Charman’s Challenge – Court Farm
Fishery.
Date – Thursday May 1st.
Venue fact file –
Court Farm Fishery. Court Farm, Rag
Hill, Aldermaston, Berkshire RG7 4NT. Tel 0118 971 3105
Tickets purchased on the bank.
Lake 1 & 2 – Adults £9.
Lake 3 - Adult £11 (no concessions).
Lake 3 stock – A good mixed
fishery with lots of double figured carp, big roach plus tench, perch
and bream.
Conditions – why does it
always rain on my days out on a day ticket water? Temperatures down
to just 13 degrees, no wind of such, yet it feels good, humid and
overcast.
Court Farm Fishery
is as many will know a venue that I usually target the carp on the
float, yet I needed a water where I could experiment with the new
Nash Ballmaker and this fished filled lake seemed the perfect place.
A quick check of
the rules prior to leaving home showed that boilies weren’t allowed
which was annoying as I really wanted to try out the new Tandoori
Spice 2mm Ballmaker Pellets in conjunction with the same flavoured
10mm Instant Action boilies. Looking in the freezer I found some
curry spiced luncheon meat left over from an old barbel trip so this
seemed the next best thing, however I later learnt that boilies are
allowed as hookbait, but banned in any other use which seems a
sensible day ticket ruling.
Having dropped the
girlfriend of at work I made my way to my parents to collect my
father who fancied getting some fresh air before heading to the
fishery at Aldermaston. Arriving I was surprised to see no other cars
present, obviously everyone had seen the weather forecast and decided
against it, and in a way I wish I had as I cannot stand fishing in
boots, waterproof jacket and under a brolly. By the time we cast out
it was well past 8am and within five minutes the rod to pulled round
and dad was into a carp that somehow shed the hook.
Tactics today were
simple, 2oz inline leads fished bolt style with a foot of Nash
Cling-on tungsten tubing behind and a 10inch 15lb Missing Link
hooklink pinned down in two places using the brilliant Nash small
Clingers before a barbless size 10 hook attached knotless knot style.
Rods were carefully chosen as today was all about dropping the rigs
just inches from the bank so it had to be my pair of 9ft Nash Scopes.
H-Gun reels were loaded with 10lb Gardner HydroFlo keeping everything
balanced and although I had a set of Sirens mounted on short Gardner
So-Solid Sticks, in most cases I would be just placing the rods on
the ground with the baitrunner on and waiting for them to spin.
Watching the rod
tips twitch constantly I was surprised that we had to wait a while
for the next bite yet it wasn’t from a carp but a roach around the
pound which was followed by a bream and a tench, not exactly what I
was expecting. A couple of modest commons then came but these weren’t
the doubles I was hoping for so we decided to move from the deeper
water to the shallower end. Filling the Ballmaker half way before
dropping the hookbait and hook within, then sliding the mainline down
the slot in the side, before filling it to its level I simply
inserted the other part and pressed down and out came a perfect ball,
ready to be lowered in the margins. I didn’t have time to get the
second rod set before the reel spun and another modest common graced
dad’s net. A couple of things I noticed were that the pellets need
to be of a certain consistency for the Ballmaker to pop out perfectly
formed balls every time. Too sticky and they get stuck, too dry and
they break in half, so be prepared to experiment on mix consistency
when you first try this, however more importantly is that when
filling the ballmaker, only fill it to its level. With the right
consistency and keeping to its level you will be able to make perfect
pellet balls with your hookbait placed within every time, a method
that I can see being devastating on many a venue and not just for
carp!
With only three
hours to spare and already seeing most of this fly by I decided to
bait a spot right on the corner of the next swim in hope that a
couple of better carp would think that an angler had just packed up
and tipped a bit of excess bait down the edge. What I love about the
knew ballmaker with the slot in, is that every ball introduced to
your swim looks exactly the same, even the one with the hookbait
within and with half a dozen balls dropped close in plus the one with
my hook in I was sure a bite was immanent. It was a tactic that
transformed the session, albeit one I found too late as two better
commons graced my net and I know more would have followed including
the lakes bigger fish if I had found this out later.
If your looking to
find a venue that’s attractive, and quite, one that contains not
just loads of double figured carp but the chance of a very big roach
or perch plus bream and tench thrown in for variety then this is the
venue. What I love about the specimen lake at Court Farm Fishery is
that it lends itself to a variety of methods from simple float
tactics in the margins with prawn over hemp being deadly to scaled
down carp rigs like I used today as well as being a fantastic floater
water and I suspect a brilliant venue for both the pellet waggler and
zig rigs.
To be honest today
was just one of those days we all get from time to time, a day when
something in the air makes even the easiest venue difficult. I would
have expected six double in three hours here along with a few smaller
samples but it wasn’t to be, however I know many a venue that most
would have drawn a blank on today, yet at Court Farm you’re
guaranteed at getting a bend in your rod whatever the conditions.
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