Up close and personal
Saturday, early May, and Phil Spinks has just texted me asking if I could help him with a bit of a favour. I’ve known Phil for a couple of years and have nothing but respect for both his attitude to angling and his ability. Three years ago, I’d written a series of features for Carpology about my time at Waveney Valley and Homersfield. As a result, I was invited back to Homersfield for a memory lane session. It was exactly twenty years from the time I’d been a Homersfield regular, and things had changed. In truth I was struggling, in twenty years the lake had changed, my spots were no longer the same, tactics I relied on then were not working the same. This is where I valued Phil’s help. He took this old codger under his wing and brought me up to speed.
“There’s a brilliant gravel spot off the next swim, give me your marker rod and I’ll show you” ... sort of help.
Nothing was too much trouble, basically he helped me turn the session round. Phil works as Content Creator for Angling Direct, producing top quality angling videos (well worth a look on You Tube) and promotional material as well as the guiding he does at Homersfield. The favour he was asking me, could I sort a day’s fishing, where he could fish and film promotional material in advance of the opening of a new Angling Direct shop in Goole? Of course I could …. Ideally it need to be a picturesque place to film at, with the chance of a nice fish or two …. I knew just the place … Alderfen!
I first fished Alderfen around about 2008. Three featureless lakes, Wyndham with some nice scaley carp to mid doubles and loads of swans. Pads was a specimen water worth fishing for its rudd, tench and bream.Gate had loads of small stuff for the Match Lads. At the time I gave Gate a miss although more recently I’ve fished it for the specimen perch. I enjoyed catching some of the carp, with son Martyn, from Wyndham and even fished for the tench, bream and rudd on Pads. From those early visits, I’ve had the odd trip most years and kept in touch with progress at Alderfen. I’ve watched it grow and mature. Right from those early visitsmy Alderfen fishing can best be described as “Up close and personal”. Under the rod top stuff, either on the bottom along the margins, up against the reeds or even better with bread or floaters on the surface. All three lakes offer loads of stalking opportunities and over the years nearly all my Alderfen fishing has been one rod sessions wandering about looking for opportunities to fish the margins. It really is a credit to those involved with the running of Alderfen over the years how it has developed and matured. Right from the start Alderfen fish liked a floater, and that’s still true to this day. Open water surface fishing can be a problem because of the amount of birdlife, but that doesn’t stop the fish feeding in the margins, and I’ve yet to meet a feathered species that is brave enough to put up with being prodded with a landing net handle! How far Alderfen has come is well illustrated by an afternoon session Martyn and I had just prior to Covid. We started on Wyndham, then moved onto Pads, wandering about, sharing one rod. Taking it in turns to fish or feed. We ended up catching some stunning fish from both. Relaxed fishing at its best.
This seemed perfect for Phil, so I contacted Mark and got the ok. After a chat with Mark, it was decided to concentrate on the far side of Pads. One of my favourite areas, perfect for filming, and hopefully far enough away from other anglers so as not to disturb their fishing.
Sunday 21st May 2023
It had been some time since I’d last fished Pads Lake and it seemed like a bit of a plan to pop out and have a wander around to get a feel for how the lake might fish the following Friday for Phil. It also seemed like a reasonable idea to pop a bit of gear in the car as well just in case there were a few swims spare. A settled high pressure was forecast for the whole week, so apart from a few pellets and boilies I made sure I had plenty of crust and floaters with me. On arrival I was pleasantly surprised to find I had the lake to myself. There had been some social media posts suggesting spawning was imminent but as I slowly walked round the lake there was no signs of sexual activity, in fact the fish seemed very relaxed and keen on the odd snack. I stopped off in several likely looking spots and fed a few floaters in the margins, getting a fairly instant response in most of them. I enjoyed crouching down close to the edge and taking a few short videos. I love watching carp come up for a floater, it really is the ultimate stalking moment. Having done a couple of laps of the lake I stopped and just took in the atmosphere. It crossed my mind that carp lakes cannot look any better. The lush new vegetation, and the well-established trees creating a wonderfully calm vista enclosing a flat calm lake, the surface of which was broken only by the splash of tiny rudd or the occasional crash of a feeding carp. The silence only disturbed by a single Cuckoo on an audio loop … Truly Magical. It seemed almost wrong to break the spell, to get the gear out, and disturb the calm, but I decided to risk it. I’m glad I did, as over the next three hours I had six hard fighting carp, four mirrors and two smaller stroppy commons. Two on crust lowered into the margins and four open water controller fishing withfloating pellets. I left with the thought, if Friday goes as well, Phil will be more than happy.
Friday 26th May 2003
I arrived about 6-30 a.m. and parked up next to Pads Lake. A quick look around only two on, fishing the far end of track side. Perfect, I quickly loaded my barrow and headed for the far side. Shortly after a text from Phil he was at the gate, with colleague Chris Ansell, Angling Directs videographer. I gave them a guided tour, and we got organised. Phil and Chris sorting fishing gear and checking social media phone connections, me on kettle and coffee. Throughout the day, we mixed fishing and posting on social media, a relaxing day for me, harder for Phil and Chris. I had suggested that Alderfen, Gate Pool, would be perfect for their plans and so it proved. Between us we hooked 10 fish, landing 7. We packed up about 6-00 p.m. I said goodbye to Phil and Chris, then leisurely loaded the car, pausing to chat to a couple of the anglers fishing the track side pegs. Part of the conversation centred on how we had been fishing, and there was some surprise when I said we had been margin stalking with crust, so perhaps it might be worth going into a bit more detail.
The Gear … You just need a mid-range rod with a test curve around 2.75 lbs. Any 4000 sized reel with a reliable clutch will do loaded with 15lb. One little tip, I prefer to underfill the spool, so I don’t have to worry about line peeling off the spool as I lower the bait onto the surface. A size 6 Korda Mixa hook is tied on the end. It’s that simple.
The Tactics … A good pair of polaroids is a big advantage as you wander round, checking the margins. I make a point of looking for scum lines and collections of floating debris. Once I’ve found my likely spot I introduce a few bits of crust then just watch and wait. Usually, the first reaction is from the little rudd, which will attack it and push it about. I’m happy with that as I’m convinced the activity helps alert the carp to a potential meal. Not every spot will hold carp, so if I wait a while and there is no reaction I move on and try again, till hopefully I get the reaction I’m looking for as a large pair of lips comes up under the crust and with a confident slurp it disappears. Time to put another piece out, this time with the hook in it. I have no problem gently lowering the crust almost on the nose of a feeding carp and manys the time I’ve had a fish just turn and take it. Once you strike the reaction is usually explosive. You really have caught the fish off guard, which is why the smooth reel clutch is important. Provided there are no snags I prefer to let the fish run a bit before trying to slow it down. If nothing else it gives me time to calm down and get organised with the net.
Timing … Margin stalking can be very productive but like every tactic there are better times to employ it. Evenings are my preferred time, especially along margins that catch the sun. In periods of sustained hot weather early mornings can also be good. If you really want maximum excitement after dark can be magic, but perhaps not for your first try.
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With Phil and Chris on their way to their hotel for the night, I set off for home. Alderfen had not let us down and as I made my way down Idle bank I had time to reflect on how over the years Alderfen had changed. From a relatively barren complex to a lovely mature setting for some top quality carp fishing. A real testament to sensible stocking, hard work and letting nature work it’s magic.
Brian Skoyles (May 23)