World Carp Classic - Official Global Website
Lake Bolsena 2nd - 8th September 2012

Half term was creeping up again and it was time to sort out our weeks fishing, my wife asked me to sort out where we were going to fish for the week. So I got thinking; where could we go to have some runs but also test out my gear. After checking out the internet Linear was looking the best option, as I checked the website for more info the quote said “Brasenose One produced large numbers of fish reinforcing its status as Linear's main 'Runs Water'”. So after discussing the info with my wife we both decided to fish Brasenose 1, all the info on the web was saying you need to cast in the region of 100-130 yards with solid PVA bags with a small bright pop-up. This would put my new rods to the test, as I have upped my rods to a more beefy 3 1/4 test curve which would be a good test to see if they are up to the job?

We checked out the map of features, the weather and wind direction for the coming week and planned to hit the middle pegs if we could get them.   So the plans were made and the time came to sort out the gear.  Bait was the main thing going thought my head, as I’ve just started using Berkley’s new Gulps range. I needed bait I could use with confidence all year round and after looking at the bait range from gulp I decide on the Irish Cream and the Squid- Liver both in 12mm and 16mm which have a good reputation for catching carp. The Van was all loaded up ready for the 270 mile drive to sunny Oxfordshire, after a boring 4 hours we arrived at the lake to find most of the pegs taken, but luckily we saw some pegs over the other side of the lake. We soon got our homes for the week set up, I was in peg 27 and my wife opted for peg 26.  After getting the kettle on and watching the water it was time to get my rods out.

Marker rod out and time to find out what was in front of me, there was a large amount of weed just in front but clear after 80 yards out.  After some time mapping out my peg I was happy with the areas I had chosen. My first rod I casted out as far as I could with a solid bag of crushed Irish cream boilies with a 12mm bottom bait to match, and with my throwing stick I scattered the area with about 1kg of boilies. Second rod was placed on the edge of the weed bed I had found, but this time I used the Squid-Liver topped with a 10mm white pop-up. The 3rd rod was my wild card as this was loaded up with 50-50 of Irish cream mixed with Squid liver which I planned to recast every hour, as I launched it to the horizon I was hoping for passing carp to be tempted.

That night I lost two fish in the weed and my wife lost fish as well, so it was time to work out what was going on, I started to make some new rigs up with longer hairs, well I’m glad I did, as my long distance rod screamed off. It was a good fight and a long 20 minutes later the carp was on the bank. A good carp to start with which fell to my new bait, now I have the confidence I needed.  Later that day I was rewarded with two more stunning mirrors with fell to the Irish cream.

Later that week the temperature was getting hotter by the day, and after three days of hot weather the carp were pairing up for fish sex, after a good walk around the lake talking to most of the carpers on there the story soon became apparent that the lake had switched off, so my thoughts were shall we stay or go home, well after discussing the options with my wife we decided to stay the last two days on the bank. Well Sunday came round quite fast, and no one on our side of the lake had caught for the past two days. Well at least I hadn’t blanked the session, but my wife was rubbing it in that she had banked more fish than me as normal. Well there is next time I replied, knowing that the bait had worked well I have the confidence I need to catch more carp on it.

Tight Lines (not too tight!) Scott Ratcliffe