Emperor, the return

Matt Whalley

Emperor, the return......

 

So, finally after many weeks away due to COVID and travel restrictions, it was time to head back up to my syndicate water in Devon ~ Emperor Lakes.

 

I have been chomping at the bit to get back up to this water, but with so many restrictions in place and the fact that I live 2hrs away, it has been pretty tricky but now night fishing is allowed and travel restrictions removed, it was time to get my prep on.

 

Prep work

I have been watching the what’s app group to see how it’s been fishing and although a few carp have been caught, this is by no means, an easy water but they are there to be caught and I was feeling pretty confident about the trip ahead.

 

A very good friend of mine and a top quality angler gave me some sound advice. The carp seem to move onto older baits, so he advised me to get my baits soaking prior to my session, just to get me that step ahead, from the off.. To be completely honest, this is something that I have never really done before but any advice/tips were welcome and I most certainly listened.

 

Mirage Baits, a local company to me in Cornwall sent me their Smell & Reservoir specials boilies along with matching hook baits, CSL glug, stick mix and some very special pop ups and my nephew also sent me some boilies from the Estamarine range at Solution Bait Company.

 

I started off on day one by putting the boilies into the buckets. This consisted of the Smell & Estamarine at a 50/50 ratio. I then proceeded to cover them in boiling water and left them to soak and soften up for next couple of days. On day three, they were looking perfect. I then added some CSL liquid and matching stick mix for the baits to take on and I shut the lids for the last time before my session. These had to be a winner, washed out, soft and primed ready to go....

 

The session

 

I arrived at the lake on the Tuesday mid morning and although the lake was rather busy, I knew a few people were leaving, later that day. In my head, I had the Woods swim chosen but there was already someone in the Boat swim. When the Boat swim is occupied, Woods is out of bounds, so a new plan was on the cards.

 

I had a good chat with a couple of the regulars and they pretty much said to go into the Waterfall swim. I had nothing else really to go on, so some local knowledge, to me was key. I wished the guys good luck and headed off to my swim.

 

As soon as I walked down to have a look, I spotted a few carp basking in the spring sunshine. I knew they were here, so now it was time to get the rods ready...

 

The result

 

My multi-rigs were already tied and as previously mentioned (special pop ups), they were loaded with Mirage Baits, Tandoori Curry with added Secret Agent Pop Ups. These smelt awesome, popped up perfectly, and pretty much matched the washed out colour of the Smell boilies.

 

I found a very good clear spot just off to the right hand side of the bar that was out in front of me. As this was the shallower end of the lake, there was a lot of weed present but the clear spot I found, definitely seemed a prime spot. I put out around 30 washed out bottom baits and presented my rig onto the spot that I had found. Now it was time to sit back, watch the water and hope that the carp would play ball.

 

At around 6pm, I was then thinking about getting tea sorted when out of the blue, my alarm sounded and the bobbin pulled up tight. As I was fishing semi locked up due to the weed in the swim, I didn’t hesitate to pick the rod up and sure enough, I was now bent into a carp. I kept a steady pressure on, trying to stop it finding weed beds and this worked. This was my first carp that I was playing since starting my ticket, so I had nothing but time and I wasn’t going to rush this.

 

After a pretty good fight, I slipped a stunning common into the net. A little sigh of relief was let out and the pressure was off.

 

I left the fish to rest while i got everything set up. All of my captures are self takes and I never have the camera or tripod set up now, until a carp is resting in the net. It’s strange to think about how many superstitions you pick up in this sport, but once they are in your head, you can’t change it.

 

With everything now ready, it was time to unhook the carp in the net at the waters edge before transferring it into my Prologic flotation sling for a safe and easy move to the mat. With the scales zeroed, the carp went 20lb 9oz. To me the weight was irrelevant, this carp was stunning and to be off the mark now on the new bait and from this water, that meant more to me than anything else.

 

With the pictures now done, some fish care applied it was now time to release this capture. I left it rest in the sling at the waters edge before I knew it was ready to go. The zips were opened and with a powerful kick of the tail, it was off. I stood there for a second, feeling very pleased with myself. It’s not the biggest of carp that I have caught but this one felt just as good as any PB.

 

Confidence in a new bait? Without a doubt and now I will be looking forward to my next session ahead.

 

Another new water is on the cards, so watch this space for further updates and catch reports......

 

Matt Whalley