The wildfowl has been making a dent in the weed problem for a few weeks now. However, with so few pegs having any clear spots to place baits in, such clear spots soon become tagged by the carp as dangerous. I've found that placing a bait 6 inches into the weed, just off of any such clear spots, can be deadly for 24hrs or slightly more before the carp twig whats going on. Bait up in the clear spots with a few handfuls of boilies or chopped tigers, then fish a very small pva bag with a single bait just within the weed as said. I've found this method to fool the carp quite well. Also, try using just 12inch of leadcore, without a lead weight, and use slack lines. It's certainly been doing the business for me as of late, and gets the fish up in the water far quicker than having any kind of lead ejection setup.
One other thing, Terry says that letters will be going out after next Sunday's committee meeting to inform all anglers that we can fish the big pond. However, we can only fish from teatime until 7 - 8am, then we have to pack up and move back onto the carp lake until teatime again. This is set for the end of September, so get pre-baiting now.
I hope to forward to all carp anglers who have a permit for Ravenfield Ponds, an invitation to fish a 24hr carp match to be held to raise funds for the Cavendish Cancer Care Centre in Sheffield. On Sunday, at the committee meeting, Terry Littlewood and Martin Read will be tabling a motion to allow the match to go ahead. I am in the process of contacting local tackle shops and businesses in the hope that they will donate tackle, bait or money for us to use as prizes. Entry to the match will be around £10 - £15, and will be covered in all local newspapers etc. So come on lads, put your hands in your pockets and rally to a worthwhile cause. With luck it will be held annually, towards the back end of each year so the weed problem is not a factor. Keep a lookout for the proposal dropping through your letterboxes.
Anyway, it doesn't appear as though any action is being planned by the committee with regards the weed problem, so it looks as though it is a problem that is here to stay. Most anglers with whom I have spoken to over the past six months think the weed situation is an absolute disgrace. It is not because anglers do not possess the knowledge to fish effectively in the weed, for Ravenfield can boast some damn fine carp anglers, but is due to the sad fact that after hooking a twenty pound carp, then having to drag it bodily through 30 - 40 yards of six foot deep canadian pond weed, the fish ends up with scales ripped off its body and its mouth torn to pieces. And I don't know about you, but I am an angler - not a butcher!
It is sad, but as we are a syndicate, and pay for our year's fishing upfront - unlike the match anglers who pay their fees every week, so are kept sweet by having their ponds tidied and bankside regulary trimmed - once they have our money they they never give us another thought. And when only one carp angler sits upon the committee, compared to 10 or 11 other match anglers, it doesn't take a genius to see why we constantly receive the short end of the stick. As an example: After I sent a detailed list of carp anglers' complaints to Martin Read, highlighting mainly the weed problem and overgrown bankside vegetation that was hindering anglers setting up bivvies and manouvering barrows down the paths for access to pegs, four committee members turn up at the carp lake to rake the weed. Great, you might think. After only an hour and a half, two of those present have to leave, so the others leave too. Only four pegs were raked. Several narrow channels were created to place baits in each of the four pegs. Within a week, the weed had grown back and the pond was virtually unfishable.
Now, compare this to what happened at Bakers Pond. Most of the committee fish at Bakers regularly. So, they spend an entire day - from early morning until teatime, with a team of about a dozen people, raking the pond continually from one side to the other. They did not stop until the rake was pulling through clear without catching any debris. The reason I know this? I was speaking to the bailiff of Bakers Pond when he so kindly spent one and a half hours raking four swims for us on the carp lake, and he told me.
Now, does this stink to anyone else, or is it just me. When I paid my yearly fees, I expected to be able to fish for a year - not six months!
Anyhow, the weed is beginning to die down now, so sport is picking up and fish are being landed more safely. White chocolate boilies are producing some good catches, but tigers are pipping them in my catch ratio.
Tight lines everyone. And remember to watch out for the carp match proposal.
Regards
Stufish
