The Stick Pit

As an avid fisherman the arrival of closed season really does hit hard and its this sudden arrival that pushes fishermen onto day ticket open access waters. Now, I don't have a problem with fishing these waters as you may know from my exploits at Twynersh , but the expense of theses sessions are significant and would burn a hole in most wallets. Some fisherman take the hit and some wait at home patiently cleaning their fishing kit,  planning there move for the magical June 16th. To avoid these points I decided to try and find a lake in my local area that held a fish or two. Jamie my girlfriends brother mentioned  to me a small secluded lake containing some hard fighting wild strain carp. He needn't say no more and I was on my way to a one acre lake which I have named The Stick Pit.

Although the lake is out in no mans land with only the occasional dog walker putting in an appearance it has been fished and evidence of this litters the dead trees protruding from one side of the lake. Its these tress that have christened the lake The Stick Pit as well as providing shelter for the resident carp. Jamie had fished the lake a few times before and managed two wild looking commons around 5lb on small boilies so there seemed to be a good head of fish to target.
We arrived at the lake equipped with a float rod, net and some sweetcorn. It was decided to fish from a small area of bank that gave direct access to water amongst the trees where we believed the carp would reside. Within thirty minutes or so my rod whipped round nearly being pulled straight into the lake and I struck into a powerful fish. The carp kited into the snags but I managed to gain control and pull her away from danger. Once all the hard work was done I thought she was mine but then as Jamie was ready with the net the line went slack, fish 1 fisherman 0. I hooked into four more fish that day and landed not one!! I decided to return to the lake over the next two days.
Day two proved worse than day one and neither me or Jamie had a take. We did employ a slightly different tactic and baited the back of the trees where we saw the carp moving with boilies. We then fished from the opposite bank casting to the boundary of the snags with chod rigs. I felt a lead down to gauge the depth of the middle of the lake and it just keep falling. I would estimate the middle to be approx 30ft deep!!

After the disappointment of day two I returned to the Stick Pit on my own and reverted back to my tactics of a running lead with two pieces of sweetcorn on a  size 8 barbed hook. I choose to fish in the snags where we had numerous takes on our first visit. Not even ten minutes had passed when I was into my first fish of the day. Again the carp pulled hard as it tried to reach the sanctuary of the submerged trees but I eventually won the battle and she was in the net. The carp was a small common of around 4lb but it was golden orange in colour with blood red tipped fins. A beautiful fish and  interesting to consider how they arrived in the Stick Pit to begin with? I managed another fish slightly bigger at 6lb (approx didn't bother with scales) and lost one. After an hour or so I called it a successful day and headed back home with a smile on my face. The fish were not hugh but great fun on light tackle and better then shedding out a small fortune to fishing an open access water or sitting at home waiting for the season to begin.