BIG CARP APRIL 2026 RICHARD - Flipbook - Page 61
EXCLUSIVE
d i rectly on my spot , but t hey
were not far away. Not on e o f
t h em dived, and it looked ve r y
o d d. It really stood o ut .
After they eventually dri f te d
away, I spent a few ho u r s
m apping out the spot wh i c h
e n ded up to be approx 3 m
w i de and 2m deep. I pop p ed
u p the marker float to ens u re
s afe ly d e p loye d 1m a p a r t ,
f l uo ro c a rb o n
s e tt l ed ,
and
a la r ms se t .
W ha t h ap p e n e d n ex t wa s
way
b eyo n d
ex p ec t a t i o n s .
B e twe en 1 0 a m an d 3p m , I h ad
1 0 b i te s a nd l an d e d 1 0 c a rp
to 2 9 l b . 8 2 0 s a n d 2 d o u b l e s .
A p p rox 2 3 0 l b o f c a rp . A l l
a b so lu te ly p ri s t i n e a n d i n f u l l
my free bait was going to la n d
d i rectly on the spot . U s i n g
h o rizon markers, I mapped o u t
everything to ensure I co u ld
a c curately get three rods o n
t h e spot , approx 1m apart .
Daytime bites are commo n
i n the winter, and J1 2 wa s
n o different . After dropp i n g
i n 5L of free bait , then aga i n
t wo days later. It was t h en
t i me for an early Feb ruary d ay
s e ssion the following morn i n g .
5 : 30am dark arrival, my s p o d
a n d three rods all clip ped u p
a n d ready to go. When I h a d
e n ough day light to co nf ide n t ly
p i ck off my horizon marke rs . I
d ropped another 5L bucke t o f
f ree bait , then all three ro d s
w i n te r c o lo u r s . I wa s c l ea rly
b a n g o n to p o f t h e m a n d t h ey
h ad re al ly h o me d i n o n th e
b a i t . B u t s t il l , w i t h 1 5 ac re s
o f f lo o d ed i c e c o l d wa te r to
mys el f i t wa s s t i l l a c ra z y
w i n te r d ay s e s s i o n t h a t I w i l l
n eve r fo rg e t . T h e w i n d wa s
u n favo u ra b le s o u t h e as te rly,
a n d t he a i r te m p e ra t u re wa s
b i t te rly co ld .
With confidence now sky high,
it was a case of maintaining
consistency
and
accuracy,
and just making time to get
rods on the spot . It did start
to feel like it was a matter of
time until some of my winter
targets would turn up.
A n o t h er 5 L b u c ke t d ro p p e d
BigCarp 59
