One venue I love is Painshill Park

One venue I love is Painshill Park. The carp go to around high 20lb and the best bit is that very few have been caught before. The lake gets very weedy, I have never seen such a weedy lake but it is ideal for me. Most anglers are put off by heavy weed yet the carp at Painshill love it. I didn’t fish there, in fact I haven’t fished there for many years but a return is very much on the cards – I have just a problem of catching a particular 30lb mirror from my current lake to complete.So there I was, the first session of the week, a warm day with the sun out. When I arrived there was one guy fishing. He had opted for the obvious swim, the swim under the tree. Had he found carp or seen anything? No, he just fancied fishing there. Not surprisingly there was nothing under the tree, all had been baiting and fishing there over the weeks. He informed me that he had seen nothing around the lake for the two hours he had been there. It took me just ten minutes to find six feeding carp at the other end of the lake. Okay, they were not ‘having it big time’ but they were milling around. I love this spot; there is a lovely patch of gravel under a bush and one out in front of an obvious tree. There was a carp sitting over the gravel patch in front of the tree. After watching it was joined by a mate. As I watched a big mirror joined it. Was it my obsession fish? It looked like it.I wasted no time, bottom baits out on both spots. I spent the next hour or three up the tree that covers both spots. All was going well, then gate slammed. Fortunately it was only Geoff walking Max. By the time he got to me the carp were still showing. I clambered down from the tree as he approached. As I stood talking to him, suddenly the rod under the tree blurted into life; the rod was on its way under the bush! Life might have been easier if I had put the baitrunner on.Both of us were on the rod in seconds. Geoff was waving his digital camera around, I was trying to coax a fish from under the tree. The fish was solid under the tree. I soon saw a back break surface, a tench back at that. Geoff was disappointed; I was peeved. The fish in question was wrapped round an underwater root; it was tethered just below the waters surface. Geoff tried this and that, I bleated about needing a boat, Geoff gave the rod back to me, a bit of hauling and the main line broke, we waited a while. No, the tench was still tethered. The atmosphere was a sighing ‘so what’ but no I’m sorry. It was still having to come out. Tench or no tench, it was still tethered, the feeling on the lake was against tethered fish, this would only act against the impending bans.Geoff wandered off, I went round to see if the only other member present had a key for the boat, his attitude was negative, ‘so what, it’s a tench, it will serve it right’. I made my mind up then to leave the club at that end of the season no matter what. I then remembered that Geoff had a key so I caught him before he left. Now with the boat free I went into the Captain Pugwash mode, rowing my self over top the poor tench. When I arrived at the tree I could see the poor thing still attached just below the surface. I rowed up to it and found the leadcore wrapped round a branch, a few minutes breaking of branches and finally the tench was in the boat and unhooked. A good fish, perhaps near to 6lb, a trophy shot for Geoff on the bank and back it went.That swim was obviously now a joke so I made my way back in the boat. I spent time looking around at other spots and found some interesting ideas. Most of the carp were without doubt in the weed. Not surprising I guess, but interesting none the less. I moved to a swim that covered the weed plus a spot on the back of a bar that my obsession fish loves. During the evening the bailiff came round with some photos of the stock fish that had been put into the lake five years ago at around 5lb. I was able to identify most of the fish as fish I had caught over the last year at 17 to 20lb, a fair growth rate to say the least. Sadly the lake’s big leather had died, a well loved fish but an old warrior. I’d caught it before several times, it had been several anglers’ personal best leather. The mood for me was sombre, I for one mourned its passing. Unfortunately the night was just as sad and no action came my way, that’s summer for you! Two days later I was back and immediately found some fish in a bay up by the road. A couple of them looked like feeding over a gravel patch close in. However despite a lot of effort, the two resident fish refused to come any closer to the gravel patch. One was a small common of around 5lb, the other a high double common. After a while, a nice mid 20lb mirror joined in the fun. I recognised this fish as one I had caught at around 25lb before. This fish kept coming in close. Further out in the bay there were some bigger mirrors around high 20lb to low 30lb but these were looking very cautious in the weed. At around 7pm I moved to a swim covering the back of the bar from where several big fish were showing. That’s where my obsession fish was likely to be caught from, sometime very soon.A cancelled work party occurred during the evening and a guy turned up for the night to fish. When everyone else had gone, except this guy, and another chap wandering round, I cast to the back of the bar, my confidence high given the amount of carp present. As evening approached the other angler, and groupie wandered up. The other angler was mega ventilating, he had seen some big carp in the bay I had left earlier and said they were up for it. I cursed my luck; had I moved too early? I had to find out, I donned the polaroids and wandered round, the observer telling me that the lakes big common was there having it big time. This I had to see, but when I was shown the fish in question there was the same 5lb common together with the high double. I was still assured that the bigger fish was the big common however, sad or what!!I left them to their ‘big’ fish and returned to my swim. Yes, you are right, all was still quiet all night, am I getting nearer or further away, answers on a postcard!

Have fun!