a go Ron ,maybe worth checking the rules ,it may give you some idea what the water`s like .
 
captain carrott

captain carrott

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go for a walk round it before you buy the ticket and have a look it sounds good but lots of things do.
 
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Ian Cloke

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What's it called Ron? I might know it, and be able to advise you of the people that go there.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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I'll phone you Ian.

Don't want Chris Yates and the Golden Scale Club heading up the M1 if it is good.
 
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matt

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Now youv'e posted it on here Ron every man and his dog in your area may seek it out.
Then you'll have lots of company !!!!!!
 
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Big Rik

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in a valley, beds of rushes and lillies, close to where you live.
The size of the fish is immaterial.

Sounds good Ron and seems reasonably priced.


I always find with any lake, that I get a feel for it when I first arrive.
Some lakes just give you that buzz, others don't push the right buttons.
It's difficult to quantify, but you'll know it when you feel it.

What have you got to lose Ron?
At your age, you're only probably going to be mobile for another year or two max, so take the chance while you are still able.......
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Yes Rik, I'm certainly not bothered too much about the size of the fish. I've caught a few big carp in the distant past of my life.

What would be nice, is to do it BB and Walker style. You know, the cooing pigeons, the movement of the lilies as a mail clad carp glides through, the bubblers, smoke screeners and tenters.

It would take me back to the little lake I fished with Tag Barnes in the 60s near Pateley Bridge the was stocked with Leney fish.

Now that is the sort of carp fishing that really floats my boat.

Another Redmire!!

Whooo Hooo!!
 
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Les Clark

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I think that on that score you may be disappointed in this day and age on a club water ,but I hope that I`m wrong .
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Les,

Years ago Walker wrote about the possibity of many "Redmires" being created in England.

OK I spent 27 years of my life in another part of the world, yet somehow, Walker's concept of many great carp waters being created, did not materialise.

What have we got.

Little puddles totally overstocked with carp of dubious ancestry that are starving and will take anything thrown at them.

These puddles are ringed with pole jockeys and method splodgers, with only one interest and that is "bagging up" on fish that actually are quite small. They even complain when the fish reach double fisgures can you believe!!!

This is not proper carp fishing chaps.
 
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Big Rik

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What would be nice, is to do it BB and Walker style. You know, the cooing pigeons, the movement of the lilies as a mail clad carp glides through, the bubblers, smoke screeners and tenters.


I think we all dream of that Ron, our own little piece of heaven.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Maybe such waters could be created Rik?

And it's no "maybe" if you think about it, they can!
 
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Big Rik

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definitely, all it needs is the enthusiasm and the money to waste.

It would need to be for just selected individuals, as no club or commercial concern would waste money on it, it would need numbers to make it financially viable and then it wouldn't be what it was created for.

10 individuals at ?15,000 a piece should be enough money to 'create' one.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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It does seem that Chris Yates and Co fish such waters quite regularly, mainly for "wild" carp.

The nearest I ever got to wild carp fishing was on a farm dam of about 4 acres which was about 130 kms from Joburg. It had everything. Lilies, reedmace - the African type, frogs by the thousand that went "grabbit grabbit" every evening, some lovely large mouth bass and the carp which went to 30lb.

The were all the long lean fully scaled common variety. Their numbers were kept down by the predatory bass so you had a nice balance. They could be caught on bread and sweetcorn. The average size was about 15 lbs and they fought like tigers.

The only problem with this water were the fact that it was home to a lot of black necked spitting cobras and odd columns of driver ants passed closely on occasions.

But it was a little bit of "Redmire in Africa" as I used to call it.
 
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christian tyroll

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i fish a 13acre lake lined with extensive rushes, and lilies in the summer! the carp only reach 15lbs but like the ones you encountered, very lean, only commons and fight like tigers. sweetcorn is the main bait and you never need to fish more than 15metres out and its always on the float! i love the place but may not be able to fish it after this summer due to a change of location (im not complaining as there is some great fishing in heartfordshire though). and this is all on the price of a club ticket, i suppose the fish dont go huge but its an amazing place to be and all for a ?20 club ticket for me! i wouldnt really appreciate like some do but my dad will certainly miss it very much!
hope you find your Redmire...
 
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Frothey

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chris yates and co know the right land owners...and good luck to them!
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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"Can only reach 15lbs!!"

50 years ago Christian, a water like that would be prized.

Before Bernithan Pool(Redmire) was discovered, one of the best carp waters in the country was a small lake in Lincolnshire called Benniworth Haven (Woldale). It was made famous by **** Walker and Maurice Ingham in their book - "Drop Me a Line".

As far as I know, Woldale never produced a 20 pound carp. A fish of 17lbs taken by Ingham in 1950, on potato, was the biggest. The fish averaged 14 or so pounds. Walker's biggest was a 16 pounder caught to order for the BBC. Fred Taylor qualified for membership of the august "Carp Catcher's Club" by catching a 16 pounder there.

About 7 years ago, Eric Hodson and myself tried to obtain permission to fish there for old times sake you understand. Benniworth, near Louth is not so far from where I live.

The two lakes - one held big tench, are now a nature reserve and angling is banned.

The carp stocked were all of Leney's strain, Galicians - all mirrors.

I wonder if they are still there?
 
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Barry Marks

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Ron,
After reading 'still water angling' and 'drop me a line' I also decided to hunt down Woldale myself, after finding a map of its location i took a trip out as its only 30 minutes from my house and saw the jewel.
While standing on the bank i saw a fish of ~6lb rise casualy in the sun, then i found a sight that while not pleasant makes me think if this place could ever be fished it would be every bit the place it was in the 50s and 60s
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/6562/image021ai7.jpg

at over 6" I couldn't descripe my hands as anything other than large so in life this fish must have been a nice double, probaly fell foul of otter or heron.

Maybe the dream could be realised one day :)
 
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Fred Blake

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Ron - Woldale did eventually produce a twenty pounder to Rod Hutchinson; it's mentioned in George Sharman's book The Carp and the Carp Angler.
 
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