Catch Reports

The spring campaign is underway and the first fish to slip up is this well conditioned common. Took on a solid bag to DT’s N blend pellets with crushed oily Chicken boilies delivering the goods. I spread 50 or so baits with the stick in the area to tempt any fish passing buy a tree line to where is was targeting.

Spring is coming very slowly this year in Quebec. The temperature has stayed the same for a few weeks, and the water remains very cold. Luckily, with DT Baits products, I managed to get away with some interesting catches. Be patient; I'm still waiting for my first 30+ this year. In the meantime, I'm taking the opportunity to take some photos with a landscape devoid of greenery! My bait of choice this day was the Green Beast Cold Water Pop-Up Washed Out 12 mm.

So, with only one blank session under my belt so far this year due to a busy winter in my personal life and the weather on the up, it was time to get the prep work done for the weekend ahead.

I started by tying a multitude of rigs (solid bags, noodles and spinner rigs). Then came the bait prep!

For the first time i had opted to use a mix of boilie, CWGB & FBO being the chosen weapons.

I have so much confidence in the FBO and i know it works really well on the syndicate.

Upon arrival to the lakes on Friday i opted to fish the middle lake (Unity) with a wnw wind blowing i had a feeling that i knew roughly where they might be.

Settling in a swim that patrols both short spots and also the main body of the lake i found my spot and deployed 2 spinner rigs fished wafter style and a 4ft zig (1ft bellow the surface) all to the same spot at 17.5 wraps!

At 2am i awoke to a one toner on the zig, immediately it felt like a big fish, slow and very heavy lunges…. 30 seconds later it was gone… i had been cut off by a zebra muscle. To say i was gutted doesn’t cut it… however i then proceeded to tie another zig and get the rod straight back out, leaving the other two on the bottom hoping for a few hungry chunks to turn up on me by first light!

That wasn’t the case so in my mind a move was on the cards!

Upon walking round I found a big group of fish in a back bay called ‘the aquarium’… decision made i was straight back to the swim to pack down and make that move!

Rods deployed again on the 3 chosen spots (1 on the left corner to the opening of the bay on the same spinner from the night before, 1 as far in the bay as i dare from my angle on a solid bag and the 3rd in open water on the zig black on black dipped in CWGB liquid). 

Another quiet night passed in the way of action but this time the odd bosh of a fish in the back of the bay!

First light just starting to lift and it was the right hand rod that was away… this time and after a bit of a hairy battle this absolute mint scaly 20lb mirror slipped over the net cord! 

To be continued

(Part 3)

With 2 rods and 2 spots now producing the goods and the temperatures getting to the point where the fish would be up in the layers in the main body of the lake… A few hours passed and i was contemplating the dreaded pack down….!  

Come 11:00 and a majority of the gear packed down i sat down for 10 minutes to enjoy a little ray of the sunshine… that was until the left hand rod burst into life… i was almost in a state of shock yet fully reactive to running to the the rod as this again was fishing the snaggy tree on the entrance to the bay… 

This was instantly different…once away from the snag and in the safe zone this felt more ploddy staying deep!  

Abit of a shorter battle resulted in an absolutely beautiful 24lb bar of gold! 

When in the net i noticed that it was absolutely nailed on the spinner, with the FBO wafter nearly an inch back!  

This was certainly the last as following this bar of gold the remaining gear was packed away in the van and i was only my way home! 

(Part 2)

After slipping that scaly babe back i checked the hook and sent the zig back out to the spot!  

Sitting back feeling relieved, i found myself in awe of the amazing mirror that had just graced my net…. 

What felt like 5 minutes later ( it wad just under 2 hours) my middle rod rattled off… this was a completely different battle from the get go due to fishing into a snaggy bay. 

Some 25 minutes later another absolutely stunning scaly mirror was sulking in the net awaiting its pictures!  

I think we will all agree that this lovely 19lb mirror is just as beautiful as the first! 

This time falling victim to a FBO wafter in a solid bag injected with matching liquid, surrounded by a healthy offering of 15mm freebies!

Final part to follow…….

I couldn't ask for a better March 27th, after the long  cold winter in Quebec, Canada!

The icebergs are still drifting, but the water is open!

A wonderful day out with a friend, 8 carp caught in total, the spot well prepared with Crustazia and Green Beast pellet groundbait and crushed boilies, a few tiger nuts, and corn dipped in Green Beast dip! My biggest fish of the day was caught on the Crustazia!

Here's a beautiful  fish from Quebec in March! The season has finally begun!!

Size 52.15

Ringing the changes.

After one of my spots had dried up, I'd noticed a pattern in the bites. Early morning would be the second from left rod then afternoon the middle rod then dusk would be the right rod so decided to leapfrog a rod in the hope of capitalising on the routine and movements of the fish. Using the same approach of a small scoop over the rig but this time opting for one of my custom rolled white squid, octopus and garlic pop ups. A flavour I have huge amounts of confidence in. The rod was out for no more than half an hour before the bobbin pulled up tight and a mega battle commenced. Eventually landing this truly awesome 52lb 15oz mirror. A new lake record and personal best for me

Sizes 17, 18, 28, 29

An eventful week away fishing the incredible etangs le tannerie in France. 

Going with my ever faithful crustazia in 15mm, soaked in matching DNA liquid, dusted in a 50/50 mix of crumbed boilies and stick mix. With either a spicy crustazia critical hookbait on a lazy slip d or matching pop up on a stiff hinged rig. Fishing for a bite at a time I was using only 1 small scoop of free offerings over each rig

Sizes 35.1, 36, 38.5, 38.14

An eventful week away fishing the incredible etangs le tannerie in France. 
Going with my ever faithful crustazia in 15mm, soaked in matching DNA liquid dusted in a 50/50 mix of crumbed boilies and stick mix. With either a spicy crustazia critical hookbait on a lazy slip d or matching pop up on a stiff hinged rig. Fishing for a bite at a time I was using only 1 small scoop of free offerings over each rig.

Sizes 42.11, 42.1,47 common 

An eventful week away fishing the incredible etangs le tannerie in France. 
Going with my ever faithful crustazia in 15mm, soaked in matching DNA liquid dusted in a 50/50 mix of crumbed boilies and stick mix. With either a spicy crustazia critical hookbait on a lazy slip d or matching pop up on a stiff hinged rig. Fishing for a bite at a time I was using only 1 small scoop of free offerings over each rig

After a cold night, this beautiful 21,2 kg mirror carp was a great way to wrap up our winter trip to @etang des gaulios. Korda spinner boom mounted with a size 6 wide gape x fished over crustazia boilie, crustazia boilie crumb and house pellets, did the trick!

A recent mirror from fishing a difficult old Brick pit in the heart of the Midlands. Fell to a zig that has been soaking in CWGB boilie dip all summer.    

I choose the CWGB over all the flavours especially in the winter because of it’s sheer winter form and many months of fishing with all the ranges available this special flavour seems to attract me more fish. 

Catch report, upper 20 mirror from a Surrey lake caught on a pink green beast pop up over a scoop full of crushed green beast and matching pellet. All dosed up with the DNA liquid.

After a cold night, this beautiful 21,2 kg mirror carp was a great way to wrap up our winter trip to @etang des gaulios. Korda spinner boom mounted with a size 6 wide gape x fished over crustazia boilie, crustazia boilie crumb and house pellets, did the trick!

Family commitments and having an extension being built at home has put a further strain on my fishing recently. I have been arriving at the lake around 19.30pm and leaving by 8 or 9am and last nights trip was no different. The rods were set up and put out with their usual multirigs and white bubblegum pop ups with infused cold water green beast boilies as free bait. Each rod had just a handful of freebies over it because it is still cold and I don't want to feed them, I want to make them hungry and the food signals in the infused bait is doing that perfectly. At 22.20pm I was on the phone to a friend chatting about fishing and how well my winter has gone and one of the Delkims let out a few bleeps as the bobbin pulled up tight to the blank and held. I carried on the chat whilst playing it but said to my friend, it feels like a decent one so I'd better concentrate on playing it and with that I ended the call. On getting the fish into the net I messaged him and said it was a common around 24lb-ish but on weighing it, the weight was 27lb 2oz making it my 3^rd 27 of the year after landing two on the same night in early January. The rod went back out and then at 23.15 I had another take on the other rod resulting in a 15lb mirror. This just summed up winter fishing in a nutshell- it's all about windows of opportunity and those windows can be very small. Two fish in an hour right before midnight and no more action for the rest of the night. 

It did significantly drop in temperature so maybe that put the fish off feeding or maybe they just moved off.

CWGB spray over the zig and fishing over CWGB and N blend crushed up out over the spot.

With an overnighter at my disposal for my penultimate trip on the winter ticket. I arrived at the lake with about an hour of daylight left. As I was stood in the swim id focused most of my efforts on this winter o saw a carp show. So didn’t hesitate to get set up. I managed to get the last rod out just on dark. With the rods out on spots that had done me well this winter. I opted to give them a reasonable amount of bait for an overnighter but I was confident they’d be wanting some after a recent spell of mild weather following a prolonged cold spell. The evening passed quietly but I did hear a few down my end so went to bed full of optimism of a bite. At 3.30 in the morning I was woken by a steady take on my right hand rod and lifted into what felt like a good fish from them off. It held deep and was just a steady solid fight gradually bringing it towards me, it took one good lunge and run as I got it to within a few yards out but managed to turn it and win then battle and slipped the net under it! I could believe it when I lifted the net to see that it was the one I wanted the most from the lake! An absolutely incredible stunning fish known as the Big Lin at 35lb 2oz! I was blown away! Falling to an @dtbaits CWGB boosted hookbait and take 4 topper! Boosted further with the matching bait spray, over a bed of matching pellet, crumb, chops,and a few whole Boilies all soaked in the matching DNA liquid! Still buzzing now from landing my winter target! 

Five Fish including a February Forty

A first light show gave the location away and motivated a move ahead of warm winds and rain due later that day. In the new swim with rods out it wasn't long before the first rod was away.

Fishing long and locked up to a far margin in 9' of water, the first fish of five bites went 42lb. The same rod consistently providing the bites throughout the rest of session including four lovely mirrors at 29, 26, 25 and 20lb.

A very specific spot fed with Nblend and CWGB 15mm boilies from the freezer range prepared with DNA liquids a few days before the session and washed out on the bank in lake water. Nice and soft and bursting with attraction, the bait was ready to go and the fish got straight on it.

I will take that for a late February return to my syndicate!

A day session in the local park lake. After a few hours of fishing did I get two lovely December carp (Merry Christmas). I used a little PVA stick with some crushed green beast boilies. My rig was a spinner rig I fished with a pineapple pop-up over small amounts of 15mm green beast boilies.

With a morning spare, Jamie wanted to go fishing and I certainly don’t need to be asked twice. Knowing that it has some pretty carp and good winter form we booked the Lake at Nine Acres. Having only been there for 30 minutes it was great to see my rod go first and even better to see the orange tinge of one of the koi’s. Then with an hour to go before we headed home, Jamie went off too. Great way to finish the year with a carp each.

The sixth and best one of the session of what turned out to be a mega 48hr winter trip. As the lake had recently been desilted and the fact it had done a couple of recent bites in far from favourable conditions, with the weather was now prime for it, I opted to give them a good bit of bait over each spot. This consisted of a few whole CWGB boilies, matching pellet, crumb, corn and naturals all soaked in CWGB DNA liquid, an irresistible winter mix. I fished the ever faithful CWGB hook bait topped with a take 4, I ended the session with 9 bites landing 7 including 1 mid double, 1 upper double, 4 low 20s and topped off by an awesome 30lb 8oz common.

With 2 days holiday to use before Xmas I booked myself in for a last chance over the syndicate lake! I’d not been over for a month, and it had been fishing hard for a few months! My go to tactic during colder months on here r zigs doing me proud last year, so all rods deployed with bits of red and black foam soaked in Supa Fruit bait spray! Just as we lost light 1 rod was away and a lovely mirror was gently persuaded into the net!

Following last year's session, it would of been rude not to have gone back and have another session. Started off with exactly the same approach that worked last year and although I wasn't fortunate enough to have as many this time, it was still fantastic to push the net under another stunning 30lb+ carp.

11 Rainbow lake carp to over 31 kilo caught on slip-D multi rigs over a mix of crushed and whole 15/18mm cold water Green Beast boilies. With water temperatures being on the cooler side as expected, the carp seemed to favor the deeper parts - so a couple handfuls of bait over each spot with a slip-D multi rig baited with a snowman consisting of a matching 18mm hard hook bait topped with a white 15mm cold water GB wafter produced the bites for the duration of our fishing.

This was Georgia's first ever catch after starting fishing with her partner. Caught on a very windy day in November on Cold water green beast pop up on a well-presented spinner rig

After setting up and doing the night in a swim I’d fancied, I woke the next morning to the sight of fish showing at the opposite end of the lake, so a very quick pack down I was soon in a swim which I could reach them. Two hours after putting the rods out I managed a lovely little 17lb mirror, so the move was justified. Just as the light was fading that evening I had a screaming take on the left hand rod, the fish fought hard but because of the distance I was fishing after the first few minutes it was just the lead back to the bank. Looking into the net I thought it was a low 20lb common, so I quickly got the rig back out. As I went to the weigh the fish I realised I’d made a bit of a mistake and the scales read 30lb 7oz. Again the Crustazia doing the business again and again. Total confidence.

As the Danish autumn quickly turns towards winter I am keen to make the most of it before the cold really hits us. Luckily I had time for a weekend trip under familiar skies between trips to France. I opted to use solid bags filled with Cold Water stick mix and a blend of matching pellets in different sizes. The bags were positioned in clear areas with 2 handfuls of scattered 15mm Cold Water Green Beast boilies and dumbells over each area. Early in the evening the left rod was away and even though it was locked up solid the angry carp managed to find some sanctuary in a massive weedbed. After some time with steady pressure and changing line angles, the carp came loose and after a short battle under the rodtip I could lift the net around a lovely Danish November carp.

The water is very cold but with some elements and a milder day I decided to go out and try my luck, I opted for the pop up tiger and corn special edition, used with the bait spray, the DNA and stick mix and crushed boilies, I threw some boilies in my area and I put a stronger smell on my bait to be very attractive, this allowed me to catch some beautiful November fish

With no work on today, it would have been rude not to pop down the local park lake for a day session. With 2 rods already out I was unsure where to place the 3rd until this fish launched itself clean out the water in the middle of the lake. So decided to cast out one of my new custom pink pop ups with a little mesh bag filled with the Crustazia shelf-life paste. An hour passed and I'd started to get things packed up ready to leave when the rod burst into action resulting in this 27lb 12oz mirror. My first fish from this venue. Happy days

The water is very cold but with some elements and a milder day I decided to go out and try my luck, I opted for the pop up tiger and corn special edition, used with the bait spray, the DNA and stick mix and crushed boilies, I threw some boilies in my area and I put a stronger smell on my bait to be very attractive, this allowed me to catch some beautiful November fish

White dumbbell wafter fished in a solid bag over bed of green beast boilies and chops

Pink green beast dumbell wafter in a solid bag fished over a bed of green beast boiles and chops one of two white cats this one is called Arthur

Beautiful hard fighting wild American common caught on DT N Blend range.

One of my favourite fish of the season came at the weekend during a cold northerly wind. 15mm DT Banana pop up with a small PVA mesh bag of chopped up Supa Fruit boiles and matching pellet. Slip D with a size 4 Mugga doing the business.

I got this beautiful mirror carp in gigantica. It is definitely one of the most beautiful carp I’ve ever had caught. I got it on a pink green beast/bubblegum dumbell wasters. Fished over boostet N-blend boilies.

Caught over a few spombs of hemp, corn, and boilies.

The lake had been fishing very slow through the whole of oct, 3-4 bites a week possible! Still, we keep plugging away hoping we will b lucky! I had still been trying to fish same areas that have been successful for me during late summer whilst still seeing fish activity! But I have had to scale by baiting approach rite down! The fish have seen a lot of bait during summer months and all weights have been high this year too, so I expect they’ve had the “autumn fill” already and now just picking at odds and sods when they want! Fishing my normal spots, I am only baiting with 10-15 wholes boilies and 10-15 halved/crushed N Blend boilies soaked in DNA! Again, matching pops my go too! It had been a month since my last fish so was pleasantly surprised when I had a take at 10.30 with this welcome 27 mirror and another take at 6.30 on another rod with a 21 mirror too!

A brisk and misty Fall morning on the Bay produced this lovely Common. Love the Fall colours not only in the fish but in my surroundings as well. Fished single Pop up over a scattering of Supa Fruit Boilies and Particles.

Another great session at clayfields 7 fish landed , including my pb fully scaled mirror beautiful fish and one which i was targeting , all fish were caught using n blend and chicken criticals from margins to off islands.

I was really looking forward to trying the green beast, with the temperature that has dropped drastically it was the bait I wanted to try! I put a rod with the only bait I kept from another brand because it works very well in cold water as well as in warm water and I had had a lot of success with this bait in the past before knowing and using Dtbaits, so I did a test with 2 rods placed in the same area, one with the green beast, and one with the other bait from another brand, result!? both worked well but the green beast had more runs and bigger fish! I am very satisfied with my new favorite bait in cold water! session with a lot of fish, but I was unlucky because I lost 2 very big fish, here is a beautiful common of 26.10 lbs caught on the green beast in cold water, i like to go to new swim and having good results!

The second and closing weekend of the CCS Fall SSF event. Had a great Thanksgiving weekend on the bank with good Friend Wayne and his son Finn. The fishing was up and down with weather systems coming from nowhere, water drops of nearly two feet overnight, not sure what happened there lol and winds from every direction. But we were persistent and our efforts paid off with all of us landing some quality fish over the 3 days. Fished single Pop ups of a scattering of Supa Fruit Boilies and particles.

A slow week at a different swim forced a change of scenery. A new swim was chosen, along with the decision to try out new rigs. A day before saw lots of runs and fish landed but nothing substantial. A day later proved to be very different. A slower day, but still a multi fish session with two 25+ fish being landed.

I fished with my dad (Wayne Smith) and Sean Martin for 48 hours last weekend. I got to choose my bait and rig. Tigernut and Corn pop ups are my favourite! With a bit of help from my dad on the rod, Sean netted my new PB! It was too heavy for me to hold by myself.

Supa fruit boosted bottom baits doing the business

Caught on a Peach and Sour Cream boilie over a scattering of loose fed boilies

Opening day of the Canadian Carp Society Fall SSF tournament which is our last event of the season. Couldn’t have dreamt of a better start having landed some top quality fish over two morning sessions. Kicked it off with my biggest of the event so far 5 minutes into the first morning and what a stunner with gorgeous Fall colours and a solid frame which tipped the scales at 30.9lbs. Fished single Pop ups over a scattering of particles and Supa Fruit Boilies, all soaked in Supa Fruit DNA liquid.

I went to feed the day before my fishing some leftover boilies with crustazia with 3 kg of boilies scopex and 1 kg with tiger and corn and a 20 liter of corn, very early in the morning, the catfish were there for the first hour, and then I threw the feed again and the carp arrived in force!! 2 rods were in the water, a scopex and a tiger and corn. The tiger and corn came out the winner that day, and several 24-25-26 pounds came out! Here is a 26 lbs that I immortalized, satisfactory day, the water cooled down!, I have just ordered the green beast cold water! I can't wait to try it

Managed to tempt a pair of quality male Commons during a morning session on the Quinte. Fished single Pop ups with PVA consisting of Tutti Stik Mix over a scattering of Supa Fruit-soaked particles.

Early morning session on the Upper Niagara produced my first few fish out of the river. The action began almost instantly, and continued right up until I had to pack up for work. A 21 pounder was a rewarding catch after I had spent lots of time checking out the many swims along the river and attempting to pick the right ones to try.

15 fish landed at a week session on Etang maison verre, ranging from 20lbs to 44lbs all taking on supa fruit boosted bottom bait tipped with half a take 4 orange wafter

Due to a busy personal schedule, it was my first trip back down the lake since May and with 72hrs ahead of me and some good conditions forecast, I couldn’t wait to get started. I opted for a swim where I’d seen a few subtle signs and went about finding a couple of spots as close to where I’d seen them as possible. For the third rod I opted on a spot at 82yrds which I’d caught from earlier in the year. Just before dark I managed to put out 7 spombs of A mix of oily chicken Boilies, pellet and oily chicken stick mix soaked in matching DNA liquid and fish pro DNA liquid and my hook baits were an oily chicken boosted hook bait with a CWGB take 4 topper. The lake had been doing a few night bites recently and I went to bed confident. True to form at around 3am the left-hand rod on the spot id caught from earlier in the year was away. It was good battle with the fish kiting way to my right initially, I eventfully managed to gain ground on it but it didn’t give up easily taking some more line before fighting well in the margins. I finally gained the upper hand and was delighted to slip the net under this awesome long mirror which tipped the scales round to 41lb 8oz.

Getting to lake an hour before dark for a work overnighter I must admit I wasn’t too enthused, with a lot of fishing back down the shallows with the weather turning hot again and the swims being taken! I sat and watched the water in my prebaited swim (last baited 2 days prior) watching birds still diving on spots I was even less motivated! But once the birds had gone I noticed a plume of fizz coming up not too far from my rod spot and decided it was worth a go! Very quickly clipped the rods up, fresh matching N Blend pop ups fixed to all and pinged out on the spots! Few pouches of N Blend boilies soaked in matching DNA catapulted over the top of the foam and we were dangling! An early night ready for an early start I didn’t hear any signs of life! 4am and the right rod was away! It didn’t feel like a big fish, very head noddy and full of beans darting about, but she went in the net first time and looked a decent mid 20! With the mat and sling prepped, she felt bit heavy moving her to the mat and the scales span to 31.10 a very welcome surprise! A mega cool carp and as always, the effort was worth it.

What an amazing session in the perfect autumn weather! 🍂 Managed to land 5 beauties in five-night sessions between work, including this stunning 13.1 kg common carp 😍 (the smallest of them) 🐟, all thanks to the trusty Crustazia boilie! Stay tuned for more pictures…

Back to my session with my girlfriend, 61 run for 53 carp landed in 2-day session, very crazy epic session! it was non-stop back-to-back! no record but some good fish! here is a nice 29lbs 12oz Canadian River Carp! I was hoping for 30 lbs but only 4 oz less, nice release, I hope to catch her bigger one day, 2 beautiful muddlers came to visit the mattress, including a really special one! I will show them to you soon!

All change for me this trip! All zones had been doing well and taken upon arrival and the lake had been fishing poor apart from 1 swim, so went down the shallow end where there was lots of fizzing and few head pokes! Located a few spots and repeated my usual tactic's of combi’s with matching N Blend pop ups on with a pure boilie bait up in 15’s and 18’s coated in matching DNA! So the weather had changed and the nights and mornings had been really cold for a week but also no day time bites for me but night bites are suddenly happening across the lake! A 25 mirror at 8.30pm just as I was contemplating warming up in the sleeping bag and a 28 at 1pm and it was fresh but worth it!

A brilliant weeks fishing for me just like last year but with a lot more big fish ! 4 x30s 3x 20s and one 19 8 All fish were caught using n blend boilies and pellets ! Fish were caught all over the place but mainly up against the weed beds Great week for me Steve and bobbie congratulations to Steve he caught the 40 lb mirror that lives in there and is the second biggest in waterside we will be back !!!

After taking photos of a 30lb + mirror I put the rig back out ,which again consisted of a Crustazia wafter with a yellow take4 topper and handful of 15mm oily chicken around the hook bait . The bait had literally been out no more than 5 minutes when the rod ripped off again ,after a nerve-racking fight where it tried to snag me in the bushes It eventually slipped into the net. At 42lb 0oz a fish named Sovereign and a new English PB what a massive buzz

🍁 The magic of autumn on the lake! 🍂 Fall hits different with golden leaves, crisp mornings, calm waters, and chunky carp. This September, I managed to squeeze in five nights between workdays – and it was so worth it! 🙌 I bagged 5 carp ranging from 13.1 kg to 20.4 kg. The biggest one, an absolute autumn dream, tipped the scales at an insane 20.4 kg – a new PB for me! 🎯 Sadly, I also had to watch two solid ones get away thanks to “line cuts” from mussels – yeah, carp win their battles too sometimes… The big unit fell for a double 24mm crayfish boilie setup, paired with a ready-made 5.5” boom & loop and a size 4 wide gape hook from Korda 🟢 Sometimes, keeping it simple just works!

Deciding to spend my last night in Belgium having a social with a friend on a rather large public water. Busy with Saul boats and wind surfers I found a slightly raised area at 22 wraps and baited with around 5kg of 18mm crustazia soaked in matching DNA liquid and covered in matching stick mix. Fishing my new custom white pop ups over the top. Two bites in quick succession resulted in a 24lb common and an 18lb common

After setting up in the pouring rain at the start of our annual Furzebray lake social, I positioned a crustazia wafter with half a yellow crustazia take 4 wafter as a topper ,this was placed tight to an island margin . After 24hrs of no action eventually the middle rod ripped off resulting in this beautiful 36lb plus mirror . A great start and I hoped for more action during the week

This was my first trip to the monkey climber syndicate in Belgium. Arriving at around 11pm I set to finding spots in the boat. My right-hand margin had a rather large over hanging tree that looked a likely area to start with. I baited with a couple of scoops of 15mm crustazia boilies soaked in matching DNA liquid and covered in matching stick mix. Lowering my ever-faithful stiff hinge rig topped with my new custom pink pop ups. The night past and I was greeted with a mist covered lake and the sun just showing over the trees. At around 9am whilst on the phone to a friend the rod burst into life, resulting in a stunning 33lb 5oz mirror. Opening my account on my very first trip.

The last two nights of my summer holiday was spent up old joes. On arriving at the lake, we could see the lake had dropped buy a good couple of feet since our last trip and with a few anglers already fishing we were happy to jump in our normal peg and quickly get all the gear set up. The first night was very quiet with no signs of fish in the area and it wasn’t until the following afternoon when we saw a few bubbles coming up from one of my spots. Finally, after what felt like a couple of hours but in reality was only a couple of minutes the bubbles erupted, and the alarm burst into life as the carp tried to bolt for the nearest set of Lilly pads. Thankfully I was on it straight away and started walking backwards turning the carp away from the pads a slow and steady fight followed, and it wasn’t long before I was landing a fish with a very excited dog buy my side. A nice common and some great photos with Harley in were quickly taken and with the fish safety returned before the rod was back out on the spot. Again, the evening was very quiet, but we enjoyed a nice takeaway with my mum and sister as it was the last night of the summer holidays. The following morning the same rod was away again it felt like another nice fish holding the bottom trying to find any last remaining weed bed but thankfully they had all died back, and it didn’t take long before I was sliding my net under another classic old looking mirror carp and another one ticked of the list.

Day 2 of my session and wat can I say! This fish was top of my list when I joined the Quarry 3 years ago! Sometimes u get lucky in fishing and sometimes it’s just meant to b! This fish was meant to be, right from the start of having a rare whole weekend as my girlfriend and son was away for weekend, to me pacing up down between 2 swims and finally choosing the 1 I hadn’t been pre-baiting for a month because I just felt there was more chance of catching it in the other swim, to me putting the rod out on Friday afternoon and sitting on it until Sunday morning when it finally tore off! Just so many factors aligned up for me, and my top target was mine! All 44lb of it and my second 40 in 2 weeks! Happy days get on the N Blend

With 2 nights at my disposal, I arrived to a fairly quiet lake just after Fri lunch! I had been concentrating my efforts in 2 swims recently, so I went straight round to these for a look, and straight away seeing a good few fish in both swims! After a couple of hours off looking and investigating I made my choice, and got the rods all on hard spots with my ever-favourite combi rig with a matching N Blend pop up on soaked in DNA and a small scattering of N Blend boilies in 15’s and 18’s again soaked in DNA, just in time for the Fri rush to come down! With 9 on the Friday night, not 1 angler had a bite! The following morning was ticking away too, and there had been 1 fish out! Finally at 11.30, I had a savage take with the bobbin cracking the blank and falling free before the delk even had time to register wat was happing! A long-fought battle was had in the deep water and finally I slipped the net under a mega mirror! 23.12 and looking amazing! An hour lately I sadly lost 1 on 1 of the other rods but having seen it I knew it wasn’t massive! I then decided I was gunna leave the rods in til about 7 before redoing them which paid off as out of the blue at 5pm I had another take this time landing a 23.12 common! I’m the end a good result with no other fish coming out! I then re did all the rods at 7pm ready for the 2nd night.

A returning visit to Harriers fishery and first time using DT Baits resulted in a fantastic 72 hour session. Managing to land 9 out of 12 fish which I was over the moon with. As you can see from the pics they are all hand-picked stunning fish from a well-run venue.

The Scattered Lin at 25lb 10oz. This Old English Warrior is 40 years old and gave me an epic battle. Having been cut off only an hour before on a lake where bites don’t come easy I thought my chance had passed but with a top up of P&SC cod balls out the stick and a single feathered cast onto the spot I was still hopeful and in the hands of the carp gods. An hour passed stood on a boulder to the right of the swim looking for shows and bubblers when the rod goes into meltdown, buzzbars twisted and the rod tip bent round like a question mark I lifted into this one and was taking no chances.. I wasn’t going to let this carp beat me. Having Bullied him away from the weedbeds he surged not once but twice likely to the snag that ended the previous battle ever so abruptly but after I got the best of the old warrior I teased him to the edge of the Lilly pads to the front of the swim, chucked the landing net across the pads and scooped him in. This is why I come to the cotton farm for these dinosaurs. I’m the Happiest Angler.

My first ever carp on a zig rig 😊 and a very beautiful one. I use a Korda’s Adjustable Zig Kit with a yellow pineapple 🍍 for the bait.

So after having two unexpected night bites the morning rolled round and I was up at 6 with a tea watching the water whilst the lad slept still! I didn’t see any signs of life to go at and wondered if by the time I was up! But being the school holidays I could see the morning out! 8:30 and another spot produced another screaming take, again straight into a weed bed and a stale mate situation I jumped straight into the boat this time and wound to it, and she popped straight out and then gave another little 5min boat battle before slipping the net under a cracking little 23lb common! Pics done, I packed that rod away as there was now another angler opposite watching and I didn’t want to reveal my spot! We slowly started to pack down and with everything packed down by the roads, the last remaining spot took flight! The fish was angry and stripped line for 50yrds before kiting across my swim from left to right! Waders on and she eventually went in the net! A big framed fish and I thought at first I had landed another target but sadly it was a repeat capture of the scattered lin coming in at 32.8. Again, pics done and the rod put away! 4 bites, 3 landed and all 3 spots producing fish was a very satisfying start to my campaign, and hopefully I can continue with it! Watch this space…

The past few weeks had been kind to me over the quarry and taking the boy with me was giving me some extra fishing time and getting some bonus fish! After the capture of the 44 mirror I was back down for my Tues overnighter with the boy (my good luck charm) greeted to an empty lake! I had been prebaiting a swim for 4 weeks and we had decided to give it a test drive. The rods went out perfect and the spots at completely hardened up with the bait going in! 1:30am and I was awoken by the delk in melt down and a night time bite which I hadn’t had in ages! Slowly guiding the fish out of a few weed beds and into the back of the net, this lovely 27lb common laid sulking in the net! Pics done and the rod back out first cast I was hopeful of another. 4:30am and the same rod was melting again, short battle and I was stuck in weed, I slowly got it moving but somewhere along the line the fish had come off and I was left with a big pile of weed around my rig and tubing! The rod went back out again first cast ready for the morning bite time.

Solid bag over with cwgb 4mm pellet and crumbed up cwgb as feed fished tight to the pole locked up

We arrived at the local club lake late Sunday afternoon to find it busy for a change so we were limited to peg choice. We opted for one where I could hit my spots from once the other anglers had gone home. It was a quiet night with not much showing and it wasn’t until the morning when we were sitting watching the water when my middle rod let off a single bleep. I had my clutch set tight and I could see the rod tip slowly bending and I was on it before it had chance to bleep again. Fishing the spot from this angle meant I was fiver the weed needs so it didn’t take long before it weeded me up but with steady pressure I slowly got it moving and it just came in as a big ball of weed . Sadly that was the only fish of the trip but again we topped up the spots heavily before leave ready for next time.

Another nice week at waterside fishery was top off buy the Zig Zag linear at 28-10 and the 2nd biggest fish in the lake Scar at 41-02. Both fish came on the same rod over a heavily baited spot. The tactics for that rod was to bait and wait hoping that the ray fish wouldn’t touch my hook bait on the 2nd day I introduced 10 kilos of N-Blend 15 and 10 kilos of pellets all heavily soak in matching DNA and topped and the following day I caught the Zig Zag linear. I kept topping up the spot every day with 5 kilos of boilies and pellet and it wasn’t until the morning of the full moon and I had a very breamie like take which resulted in the mighty scar at 41-02. Thanks again Kris for another great week see you next year.

Had a recent social with some good friends at a local dayticket water, with the wind pushing into my swim I started seeing fish showing off the corner of an island, after moving a rod onto the spot I had seen the 3 it resulted in 3 bites and 3 landed, first one was 1 oz under 30lb then along come a spawned out old common at 30lb 2 then a nice 24lb common that evening, all caught on chicken and coconut criticals over a bed of oily chicken 15mm, 7mm matching pellet and particle

A quick night at the local lake showed to be a good choice. With 3 carp and a load of tench leaved me sleepless, but with great satisfaction. Wrapped up and hitting the clip with my solid bags filled with crushed DT Crustazia boilies and a bit of pellets topped with DTs Crustazia DNA liquid did the job.

Every year/season with my limited time angling I set myself a target of catching 1 A-team member a year! Turning up to a quiet lake on Friday afternoon I had 1 swim in mind that I had been baiting for weeks, and whilst there was a lot of fish present cruising about in this swim there was also a lot in the next swim up but with more feeding activity than cruising activity! I walked back and forth for an hour or so and ended up going in the swim further up, 1 I had only fished 2 times in the last years! Spots found near to areas I knew fish were patrolling me and the boy sat back for the evening and chilled out waiting for the morning bite window to come round! 9am and I thought my chance was slipping away when the bobbin pulled up tight and held there! Fish on, and slowly pulled it free of the weed bed to which it just slowly plodded about, not releasing the size of the fish and just assuming the weight was drag of weed I had around the line! The boy helped with the net and we soon netted her, and the big shoulders just sat out the net in clear of the water and I thought that’s a big kipper! Peering in instantly recognised the fish, and few phone calls were made to some mates around the pond! With 6/7 guys coming round to see her and help it was a great buzz to share with them all!

This is one of the fish that sealed the deal for my victory in the DT international challenge. All fish fell to criticality balanced green beast with hint of plum, fished over a mixed bed of particle and NBlend Boilies. After a very slow start, I closed out with 17 fish in the 24 hour challenge, including 7 over 20lb with the 3 top fish weighing in at 24lb, 29.4lb and a 30lb giving me the winning bag of 83.4. This was an absolute blast and cannot wait until next year’s event.

The Vs Series vs Canadian team mate Anthony Russell and wat a battle it was. Fishing with Alisha, Mother Nature threw everything she had at us for 24hrs with high winds, downpours, and thunder and lightning literally beside us, not to mention the plague that was what felt like an endless wave of catfish throughout, especially during the twilight hours making for a sleepless night. But that is carp fishing at its finest and I was there to compete and was rewarded for the efforts managing a few quality carp, but unfortunately, they just weren’t big enough to top Anthony’s bag of high quality chunks which gave him the victory. It was an absolute pleasure to go up against a fellow Canadian member for the finals and at the end of the day DT and Canadian Carp fishing are the ultimate winners. Truly an honour to represent Canada and DT throughout. Fished Cult Classic Banana Pop-ups over a scattering of Peach and Sour Cream Boilies and Pellets soaked in matching DNA.

24lb mirror caught on a slip D fished with a 15mm N-Blend wafter topped with a bit of fake corn. Fished over a healthy offering of N-blend and a nut-based particle mix. Came on my second night, first session in over 2 months so well happy. N-blend strikes again.

A great one night session at the park lake. I got two lovely carp in the early morning. And I succeeded to capture the biggest carp in the lake 😃

School holiday trip no 2 was under way, Arriving at the lake at 3pm on the day after a very busy Thurs and Fri we opted for a quiet end of the lake away from everybody else, a swim I’d not fished yet this year! Rods out with matching Nblend pop ups and my Nblend boilies soaked in dna over the top it was time to settle down and wait for the morning feeding spell! 4.30 am and the first bite came resulting in a lovely fully, happy dad and a happy boy!

A quick overnighter resulted in two upper double commons. We turned up at the lake to find no one fishing so we quickly jumped back into the usual peg I fish and while Uncle Stephen started setting up I quickly got my spod rod set up and my bait ready. Thankfully the rod was still clipped up from my last trip, so I got on with topping my spots up with 5kilos of chopped and whole boilies plus pellets all soaked in matching DNA. With the spots topped up the rods were soon all in position. We had just finished tea when my left-hand rod was away it didn’t take long to get it in but once it got close I had a bit of a night with my middle rod but thankfully Uncle Stephen was on hand to help out and safely got it in to the net. We had fish showing on me all night, but it wasn’t until the following morning as we were packing up and the same rod was away. This time it came in without any hassle and on the Nat you could see it had been on my bait.

A quick over nighter in between football training resulted in one mid double carp and two bream. I managed to talk uncle Stephen into doing a quick night session after Thursday evening’s successful trip even though I had to be at football training for 8am. We got back in the usual spot and the rods were quickly out on my spots with a good helping of pukka fish peach and sour cream 15 and 18m whole, chopped and crumbed boilies soaked in matching DNA. We were just settling down for the evening when the rod on my mirror spot was away after a slow and steady fight I was slipping the net under a nice mid double common it was a repeat capture, so a few quick photos and we slipped it back into the water. I also managed two bream thought the night both on cold water pink dumbbell’s.

Another bar of prairie gold that followed my DT Challenge against Lasse, weighing in at 31.8. This fish fell to a Green Beast Plum Critical Balance bait fished on a multi rig over a large bed of mixture particle and N Blend boilies.

The top 3 fish caught in the DT challenge series against Lasse Christiansen. All fish caught on the multi rig with a banana popup fished over a large bed of mixed particle and N Blend boilies.

I have been doing a bit of solid bag fishing this summer with great result. This time I fished a lake with some great specimens, but sometimes also some tricky ones. At this particular trip I was so lucky to outsmart four carp. Again a snowman with a  22mm Crustazia and a 15mm DT N-Blend fished in a solid bag filled with crushed DT Crustazia boilies and a bit of pellets topped with DTs Crustazia DNA liquid who did the outcome.

I have been doing a bit of solid bag fishing this summer with great result. This time I fished a lake with some great specimens, but sometimes also some tricky ones. At this particular trip i was so lucky to outsmart four carp. Again, a snowman with a  22mm Crustazia and a 15mm DT N-Blend fished in a solid bag filled with crushed DT Crustazia boilies and a bit of pellets topped with DTs Crustazia DNA liquid who did the outcome.

After setting up on the back of a  nice easterly  wind i baited two areas at 120 yards and 100yards with 12 15 and 18mm crustazia boilies soaked in matching crustazia DNA and a few tigers ,over this i fished my trusty hinged stiff rigs with white oily chicken scopex pop ups on two of the rods and the other with a pink oily chicken scopex pop up ,but this was fished  at 132 yards into a large bay as a single . 
All rods over the next couple of day produced  a total of 12 carp with 6 over 20lb  the best being mirrors of 25lb 7oz 24lb 14 and 24lb 10oz also a common at 24lb 10oz

After setting up on the back of a  nice easterly  wind i baited two areas at 120 yards and 100yards with 12 15 and 18mm crustazia boilies soaked in matching crustazia DNA and a few tigers ,over this i fished my trusty hinged stiff rigs with white oily chicken scopex pop ups on two of the rods and the other with a pink oily chicken scopex pop up ,but this was fished  at 132 yards into a large bay as a single . 
All rods over the next couple of day produced  a total of 12 carp with 6 over 20lb  the best being mirrors of 25lb 7oz 24lb 14 and 24lb 10oz also a common at 24lb 10oz