Frimley 2006

The time has come…

2006-06-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

Any regular readers of this site will note that there’s not been any updates for a while. First off that’s down to a month away from fishing from me, when I got married and went on my honeymoon – on which I managed to sneak a days deep sea fishing in and landed a 60lb sailfish!!! Also Ricky moved house in the same period, which meant that he struggled to find free time to get down to the lake. But we were back soon and managed to get a couple evening sessions in which didn’t throw up anything carpy…

So we made an executive decision between us regarding our fishing. We decided to up sticks and centre our attentions on Pit 3 for the 2006/07 season. We thought long and hard about it and decided that Pit 2 hadn’t been as kind to us as we hoped over the last 12 months and things were getting a bit stale. Its only a small water and once you’ve done the circuit of all the usual swims and tried all the methods (and some new ones) but nothing much happens, your mind starts to wonder, which is exactly what it did with us. We’ve been fishing Pit 2 for years now and we’ve had a lot of success on there. Ricky’s done really well, banking countless 20’s and I’ve had my fair share too – with my wife and my Dad also banking good fish over past seasons. In general its been a pleasure to fish a lake as beautiful as Pit 2 – especially as it often quiet and peaceful on there.

But its time to move on and Pit 3 is our new baby now! Everyone knows about this pit and how tricky it can be, but also how it can throw up some of the most stunning commons in the country. Especially the big ‘uns! We wont be updating this site anymore as we just want to concentrate on getting amongst the carp, plus as Pit 3 is far more popular, we don’t want to ruffle any feathers... In short, we’re signing off from the Frimley Blog. Cheers for all the people that have been reading our updates, its already gained us some mini-fame in the close knit world of carp fishing. If you see us down there, pop over for a chat! We’ve recently wet our lines on the mighty Pit 3 and we’ve already had some success on there carpwise, which just blasted away any niggling wonders on whether we’d made the right choice! But that, they say, is another story……

Tight lines and be lucky

Daz & Ricky

Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey! 29th April

2006-05-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

The weather was definitely on the up and up and with spring now firmly digging its heels in, it was time for another session down at Frimley. With my wedding just around the corner, this was officially my last session as a ‘single’ man – some may say forever ;) Our Dad (Nick) was back in the country for the wedding from working overseas and the finer details of the session were discussed over a curry for Ricky’s birthday the night before. A few beers later and we were well up for getting down there! So, the next morning at silly o clock we found ourselves all bleary eyed and stumbling up the hill towards Pit 2, still half asleep and trying to shake away the fuzzy remnants of too many Cobra beers!

Down at the lake, we had a quick scout around and decided to opt for 3 swims fairly close to each other, so we could have a bit of a social as well as try and land a kipper or two. With our Dad working abroad, fishing sessions with him were a rarity, so it was important that we were all within talking distance of each other. A perfect spot was the old breezeblock swim and the two next to it in the corner - we settled in and started to set up for the day. It was only about 5:45am but already light enough to see properly so we wasted no time in getting some baits out. With 8 rods out spaced out between the 3 swims, with marginal spots, island spots and open water spots, we were definitely expecting some action. All three swims had produced decent carp for us and others in the past so we had the best of both worlds; a social and a decent days fishing ahead of us. As always when our Dad comes fishing, so too comes his cool bag FULL of food. “Dinner’s on me!”, were his parting words the night before so we held back on our usual supply of Pot Noodles, Meal in a can’s and crisps in anticipation of what was in store. We were definitely not let down when he cracked on with a breakfast of egg and bacon rolls – pukka! Once we’d wolfed them down, they were followed up by a second round of bacon rolls, which we just couldn’t refuse! Then we settled down and waited for any signs of life from the pit, which so far were only coming from the Canadian Geese thrashing the waters into foam whilst they tried to hump each other…

I think we all must have dozed off when my screaming alarm woke me up. I’m in I shouted just as it stopped and I saw a coot coming back up from my baited spot. Theres nothing like being woken from a sleep by an alarm to get the old ticker racing! I waited by the rod for a bit on the off chance that it may have been a fish and then recast that rod in case it had been moved off my baited area. Shortly after I’d set the bobbins, Dad’s rod was away – a nice steady run which he connected into and the rod hooped over. We went over for some actions shots and I got the net ready. By the bend in the rod you could tell whatever was on the end wasn’t a carp and lo and behold our first tench of the year slipped over the net. Weighing at around 4lbs and with some gorgeous colouring, our Dad couldn’t have been more chuffed as he held his first English fish of the year up for some photos. With the tench slipped back, we were all ready and waiting for some more action.

Lunchtime arrived and out came that legendary cool bag! With a delicious dinner of chicken, potato, broccoli, salad and some lemon cake settling inside us we couldn’t have been more content. The weather was nice and warm and there was no sign of rain. Ricky had a drop back which amounted to nothing, me and Dad had a few knocks here and there but that was it. The day didn’t really deliver what we thought it would. I had some more trouble with our feathered friends, which kept me on my toes but no action from anything that didn’t have a beak! We had to leave early afternoon and slowly started to pack up. I wont be down Frimley for a good 3 or 4 weeks as my honeymoon is calling, but Ricky will be making up for that, so until then….

Finally! - 13th April

2006-04-17T02:39:00.000-07:00

After a two week break from all things fishing due to wedding planning and my Stag Do in Budapest (awesome trip – see Ricky about pictures of me in a Wonder Woman outfit!!!!), it was time to hit the banks again. I decided to make the most of a short day session over the Easter Holidays, although Ricky couldn’t make it down for this one. I say short day session because I realised last thing the night before that I hadn’t got my rod license sorted and the post office didn’t open until 9! That scuppered my plans for an early start and so I didn’t get down to Pit 2 until about ten. The swim that I had in mind, the dug-outs, was taken but as there was a nice wind blowing into the other side of the lake, I wasn’t too disheartened. I followed the wind and ended up in the far corner of the pit and with nobody else fishing that side of the island, I dumped my gear and had a quick mooch around. The wind was very strong and the water choppy so locating fish was quite tricky. Normally if the carp are down that end of the lake, you can find them under the branches of the trees and bushes, but I couldn’t see a thing in the windswept lake. That wasn’t a problem as the Frimley residents always have a habit of tucking themselves away and not showing themselves, unless its hot and they’re on the surface. I opted for a swim that gave me access to several hotspots and with no-one else around, I had even more places to cast while that end of the pit was mine.

The wind was really chuffing its best and setting up was certainly interesting! I got my three rods out, all into pukka spots and all first time casts too – that’s definitely good for me! I had two margin rods and the third was fished just off a bush opposite me, in a small gap. I had a chopped up boilie on one margin rod and pellet on the other two – a bait that I was going to be trying more this season. Now that I had three rods at my disposal, experimentation was the order of the day. As no doubt I’ve mentioned before, the carp gods haven’t been the kindest to me as I didn’t land one carp from Pit 2 last season – with several definite carp lost. I had carp from other lakes and France, but it just didn’t happen at Frimley – even with Ricky and my other fishing mates catching all around me. I had Bream, Tench and some chunky Crucians, but no sight of those gorgeous golden commons that I so often saw on the bank! So I decided to change my methods, opting for different baits and tactics until I broke the Hex hanging over my head. Would today be the day that saw my confidence shoot up again? With all three rods perfectly positioned, I set the STI up cos the wind was blowing me sideways and I needed some shelter. Plus the cloudy overcast day was looking like it might thrown some rain down at me. Jack (1790) came round to see me and we had a chat about all things carpy and he informed me that he’d had the mirror known as Cluster/Starburst/Swiss Roll at 26lb+ from the swim I was in. That was one of mine and Ricky’s target fish for the season and for him to take that fish as his first ever carp from Frimley was an exceptional feat, especially as a schoolboy – well done fella. I saw his pics and it was a magnificent fish. With that in my mind, my anticipation was high and I felt certain something would happen today for me.

And it did – about one o clock! I was on the phone to my fiancé when my middle rod screamed off! An absolute one toner! That’s a noise I hadn’t heard in a while and I dropped the phone and was on it straight away. This was the rod just off the bush on the other side of the lake and it had snags either side of it. As I struck I felt the rod arc over and the thump of something heavy on the other end. This was no tench! The fish kited to the right, away from the main snags and I saw it top in open water – superb, so I slowly pumped it into the middle of the lake. I was so nervous about losing this carp; if the hook pulled or it came off I think I would’ve been sick. As I played it nearer and nearer to the bank, the fish came more and more alive and started to give me some grief on my 1 3/4lb Sabre! Long, surging dives near the net meant I had to get its head up and try and get some air into it. I could see the fish now and it was a common, albeit not a very big one. I couldn’t have cared less to be honest – if it had been a 2lb baby, I would’ve been over the moon! Watching the vortex’s as it swirled in front of me really hit home and I knew I really needed to land this one. I eventually tired it out and slipped the net under what looked like an immaculate specimen. I was shaking like a shitting dog as I stood there punching the air and shouting ‘Yes, Yes, YEEEEESSS’ to myself! I must’ve looked like a right chump if anyone was looking, but having just broken the Frimley hoodoo, I was ecstatic! I unhooked her in the net as it was just nicked in the lower lip, perfect, and hoisted the fish onto the unhooking mat where I got the sling and scales ready. With the scales already zero’ed, the needle swung round to 15lb 8oz. The weight was irrelevant to me – the fish was. It was such a perfect common, not a scale out of place and no flaws that I could see. I took a few snaps and slipped her back, where she glided off into the depths. That was it – you couldn’t wipe the grin off my face! As I recast that rod and placed it bang on the money again, I was chuckling to myself like a loony! I rang my better half and explained why I’d just hung up on her; she was over the moon for me especially after a year of me coming home dejected and moaning! Then I rang Ricky who was equally as chuffed for me – he knew how much a fish meant to me, especially for my confidence! It may seem to someone who catches all the time, that I’m getting a little too excited about a mid double carp. But for anyone that’s blanked on a lake for as long as I have, they’ll understand the significance of finally landing a carp, no matter what the size!

Now I was content. I settled down to wait for any further action. About an hour later, the same rod started to scream off again, but this time a duck had found my bait and promptly dropped it. Once my heart had stopped trying to break free from my rib cage, I recast that rod again and sat back. The rest of the day slinked by with no more events and for once, I packed up with a smile on my chops! The rain that was threatening itself, even held off until I got in the car so someone up there was on my side today! The curse has ended and I was once again, amongst the Frimley carp. With my fish today and Ricky’s previous carp, may this be the start of a good year for us on Pit 2. Roll on the next session…..

25th March. Spring is in the air…

2006-03-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

Finally it seems Spring is here. The week had been getting gradually warmer and warmer and the forecast for Saturday was looking just peachy. Me, my bro Ricky and his mate Rob were all down for a Saturday session and had been keeping a close eye on the forecast. All was confirmed as I jumped on the train at silly ‘o’ clock in the morning – it was really mild. Perfect conditions really and the confidence was so high, I could’ve floated all the way to the lake from the station. As it happens I didn’t and I was sweating like a monkey by the time I reached the top of that bridge, and then like an overweight monkey by the time I got to the swim…

Ricky was due down later on, so I had a quick nose round the lake and could see that a few swims were taken already. Ricky’s mate Rob was already down there and we met up for a quick natter. He’d chosen a swim at the back end of the lake, near the out of bounds section, while I opted for a swim that faced the island but also had open water and margin options. This was my first session using three rods and it’s safe to say I was quite eager to get them all out! All three were made up and ready to go with three freshly tied rigs and as I was setting it all up, my mate Austin popped down after his night shift to see how things were going. We had a quick catch up whilst I cast my baits out and when the traps were set, going home to sleep all day was the last thing he wanted! But tiredness took over and off he went as I surveyed the lake. All three of us had picked up some new bait at the 5 Lakes show in Essex last week, so we were all trying new methods mixed in with some tried and tested classics. I opted for different bait on each rod at first, just to throw some differences out there. Maggots, halibut pellet and a chopped-up 15mm boilie were my choices. With three rods in three pukka spots – all nicely baited up and looking really promising, I started setting the STI up as the clouds were just starting to threaten a bit of rain.

Pit 2 hadn’t been so kind to me this year and I struggled a bit last year too, carp wise. I had plenty of big bream, tench and even some monster crucians but I was definitely looking for some big carp action now. Ricky did very well last year, with plenty of 20’s under his belt and had already opened his account with his fish a few sessions ago. I knew this was my last chance to go fishing for a couple of weeks as I was on my Stag Do the weekend after and busy after that. My luck had to change I thought as I watched my rod tips and the water. All was quiet though apart from the baliff coming round and then Ricky turning up mid-morning raring to go. He walked round the lake a few times and chatted to some of the others fishing. One guy right in the corner had an 18 out, which boosted our confidence – but also he said that nearly every swim was taken, which meant a lot of pressure on the lake. Something that Pit 2 doesn’t really get – especially with its famous brother number 3 just a stones throw away. Still with spring now taking root, the lake was always going to be more busy so we kind of expected it. Ricky chose his spot in the swim next to me and busied himself setting up and getting his baits out. By early afternoon we were all avidly waiting for signs of that first run. The silence was broken by my buzzer sounding. I had a strange take on one of my island rod – the line tightened up and the rod tip bent round a little – so I waited…. And waited…. And it stayed like that, taking no line. One final tweak and I was on it, expecting to lift into the weight of a fish – but there was nothing there. A complete fresh air strike. Gutted. I checked my rig, which was perfect, so I can only put it down to being one of those things. Despondent, I recast, rebaited and settled back down awaiting some more action.

The rest of the day was quiet on the Pit – no action from anyone as far as I could tell. Eventually the heavens did what they were threatening to do all day and opened up, which meant one thing. Packing up in the rain again – great. We held on for as long as we could and then called it a day. Once again, Pit 2’s scaly residents had eluded us, even in these good conditions. We packed up and trudged off through the mud plotting our next attempt.

19th March

2006-03-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

The weekend started with a trip up to Essex for the 5 Lakes Carp Show. Me, Daz and my mate Rob got an early start in and got there for bang on 9 (When the doors were supposed to have opended!) I won't go into how we had to wait 30 odd minutes in the freezing cold, if you were there, you'd know how it felt! The highlight of 5 Lakes for us, was Rob Maylins talk about his phenominal 'Mag Aligner'. His results on Frimley Pit 3 alone simply blew us away. The sheer amount of fish he caught in 2 weeks or so (during daylight) was unbelieveable. We left essex with plans to head down to pit 2 the next day armed with plenty of maggots and plenty of confidence.

Daz couldn't make it on Sunday due to football, but me and Rob trecked down (despite a minor 'alarm clock' set back) for a 5 or so hour session. Not only did we have maggots, we managed to settle on some more bait at the 5 Lakes show, so we were all set for the imminent spring. With 2 rods each on the mag aligner set up, and my 3rd rod on single boilie, our expectations were pretty high. However the temperature we were promised on the forecast simply did't arrive and we sat staring at a very quiet lake. Still no fish showing whatsoever and we eventually decided to leave. Bring on the start of April...

8th March.

2006-03-09T02:45:00.000-08:00

After a failed session last Saturday, I was once making my familiar way down to the Frimley complex. I’d gone down last Saturday, hyped up and ready to go with some new ideas – only to find the entire venue frozen up solid. I walked round most of all four lakes and could see via my eyes and a spot of tentative ‘testing the ice with my boot’, that it was a no go situation. A quick chat with a couple of bailiffs who had just woken up with their rods locked solid in the ice, and that was enough for me – I lumped the gear back to the train station feeling gutted that I couldn’t try out my new rigs, and was back in bed with the soon to be wife…. things weren’t all that bad then ;)

Anyway, the next session seemed far more promising from the outset. I’d been tracking the weather for a few days and could see that a spot of mild weather and low pressure was coming up – this was a chance not to be missed, so I set about planning the day session down there. Due to work commitments, Ricky couldn’t make the trip – but as always, we would be in close communication via the trusty old dog and bone! Must rack up a fortune when one of us is fishing and the other isn’t – constantly phoning and texting each other for updates and info!

I arrived at the complex via the ever reliable South West Trains – after hacking off all the commuters by wedging myself and my gear in the last available space on the train! The short walk from the station left me sweating like a horse as I got to Pit 2 – a sure sign that the temperature was on the up and up. I quick scout around and the swim was chosen and secured. I could sense impending rain in the air and so quickly stuck my Dave Lane STI shelter up – so quick and easy to do. Next up was the rods – already made up, so I got my set up ready. Doing a bit of research recently had thrown me into the path of Mr Maylin’s trust mag-aliner rig. Ive only ever used the Korda maggot clips before, so was quite keen to give this rig a go. He cleaned up on Pit 3 last year with it, so I just had to get it out there. Two rods were heaved out, both with chunky PVA stockings attached, chock-full of those little wriggly sods. One was cast to a known gravel spot about 40 yards out and the other was placed in an extremely juicy looking marginal spot. I couldn’t have felt more confident about the session and settled down to a cup of the black stuff. That’s coffee in case any of you think i’m an alcoholic!

One of the bailiffs popped in for a chat and was as friendly as always – he even recognised me from this site, which is always nice. He wished me luck and said the conditions were pukka – which just fuelled my anticipation of a run. And so I waited…. The morning came and went, without so much as a carp’s fart rippling the surface. Nothing moving anywhere on the parts of the lake I could see. I’d adopted the tactic of constantly trickling a small amount of maggots into the various areas of the swim to keep my options open. I had 4 spots baited up and on the hour I changed my non-marginal rod to each of these spots in the hope of catching the carp in the act of wolfing up my maggots. As predicted, just before midday, the heavens opened. And boy did they open – it chucked it down. I was warm and toasty however even though there was a small river running underneath my chair cos the swim was on a slight slope! As usual, my old Frimley friend Mr Robin came to play and after feeding him about half a pint of maggots, I’m sure he’ll be eligible for Celebrity Fat Club this year! That bird definitely likes his food!

But, following suit from my last few sessions, it wasn’t to be. I had a few knocks on my gravel spot rod over the course of the day and later on, had a slight pick-up on the same rod, but on a different spot, which didn’t amount to anything. I was getting concerned that it just wasn’t gonna come right for me again, and true to form, the session ended with no action. My good mate Austin came down for a chinwag and I had a good old natter with the Steven’s brothers over the course of the day – so although I’d not connected with any of the lakes specimens, I’d still enjoyed myself. I packed up in the heavy rain (always a pleasure – cheers Mother Nature!) and slinked home with my tail between my legs, ready and waiting for the next time. Just to ease the pain of not catching anything, the mighty Gooners managed to eek through in the Champions League – at least there were some winners out there that day.

18th Feb. 3rd time lucky!

2006-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

For the 3rd session of the season, I can safely say we were more confident than we had been so far this year. It was mild, the pressure was very low and it had been overcast the last few evenings. We were looking forward to getting back down to pit 2 more than ever.
6 o'clock Saturday morning came by. My brother Daz couldn't secure the car for the weekend, so as he lives in Blackwater, he was going to jump on the train again and meet me at the bottom of the bridge. I live about a mile from the lakes and normally walk my gear down there, but the day ahead threatened rain which meant carrying my titan down there... Not something I would want to look forward to. As I was walking back home from the pub the night before, I found an old trolley dumped in our carpark, and with a few beers in me thought it would make a great 'Carp Porter' so stashed it away till the morning!

We arrived at the lake around 6.45 and chose two swims opposing each other across the pit. We normally fish together or near each other, but this does put a limit on the swims we can fish. So with the aid of some 2 mile radius walkie talkies we took to our seperate swims. We were both a little shocked as the morning was colder than we had excpected and we were greeted with subtle frost and fog too. But still, we were ever confident as we set up and had our baits in place by 7 o'clock. A few knocks on my rods kept my spirits high as this low pressure was sure to get the fish less lethargic than they had been the past month.

The day rolled on quickly as always when fishing, with nothing more than a few bleeps here and there. No fish showing at all. All was still. Then something different happened. It started raining. Gentle at first, then strong enough for me to give in to setting up the titan. Soon after the rain stopped, I heard what I hadn't heard in a long time. My buzzers.
My right hand rod which was positioned on a nice gravel patch at about 30 yards range roared into life. I was on it in seconds, heart pumping. The second I struck the fish fished rolled on the surface and I spotted the scales of a gold looking common. I buzzed my brothers walkie talkie and told him 'I'm in!' Daz reeled his rods in and came round from the other side of the lake to where I was. After a scrap of around 10 minutes, I slid the bigger than first thought carp over and into my net. She weighed in at 19lb 11oz and I couldn't have been happier. Another stunning Pit 2 common. Lovely. Daz didn't have more than a few bleeps, and I had nothing more. We packed up and trecked it home, more confident and hopeful for the months ahead that are only going to get warmer and longer.

4th Feb 2nd sesh....

2006-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Our second session of the year was drawing nearer so we were keeping a close eye on the weather conditions. The week leading up to Saturday was absolute brass monkeys, so things weren’t looking as good as they could be! Added to the fact that we were only down for half a day – the odds were stacked against us. But, as harsh as the elements were, we were still chipper as we made our way over that lung-bursting bridge…. Luckily, the missus didn’t need the car so we didn’t have the pleasure of riding one of South East Trains finest! A 6:30am wake up call wasn’t the easiest thing to comprehend, but the bitter chill of a pre-dawn Saturday morning soon woke us both up and it wasn’t long before we were down at the lake having a mooch around for a swim to set up in.

Before the session we’d been brainstorming as to where we could fish and discussed the possibility of fishing the ‘other’ end of Pit 2. It’s the part where it tapers right down and theres a few swims facing each other – with the very end bank having no swims on it. It’s definitely the end that doesn’t get fished that often, in our opinion and that could be the edge that we needed in those tricky winter conditions. However, on arrival, we could see that someone had set up in the boards swim and upon closer inspection, someone turned into some people. So with a minimum of four lines cast out to the bank we would’ve been fishing on and not knowing their exact location, we opted to try for a part of the lake with no other anglers on. A quick scout around showed that Frimley’s finest residents were doing their usual winter trick – not showing at all! So, we opted for the swims 13 & 14, the Cut Out and the Breezeblock. These swims have consistently produced over the years and as the odds were against us today, confidence was definitely high on our list of things we needed working with us!

With our time on the lake slowly ticking away, we swiftly set up. I had opted to fish the Breeze Block, whilst Ricky chose the Cut Out. Tactics were similar to last session’s. I was fishing single hookbaits, which consisted of a Dynamite Hi-attract Pineapple 20mm on the rod that was cast directly out to a proven spot just off the island bush. Around 20 free offerings were ‘pulted out tight to the area. The other rod was fished with with a single orange flouro Dynamite Scopex pop-up, fished over a small bed of crushed and chopped Hi-attract Pineapple boilies. This was cast to a small marginal overhanging bush that always looks so carpy! Ricky had 3 rods out – one was fished just off the island, to a bush that carp often patrol round as they head in the more open water of the lake. Another rod was fished to open water – directly between the island and the bank, to a nice hard spot. His third rod was tight to some marginal snags, which again, as margins always do, looked really carpy! All three rods were fished with single Nutrabaits Techni-spice Boilies, with no free offerings. On paper, reading that back – its sounds perfect! You’d expect all 5 rods to go screaming off, and even though it was pretty cold, we sat back with our confidence sky high.

The morning came and went ridiculously quickly. Not good when you know you’re only fishing for half a day! The baliff came round and informed us that, again, not much had been out apart from Iain and his mate’s bumper hauls from January. Good fishing from them – and good for the confidence too. We both had a few knocks on our rods, which was promising, but they didn’t amount to anything. Our mate Deano was fishing Pit 3 and called in to say he’d just had one – I waited with baited breath to see whether a legendary monster had graced his net, but it turned out that a 6lb Pike had decided to take his cube of luncheon meat! Typical eh? At least he hadn’t blanked, which he cheekily added at the end of his call…. sarky t*sser! The temperature was really dropping now and we were starting to feel the cold. A few meal in a cans were hastily scoffed down and we were feeling a bit warmer – albeit affected by the obligatory flatulence that always follows those gastronomical delights ;)

Winter fishing on Frimley has always been tough and as we sat there scanning the water for signs of life, we were again eluded by its mysterious residents. The session started to draw to a close and as the temperature dropped even further, we prepared ourselves to start packing up. We were already preparing the next session before that one had even finished, talking tactics and methods and generally looking forward to getting on the bank again. Two (well, one and a half!) sessions into the year, with no action at all, you would’ve thought we would have a been a little despondent…. but you try stopping us getting down there for next time!

21st Jan - A cold start to the year...

2006-01-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

So here we were – finally heading down to Frimley for our first session of the year. Due to my car dying on me just before xmas, it was a case of getting the train down to the lake – sounds laughable, but as my flat and the Frimley complex are just one stop and 4 minutes apart from each other, it wasn’t so bad – even with all the dodgy looks we got as we piled our gear onto the train in the morning! Ricky, my brother, kipped over the night before round mine so we could both get down there together.

We’d been anticipating getting the rods out at Frimley for most of the Christmas break, but due to new work commitments from both of us, added to the busy weekends etc, it was tricky getting a spare day. Anyway, that’s all over now and we’d set a date to get down to the lake and hopeful trick a coldwater carp into one of our nets… We knew it would be hard work, as Pit 2 has always been hard on us over the winter months. But after reading up on the RMC site about Iain taking three winter carp from Pit 2, our confidence was up and our appetites whetted! 3 carp in a day session was a good haul for the winter. We’re Pit 2 maniacs, so there was no choice really as to what Pit we wanted to fish – Number 2 all the way. A few seasons ago we decided to stay on this Pit until we’d felt like we’d conquered its larger residents, including Cluster – a target fish for both me and Ricky.

The night before was spent discussing tactics and tying rigs over a few cold suds. And then we were at our second home – Frimley Pit 2. We had a quick scout round the lake and Ricky opted for the Breeze Block Swim, whilst I jumped into number 13 next to it.

Tactics were similar to last years, except that we decided against using the Korda PVA tunnel-mesh, as the water was ice cold and we didn’t want to compromise our rigs with the PVA not breaking down fully. So single hookbaits with broken boilie stringers were the order of the day. Ricky fished two rods along the island bank and one rod to a deep spot, just off a marginal bush, using single 18mm Techni-spice boilies with stringers. I opted for two rods cast tight to bushes further along the island bank – spots that had produced before as carp patrolled the island margins. One rod was offered with a Hi-attract Dynamite Pineapple boilie complete with a PVA stringer. The other was a single Scopex Flouro pop-up. All bait were fished tight to the bottom with leadcore and flying backleads doing their jobs. What carp could resist those tasty offerings? The baits were cast, the alarms set – the game was on. We sat back and watched as the sun rose over the misty lake and it felt good to be back after the hectic Christmas period.

There was no action for most of the day. With clear skies and a slight wind, we watched but could not see any sign of carp. A high pressure, coupled with dropping temperatures would have sent the carp into a lethargic state and we could sense that it was going to be a tough day. The baliff informed us that not much had been out of the other lakes, and Iain’s bumper catch was the best result so far this year on Pit 2. As the hours passed and we grew colder, we waited patiently. The temperature dropped even further and the light finally faded completely around 5pm and we got ready to pack up for the day. Ricky had a few knocks on his marginal bush rod, which eventually came to nothing. Could have been something grubbing around on his spot, but obviously didn’t take the bait. We fished until the latest we could, which was 6pm and then made the slow trek home, frustrated that the carp had eluded us but feeling good that we’d been on the bank – and definitely looking forward to the next session.

Welcome!

2006-01-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Frimley 2006 blog. Run by Ricky and Daz James, we will be updating this webpage throughout the season, bringing you catch reports, weather reports and anything of general interest that's happening on the Frimley complex. For the last 3 seasons we have focused on pit 2. Why pit 2? For many reasons. Mainly because of the mystery surrounding the contents of the gravel pit. All last season my target was to catch an elusive mirror, and to this day have still not had any luck. We have heard of there being only 2 mirrors in there (one being the near 30 'Cluster') but who is to know for sure? The only way to find out is to fish, fish and fish.

Anyway, enough of the introduction. Our first session of 2006 will be on the 21st Jan. We will post for every single session we fish, no matter how short. If we catch, we'll let you know. If we blank we'll still be here reporting weather conditions and, if any, other catch reports we hear from the baliffs.