Nigel Sharp: Catch Rob A 30

The Complex

For Rob’s next challenge at getting a thirty, CARPology headed the man wagon in the direction of Surrey to a place they call ‘Frimley’. A four-lake complex – all of which are nice, but there’s one very special lake – Pit 3. This lake contains three commons close to the forty-pound mark and a whopping head of thirties. Ideal then!

Although Rob was going to be sitting it out on Pit 3, Li’l Nige was going to be wondering from lake to lake to search of a bite. The boy does well…

Time To Wonder

“When I arrived down for this session, I decided to have a walk around Frimley Pit 4 first off. It was a hot day and normally when there is a nice wind blowing they will get in the floating weed rafts around the margins. I did find some after having a mooch about and I did manage to get one or two taking the Mixers. However, it’s a bit of a park lake – quite open and has loads of wildlife on there and they soon moved in and messed that chance up.

I then knocked that on the head and went over and had a look at Lake 2, which is always known as the Mini Donut. There is a good head of carp in there – not particularly big fish, but a lot of them. Normally this is a good surface water, but quite surprising really, most of the fish seemed to be quite tightly held up under the bushes rather than swimming around in the open water. It could have been because I got down there a bit too late in the day. I did put a few Mixers along the tree-line, but they weren’t really into them, so I decided to go over to Lake 1 (also known as the Pike Pit) to see if I could see anything.

Last time I fished Lake 1 a couple of months ago, I didn’t see any fish at all. However, this time round I did find one fish. I tried a couple of casts ahead of him with the controller, but he wasn’t really into it. I stood and watched this fish for a bit and noticed he was heading towards the back of an island, so I ran round to a nearby swim and fired out a pouch-load of Mixers and started mopping up all the Mixers really slowly and confidently!

I got the rod rigged up again and make a cast, which didn’t spook him. The fish by now had drifted off into the bushes and stayed there for about half-an-hour and then never came back to the Mixers! That’s carp fishing for you…

The Night On Pit 3

After that I made my way back round to Frimley Pit 3 to where I’d left my kit. I was fishing a nice quiet bay, which is known as Daisy Bay and decided to bait up a few close in spot with pellet. It was around midnight when my rod positioned next to a set of marginal lily pads ripped off. I had the fish on for about 10 minutes, but on this particular rod I had braided main line on and as soon as I got him back into the margins the hook slipped out – which I wasn’t too chuffed about!

I awoke early the next morning to a text from Rob saying he was going to be late in true CARPology style!

Catch Rob A Thirty!

Nige has advised Rob on a different approach to what he did on his last campaign to catch his a thirty. Whereas on Sandhurst, Li’l Nige was suggesting a ‘boilie’ approach, this time it’s a bit of a mix.

Frimley is a water where plenty of ‘bits’ go in. ‘Bits’ being hemp, pellets, mini boilies, corn – basically a spod mix. So with this, the rigs have got to change also. Rob will be putting out a small bed of bait on each rod which will be 14 and 18mm boilies and a small handle of hemp and pellets. He’s thought this one through too; he’s using Mainline’s Fusion boilies along with their matching hemp and Response Pellets.

“Because Rob is fishing with hemp and pellets, I’ve suggested to him that he uses a bottom bait and trim the sides slightly so it isn’t the same round ball the Frimley Carp have seen and become slightly wary of. I do prefer a pop-up for the bigger fish, but because of the feed items going in, I don’t think it will be as effective on this session as a bottom bait will be.”

“With regards to location, I think we’ve got it bang on. As I said earlier, I got up at 6 o’clock this morning, before Rob arrived, and noticed a new wind had blown up and with that the fish had moved with it. I made a note of where they were showing most and then moved round there.”

“Rob is actually in a good ‘big fish swim’ and he’s fishing to known marks. One is about 50yds out near a gravel seam. Rod two is on the near side of a fairly large gravel area – pretty much the same area where Ally and Ian Stevens caught the big ’un from. The ‘Big ’Un’ being Charlie's Mate which Nigel caught at a lake record weight of 41lb 6oz. There were also fish showing just off the marginal shelf to his left, so Rob positioned his remaining rod there.”

Nige has also told Rob to position his hookbaits just off the gravel mark and on to the softer, smooth stuff.

Back Over To The Donut

Once Rob was all rigged up, Li’l Nige headed back over to Pit Four (The Donut Lake).

“Although this lake is some 20-acres, it’s the same with all fishing – you need to find the fish. After having a walkabout, I’ve located a few carp in these weedbeds close in, so I’ve dropped two rods in. On one rod, I’ve got a Hinged Stiff Rig and on the other a ‘Stick’ bag filled with meshed up bread.”

An hour passed and it looked like the chance was gone, then, just when Nige was having a go for a couple off the top, his Hinged Stiff Rig rod rips off! Although there was masses of weed around, Nige was convinced he’d land it. Why? Simple, because he’s got the bait on the ‘Hinged Rig’ and when they get hooked on that, they ain’t coming off! The result was a pretty 25lb 2oz common.

A Bite For Nige!

After that fish, Nige headed back over to Pit 3 for the last night. He positioned his rods on all good known bite areas and they didn’t let him down this time. The right-hand rod was baited with a little bread ‘Stick’ bag and tipped off with a 15mm bottom bait and a piece of fake corn. This was placed behind a weedbed. The middle rod was cast to the bottom of the far marginal slope, just into the silt. This rod was a Hinged Stiff Rig with 40 baits around it. The left-hand rod was settled on a little gravel hump at 20yds range. That was also a Hinged Stiff Rig…

…And that was the rod that rattled off at 6 o’clock the following morning. A stunning 20lb 6oz Frimley common.

And A Bite For Rob!

7.12a.m. and Rob’s ALM sends out a high-pitched sound, which just keeps on going… Before we’d even got out of our bags, Rob was in the lake and playing a heavy fish. Could this be it? Nige was on hand to help and after 10 or so minutes, Rob put the net under a classic Frimley common.

It looked long, it looked wide, so could this possibly be it? Nope. It went 27lb 1oz and although it wasn’t the thirty, Rob was happier than a kid at Crimbo.

The Key To Catching A Thirty!

Firstly, you have got to look at the waters you’ve got available to you and then work out the average size of fish in those lakes. It’s no good setting yourself up to catch a thirty-pounder and there only being one in the lake that just scrapes it.

Your best bet is to look for a lake with say a dozen or 20 thirties in it and a good head of twenties. That way you’re fishing for bites, but you’ve got the chance of a big ’un coming along.

Free-lining Floater Trick!