Western Reservoir Catch Reports 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024

The good old British weather was at best mixed during the year, in short it was warmer wetter and considerably more unsettled than 2022.

Living in the narrowest part of the country we are perhaps more used to dramatic changes in conditions and contrasting weather than other regions.

The Western carp generally respond quickly to, and feed well during these four seasons in one day swings of high to low and back again pressure systems, they certainly did last year, a brief summary of some of the highlights follows.

Rainbow Rising

February – March

Scott had a nice hit when he banked fish of 8lb, 15lb and 20lb 5oz, which was a new 20lb+ for the venue, other Members managed a few mid to upper doubles to 18lb 12oz but it was the new stock that provided the majority of early season action.

Not surprising really coming from holding tanks on the fish farm they were hungry and, on the munch, they started putting the ounces on pretty much straight away, loads like the one below growing from 7lb to 10lb+ in a few short weeks.

From 7lb to 10lb+ In Just a Few Weeks

April

Pete A had his first twenty of the year at the start of April when he landed a lovely 21lb 12oz mirror, followed up a couple of days later with a nice brace comprising of a 15lb common and a 23lb mirror.

A few days after this result he banked another common and mirror combi @ 16lb 10oz and 28lb 8oz respectively, very nice as the water temp was stubbornly staying below double figures, well fished!

28lb 8oz April 2023

Mike also had some nice early season carp banking a stockie here and there along with mid doubles to 16lb+, and on the 20^th April he managed 6 runs and landed 4 mirrors @ 9lb, 14lb, 15lb and 25lb 10oz a good result for a few hours on the bank.

Andrew B got off the mark with a lovely brace of mirrors that weighed in at 15lb 8oz and 24lb 8oz during a quick overnighter, which he was well chuffed with, who wouldn’t be?

Off the Mark 24lb 8oz

Stephen J fished an action packed 60-hour session 17 runs resulted in 16 carp being banked the majority in the 13- 16lb range to just short of 17lb, 12 kilos of boilie and pellet fed regularly over the course of his session kept the carp coming to his net.

Other catches reported to me by Members are 3-4 chances on short day sessions (6lb, 15lb 4oz, 15lb 8oz and bumped one), several Members also managed a chance or two on time limited visits and numerous mid to upper doubles to 17lb 8oz were caught, during a 48-hour session Jonathan managed carp of 8lb, 12lb, 16lb 14oz and 19lb 14oz, another couple of boilies and that one would have been a new twenty pounder…

It’s fair to say the carp had woken up over the last few weeks, the water temp was fluctuating either side of 10°c so still on the cool side but some cracking results were had despite the chilly weather.

April 19lb 14oz Soon be 20lb+

May

With improving weather conditions, the fishing notched up a gear or two and the majority of Members caught on most visits, notable captures included:

Scott who kicked the month off in style banking five fish during his weekend session, stockies of 8lb and 9lb were followed by a hattrick of twenties @ 20lb 5oz, 21lb and 26lb 8oz, two of which were new 20lb+ carp for the venue, very pleasing!

Jack managed seven carp between 12-19lb most were mid to upper doubles making for a busy session, Ryan netted three during a 24-hour trip a 12lb 8oz common and a brace of eighteen-pound mirrors @ 18lb 1oz and 18lb 8oz completing his hattrick.

David L’s first carp out was also 20lb+ backed up with a couple of stockies, two mid double commons and mirrors of 15lb 6oz and 17lb 6oz.

First Fish First Twenty

Mike timed it right on a 40-hour visit having 12 runs and landing 9 good going his all-mirror haul comprised of fish of 10lb 10oz, 14lb 2oz, 14lb 4oz, 15lb 2oz, 15lb 4oz, 19lb, 20lb 2oz, 20lb 10oz and 24lb 2oz, well done that man!

The short session day anglers also got in on the action having chances on most occasions, David F banked a nice stockie and his first 20lb+ from the venue. Dan kept on keeping on and pretty much banked a fish per visit smallest 15lb 10oz largest 19lb 14oz, Joe also kept plugging away and notched up some canny carp all doubles during his 2-4 hour hit and run sessions the best going 19lb.

Another couple of nice twenties visited the bank for Andy who’s first fish from the reservoir went 22lb 8oz. Michael F had a lovely bulky 26lb 8oz male mirror, Shaun netted four during an overnight session @ 8lb 4oz, 10lb 7oz, 21lb 3oz and 22lb 13oz, a great result.

Bulky Male Mirror 26lb 8oz

Western stalwart Adie mainly just fishing 10–12-hour overnight sessions hauled and hauled throughout the spring his most successful hit in May was 8 fish topped by a cracking 26lb mirror, that elusive Big Common will I’m sure eventually come your way!

The above captures represent a small sample of carp caught during the month as over 120 fish were banked during May alone.

Stalwarts Reward 26lb

June

Adie managed to squeeze in two quick overnighters at the start of the month he continued his run of good form 6 runs and 4 banked to 17lb 8oz on the first session 5 to mid-doubles on his second, he then retired to warmer climes for the rest of June.

Stephen D kept his day only sessions on the go banking a string of carp on successive short visits @ 10lb 7oz, 10lb 12oz, 13lb 4oz, 13lb 5oz, 14lb 10oz, 16lb 10oz and 17lb 5oz.

Short Session Success Upper Double

Joe wasn’t far behind with his short hit and run trips netting carp of 13lb x 2, 15lb, 16lb 13oz, 22lb and a belting 26lber that was last out in May 2022 @ 23lb.

Jonathan had a great follow up to his April session in June, fishing a five-night session it took a while to build the swim but when it fired off it got busy, busy, busy and he ended up with commons of 13lb 5oz, 14lb, 14lb 10oz, 14lb 11oz and mirrors of 9lb, 12lb 2oz, 13lb 9oz, 14lb 10oz, 16lb 10oz and 28lb 1oz, lots of bait and rebaiting regularly kept them coming including some double takes; once again proving the use of two landing nets is at times essential when fishing on the Western!

Purely Belter 26lb

Ryan only managed one night’s fishing since May he made it worthwhile though banking a 12lb 4oz common and a hard scrapping 21lb 2oz mirror.

June was the warmest month of the summer and there were periods of stop start spawning activity and Members sensibly withdrew from fishing the reservoir when spawning was underway.

Typical Mid Double 15lb 10oz

July

Having had a couple of stockies and a run of  mid doubles between 13lb 6oz and 16lb 8oz over his last few short day only sessions Peter was delighted to bank a couple of the bigger carp in July starting off with a 26lb 10oz mirror he followed this up with a new Lake Record common that he was over the moon with, the fish went 24lb exactly and he couldn’t help but wonder what it might have weighed a few weeks earlier prior to spawning, a great result, It’ll be interesting to see what she weighs on her next visit to the bank…

Lake Record Common 24lb

On his first July session fishing 40 hours on a wild and windy weekend Jonathan managed six takes weighing in with fish of 10lb 4oz, 11lb 8oz, 12lb 4oz, 13lb 8oz and 15lb 3oz before eventually feeding enough to bring a twenty to the net @ 22lb, he told me it fought like crazy and had it in the net three times before he succeeded in lifting the mesh around him, it thought it was a grass carp, good job it was a canny hook hold!

Returning for a 60-hour session towards the end of the month he upped his tally further catching fish of 10lb 14oz x 2, 11lb 1oz, 12lb, 12lb 9oz, 13lb 11oz, 14lb 5oz, 14lb 8oz, and a lovely brace of twenties @ 20lb and 21lb 6oz, feeding steadily and regularly kept the buzzers singing, well played!

Dan managed a quick overnighter and landed mirrors of 13lb 2oz, 18lb 4oz and a cracking 20lb 4oz common, a new twenty and a pleasing result!

July 18lb 4oz

Several other Members were also catching, Dave G had a brace @ 15lb 8oz & 17lb, Mike added another five to his tally Andy S nabbed his first @ 17lb and Steven H managed a brace of fast growing stockies to 12lb on a short-day trip.

Ryan had an enjoyable overnighter catching nine @ 9lb 10oz, 11lb 9oz, 12lb 1oz, 12lb 3oz and 14lb 1oz followed by a very long 17lb 8oz common, another common @ 19lb 11oz and a brace of twenties @ 22lb 2oz and 24lb 10oz, good result good fishing and a great overall average weight @ 15lb 15oz, not many fisheries in the North East are capable of producing that number of fish at that average weight, the Western can and does…

Michael R also had some overnight success when carp of 10lb 1oz, 14lb 2oz, 18lb and 21lb 2oz wet his net the average weight of his fish was 15lb 13oz, a fine catch!

Not the biggest @ 14lb 2oz But Up There With the Prettiest

August

Was a quieter month fishing wise and the reservoir was very lightly fished, amongst those who managed to get bankside were;

Steve R who’d only done a handful or so of day sessions so far, he’d banked a string of low doubles to 13lb 8oz on his various visits, good sport, but it wasn’t until the 3^rd that he caught his first larger one in the form of a 19lb 2oz common, which was one of a dozen different commons all caught post spawn between 17-8 and 19-14 in 2023, looks like there are going to be a few new 20lb+ commons coming through in the near future!

Canny Common 19lb 11oz One of a Dozen Nudging 20lb

David L brought a few more mid doubles to the bank David F had one of the stockies at an impressive 14lb 5oz, Adie plugged away adding several more to his total as he headed towards 60 carp caught for the season, good going on limited time for sure.

Michael R had another productive trip netting five @ 12lb 5oz, 14lb 2oz, 15lb, 16lb and 18lb 3oz, another haul averaging over 15lb per fish in weight, good going!

Scaley One 7lb 4oz to 13lb 2oz in 7 Months

September – Year End

A burst of hot weather during the first fortnight of September produced an algal bloom that slowed the fishing down, it was almost as warm as June and the fishing became tricky.

It was mainly low doubles featuring in the catch reports I received, although Pete A banked a couple of lovely carp at 16lb 8oz and 17lb on the 13^th October the 16-8 was stocked in January at 8lb its previous capture was @ 14lb 1oz in July, one of many of the new stock that are flying in the Western.

October Upper Double

David F had fish of 12lb 8oz, 14lb 3oz and 15lb 5oz, David B had a nice hit landing four @ 14lb, 15lb, 16lb and 19lb 6oz, good effort men.

The water level in the reservoir had been lowered throughout the year so a faulty valve could be replaced, the works were completed in September and the water level started slowly filling up.

Storm Babet arrived in October and the reservoir filled quickly rising over 6 feet overnight, the cold dirty water put the fish down and the fishing pretty much shut up shop until the colour fined out by which time it was November and very few if any Members wet a line, that said Mike caught a bonny 14lb 6oz mirror and Adie a cracking 15lb 12oz common.

Bonny November Mirror

The fish remained active and were regularly seen showing around the venue until the end of December, normally on the opposite bank to which Members were fishing…

Always a good plan to hold off setting up your pitch until you’ve seen a sign or two even during the cooler months, fish off the barrow and move to any areas the carp have shown or are showing in as it’s always harder to shift once bivvied up.

I’ll close the catch report with details of one of Mike’s captures from 30^th September 2023, his good form had continued when he landed a nice brace @ 14lb 10oz and 17lb.

17lb 30th September 2023

Mike’s 17lber, now here’s a thing… this is one of the fish stocked at an average weight of 7lb 4oz on 25^th January 2023.

When stocked I took photos of all the fish introduced, but only photographed one side whichever way they were lying on the mat, as 70 carp coming at you in short order is a lot of fish to handle quickly and safely, and fish welfare is of paramount importance, hence why no messing around on stocking days!

Excuse my left hand, but you can clearly see that this is the same carp as the photo above, which means this fish has grown from around 7lb to 17lb in 8 months a weight gain of  at least 9lb 12oz compared to the average weight when stocked!!

Its Clear to See Onwards and Upwards They Grow

I suspect that there will be several more flyers that have attained similar growth rates visiting the bank next year!

I’ve never heard of C3 carp growing at up to 8- 10lb in a year, C4 upper doubles, amazing! Bearing in mind the Western is over 300m above sea level and that the reservoir is situated in arguably the coldest county in England these growth rates are an incredible achievement and testimony to the quality of the fish!

My sincere thanks for supplying these outstanding carp go to Mark Simmonds and all at Heather Fisheries, onwards and upwards they grow!

Best fishes to all for 2024, may the carp gods smile upon you,

Steve

I consider myself blessed to have such a great set of people fishing on the Western, it gives me peace of mind knowing that the venue is cared about and looked after by like-minded fellow anglers, it makes running the Syndicate a pleasure to do.

I always appreciate receiving feedback from Members especially when it’s positive so I thought I would share the following received from a Member who joined last year, it made my day;

“I`d like to start by thanking you for the ticket on the Western last season, it was great to be able to get out and do some angling especially after the move up North from pastures if not greener then certainly milder.  😁

I only wish I had been able to put more time in, but with setting up a business, puppies and life in general it wasn`t to be last year.

I really did enjoy my time on the Western and it was a complete change from the last 25 years or so fishing large coastal gravel pits.

The lack of angler pressure was also something I don`t think I have experienced in a very, very long time and it was at times an absolute joy to find such peace on the bank. So, thanks again for creating that.

Lastly, I met some great lads on the lake so I would like to thank everyone for giving such a warm welcome to a Southerner who still can`t work out why people up here wear shorts in the winter 🤣”

My sincere thanks go to the whole Syndicate for making the reservoir such a pleasant, friendly and special place to wet a line, thank you all!

A Special Place to Wet a Line

Fish Stocking

Was deferred from October 2022 and took place on Thursday 26^th January 2023 when 70 C3 carp from Heather Fisheries were introduced into the reservoir.

The fish had a wide variety of different scale patterns from lightly scaled to half linear, full linear, to near fully scaled and pretty much everything in between, they ranged in size from 6lb – 8lb 8oz and the average weight of those stocked was 7lb 4oz.

Cracking Carp

The last time I stocked the Western was in October 2017 this introduction of new fish stirred up the original carp and the following couple of seasons yielded some great catches, hopefully the newbies will produce similar results!

A Distinctive Individual

As always best fishes to you wherever you wet a line enjoy your fishing and carry on carping.

Steve

2022 was the warmest year on record and rainfall in the region was well below average, essentially prolonged periods of high pressure and light winds at times made fishing conditions tricky.

It was somewhat of an unusual fishing year, but then again, no two years are ever the same and by comparison the Western still saw many more carp getting caught during the summer months than from the other waters I operate or indeed from other venues further afield.

A couple of partial blue/green algal blooms also influenced how the reservoir fished throughout the year, which was at times slow with nowhere near as many multiple fish captures reported to me as in previous years.

That said; pretty much all the carp caught were at their best ever weights when captured and the warmer water temperature (it reached 18°C in May and didn’t fall below that until September) certainly won’t have harmed growth rates.

One of many upper doubles growing well in the Western

A lot of Members only fish short sessions on the venue and it’s fair to say they’re pretty good at it too!

Joe’s best two quick trips yielded carp of 23lb 8oz and 24lb 2oz and 12lb, he also a belting 26lb 4oz mirror on 6 and 4-hour sessions respectively.

Michael P also turned his hand to shorter sessions and caught several to upper doubles on his visits, Pete A got amongst them on his time limited trips often just fishing 2 or 3 hours he’s bagged some lovely fish his best being a brace @ 12lb 8oz and 20lb 2oz.

Dan G managed a few on his short visits as well his largest being a 19lb 4oz common, inspirational angling from those with a restricted amount of time and just a small example of some Members short session success’s.

24lb 2oz That’ll Do!

I encourage Members to try alternate tactics during hot spells, (it’s harder to catch them off the deck if they’re in the top two feet of water) but most seem reluctant to give zig rigs or floater fishing much of a go.

The Western produces some amazing fly hatches which the carp readily feed on; in short, they are used to feeding on the insect life in the upper layers!

Sometimes the only chance of getting a bite when the conditions are scorching and the fish are close to the surface is to zig away or fire in enough mixers to get them competing for the grub, take plenty of surface baits with you is my advice as you can wallop through a lot quickly.

I recommend giving both methods a bash even if you just use one rod from your set of three it will provide you the opportunity to catch bonus fish, and the Western is the ideal water to learn or gain more experience using these tactics.

On the Western though it’s always worth bearing in mind that low-pressure fronts tend to out fish high pressure systems by a big margin, nowt like a bit of a breeze and some damp conditions to get them on the munch in the reservoir, take advantage of such conditions during the summer months they can be very productive!

A New Twenty for the Western a Zig Caught Cracker

Best hit of carp reported to me last year was by Jonathan who had a 17 fish haul over three nights he landed fish from low doubles to 16lb 14oz, a busy session, he used around 8kg of boilie and 10kg+ of pellet to keep the bites coming, in fact I took him and his fishing partner Stephen J who’d managed 5 to mid-doubles another sack of pellets down as they’d ran out, good bait application being the key to their success.

It’s always a pleasure to see Members banking fish and I love being at hand to share the moment, on one of my walk arounds two Members caught fish of 14lb+, 17lb+ and 22lb 3oz in 40 minutes or so while I was there talking with them, almost as good as catching them myself, well not quite, lol!

22lb 3oz of hard fighting mirror I witnessed the scrap from start to finish

The Carp engaged in their first bout of spawning activity on Sat 11th June, although I didn’t witness it myself, I was reliably informed they were spawning all along the dam wall and from the house corner to the pipe and on the opposite bank from farm corner to the peanut tree, with 80-90 going at it along the dam wall and similar numbers thrashing around in the margins and in open water along both banks, in fact several Members stated that it was the most carp spawning they’d ever seen anywhere.

Different year classes and strains of carp means the fish don’t all spawn at the same time and another couple of bouts of spawning occurred in July, which hopefully saw the majority complete their nuptials successfully.

Keeping Watch

I personally believe you don’t get much ‘real growth’ taking place until carp have completed spawning, once that’s over and done with the fish start coming back into condition and a skeletal and muscle growth spurt occurs more rapidly than any other time of year, such as in the case of;

The Lake Record which was broken in early September when a cracking 29lb 11oz mirror graced the banks, very pleasing especially for the captor I’m sure you’ll agree!

29lb 11oz Lake Record Mirror September 2022 (last caught August 2021 @ 26lb 14oz)

From the Catch Reports I received in 2022 it’s clear to see that the fish are growing at a steady rate.

This was reflected in the statistics; 99% of captures were double figure carp, (87% in 2021) 55% of carp caught weighed between 14lb – 20lb+ (44% in 2021), and the overall average weight of all carp caught was 15lb 5oz (14lb in 2021).

The reservoir produced several new 20lb+ fish to 21lb 8oz and a good number of upper doubles between 17lb – 19lb 13oz were also captured, these fish will hopefully pass the 20lb+ barrier during the months ahead.

Western Stunner 19lb 12oz September 2022 Sure to Pass the 20lb+ Barrier Soon

Here she is pictured below stocked at 7lb 3oz in November 2017.

Maturing Nicely and Growing at a Steady Rate

I for one will happily accept an average yearly growth rate just in excess of 2lb 8oz in a venue this far north 300m+ above sea level that’s good going, and even more pleasing she’s not the only one attaining this steady growth rate in the Western…

Onwards and upwards for 2023!

Everyone seemed to catch ‘fishing fever’ last year, all forms of angling saw significant growth, many venues were swamped with anglers and became incredibly busy and just being able to get a swim often became a bigger challenge then trying to catch the fish!

It looks likely that demand, particularly for carp fishing will continue to increase in coming years.

I cap Membership at 45 Full Members plus a handful or so of Associate Members, this is to ensure the venue never gets too busy, this has worked well to date and I see no reason to change things.

I believe my lower key and less commercialised approach to managing the reservoir has led to a friendly and relaxed environment to go fishing in, to the benefit of the carp, the angler, and the fishery, while also providing a level of exclusivity so Members can relax and enjoy their fishing and time on the bank.

The Western is 17.5 acres with a Membership of approx. 2.5 Members per acre so it’s fair to say there is a little bit of elbow room!

Elbow Room

Fish Stocking

I have C3 carp on order from Heather Fisheries which are due for delivery in October 2022 and Members will be welcome to attend the stocking when the date is confirmed.

I hope you enjoy your fishing wherever you wet a line in the coming months, best fishes to you for the year ahead.

Steve

Something to Look Forward to in October

Well, 2021 was a strange year weather wise, colder than average conditions dominated through the early part of the year, and winter was colder and wetter than average.

The cool conditions carried on throughout the spring and April and May temperatures were well below average with the most air frosts for at least 60 years.

April 2021 24lb 12oz

June saw warmer weather conditions and the carp had their first attempt at spawning, in July a heat wave arrived and those carp that hadn’t spawned the previous month definitely participated in their nuptials during this hot spell!

I suspect it may have been the most complete spawning event that the carp have engaged in in the reservoir, it was certainly the first time I’ve ever witnessed carp spawning 40-70 yards out in open water.

The cold spring and hot summer saw blocking high pressure systems locked in place for weeks at a time; and I believe it was also the least windy summer in over 60 years.

With anticyclonic conditions prevailing the carp spent a lot of time in the upper water layers, yet very few Members got the zigs out preferring to stubbornly fish on the bottom. I persuaded one lad to give zigs a go after he’d blanked for 48 hours; ‘I can’t understand it I’ve had fish all over me and haven’t caught’ he put a zig on towards the end of his session and had two in three hours zigging… a happy outcome.

Morale of the story is ignore ZIG’s at your peril, you fish with 3 rods try 1 rod on a zig, it works, work at it and bonus fish will come, even if you don’t like or haven’t used them much the Western is the ideal water to learn or gain more experience using the method.

A Distinctive Common

From the Catch Reports I received during 2021 it’s clear to see that numbers of home-grown carp especially commons are still coming through the ranks, in fact almost 30% of carp caught last year were commons.

This was reflected in the statistics; 87% of captures were double figure carp, (91% in 2020) 44% of carp caught weighed between 14lb – 20lb+ (55% in 2020), and the overall average weight of all carp caught was 14lb (14lb 10oz in 2020), this slight drop in weight can be attributed to an increase in numbers of doubles in the 10-12lb bracket and home-grown fish featuring in the catches.

The venue produced several new 20lb+ fish to 21lb 8oz and a good number of upper doubles between 18lb – 19lb 14oz were also captured, these fish will hopefully pass the 20lb+ barrier during 2022.

Another Nice Common

Amongst Members catching consistently during the year were short session specialists Peter and Joe (who netted plenty of low doubles and a couple of larger fish to 20lb 7oz), both rarely fish longer than 3 to 5 hours each trip and although they don’t always catch every visit their hit rate is solid.

Peter managed fish to 21lb 4oz and upper doubles to 19lb 14oz and all bar one of his carp were double figures, the average weight of his captures being 13lb 11oz, not far off the overall average recorded for the season.

Adie kept up his quick overnight hit and run carping trips and landed some great hauls of fish, on several occasions landing four or more fish per night including a couple of new 20lb+ carp for the venue, his best two hits saw him bank fish of; 14lb, 17lb 12oz, 18lb 8oz, 20lb 4oz, 22lb 4oz and 13lb 8oz, 17lb, 21lb 12oz, 23lb 4oz, good angling that, proving if you get on the fish and get your baiting strategy correct you can achieve great results a boilie only approach working well for him, his biggest for the season went 24lb 12oz.

2021 Twenty One @ 21lb 12oz

New Member Daniel also had several decent hits banking up to four carp a night up to 16lb during his overnight sessions, with his biggest going 19lb 6oz, steady and regular baiting up being the key to his success.

Other new Members getting straight in on the action included;

Andy R who landed a string of decent mid doubles before he netted his first twenty from the reservoir at 23lb 8oz a nice capture for him.

Stewart timed his first 24-hour session perfectly and had 10 runs and landed 9 the best two banked went 16lb 4oz and 17lb, using plenty of boilies and baiting regularly kept the buzzers sounding.

Long standing Member Jonathan got them going in August, which is traditionally ‘scratching time’ on a lot of waters and landed 11 during his trip, including a New Lake Record mirror of 26lb 14oz, well done that man!

New Lake Record August 2021 26lb 14oz

Hopefully the following snippet of information will prove useful.

Some Members have been using 16mm and 20mm pellets as back ground feed. Using this size of pellet as hook baits when the water temperature is around 10 – 14°C they found in the main, that hair rigged pellets were lasting around 4 to 6 hours, roach and gudgeon were nibbling them away…

Over the years I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been told; “I’ve used 5 kilos of bait” which inevitably turns out to be mainly pellet or particle with a light sprinkling of boilies over the top, people think they’re fishing over a lot of bait, but the reality is that within a few hours the back ground feed has been devoured and only a light sprinkling of boilies remain, it is fallacy to believe ‘because you haven’t had one’ that all your feed remains on the lake bed waiting to be eaten by carp!

Back ground feed does work if topped up regularly, but keep the boilies going in steadily as well to improve your chances, getting to grips with frequency of application and baiting strategy is all part of the game.

If you were pleasure fishing for roach etc you’d build the swim and steadily increase the amount of loose/free feed to get more bites and hold the fish in your swim, this tactic also works well for carp in the Western, think along the lines of a boilie being the equivalent of a maggot when fishing for carp and you probably won’t be far off the mark.

One final snippet of info; have I mentioned ZIG’s…

A Nice Upper Double