Saturday 05-05-2012.
So after my first carp in quite a long time I was eager to get another one, the FA Cup had just finished and it was still only 1900 ish pleanty of time to drive the 15 miles to swanhole and get a night fishing in, I was hoping that as it was the bank holiday weekend the lake would not be full as there are only 10 swins but the good thing is most of the members would rather fish Dromore and have a party than fish swanhole, I arrived at 2000 and there was only one other member on the lake but he was fishing on peg 9 at the other end of the lake, I got to peg 1 and a fish rolled about 30 meters out so I was happy to fish the same peg again.
Setup
I choose to fish the same way as last time but changed all the rigs to a shorter Green Weed Camo Carp Rig with a small ring added to make a blow back style rig, size 6 micro barbed, using a CC Moore meteor boilie with a Tor baits 12mm pop-up coconut boilie as a snowman rig, this would be fished in a PVA bag with a selection of 2,4,6 mm pellets and some boilie crumb.

By 2100 my brolly was set up and I was ready for the night, fish were moving and I was in high hopes of a fish or 2.
2155, the middle rod screamed off and within seconds I was into a fish, after it small run taking line of the reel the fish gave up and swam straight into the bank having given up and hope, it was easily netted. The hook hold could not have been placed any better if I placed it myself right in the middle of the bottom lip,  Well happy it had not chance of coming of.


What a top looking fish looks like its just been carved out of wood, well happy with this little 7lb 2oz mirror carp.
After that all went quite and the temputure dropped down to about 5 c , so I spend a cold few hours trying to fall a sleep but with the lake quite close to the road side it was not that easy.

Well that was it for the night and I packed up at 0900 in the morning so I could spend the day with my wife, This was my set up I do own a bivvie but as it was only a over nighter and we are nearly into spring now I thought this would be fine, the Fox Elite light is linked to my Fox EOS alarms to light up on a run but did not get the chance to see this happen except after casting out but it did work so hopefully next time.

Plan is to maybe get a evening on the lake wednesday/thurday then fish Friday night and most of Saturday .

Well it was time to make a decision !  Do I continue to fish the Belfast swamp that is Willis lake or do I pay £120 to join the Northern Ireland Carp Angling Socitey (NICAS) and fish the nearest of there 2 lakes Swanhole, I was a member of NICAS before for about 3 years but the main lake at Dromore had slowly became harder and harder, it had problems ..... Mink , sick fish , poor quaility fish and had not been restocked for over 9 years , the mink had had a fair few carp and loads had died and it went from a 3 fish a night water to no fish , now this is not me making excuses no-one caught , we would fish all weekend and no-one would get a run , (Big Problem) , well that was it for me I did not join again , they do have another lake but it was brand new and very hard and after blanking a few times along with most others who tried , I fished the swamp instead and had to make do with catching Tench.
 
Now this year Willis has not started to produce much at all , no carp have come out and only a very small ammount of tench have been feeding so I started to fish for the roach instead so at least I was catching while everyone else was blanking all round me. Which put in to thinking ! what can I do to catch Carp again............
So I have rejoined NICAS spoke to the Chairman and he said that carp were being caught from Swanhole but maybe only 1 per weekend but at least they were showing.
Thurday my Membership card arrived and as I had the day off I planned a quick trip out to Swanhole for a few hours, having kids planning a day fishing is never easy and I had to drop my daughter off for her school Prom night first so did not arrive at the lake until 1700.
For once it was a nice day over in NI and the sun was out and there was a warm breeze, I loaded my kit on my trolly to find both wheels were flat leading to the trolly wobbling all over the place on the way down to the lake and being a right pain in the butt to push , I arrived a the first swim and went for a walk round the lake to try and spot some fish.


This is the view of the lake from Peg 1

The wind was blowing down the lake to peg 1 and was warm , so after failing to see any fish I decided to fish peg 1 and hope the fish had followed the wind.
Rigs
Well no prizes here LOL the rigs were of course Weed Camo , Swanhole is a very weedy lake so my rigs are perfect, there are also silty areas so I can use my other colours when needed, I choose to place the rigs inside a Korda PVA bag with a few 2,4,6 mm pellets and some boilie crumb.
Bait
This lake was feed by the lake manager for the first year on Meator boilies by CC moore who sponsor him , I still have 4 kg left in my freezer and some paste.

1830: I was set up with all 3 rods out about 30 meters, there was still no movement on the lake to give away the fish but it was warm and I was happy to be fishing for carp again.

1930: the first fish jumped , it could not have been further away from where I was right down the other end of the lake, It was time to make a choice do I stay or do I go ???
2000: still not moved as fish are jumping all over the lake now mostly still at the other end but a few only 50 meters away so I decide to stay put.
2030: wife calls wondering if im on my way home yet ? as if !!! , get a drop back and then a slow run , pull into fish and feel a slight pull then just a dead weight and end up reeling in a hugh lump of weed.
GUTTED but at least I knew the carp were happy to feed on the boilies and in the swim. Rechecked the hook for sharpness and recast.
2050:same rod same type of run but this time a carp was pulling back at me , its been some time since I last caught a carp and all the feelings of "AARRRRRRGGGGGG DON'T COME OFF" came back to me , after a 4 minuet battle the carp slid over the net " HAPPY DAYS"
Nailed right in the botton lip made me happy that it was not my rig just bad luck to have lost the first carp.
                             At 8lb 6oz and with only half a tail it wasn't the best looking carp I had ever had but it was my first ever full Leather carp so I was happy.
Well that was it for my first session even though the carp kept jumping quite close to me not more runs happened but at least Im back into the Carp and looking forward to my next trip which might well be tonight.

1960s to the present day have benefitted from Jim’s wise words. On top of this you have his unprecedented five carp only books spanning over 45 years.

 

Jim has also been instrumental in the design of carp rods, ringing patterns etc. Rods such as the ‘Clooper’ carp rod, Tri Cast and Eclipse ranges were groundbreaking and hugely successful both at home and abroad.

His first twenty-pounder came in the mid 1960s from Peterborough‘s famous ‘Electricity Cut’ and Jim has been catching worthwhile carp ever since. He was also a major influence in the pursuit of winter carp and his cold water carping successes attracted a great many carp anglers to dust down their carp rods even when snow lay on the ground.

His clear and factual, no nonsense writing style has made him one of the most widely read carp fishing authors ever. A true Carp Fishing Hall of Fame member.

Where to start??? Well it’s not good and it’s not bad.... To begin we would like to now fill anyone in who does not know that Daiwa are a japan based company, as many people will say "that’s so japan style" well yeah because Daiwa have been based in Japan forever!

So why the ugly and cheap look? well no one is able to say yet as we are the first actually talking about this new product and we speak the truth as all of you may already know from previous blogs and reviews, first thing to point out is the tight gap to put your rod in although this is not life sized it does not look Dangler Friendly, on a plus point is smaller in size compared to other alarms on the market you may see, next bad point is why the nasty cheap leds with coloured lenses!??? For heaven’s sake why not pay 1p more for H20 Clear Leds that are 200% brighter, that takes us on to the battery life it does have an awesome battery life for the time the battery is good and up to scratch, we could go on forever giving plus and negs but overall we are confused as to why Daiwa have made this Bite Alarm? we would say let’s wait until Mr Fairbrass reviews them but to be honest I think he will stick to Delks, read below the official overview.

 

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iB-ONE Wireless Bite Indicator3-piece Set

The innovative DAIWA iB-ONE bite indicator system as set. Consisting of three iB-ONE wireless bite indicators and one receiver. Delivered in a box.

iB-ONE Wireless bite indicator

• Easy to adjust, key panel with +/- buttons
• Volume, tone & sensitivity control
• Active latching LED stays lit for 20 sec. after each bite
• High performance speaker
• Visual and acoustic Drop-back function
• Plug-in facility for illuminated swingers/hangers
• Internal magnetic wheel with rubber ring to avoid wet line slipping over roller
• Night-light function (can be switched on/off)
• Digital technology
• All previous settings are saved even without battery
• Low power consumption
• Low battery alarm
• Waterproof housing 
• Electronics protected by code
• Battery change possible when still attached to rod pod 
• Quick change release system for fast attachment on banksticks
• FM radio transmitter technology for maximum range
• Range control
• All Indicators are pre-set– no individual code setting necessary 
• Compatible with Daiwa iB-ONE R Receiver
• Theft control

iB-ONE Receiver

• Easy handling by key panel with +/- buttons
• Volume, tone & sensitivity control
• Active latching LED stays lit for 20 sec. after each bite
• High performance speaker
• Visual and acoustic Drop-Bite detection
• Digital technology
• Low battery alarm
• All previous settings are saved even without battery
• Low power consumption 
• Electronics protected by code
• Range control 
• Compatible with the DAIWA iB-ONE bite detector
• Theft control

iB-ONE Mini-Receiver

• Adjustable tone and volume
• Active latching LED stays lit for 20 sec. after each bite
• Acoustic Drop-Bite indication
• Digital technology
• All previous settings are saved even without battery
• Compatible with the DAIWA iB-ONE bite indicator

We also have Peter Mohan to thank for the very first carp magazines, the BCSG publication The Carp (the No. 3 edition in June 1970 had a printed front and back cover for the first time), and later in March 1975 the more widespread CAA magazine. Both organisations had a lively and successful regional meeting structure in place by the mid 1970s as well as holding the first organised Carp Conferences – again it was Peter Mohan who spearheaded these groundbreaking events in the history of our sport.

Peter was also the controller of a number of carp waters in the west of England and for a time ran the famous Ashlea Pool syndicate where he caught a 30-pounder in 1969.

A prolific writer on all matters carp, Peter also wrote a number of books, Carp for Everyone, Carp- Step by Step, Basic Carp Fishing and Cypry – the Story of a Carp.

As a director of Linear Fisheries, which controls a number famous carp fisheries including Elstow, Peter Mohan is still very much involved in carp fishing today.

One of the most celebrated carp anglers of modern times through his fluid and stylish writing prowess, photographic skills and of course his catches. Chris broke Dick Walker’s long-held carp record of 44lb on opening day 16th June 1980 with a Redmire mirror of

51½lb. In fact, he’d nearly broken Walker’s record some seven years earlier with a common of 43lb 13½oz, also at Redmire.

 

Chris is credited with the discovery of sweetcorn as a bait, having taken a tin to eat while fishing at Redmire in 1972, but only used half the contents. As an experiment with the remainder, he cast out a “hookfull of corn”... the rest is history.

Among the many fine books Chris has written are carp classics such as Casting at the Sun, The Secret Carp, Four Seasons and Shadows and Reflections, besides a long spell writing for the monthly magazine Coarse Fishing, another spell as the first editor of Waterlog magazine, plus dozens of articles for most of the UK angling press. Currently, Chris writes a twice-a-month feature in the Weekend edition of the Saturday Daily Telegraph.

In 1989, he embarked with Bob James and world-renowned wildlife cinematographer Hugh Miles to feature in the definitive Passion for Angling TV series. Chris even went back to Redmire Pool to land a couple of the famous old warriors for the camera.

The weather here is far to hot to go fishing, so turned my hand to building some rigs and cleaning the tackle. then i start to think,( yea smell the wood burning). what really gives us an edge at the water, is it the bait?? the rigs?? how far we cast or patience. I still think its the right place at the right time, all these other things just help, the more time I spend on the bank the luckier i seem to get and yes nearly the same thing was said by gary player the golfer , but it is true, so far for the summer i have not done well on the weight side but quantity is there, not what i want really. but cooler times are on the way.
So I get to think what baits are u going to use on these rigs so busy trying, does it matter, i ask myself??? So its back to the session book, and start putting the records into the pc, with some comments of where i though i went wrong, what i did right or think i did right.
So now i start to try and put a game plan together, its like planning a soccer match except the opposition does not always do the expected.
So i have picked the water, know where on the water i want fish, i know there ae fish there, and from previous expeditions" i think i know" what baits they like. I know the rigs i am going to use have been tried and tested, so its game set and match, not likely the carp have to agree on this as well, thats when i ask myself have the carp sussed me out, when they look out and see that green van next to the water do they say, well guys hes back, look out for a combi link or a coated braid hooklink chaps but feel free to eat the freebies they good. Carp angling made to break your head in.

Further to our brief update on Redeye Baits Facebook page, week Thursday. We are pleased to announce the signing of Mark Doodson who will be heading up our bait field testing team.

Mark was born in 1972 and stated fishing at the tender age of 5, buy his own admission he is an obsessive carp angler. Mark heads down south several time a year to fish some of the well known waters and this year is will be travelling to France for a 6 night session on Lyberinth.
Mark was a field tester with Richworth Baits for six years and enjoyed testing their baits and has received offers from other large baits companies to work for them. We are immensely pleased that Mark has taken up our offer to work alongside our little known company Redeye Baits.

 

On a previous fishing trip to Utopia Fishery (France) Mark had the biggest haul ever of 927lb in a 6 night session. He already has 2 UK 40+ carp and numerous 30s + and is a boilies man through and through.

 

Mark commented “I knew of Karl and had seen his baits 5 or 6 years ago, by chance I bumped into the Karl, Stef and Andy from Redeye at the tackle and gun show last year and was impressed with how they had progressed.  A couple of weeks back our paths crossed again whilst I was on a 48 hour session on a North West water, Karl was passing some samples of his boilies out to the guys fishing and I was very impressed with the quality of their boilies.  An opportunity was put to me from Redeye baits, I like the set up, the people running it, the baits and their plans for the future, I would like to help Redeye baits do well as I’m sure they will”

 

When Mark isn’t field testing our baits or helping with the development of further product that will be coming out throughout 2012, he will be contributing to our blog pages.