Richworth

Features >> TIM CHILDS - AS RARE AS THEY COME!

TIM CHILDS - AS RARE AS THEY COME!

I don’t know about you guys but my year so far has been filled with both high and low points, the year got off to such a great start that I simply couldn’t seem to put a foot wrong and carp of various sizes ended up in the net, but as April moved into May and what is normally one of my favourite times of the year, I simply couldn’t buy a bite! The month of May slipped buy with only a couple of doubles to show for a hell of a lot of effort. Whilst its true I did spend most of this time fishing a 120 acre wind swept pit with no idea of the stock I still expected to get a chance or two, oh well whether it was poor location, low numbers of fish or I was simply getting it wrong by the last couple of days in May I had to make some radical changes if I was to get amongst the fish once again.
      The water I had plans to move onto in June was a relatively local 40 acre midlands gravel pit set in the heart of a large country park, the lake is broken up with various islands and bays and is home to some of the nicest looking fish in the area. There are loads of 20lb a number of 30 lb fish present with one or two that are just short of the magic 40 mark, but it’s the look of these fish that first attracted me to the water as they are stunners. A well timed conversation with Bob Baker at Richworth Baits had resulted in me being asked to become a consultant for them and it was their new bait the very impressive XLR8 that I intended to use on the new water. The first trip was a day only session as all new members are only allowed to fish days until they receive there night permits. The plan was to get the feel for the venue, see what the locals were like and hopefully spot one or two fish. Despite not receiving any action on that first trip I introduced a couple of kilo of my new bait into one or two spots with a view to returning a couple of days later. In fact within 48 hours I was planning a return trip as the weather was about to change and a strong south westerly wind was forecast to hit the country any time soon. With that I packed a few kilos of XLR8 boilies in 10 and 14mm and plenty of hemp and PVA friendly tigers in eager anticipation. Along with these new additions to my bait armoury I’d packed plenty of smelly flavoured bottles of fake corn as I was sure a bright visual topper would help add attraction to the hookbaits. Finally a little trick I’d firmly got hidden up my sleeve was a batch of glugged hookbaits that I’d pepped up by mixing a little betaine with 5mm of XLR8 dip and 15mm of Aquastim liquid the resulting ‘goo’ was then poured over a full pot of pop ups and allowed to soak, the result was a batch of highly attractive baits that were full of food signals. I intended to keep these for single rover hookers and rely on the potent signal to pull fish down to the hookbait.
    A friend, Warren, had also recently joined the water and despite his time being restricted due to shift work and a young family he was keen as mustard and fished whenever he could.
  On arrival around mid morning as promised the wind was from the south west although at this point it was just a gentle ripple, the forecast was for increasingly strengthening winds.
 Over the next 48 hours and this would blow direct into the large car park bay of around 10 acres. At the end of the bay ran a substantial reed bed with a lovely gravel margin that sloped away to around 7 feet and at the base of this slope was blanket and onion type weed that housed all manor of creepy crawlies, an ideal food trap and a perfect position to drop my hookbaits. With my Polaroid’s on and my cap pulled low over my eyes I spend some time looking hard into the clear crystal waters with the waves lapping at my feet. Before long I’d caught sight of the first fish a lovely dark looking mirror around 20 lb, suddenly there was another and another and within a few minutes I’d seen at least a dozen fish with a couple that looked between 30 and 33lb. One a long scaly mirror and the other a tubby short leathery looking fish with just the odd scale near its tail. There were no real swims nearby at this point and the only real option was a small opening in the reeds, where with a squeeze I could just poke 3 rods through the gap. At this point I have to say a big thank you to one of the regulars Martin ‘from up north’ who I’d recently met.
  After a good chat, Martin had informed me he’d been baiting a few spots in the bay and even told me some of the contours and pointed out one or two likely looking spots. This information was very much appreciated and certainly helped me on that first day in the bay.
   It soon became obvious that the fish were patrolling up and down the marginal shelf enjoying the effects of the strengthening wind and the early June sun. Setting up well back from the edge I prepared 3 traps consisting of solid PVA bags laced with whole and crumbed 10mm XLR8 boilies, a few small PVA friendly tigers and a sprinkling of small mixed pellets.
 Rig wise the choice was simple and as always when using solid bags I used a short 5 inch length of soft uncoated braid attached to a small Gardner curved Long shank Mugga hook, this was then attached to a 2.5oz A.C.E in-line lead semi fixed onto 4 ft of heavy fluorocarbon, mainline as always was 15lb Velocity which is both tough and strong. Choices of hookbaits were either tiger nuts or XLR8 pop-ups trimmed down to barrel shapes and balanced with small lead wire inserts. With all 3 rods ready I simply swung each one out the 10 yards or so letting the bags swing down on a tight line to bump down on the gravel bed. With all 3 rods done I spend the next 10 minutes clearing away the usual chaos that is my tackle and with everything packed neatly away I pumped up the Coleman and filled the kettle for a well earned brew. Being near the carp park I had no shortage of visitors throughout the day but by keeping well back from the water and the noise levels low I hoped to avoid spooking any margin feeding chunks! The afternoon turned into evening and with it brought a steady increase of cloud and as a result the fish seemed to respond favourably as I started to see regular shows amongst the waves as heads and backs of carp gave away their location. As evening descended on the picturesque park lake my stomach reminded me that I’d not eaten for some hours and with that I set about the simple task of preparing myself a simple meal of hotdogs and beans. With the pan on the go and just as I was buttering a couple of rolls the middle rod burst into life! The loud pitched howl of a Stevie Neville soon had me scrambling to the rods, picking up the 3lb Torrix the rod was instantly into its curve as an angry and powerful carp sped off eager to put as much distance between us as possible. Clamping down on the spool slowed her down a little and quickly I slipped off my socks, shoes and shorts and paddled out amongst the reeds eager to catch a glimpse of what was on the end of my line. Slowly I started to gain a little line and within a few minutes I had her circling under the rod tip. During the fight Canadian pond weed had built up around the tip of the rod and around the rig but with a little luck and some quick thinking I managed to dislodge it without much trouble. With the net well sunk and one or two last gasp lunges I managed to bundle her into the waiting net. Suddenly I felt a little isolated stood out in front of the reeds in my underwear with a large fish in the net. Luckily I managed to squelch my way back to dry land and replace my shorts before anyone saw my embarrassment! With the hook removed and the fish safely secured in the deep net I made a quick call to one of the local lads for some assistance with the pictures, luckily, he was actually on his way to the lake and would be there in 5 minutes. Once we’d got her on the mat we were shocked at her beauty and I was blown away to be informed this was a very rare mirror indeed, in fact it was the opinion of all the regulars that this virtually unknown mirror had only ever been caught once before at over 30 lbs and was now named windy’s mirror after the first guy who’d caught it! The fish behaved herself perfectly whilst being weighed and the scales pulled round to read 29lb 9 oz, lovely. I held her up for a few of those all important shots and with a couple of those last in the water return pictures done she waddled off to sulk, gutted she’d made her second ever mistake. As it was nearly dark I packed away a few bits and decided a trip up to the local 24 hour Macdonald’s was in order, the hotdogs were ruined and my stomach cried out to be filled. Later that evening whilst tucking into my Big Mac I reflected on this my first capture. Not only was this fish a stunner but the fact she was virtually unknown and such a rare visitor to the bank that hardly anyone had ever seen her before really hit home. Was it luck or just a case of good angling? Well time would tell and if it was my only bite of the season it was a corker to start with.

< Back ^ Top