Twynersh Pit 4

April 29, 2012

Twynersh Pit 4

Two weeks have passed since my successful trip to pit 5 at the Chertsey complex and it was now time for a new challenge. A three night trip was organised with my girlfriends brother Jamie and it was decided that the largest secluded lake on the complex (pit 4) would be our target. The week before the trip began on a low after finding out a good friend had passed away and so I nearly called it off but figured I would be better of concentrating on catching some carp then sitting at home.

Pit 4, at four acres is the largest pit on the complex and one of the more difficult waters to tackle. The depths range from around 6ft in the margins to 16ft in some areas. This coupled with the mass stock of bream made the fishing a little trickier and big baiting was out the question. The pit has a healthy stock of carp with some stunning fish to be caught and with carp to 35lb + there was a possibility to improve my PB of 27lb.

I prepared for this trip well in advance and decided to create a bland mix to bait up with ensuring no additives were introduced to keep the bream at bay. This consisted of soaked mixed corn with salt which was then cooked for 30 minutes. I also introduced some evaporated milk into this mix to cloud up the water and increase the baits visibility. To avoid the expense of boilies I opted to create my own from scratch. I created a base mix, flavoured with cream connoisseur and sweetened with molasses. I then began the labour intensive task of rolling my bait before air drying for two days and freezing to ensure freshness. In all I created approximately 4-5 kilos spending a mere £8.

We arrived at Twynersh in the pouring rain and opted to fish the far corner of the lake. This corner gave direct access to an area where no fishing is permitted due to an extremely high bank and dense overgrowth. The fish regularly patrol down these margins in amongst the snags. Jamie decided to fish a couple of swims down again placing his baits close to some overhanging trees. Both my rods were tied up with leadcore leaders (approx 4ft) spliced onto my newly spooled 15lb senses monofilament. One rod was fished with a hinged stiff rig and the other a basic chod rig. Jamie took a different approach and fished bottom baits with short length bolt rigs.

Three hours of fishing had passed when a man walked into my swim and we began discussing various lakes, tactics and all the other carp related discussion material. After he had departed I looked at my rod and it was in full curve. I picked it up and began a short battle with what turned out to be a stunning 15lb common. I figured that because I was fishing locked up to avoid a carp descending into the snags on a pick up, the carp was unable to take line and so was doing battle with my rod without me knowing. The fight was probably short due to the fish tiring itself out prior to be realising I had hooked one! Just as I had the fish on the mat my mate Jamie shouted over that he also had one. The man I had been having the discussion with ran back over from the other side of the lake and took some great snaps of my carp before we went to see what Jamie had caught. It turned he caught a beautiful fully scaled mirror weighing in at 16lb. What a great start, two carp in three hours on a supposedly tricky lake.... result.

At around 6 o,clock my left had rod rattled off and I pulled into a much heavier fish.This fish held deep and plodded about taking line steadily when she ran. After an arm aching battle she was safely in the net, a mirror at 24lb 8oz. That was now two fish in an afternoon with one being a mid twenty.

At 2am the same rod awoke me from a deep sleep, a one toner. I grabbed the rod and begun the fight. This fish pulled so hard it was unbelievable. I was attached to a train and whatever I did I could not bring it to the top layers. Using her weight she steadily plodded up and down for 10 minutes before letting out threes surges taking at least 30 yard's of line of a strong clutch. In the middle of darkness with no socks on, standing in a puddle of mud I said to my self "what am I attached to"?. After no less then 12-14 minutes she was in the net and I rushed forward to see my prize. I was certain I had a thirty in the bag and my heart was racing. On the scales she went 24lb 1oz, a lovely dark common but not the fish I had expected after such an epic battle. It was not the thirty I wanted but I couldn't complain as what great sport from such a healthy fish in prime condition.

On the second day I caught a lovely 6lb tench and lost a carp in the morning. Again the fish put an immense fight but the hook pulled after a couple of minutes. I was so alarmed when I had the take I slipped outside the bivvy, fell on my back and rolled to my rods. It was not the most professional approach to say the least and by getting to the rod late the fish had managed to get close to the snags causing me to put more pressure on the fish which may have caused the hook pull. The other loss was in the early morning on the third day when my Delkim hadn't sounded and the fish snagged me up mid water. I put this down to the bobbin falling of the line and so there was not enough weight to hold the line for the alarm to register .. Gutted. I wondered If I had lost a monster, but strangely enough I was to find out?.

Jamie had been having a great last two nights after a move to the far end where the heavy rain was pushing clouded water through from pit 7. I think he caught a 21lb mirror, 20lb mirror and a 19lb common. The 19lb common was caught an hour after my morning loss. That evening we headed home and as it was Jamie's birthday we were treated to a homemade curry. It was only during this time when Jamie said he had something that I would believe. He then pulled out from his fishing carryall my rig, complete with boilie and leadcore. I was amazed, the fish I had lost ended up being caught by Jamie an hour later with my hook still in its mouth on the other side of the lake. Strange but true.