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Back to Academy searchEd Betteridge
Ed Betteridge is well known for fishing difficult UK venues containing fish with a British heritage.
Ed has been fishing from the age of eleven years old and has caught around 50 Carp over 30lb, including five upper 40's of 46lb 08lb, 47lb 02oz, 48lb, 48lb 06oz, with a current UK PB of 49lb 12oz. All these five fish are from hard UK venues from three different counties.
Venues Ed enjoys fishing include Swarkestone, Elstow Pit, Linch Hill, Fen Drayton and Stoneacre.
Ed also writes for various angling magazines and has had articles published in Carpworld, Advanced Carp Fishing, Crafty Carper, Carp Addict and Carp Talk magazines. Ed has also had catch report features in various publications and won the weekly/monthly catch competitions in Angling Times, Big Carp and Anglers Mail.
See videos of Ed on the official Greys Fishing YouTube channel
Check out Ed's YouTube channel
Local Water Angling
"In my last blog I ended on catching the big common from my local water that I had been fishing due to work commitments. The project work in Leeds carried on longer than I expected and the money was too good to refuse so I had to carry on fishing locally and leave the big fish waters until later in the year. The overnighters and occasional 24hour session made it difficult to piece the fish movements together and it was often hard to work out where the fish were holding up when I only had a short time to locate them before dark. However, my mates helped out hugely with this and between us we could keep track of where the fish were showning and try to ascertain where they might be holding up.
"The first couple of overnighters were hard work because the north easterly wind had put a cold chill into the water which seemed to put the fish off feeding. I did find the odd one showing on the back of the wind, but getting a bite was proving hard work. However, I did save a 24hr blank by casting to showing fish as I packed away and landed a chunky upper double common.
"The following session I fished the point swim that controlled the entrance to the two bays that were the deepest area on the lake, and also on the back of the chilly wind. I split my rods between the bays then hedged my bets as to where I thought they might be.
"The deeper of the two bays has an island in the centre and it took a tricky cast with the big cross wind but I eventually managed to get a bait just off the corner of it. This was in hope to intercept the fish as they cruised round the island to stay out of the wind but remain in the warm sun. This tactic paid off when I receive a take the following morning. The fish wasn't massive at 23.08lb, but it was a stunning Linear and looked as old as they come. I didn't realise how old until I spoke to a couple of regulars. It turns out it is one of the few original fish of the lake and its captures date back until the 70's, in fact it could be one of the fish from the first stocking of the water back in the 1950's! I believe these fish were Leneys and at that age the Linear is a very special fish indeed.
"My next session was a Sunday night with a rare day off on Monday and I thought I would have the pick of the lake, but on my arrival my first four swim choices were all taken! I ended up in a swim that used to be a favourite of mine when I used to fish there in the 90's, but the water level is 3 feet lower than back then and the productive spots were now dry land.
"I blanked during the night and morning and had to leave early as I had a family afternoon planned. I did however have a feeling that a couple of fish might turn up in the shallow water to bask in the sun so when Zoe offered to come down to the lake to see me (and bring lunch), I jumped at the chance to keep the rods out.
"Because Zoe is eight months pregnant there isn't many places she can get comfy, but luckily the Chub Cloud 9 Bed chair is one of them, so whilst she caught up on some sleep, I entertained four year old Jamie by showing him what life lives below the waters surface - hopefully he might take an interest in fishing when he gets older. Then the relaxed atmostphere changed, as my middle rod let out a few bleeps before crippling round in the rest as an angry Carp tried to distance itself from the bank.
"As I picked up the rod the water exploded in the shallows as the Carp powered off on a surging run. It then gained a bit line, before it charged off again. The water was about a foot deep so on each run the fish created a huge bow wave as it made a bid for freedom. It really was an explosive fight, but I finally managed to tame him. As I slipped the net cord underneath him I could see it was another big common, and the scales confirmed it when the needle swung round to 31.04lb. I had now caught both the big commons out of the lake and it made it even better that my family was there to share it with me. Shortly after the photos I had another common at 23.08lb and lost a 3rd fish to complete an eventful afternoon.
"On my next session I had a three fish hit, the biggest of which was 25lb. This fish was from a lightly scaled strain that was stocked 10 years ago, but I held the fish I caught in the night in much higher regard; a 23lb Linear that was a much older and better looking fish. Incidentally this fish was the first one of the year from the water that I hadn't caught on a chod. It was caught on a lead clip system with a size 8 Kaptor Widegape, to 15lb N-trap.
"I received some very good news during that session - I had been successful in a job interview at the local brewery, so I no longer needed to travel to Leeds most days and I could string a few days off together so I could finally fish my new syndicate water in Cambs. I was that pleased with the job I turned down a 2nd interview for a Laboratory Managers position. It's hard to get through to my none-fishing friends why I had turned down a chance of a Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm for a four on four off shift pattern that included weekends and night shifts, but I'm sure everyone reading this will understand. Three fishing days per week and free beer - what else could I ask for?!
"On my first session to Cambs I was lucky enough to see the big girl of the lake which fired me up for the future campaign! I have seen plenty of photos of her but she looked so much better in the flesh! A new obsession begins..."
Ed Betteridge
A Return to an Old Haunt
"In my last blog I mentioned that I had been made redundant, well things have changed again and I have secured some lab based project work. The only down side is its 90 miles away from my Derbyshire home in Leeds! And to put an even bigger dent in my fishing I'm working 6 days a week and commuting so the only chance that I have had to get the rods out are on local waters for overnight sessions - all the expensive tickets I have bought will have to wait until my contract ends, the mortgage has to be paid first!
"Just before I started the contract I managed to get a few nights in on Christchurch so that Advanced Carp Fishing magazine could come down and do a feature on Zig Rig fishing with me I was lucky enough to catch a 33.8lb mirror live for the cameras. I won't go into too much detail on that because it is covered in May's issue, but it was a cracking looking fish and they got some stunning pictures. I then followed that up on my next outing on a different water with another capture live for the ACF cameras, this time a lot smaller, but it's good to catch right on cue.
"Even though the fish aren't that big by national standards on my local water it has been good fishing with a few old friends again on a lake I have fished on and off for over 20 years. On my first session in early April I was lucky enough to bank a 21lb common on a single Citrus Fizz flavoured pop up from Vision. It was attached to a chod rig that I cast to a depth variation between two shallow bars. I love fishing bright fruit flavoured baits in early season, they can quiet often induce a take when the fish aren't really feeding. On my next session down I followed this up with a 22lb two tone common, this was again on a single hookbait.
"I saw a few fish showing at long range on that session so I put away my smaller water, lighter test curve rods and dusted off my long range gear - 13ft 3.5tc Torsions. I had a spool Adrena-line in my bag that I use for long range casting because it peels off the spool very well, but work dragged on longer than I thought and I didn't get to the lake until late so I had to keep my 20lb fluorocarbon on my spools. I was really surprised how far I managed to cast with the thick line wiry line, but with the Torsions I was clearing 120 yards and getting close to the area where the fish were holding. I positioned another rod on the back slope further down the bar of what is normally a sunken Island, but due to the driest March on record it was now exposed. Just before dusk I watch several fish crashing out about 50 yards behind the sunken island and I wondered if I had made the correct swim selection, but then the rod hooped round in the rests and a fish was on. Due to the shallow gravel behind the exposed bar the fish had no choice but to kite away from the feature and into open water and soon I had a 25.12lb Mirror in the net. I was hopeful the next morning but time wasn't on my side and I had to wind in at bite time to get on the M1 to travel to work.
"I juggled a few things around at work so I could slip another night in on the Staffordshire water a couple of days later. My old school/fishing friend, Paul was on the Island swim, there is plenty of water and bank space on there so he let me double up for a social, and even allowed me to fish the productive spot from a couple of days earlier. The fish were again very active at long range so I cast a choddy as far as I could towards them, and then I took a risk and introduced 30-40 baits near the productive spot on the sunken island.
"At 2am the long range choddy burst into life and after a good scrap I had a nice 24lb common in the net. There is a barbless rule in force on the water and I did have a few reservations about using barbless hooks on choddies, but all the fish hooked on it were properly nailed with no issues. I think the in turned point of the Korda Choddy hooks helps the hook to stay in place without the barb and reduces the movement and slicing effect that barbless can cause.
"The following morning I was awoken by the hordes of semi tame Waterfowl as they decided to fight for territory outside my bivvy. Three pairs of Geese had decided to make their nests on the island swim, so most of the daylight hours were spend squabbling over the boundaries, so a lay in before work is near on impossible. In this instance they did me a favour because I was awake when a single beep caught my attention, I looked up just in time to see my rod tip tap once before it bent round in the rests, followed by a screaming take from the firm clutch. The fish fought well at distance before kiting round into the margins. I saw a flash of colour as he turned under the rod tip and I wrongly assumed he was nearly ready for the net, the fish decided he didn't want to be banked just yet and stripped 30 yards of line off my spool! The clutch was set as tight as I dared have it - I don't really like putting too much pressure on barbless hooks because I believe they can work there way out and cause mouth damage (even with the turned point). The fish tore around the swim for another 10 minutes and wiped out all of Paul's lines, much to Paul's annoyance! But it didn't interfere with my two remaining line - even more to Paul's annoyance!
"Eventually I coaxed it over the waiting net, when I parted the mesh I could see I had landed the Long Common, the biggest common in the lake - it used to be the biggest fish in that lake until a couple of years ago. On the Scales it went 31.14lb which was my first 30lb from the water after 20 years of fishing there! I know it's not a big fish by national standards, but for the area it is a rare old lump and I hold it in the same regard as some of the 40lbs I have caught from around the country. The fish had been in the water many years, probably since I first started fishing it in the early 90s and I wonder if our paths had crossed before at much lower weight, so I will have to dig out some old photos if I ever get a minute to compare them. Although I didn't want to leave the lake that morning the trip up the M1 didn't seem as bad that day.
"Hopefully next time write I might have a bit more time on my hands to get back on the road to start on the new waters I have joined."
News from Ed Betteridge - Monday 8th March 2011
"I arrived at the Lake in Oxfordshire glad to get out of the car after the 100 mile drive from my Derbyshire home. This would be my first fishing trip for over three months, and a lot had changed in my life since the last time I wet a line. I had moved house in December and bought a new car that was a bit more fishing friendly than my old saloon, but the excitement of living in the new home was short lived because three weeks after exchanging contracts I found out I was to be made redundant from work after 15 years service!
"I set up in a swim that I knew had received a bit of bait, because fellow Greys Carp Academy member, Myles Gibson had been fishing it. Normally I don't like moving into a swim that someone has taken the time to bait, but the lake can get very busy and I knew that if I did not move in someone else would. After getting the rods out and setting up camp it's amazing how life's stresses can drift away, the thoughts of job hunting and how the mortgage was going to get paid was now a distant memory and all my head was filled with was how I was going to tempt a fish or two on to the bank.
"From past experiences on the water I knew that Carp responded best to smaller, easily digestible food items in winter, so I supplemented my usual boilie approach with maggots and sweetcorn, and spodded out a few kilos of the mix to a clear area amongst the weed at 40 yards range.
"The boilie I was using was a bait that I had done really well on in the summer and I knew it would fish well in winter because it has a low fishmeal content; fishmeals can be too stodgy for fish when their metabolic rate is slowed by the cold temperatures, but at only 20% I knew this bait would be fine. The boilie is not available on the market yet but I know that Vision Baits are keen to release it as soon as all the testing is completed.
"The first night pasted without any action, but I knew fish must be in the area so I had a play around with my rigs, and tied up a rig that consisted of 5 inches of Korda's new N-Trap hook link in 15lb, a size 8 Widegape hook with a bit of shrink tube to help the rig flick over it the fishes mouth and hopefully find a good hook hold. I was fishing two baits on the spot, so I decided on two different hook baits, one was an Orange Flouro in Citrus Fizz flavour from Vision's Carp Candy range and the other was a small pop up from the new boilie that I was developing, but it was dyed white for extra attraction. I did not use a boilie stop on either rig, but instead looped a small rig ring on after threading on the boilie. I then used a sewing needle to thread between 4 to 6 maggots onto some 4lb line before tying this on the ring to tip the boilie.
"As the night passed and the rain beat on to my bivvy roof I wondered if I was wasting my time fishing this deep lake in February but, at 3:30am my question was answered as the Citrus Fizz Rod stuttered into life. It seemed to take ages to get my boots on and grab my waterproof jacket but I'm sure it was only a few seconds until I had the Prodigy rod in my hands and hooped over to what felt like a heavy weight.
"The fish did not go on any tearing runs, it just meandered from side to side and I soon had him in the waiting net. I flicked the head torch on to see a nice Mirror Carp wallowing in the bottom of my net, looking stunning in its winter colours. I quickly zeroed my scales to the weigh sling and hoisted him up. I was very pleased to see the needle swing way past the 30lb mark and settle on 36.06lb, which was my biggest winter capture and it seemed to make the cold wet conditions more bearable. We did the photos the next morning and the colours of the fish were even more impressive in the daylight!
"After returning the fish I made a quick phone call home to tell Zoe about my luck before I packed up, but she told me both her and 4 year old Jamie were ill with the flu. Zoe suggested I stayed an extra night to hopefully avoid the virus. I didn't have to be told twice! An extra night would be just fine by me, even though the rain was still coming down and the winter cold refused to let anything dry, I knew there was the chance of another fish!
"I had to wait until 5:30am the following morning for the action to come and this time it was on the new bait. The fight was in complete contrast to the last fish as it took line from the reel at regular intervals. It just didn't seem to want to come in and it took me a good while to get it in close, but after a war of attrition I persuaded it over the net cord and safely into the waiting mesh. I switched the head torch on and was greeted by the sight of another Mirror Carp, but this time it had big plated linear scales all down its lateral line. It was yet another stunning Carp and it even looked bigger than the last. This proved to be the case on the scales as it dragged the needle round to 39lb to complete an unbelievable winter brace of Carp and finish an unforgettable session!"
Ed Betteridge
News from Ed Betteridge – Thursday 21st October 2010
“Since I last blogged I have had a real mixture in fortunes. September is my second favourite month behind May for fishing so I normally book a couple of week’s holiday from work to get in as much bank time in as possible.
“The long sessions didn't go to plan and I suffered two, five-night blanks, which was a bit of a dent in my confidence! However, I did manage three Carp in this time, two of which were very special fish to me. The first was a 48lb Mirror and a new county record! This fish hadn't been caught for four years which made it even more special, but there is a publicity ban on the water so unfortunately I can't say too much or provide any photos.
“My next capture was a fish I had been chasing for over three years and I must admit it had become a bit of an obsession, but finally I manage to bank Choco at 49.12lb. I was elated to finally catch him, but there is far too much detail to write here so I'll save the full story for a magazine article (keep an eye on the Greys Carp Facebook page for notification of when it goes to print!) I intend to go into detail about the thinking behind catching the fish (sometimes at a cost of blanking) as well as the rig and bait that finally tripped him up.
“The third fish and last Carp I caught was from Stoney and a cracking 28.08lb Linear, which really typifies the stock in the water.
“It’s nice to finally have done on Stoneacre even though I have enjoyed most of my time on there, I think I'm going to finish my ticket off on the smaller waters on the complex before I move on to a new challenge next April.
“My session on the smaller water on the complex didn't go to plan and I ended up blanking. I can blame a few things for this - it was really busy and I couldn't get in a decent swim, but I think the main reason was that I over baited. The fish seemed to buck the trend on there and don't have a big autumn feed up for the winter, and the odd fish that was getting caught was from a light baiting situation. So the lesson was learnt for my next trip down.
“On my arrival I was surprised to see one of the most consistent swims of the season was free. I had not fished this swim before, but I had a rough idea what was out there from talking to the regulars in the summer. It only took me a couple of casts to find the main clear area at 65 yards out. When I fish this lake I tend to leave my marker rod at home because the lake is a bit of a bowl so depth is unimportant to me. The only thing I am looking for is the clear areas in the weed and whether they are gravel or silt, so I find that the Greys Spod Plus Rod is fine for doing the job and once I have the line clipped up at the range of the desired spot I replace the lead with a spod for baiting up.
“I intended on just fishing a light spread of boilie but I had a feeling this swim would react well to a bit more bait so I put out 3kg of boilie. That may sound like a lot but some people were still fishing over in excess of 10kg which I think is over doing it in the current situation. The night passed without action and so did the early morning bite time. At 10am I started to see a few bow waves and backs appear on the surface as the fish rose in the water to enjoy some late season sun. I started to tie up a zig rig because I thought the chance of a take off the bottom in 14 feet of water was unlikely. Just as I was about to wind a rod in I had a liner off one of the rods over the bait. So I left the rods in for a while and 10 minutes later the other rod on the bait signalled a take. I felt a fish on but it soon dived into a big weed bed between the swim and the spot, I tried constant pressure but that didn't work so I slackened everything off to see if it would move out of the weed on its own.
“Just as I thought the boat would be needed the fish fell for the slack line ploy and came out of the weed. The fight was a bit strange at first with a lot of nodding and the line kept on flicking off its fins as it twisted and turned. About 20 yards out the fish surfaced, it stuck its nose out slightly then rolled over leaving its tail waving in the air for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the depths again. I couldn't help but think that it was a big old tail; I think Paul who was watching realised that too but neither of us said anything. The fight changed completely after that and it made some very powerful runs but the Prodigy Plus Rod dealt with the fight nicely and I soon had a big old head kiss the spreader block as I netted the fish. I didn't know which fish it was at first but I was told it is a fish called The Long Fish and at 40.09lb it was my third 40lb in the last 4 captures!
“The rest of the day was quiet, but on my last morning I picked up two more fish within 20 minutes of each other, I recaptured a 27.08lb from the summer and a superbly conditioned 29lb.”
News from Ed Betteridge – Wednesday 25th August 2010
“I haven't Blogged much recently because I have been really busy with work, fishing and family as usual (not necessarily in that order) but I have been having a few as you can see from my growing gallery.
"I don't want to go into too much detail because the full story will appear in Carpworld magazine, but I had a good run of fish including a 44 mirror and a 39.08lb common which equalled my biggest common. I also had a dozen or so 20s to just over the 30lb mark.
“Since then I have mainly been enjoying socials. The first was with my Brother when I brought him down to Christchurch on a guest ticket. The fishing was a bit slow and my Brother lost two fish and I had a 21lb Carp and Bream just under 14lb. We fished the swim we were in quite well, although I think we could have sneaked one in if we went off stalking, but the session was more about the BBQ and socialising than all out fishing.
“The following week I had a family holiday in a lodge at Waveney Valley Lakes. We stayed on the banks of C Lake and I fished the nights and did the family beach thing in the day. The weather was poor and the Carp fishing was slow but we had a good time and I managed a couple of small Carp. I also managed to get Zoe and young Jamie interested in fishing.
“Since then I have been fishing a publicity shy little syndicate water and managed to lose a very nice fish when the hook link parted, which was very gutting. I have a week booked off work next week which I was intending to use to chase Choco, but it has just been caught so I'm at a loss to where to go now...”
Ed Betteridge
News from Ed - Monday 21st June 2010
"On my previous session at Stoney I suffer the first blank of the year, I'm not sure why because I was on the fish but I suppose these things happen in fishing.
"On the following session I got to the lake Friday afternoon and had my rods sorted well before dusk. My girlfriend, Zoe was supposed to join me for the weekend but some issues with her car prevented that, so I was destined to fish alone.
"The next morning I was deliberating wheather to recast one of the rods because I wasn't sure if it was fishing properly, when it sprang into life. The bite was fierce and stripping line quickly, I was on it in and out in the boat playing it within seconds. Luckily it had ditched the lead and was on the surface by the time I had most of 140 yards of line on the spool. The fish was very fast but I soon had it tamed in the net. I could tell it was empty from spawning and I soon had a long lean 27.12lb common held up for the camera.
"Two hours later another one of my reel spools was spinning at a rate of knots as an angry carp tried to distance itself away from me.
Once it had halted its initial run I clambered aboard the boat and played the fish on a short line. It dragged me around the swim and kept low like a big fish, I really thought I was into one of the really big ones. I knew Bitemark and another one of the big four would be sulking after recent captures so I started to believe I could be connect to Choco. The fish just kept low in the water and fighting hard, dragging me around the back of the island. Then I saw it turn just under the surface and my heart sank. I recognised it instantly as a fish I call The Fighter! This fish has fooled me three times now into thinking I was into a lump because its power is so much more than its 29lbs!
"Saturday night was a write off fishing wise because I wound in and had a social on the far bank, which included plenty of beer, a BBQ and the England game. The beer and food was excellent, I wish I could say the same for the football!
"On Sunday I had a nightmare with the wind and weed drift. The wind had switched from North East to South West and all the weed that had drifted up the far end of the lake was now coming back!
It seemed like I spent most of the day clearing the weed from my lines, I thought it had moved the leads, until I had a take! My tea went sky-ward as I struck the rod. The fish was taking line from the clutch and I need to get after it in the boat. But the boat wasn't there! Bugger! It had drifted off into the bay to my right.
"The fish eventually stopped its run and found a weed bed to hide in. So I slackened the clutch and ran round to the back of the bay, through a hawthorn bush, over some brambles, between the reeds and into the boat. I rowed it back to the swim as fast as I could to get the rod and then powered it out to the waiting fish. When I got over it I could tell it wasn't a big fish by the speed of its runs, but it turned out to be a new capture for me which was welcome and on the Scales it went 24.12lb and a nice end to the session. Choco will have to wait for another day....."
News from Ed - Wednesday 2nd June 2010
"My Oxford syndicate water isn't really fishing like it has in previous years, multi hits are few and far between, but I have slowly been trickling the odd ones out. I had a few days off in mid May and on the first night I had a 23.04lb on a single chod in a good area.
"The following day I moved swims and tested the casting on my new Greys Torsion rods and was rewarded with a 24.12lb after loosing one.
"I pulled off the lake for the weekend and returned on the Monday after it had quietened down a bit. I dropped into a swim called the Birches and had a bit of a nightmare casting. I was trying to hit a gravel bar at 160 yards which is a comfortable cast with my 13ft 3.5tcs but, with a cross wind I had to put a lot more effort into the force of the cast and with a 5oz lead snapping the lead clip and breaking the leaders! I used the boat to find the crack offs, but I needed to have a rethink on my leader material because the 20lb line I was using obviously wasn't up to the job.I did manage to bank a 26.08lb common on one of the casts I got right.
"After the common the wind increased so I moved to the swim next door which had just become free. From there I could wade out 15 yards which made it easier to hit further up the same bar as before which I'm sure the fish use to move up and down.
"In the night I had a series of about 5 bleeps on the alarm, which I put down to a line bite because from my bed the bobbin looked in the same place as I had left it. I received a few single beeps after that, I thought it was weed on the line so after a couple of minutes I realised I had to sort it out if I was to get any sleep. But when I got to the rod I noticed the line was out of the clip and as tight as a drum! I had forgotten to turn the clutch down and it was locked up solid from casting! I picked up the rod to find whatever was on the end was in a big weed bed. I boated out, but I couldn't budge it so I had to hand line it until eventually it came free and I felt a kick and realised the fish was still on! I picked the rod back up and the fish fought very hard weeding me solid twice more, so I bit the bullet tightened the clutch and hope the hook would hold with the force put on it with the powerful rod and braided leader. I really don't like playing fish that hard but I had little choice in the thick weed and I have to say that the rod coped with the fishes lunges nicely for such a high test curve model. I eventually brought the fish over the net and for a split second I thought it was the big linear (Bungles), but I soon realised it was the fish I had three weeks ago and the 3rd time I have caught it!
"I have now had eight fish this year from the tricky venue and five are recaptures! The 23.04lb I mentioned earlier, I have now had four times. I really don't enjoy getting recaptures, I just hope that Choco comes a long soon!"
Ed Betteridge
News from Ed - 20th May 2010
"My Girlfriend Zoe wanted to come fishing for a couple of days, so I made a return to my main water in Oxford earlier than planned in the middle of April.
"I drove down straight after a night shift which was pretty trying, but after that the session was quite chilled out. My target fish had been out a week or so earlier and wasn't likely to put in an appearance quite so soon after that and I wasn't spot fishing and only using singles so it was quiet easy fishing (not easy to catch though).
"I blasted our four rods and at dawn the following day I was out bare footed and playing what turned out to be a Tench and was very surprised to see that everywhere was white with frost! Even though my bed was calling I sat up watching the swim and saw quiet a few shows out at long range at about 180 yards. I repositioned two rods to be nearer the shows, one at about 160 yards and another at 140.
"At midday as I opened my first beer, one of the regulars on the far bank hooked a fish but unfortunately lost it. By this time it had grown very sunny and warm and a few fish were on the surface, bow waving and putting their backs out, still at long range.
"I tied up a Zig rig to fish just under the surface and put that out, telling Zoe that that was the banker rod. But at 1.30pm I had a take on a Choddy that was probably 10 feet under the surface! To my surprise the fish weeded me after a short time so I had to borrow a boat to try to land it. As I pulled myself out there I was surprised how much of last years weed was still present! Zoe got some good video footage of the boat battle and I eventually landed a 27.08lb Mirror to christen my new net, sling and mat. It was a recapture (which I need to get used to) but it looked stunning in the sun and very welcome because the lake had only produced 4 other fish in 2010.
"After all the slashing around in the boat there wasn't anymore shows so I decided to "rest the swim" and visit a couple of country beers gardens in the area! Both pubs were really nice and it was good to have a few beers and a nice meal in the sun on the banks of the Thames especially after the long winter that we have just had.
"After about 6 pints and a 3 mile walk we return to the swim to find that my timing was completely gone and distance casting was very tricky! But I did the best I could although I didn't have any more action. It was a very enjoyable relaxing weekend, but I shall be fishing a bit harder from now on to see if I'm lucky enough to catch my target fish - Choco..."
News from Ed - Wednesday 12th May 2010
“I arrived at the lake as most of the Bank Holiday anglers were leaving and I found a few fish at the back of the wind. After getting the rods in position I managed to catch a couple of Carp the following day and Christen my new 13ft 3.5tc Torisions. The first fish was named Nemo and weighed in at just under 30lb and the second was just over 20lb. The following day I had a few Bream move onto the bait.”Ed Betteridge
News from Ed - Tuesday 4th May 2010
"The Carp fishing was a bit slow despite the lake being absolutely packed, but I did managed ten Tench all between 7lb up to around the 9lb mark. All the Carp from the 50 acre pit had been caught on either Zigs or single hook baits this year, so I thought I would try something different and put a bit of bait out. I spread about 3kg of boilies between 3 rods and I was lucky enough to be rewarded with a 33.04lb Linear."
Ed Betteridge
News from Ed – Thursday 15th April 2010
“Whilst sheltering under my brolly from yet another unexpected thundery downpour, I’ve been scribbling down a few thoughts and thinking through the finer details of my Spring campaign.
“I started fishing Stoneacre in Autumn of last year and, although I managed a few nice fish that year, I was there more for learning about the water for a serious go this year. Stoneacre is a 50-acre water with between 90 and a 100 Carp in, so as you can imagine it’s not an easy water to catch from.
“Stoney has some unique rules; anglers are allowed to use boats for spot location, baiting up and landing fish but not for placing baits, they have to be cast as normal. I was drifting about in the boat on a quiet day in late Autumn, when the water visibility was partially good, I was looking for fish, feeding spots and generally having a mooch around when I found an area of patchy gravel in a swim that wasn’t fished much. As far as I know, this swim hadn’t produced a fish in that year and I later found out that it hadn’t been productive since just after it was raked a year or two previously.
“It all seemed perfect for a baiting campaign. The spot was in the middle of the lake, near a sanctuary of water that was out of most people’s casting range and therefore unfishable. I knew from my observations that fish liked to travel down a central corridor, more than 150 yards from each bank and although the clearish spot was only 100 yards out it was in an area normally unfished, especially in the warmer months once the weed had started to engulf nearly all of the surrounding area.
“I started pre-baiting the spot in April whilst fishing a couple of waters nearby. I didn’t want everyone knowing what I was doing so I baited up covertly after dark. I opted to use my boat for most of the baiting up because spodding was too noisy unless there was a big wind and without seeing them, I couldn’t be positive that the baits out of the throwing stick were landing in the right place.
“There are several methods of baiting up an open water spot in a boat after dark, but that’s an article in itself. I was using around 10-15 kilos of Vision Baits Ocean Protein boilies each time I baited. I did use a bit of hemp and pellet, that I had left over from my other sessions, on the first few bait ups, but I didn’t want to encourage the tench and bream to feed on the spot too much, so I switched to just boilie later. I also used a few chopped baits to release flavours, and to create a carpet of feed to make them grub around a bit more. Using the boilie only approach would also help me to establish a bait on the water, and hopefully to make my bait more readily acceptable when I fished other areas.
“I didn’t fish the spot on my first visit to the water, because I found fish elsewhere, but I kept the bait going in when no-one was watching, and I noticed that the spot had grown to quite a big area. This was the first time I’d had chance to see it since I started baiting and it was quite evident that the fish had been ripping the sparse weed apart to get at the bait, leaving nice, clean, gravel.
“On my next trip to the water, the fish were grouped at one end of the 50 acres, but so were seven anglers so I suspected the fish would move out at some time. That meant they would have to come past my baited area to get to the other end of the lake. I dropped into a swim that commanded the spot, and introduced two kilos of Ocean Protein. I was up at dawn and saw a fish crash out just behind the spot so I knew I was in the right place.
“At 7.30am, the middle alarm let of a few bleeps as the bobbin pulled up tight. After a brief pause the line pulled out of the clip and the Tournament spool started to tick away as line slowly disappeared into the lake. As I bent the Greys rod into the fish I was met with heavy resistance and I though that maybe it was weeded, but then it started to kite to the left and I knew I was into a decent fish. I quickly donned the waders, grabbed the net and made my way along the margins in the direction that it was traveling; this also helped get it away from my other lines. The fish came in, but fought under the rod tip for about five minutes, steadily taking and conceding line, but staying deep in a war of attrition like most big fish tend to do. Then it hit the surface for the first time and as I pushed the net underneath it I saw a dual row of big plated scales on one of the longest fish I have ever seen. I had a good idea of which fish it was because I had netted it for a mate the previous year at 34lb, but this time the dial on the scales went round to 39lb, which I later found out was the top weight for this fish.
“I lost two more in that session before the tench moved in. The first was definitely a carp that crossed my other line. The line slid down to the hook and popped the korda widegape out of the fish’s mouth. The second was cut off; that happened very early into the fight so it was difficult to tell if it was a carp or not. The line was retrieved a day or so later by another angler so at least the fish was not trailing line for too long. Before I left, I baited the area with another ten kilos of boilies with the intention of fishing there again the following week, after fishing the weekend in BCAC.
“On my arrival at the lake, a week later, I saw a few fish showing at long range, in an area in front of the Island Point swim, but I could also see my baited spot glowing in the dull light. It had now grown to the size of two cars and I knew that other anglers wouldn’t overlook it for much longer, especially after it had produced a fish, but I took a chance and baited up and dropped in the Island Point. I had a five night session ahead of me so I knew that time was on my side, before my holidays ran out and I had to return to the rat race.
“Nothing had happened by the second morning in the Island Point, so a move was on. Packing my gear down took a bit more time than usual because a fish had swirled over one of my baits. I thought at the time that it looked a bit Tenchy, but it was worth an extra hour just in case it was a Carp. The car was loaded, the boat stashed around the corner ready for the move and I was just approaching the rods, ready to skip the leads in when the left hand one tightened up. I bent into the fish and it became weeded more or less straight away. Time for my first boat battle of the session.
“Replacing the rod back on the rest, the boat was retrieved and with the life jacket on, net and mat in the boat, I slowly reeled myself out to the fish, using the rod to steer the boat. Once I got above the fish it popped out of its weedy sanctuary and then headed under my other two lines and towards the snags on the island. The wind was pushing me in that direction too, so it was a bit of a struggle. I remembered why I hate boat battles. I was determined not to loose another fish around the other lines, or in the island for that matter, so I dropped the outboard and put it in reverse. The fish wasn’t having that and stuck its head in another weed bed. I had to get above it again to try and get it out of the weed.
“I switched off the outboard and drifted towards it. The other two lines were now over the line attached to the fish and out of the water. The Delks were playing a merry tune back on the bank, but once I got above the fish it pulled straight out of the weed. I took advantage of this, stuck the outboard in reverse and pulled the fish a few yards towards me before it weeded me again. This to-and-fro game continued until the fish was clear of the lines and snags. The rest of the fight was spent more or less over the fish and I watched it tunnel through weed until it got enough around its head to grind everything to a halt. Each time, I got right above it and pulled it free before it all started again. Eventually, it ran out of steam and hit the surface ready for the net. I hoisted it aboard and parted the folds of the net to reveal a stunningly dark mirror, not massive but a decent fish. On the bank it tipped the scales at 33lb 12oz, this fish was later named Baby Choco because of its dark brown colour.
“After thinking about it for a bit, I decided to carry on with the move because the other lines had been wiped out in the fight, and it would have meant disturbing the swim to get everything back in place, plus the boat battle would probably have spooked any feeding fish that were present. The trouble was, someone had dropped in a little gap near to where I had baited. I didn’t want to ruin his chances of a fish by going to the swim a few yards away, and besides he was only there for the evening, so I followed a new wind that had sprung up, and dropped into a little corner swim on the end of it.
“I saw two Carp in the swim as I got the rods sorted. There were loads of Tench present too. The tench weren’t too bothered by the boating activities but the Carp didn’t like the look of a 6’4” numpty, in a silly hat, standing in an eight-foot boat in a little corner bay and were quickly spooked. It was unsurprising that a take just before dark resulted in a tench. Not a bad one at 9lb but I would have preferred a Carp.
“After a Tench-infested night and the wind changing direction as soon as my last lead hit he water, I though a move to the baited area was in order. However, one of the weekend regulars, Ross had dropped into the little gap that the chap had vacated the evening before. After a chat we agreed that he would be better off if he moved to the larger swim to the left, before the bank holiday crowd descended and boxed him in. I must have forgotten to mention the big glowing spot just to his right that the fish had been feeding on over the past few weeks! So that left the swim controlling the pre-baited spot free. Needless to say, I dropped in it.
“An hour or so after getting the rods sorted, I knew there were fish on the spot. They weren’t showing but the Coots were looking quite edgy and reluctant to dive there. They didn’t spook, they just kept circling the spot looking into the water, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when one of the rods ripped off, although I thought it would have taken longer for the fish to become confident after all the boat trauma, and I had put five kilos of boilies down there so there were a fair few freebies to wade through.
“The fight from the fish was tremendous, slow and powerful and it kept low in the water at all times. I really thought I was into something special so I was a tad disappointed when I parted the net folds to find a fish just shy of 30lb lying there. The next take came at 5pm. The fight was nowhere near as monumental and a nice chunky linear was my prize weighing in at 31lb. The 3rd fish of the afternoon was at 7pm and turned out to be a two-tone Common at low 20.
“Ross from the next swim did a good job with the photos of the fish despite threatening to cut my head off, I think he meant in the pictures! I didn’t really sell him that much of a wrong’un because there were loads of fish showing in the swim that he’d moved to. It was just that the ones in my swim were feeding confidently because they considered it safe from all the pre-baiting that I had done. It’s often the case in these waters that showing fish doesn’t signify that they are feeding, I have caught more when I haven’t seen a great deal compared to the times I’ve had a dolphin display on me.
“I made a bit of a mistake after the Common and decided to re-do the rods properly and stick some more bait in. As I approached the spot in the boat, I spooked a couple of fish off it. In hindsight, I should have just fished it out with limited bait. I shouldn’t complain too much though because three fish in a session isn’t a bad result for the water, never mind three in four hours in an afternoon! I lost one at dawn the following day that managed to straighten my size 6. Once again I baited up when I left.
“The following session I missed out on getting in the swim by only a few minutes, but I knew that the lad who had dropped in was a bit of a wandering angler, and sure enough he was on the move the following morning. It was a move that paid off for him. He banked the lake’s biggest resident, but that’s not my story to tell. “Well done, mate! So I moved my gear to the swim and did a lap of the water before deciding that I was in the best place for a bite. This proved to be correct when I banked a mid-20 character the following morning. It was a short dumpy Mirror with large, pineapple-chunk-looking scales and a hugely over-proportioned mouth.
“I was cut off shortly after a take later that day. Despite having a good search around with the boat, I’m not sure what it was that cut me off, for the third time in this swim, once on the retrieve and twice on fish. There were a couple of blocks of concrete dotted about further out, so maybe there was another one closer in. Whatever it was I decided I had to fish tight lines to get them off the deck. This isn’t how I like to fish normally but sometime you have to sacrifice he odd bite for a better chance of landing the ones you do hook.
“The wind started up that afternoon which made accurate casting very difficult and boating was a nightmare, especially when I hooked a fish that weeded itself on the take, in the worst of the wind, and I had to go out for it. The outboard was on from the start, just to get me out and there was no way I was going to stand up in these conditions. When I got over the weed bed I was a little annoyed when a tench popped out and decided to put up a bit of a fight. That was the last thing I wanted with a 25mph northwesterly making me bob around like a top.
“I grabbed the net ready to land the fish, but the wind hit it and spun the boat around with force. There I was, rod in one hand pointing directly at the fish and the net in the other, blowing out and acting like a sail, dragging me down-wind at a surprisingly fast rate. The outboard was still running, turning the aft of the boat into the wind, causing the waves to hit flat transom and soaking me by sending spray in the air. After a protracted struggle I managed to drag the net into the boat, lock off the outboard and power up-wind because I was dangerously close to wiping out the blokes lines in the next swim. I then somehow managed to scoop the tench into the net and return to terra firma. It weighed 9lb 4oz, but the other lines had been moved in the struggle, I was soaked and not in the best of moods. All for a tench! Time to have a walk round and to visit the café to soften my mood with a greasy fry up.
“I had a forty-eight hour blank, with fish crashing in the swim and even over the spot. Instead of winding in straight away I went out in the boat to try and find my rigs to see what had gone wrong. As I looked at the spot through the glass-bottomed bucket I could see a fish sitting there, a Bream, and there in the corner of its mouth was my hook bait. The little bugger couldn’t even be bothered to give me a bite! The bream angler in the next swim was impressed as it went 15lb on the scales. How can a mid-double fish not give a bleep or put up even the slightest fight!?
“Things picked up on my last night. I had a take just before dusk, only two hours after putting in five kilos of boilies. After a boat battle that again wiped out another rod, I had a very attractive heavily scaled, two-tone mirror in the net that tipped the scales to 32lb 12oz. I got the other rods back on the spot before I did the photos, which was probably the wrong decision. It was dark by the time the pictures were done and fish never look as good when they are bleached out by the flash of the camera.
“The next morning, one of the repositioned rods ripped into life and for the second time in as many sessions I had a brace of 30 pounders to my name. This one was called the Pretty one at 30lb 6oz. Later that morning, I was on the phone to a mate when my six-foot zig rig sprung into life but the culprit was just a weeded tench. I was just returning to the bank in the boat with the tench on board when one of the bottom rods tore off. I put the outboard on to full power, beached the boat and called out for someone to sort out the still hooked tench in the boat whilst I played the Carp and when the boat was sorted, I was back out to tame a 25lb lean Common.
“So, that ended another four fish haul on the tricky water and I soon realised that I wouldn’t be able to get back into that swim again for a long time; an angler was queuing up behind me and another dropped in behind him. A couple of fish came off it but I knew the swim would soon die a death because it was the pre-bait and lack of pressure that had made it so productive and now it was receiving neither.
“On my following session the pre-bait spot was still taken so I dropped in the Island Point. I had a nightmare trying to cast to a long-range spot adjacent to the Island. The wind just kept on pushing the line into the island bushes and if I tightened up the slack line as soon as the lead hit the water it was drawing the lead back into the weed on the drop.
“During a walk round the following morning I found a few fish in the corner swim, sunning themselves, so I put up my tee shirt and glasses down to mark the swim and move my gear in. This time I knew the swim so I could fish it with minimal boating and at midnight I had a fast take that resulted in a 21lb long Mirror. I can’t believe how lucky I was to have banked 10 fish in 18 nights, and it is still only spring! And that was my season’s target achieved already. Admittedly, it has fished well this spring, but I was still very pleased. All I need now to finish off the season is one of the really big ones.”
Ed Betteridge
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