BIG CARP APRIL 2026 RICHARD - Flipbook - Page 57
EXCLUSIVE
c a se of taking a bucket f ro m
t h e freezer 24hrs earlier, an d
away I went . The only ro u n d
b a its I ensured entered t h e
water, were my hook ba i ts .
M atch the hatch, Handc ra f t
He rb 20mm wafters.
I didn’t start my wi n te r
c a mpaign this year until m i d
D ecember, despite the ti c ke t
t he n a p e r i o d o f s u s t a i n e d
a rc ti c a i r te m p e ra t u re s a n d
t he wh o le l a ke f ro ze s o l i d .
T h a n kf ul ly I h a d n’ t co mm i t te d
to o mu c h b a i t a t t h a t p o i n t ,
b u t i t wa sn’ t l o n g u n t i l t h e
l ake h ad d e f ro s te d .
T h e n e a rly Fe b ru a ry, I h a d
a 3 6 h r s es s i o n p l a n n e d a n d
a lre ady h a d a p re c o n c e ive d
s t arting in November. I d i d
p i ck off a couple of c ar p
i n December and Janu ar y,
b u t nothing that gave me
t h e momentum to push o n
a n d build something from . I
wasn’t convinced tho se c a r p
c a me from areas holding th e
m ajority of the stock. It fe lt
l i ke I just picked them o f f . I
d i d move around allot , try i n g
to locate the bulk, but di d n’ t
fe el close.
Then
literally
as
a ny
c o nfidence started to grow a n d
all my early winter preparation
c o mplete, the weather h ad
p l ans of its own. Torren ti a l
ra in caused flooding includ i n g
a c cess to/from the venue an d
i d e a to ta rg e t a n a re a o f t h e
l ake t h a t wa s p ro d u c t ive fo r
m e t he p rev i o u s Fe b ru a ry.
A f te r a fe w f l i cks a ro u n d w i t h
a 3 o z ma rke r we i gh t . I t wa s
ev i de n t my p rev i o u s ly m arke d
s p o t s we re n ow are as o f
d en s e dy i ng Ca n a d i an we e d .
B u t I wa s s t i l l ke e n to f i sh th e
v i ci n i t y, so I p er s i s te d u n t i l I
fo u n d s o m e th i n g h a rd ( grave l
o r f i rm si lt ), fa i rly s ma l l a n d
m o s t l i ke ly n o t a n e s t a b l i s h e d
s p r i n g / s u mm e r s p o t . T h ey a re
e asy to l o c a te .
T h e n al l o f a s u d d e n , a ve ry
f i rm d o n k. A ve ry f i r m t h u m p
d ow n a nd lo a d s o f fe e l ma k i n g
i t s way b a ck t h ro u gh t h e b ra i d
a n d ro d . A l l t h e vi b ra t i o n
BigCarp 55
