FISHING WITH PAUL RINGER
Hollyhurst Lakes.
Hello and welcome to my fishing Blog.
My aim here is to spend 48 hours (fiancée permitting) fishing a range of venues giving you all the information I can gain from baits and rigs to location and catch reports.
If you would like me to review a venue near you just ask....
Today I'm going to review Hollyhurst Lakes near Coventry http://www.fisheries.co.uk/hollyhurst/index.htm
We arrived at Hollyhurst lakes at around 6am on the Friday. We had a good old walk around with the dog on the specimen lake. The specimen lake has two huge islands, standing from the specimen lake car park looking over the lake. From right to left I would say it is around 5ft deep at the left hand side of the car park running to around 7-8ft deep toward the right hand side of the lake.
If the weather is dry you are able to drive all the way around the lake and drop your gear off, because it was fairly dry we choose two pegs between the two islands on the far side of the lake. We drove round, dumped the gear then put the car in the car park.
With my Brother Mark choosing the left hand island I took up residence on the right hand island and with three rods each to play with we could cover tons of water between us and still have space between the rods.
So first things first, get some bait out... a lot of bait. The Carp in Hollyhurst are boilie eating monsters! I would think nothing with starting off loading my swim with 1kg of my favourite boilies with a mix of 15mm and 20mm then topping up with another 20-30 boilies after each fish.. Even in the colder months!
Rig wise ,I favour the Chod Rig for two reasons.
1) It wont tangle up on the cast so
2) While fishing between the islands during the summer months there can be tons of weed and I know this rig will give me the best possible presentation.
OK, time for the rods to go out, One in the open channel of water between the islands, One to the right in between two clumps of rushes and the last ('my banker') in the near margin.
I never fail to catch in the near margins at Hollyhurst.
So with the rods out its time to set up, its always a good idea to get here early because it can get quite busy at weekends
While we were setting up the bivvy Mark had a screaming take on his right hand rod between the islands. If you're ever struggling for a bite then do something that requires two hands, I'm sure the fish are watching us! In the commotion the bivvy got dropped on the dog (sorry Trudy) and the tackle box got a good kicking..
The fish took Mark right round the back of the left hand island toward a load of bull rushes, you could see the concentration on Marks face as he gingerly (no pun intended) guided it back around the island and towards the waiting landing net.
A stunning looking common in the early morning light and at 17lb 4oz a very good start to the weekend.
With the fish weighed, photographed and safely returned it was time to finish putting up the bivvy while the dog sat well away from us, sulking at being assaulted by flailing tent poles.
With the bivvy up and all the gear put back in the tackle box it was time to put the kettle on and relax for a while... Fat chance!
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp, Mark was in again, same rod as before on a 20mm Robin Red boilie. Only a small Carp this time at a little over 7lb but welcome all the same.
7:30am and already two carp accounted for.
By 8am it was fully light and promising to be a fine morning, and with it came a few more anglers.
It was 11am before we had any more action and this time it was to my rods :) a drop back on my middle rod. With a steady plod and occasional lunge I could feel that I was into a good fish and it was staying deep, 10mins later I still hadn't seen whatever it was that I was connected too! Plod, plod plod, up and down the middle of the lake not taking line nor letting me gain much.
Another 5mins and at last, I started to gain some line and steer the fish towards the net.
A lean and powerful Linear Carp weighing in at 13lb exactly, Result.
By no means a big fish but this is the average stamp of fish you could expect to catch at Hollyhurst. Not bad at all.
With the score 2-1 to Mark I had some catching up to do, so out went another 20 boilies and with four more on a stringer attached to the hook to minimize tangles. Game On!!
Our fishing weekends never start off as a contest but normally result in a little brotherly competition.. Its healthy to have a little wager now and again, right? And so the loser of today's little contest would have to make breakfast in the morning, a full English!
By about 2pm we were struggling for bites, and being plagued by a strong northerly wind.
Time for a change I think, out came some ground bait, tuna (in brine) and a tin of sweetcorn (I never leave home without some form of method mix) out came the left hand rod that was between the two islands and on it went a 35g method feeder, a 3" hook length of 8lb hair rigged to a size 14 hook. On the hair went my favourite method combination, two grains of corn and one grain of yellow pop-up plastic corn.
With the method rig set up it was quickly cast over the top of my pre baited area of boilies in between the islands topped up with two balls of tuna and corn ground bait.
With nothing but a few bleeps to show for the next two hours I decided to have a walk back to the car to retrieve my big jacket, on the way back I could see my Brother Mark bent into a fish.. I blurted a few obscenities then started to jog over to lend a hand in netting.
A lovely 11lb 9oz mirror Carp
making it 3-1 to mark... and as you can expect he took a lot of pleasure in reminding me of the fact.
Nothing much happened for a while and it wasn't until the light started to fade that at last my method rig roared off, the screech of my alarm made me jump out of my skin but I was on it lightning quick. The fish turned as soon as I applied pressure and ran full pelt towards us, a few more obscenities later and I had it plodding under the rod tip almost beat and ready for the net. Mark was playing the role of chief nets man and as my hard earned prize made its final approach toward the mesh tragedy struck, the Carp made one final bid for freedom and won.
Every angler that has ever lost a good fish knows the feeling, the hollow empty dull ache in the pit of your stomach, I was beyond gutted.
5:20pm and it was getting dark fast, just enough time to recast all the rods and bait up for the night but just before I picked up the method rod it gave a single beep so I struck into it on the off chance as I was running out of light fast and needed to finish up before it was too dark too cast.
Well what do you know! A short and spirited fight produced a plucky little common of 6lb, a very welcome fish. Almost as soon as id finished baiting up the method rod was in again with a fish of 8lb 2oz, this was one fish that was not at all happy about being caught and preceded to smash me in the face with its tale and jump and wriggle all over the unhooking mat. One of the hardest photos I've had to stay still for!!
Three all? OK, not in the same league but who's counting? :)
By the time we got back into the bivvy we were well over due for a cup of coffee, and with the kettle on the tent soon warmed up giving the dog no reason to keep her eves open any longer then was needed.
The rest of the night went without any more action except for the odd bleep.
7am on the Saturday and time to check the rods, bait up and recast. However, everything changes with an over enthusiastic cast! Crash... straight through some f**king bull rushes!!
The only thing I dreaded doing! Oh well only one thing for it, bring on the canoe....
One feature that will save you a lot of money on end tackle is Hollyhursts canoe.
However nerve racking an experience it is, its far better than losing £5's worth of rig and lead every time you over cook the cast!
Job done! End tackle out of the bush and still dry!
The rest of the morning was pretty much a non starter, with only a few knocks to stir us from our daydreams it passed without event until Marks margin rod's alarm went into meltdown, a real one toner! All the way down his left near margin this fish charged on, taking line at a rate of knots! After a scary fight that almost resulted in Mark getting in the water to free off the line that was tangled around a marginal bush his fish was on its way to the bank and the waiting net.
A stunning Linear Carp going 21lb 8oz on the scales, Guess I'm cooking the fry-up...
So, with the cooking out of the way I had time to relax for a while, well longer than expected in fact, with the day closing into night nothing else happened until around 2am when my 'banker' (near margin rod) finally produced a take, and what a take it was!
From nowhere, not even the odd bleep came a pure 'one toner' that even made the dog jump and give a little startled bark!
Running like a madman I finally reached my rods but it seemed like it took forever as the alarm was going nuts. As I bent into the fish I could tell it was a 'good un' taking me around the back of the island more than once! Its scary enough being dragged around the back of an island during the day but in the pitch black it was nerve shattering! After the scariest fight of my life I lifted the net on an enormous specimen! My hands were all over the place while trying to remove the hook but eventually 'She' was free to pose for the camera..
A 27lb 6oz personal best! What a way to even the score with Mark!
With no more action in the night we managed a few hours uninterrupted sleep before having to pack up early and head home as Mark had to work a night shift that night.
This lake is awesome! and I've fished it a lot, because its local to work I spend a fair few weekends here now chasing its resident Carp.
This is a special venue for me because it holds my personal best Carp to date.
Thank you for reading my blog, if you liked this page or even if you didn't please write a comment and follow me on twitter. copy and paste this URL to like minded/fishing obsessed friends and forums. All comments and criticisms are very much appreciated.
Paul Ringer.
Today I'm going to review Hollyhurst Lakes near Coventry http://www.fisheries.co.uk/hollyhurst/index.htm
We arrived at Hollyhurst lakes at around 6am on the Friday. We had a good old walk around with the dog on the specimen lake. The specimen lake has two huge islands, standing from the specimen lake car park looking over the lake. From right to left I would say it is around 5ft deep at the left hand side of the car park running to around 7-8ft deep toward the right hand side of the lake.
If the weather is dry you are able to drive all the way around the lake and drop your gear off, because it was fairly dry we choose two pegs between the two islands on the far side of the lake. We drove round, dumped the gear then put the car in the car park.
With my Brother Mark choosing the left hand island I took up residence on the right hand island and with three rods each to play with we could cover tons of water between us and still have space between the rods.So first things first, get some bait out... a lot of bait. The Carp in Hollyhurst are boilie eating monsters! I would think nothing with starting off loading my swim with 1kg of my favourite boilies with a mix of 15mm and 20mm then topping up with another 20-30 boilies after each fish.. Even in the colder months!
Rig wise ,I favour the Chod Rig for two reasons.1) It wont tangle up on the cast so
2) While fishing between the islands during the summer months there can be tons of weed and I know this rig will give me the best possible presentation.
OK, time for the rods to go out, One in the open channel of water between the islands, One to the right in between two clumps of rushes and the last ('my banker') in the near margin.
I never fail to catch in the near margins at Hollyhurst.
So with the rods out its time to set up, its always a good idea to get here early because it can get quite busy at weekends
While we were setting up the bivvy Mark had a screaming take on his right hand rod between the islands. If you're ever struggling for a bite then do something that requires two hands, I'm sure the fish are watching us! In the commotion the bivvy got dropped on the dog (sorry Trudy) and the tackle box got a good kicking..
The fish took Mark right round the back of the left hand island toward a load of bull rushes, you could see the concentration on Marks face as he gingerly (no pun intended) guided it back around the island and towards the waiting landing net.
 |
| 17lb 4oz |
A stunning looking common in the early morning light and at 17lb 4oz a very good start to the weekend.
With the fish weighed, photographed and safely returned it was time to finish putting up the bivvy while the dog sat well away from us, sulking at being assaulted by flailing tent poles.
With the bivvy up and all the gear put back in the tackle box it was time to put the kettle on and relax for a while... Fat chance!
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp, Mark was in again, same rod as before on a 20mm Robin Red boilie. Only a small Carp this time at a little over 7lb but welcome all the same.
7:30am and already two carp accounted for.
By 8am it was fully light and promising to be a fine morning, and with it came a few more anglers.
It was 11am before we had any more action and this time it was to my rods :) a drop back on my middle rod. With a steady plod and occasional lunge I could feel that I was into a good fish and it was staying deep, 10mins later I still hadn't seen whatever it was that I was connected too! Plod, plod plod, up and down the middle of the lake not taking line nor letting me gain much.
Another 5mins and at last, I started to gain some line and steer the fish towards the net.
A lean and powerful Linear Carp weighing in at 13lb exactly, Result.
By no means a big fish but this is the average stamp of fish you could expect to catch at Hollyhurst. Not bad at all.
With the score 2-1 to Mark I had some catching up to do, so out went another 20 boilies and with four more on a stringer attached to the hook to minimize tangles. Game On!!
Our fishing weekends never start off as a contest but normally result in a little brotherly competition.. Its healthy to have a little wager now and again, right? And so the loser of today's little contest would have to make breakfast in the morning, a full English!
By about 2pm we were struggling for bites, and being plagued by a strong northerly wind.
Time for a change I think, out came some ground bait, tuna (in brine) and a tin of sweetcorn (I never leave home without some form of method mix) out came the left hand rod that was between the two islands and on it went a 35g method feeder, a 3" hook length of 8lb hair rigged to a size 14 hook. On the hair went my favourite method combination, two grains of corn and one grain of yellow pop-up plastic corn.
With the method rig set up it was quickly cast over the top of my pre baited area of boilies in between the islands topped up with two balls of tuna and corn ground bait.
With nothing but a few bleeps to show for the next two hours I decided to have a walk back to the car to retrieve my big jacket, on the way back I could see my Brother Mark bent into a fish.. I blurted a few obscenities then started to jog over to lend a hand in netting.
A lovely 11lb 9oz mirror Carp
making it 3-1 to mark... and as you can expect he took a lot of pleasure in reminding me of the fact.
Nothing much happened for a while and it wasn't until the light started to fade that at last my method rig roared off, the screech of my alarm made me jump out of my skin but I was on it lightning quick. The fish turned as soon as I applied pressure and ran full pelt towards us, a few more obscenities later and I had it plodding under the rod tip almost beat and ready for the net. Mark was playing the role of chief nets man and as my hard earned prize made its final approach toward the mesh tragedy struck, the Carp made one final bid for freedom and won.
Every angler that has ever lost a good fish knows the feeling, the hollow empty dull ache in the pit of your stomach, I was beyond gutted.
5:20pm and it was getting dark fast, just enough time to recast all the rods and bait up for the night but just before I picked up the method rod it gave a single beep so I struck into it on the off chance as I was running out of light fast and needed to finish up before it was too dark too cast.
Well what do you know! A short and spirited fight produced a plucky little common of 6lb, a very welcome fish. Almost as soon as id finished baiting up the method rod was in again with a fish of 8lb 2oz, this was one fish that was not at all happy about being caught and preceded to smash me in the face with its tale and jump and wriggle all over the unhooking mat. One of the hardest photos I've had to stay still for!!
Three all? OK, not in the same league but who's counting? :)
By the time we got back into the bivvy we were well over due for a cup of coffee, and with the kettle on the tent soon warmed up giving the dog no reason to keep her eves open any longer then was needed.
The rest of the night went without any more action except for the odd bleep.
7am on the Saturday and time to check the rods, bait up and recast. However, everything changes with an over enthusiastic cast! Crash... straight through some f**king bull rushes!!
The only thing I dreaded doing! Oh well only one thing for it, bring on the canoe....
One feature that will save you a lot of money on end tackle is Hollyhursts canoe.
However nerve racking an experience it is, its far better than losing £5's worth of rig and lead every time you over cook the cast!
The rest of the morning was pretty much a non starter, with only a few knocks to stir us from our daydreams it passed without event until Marks margin rod's alarm went into meltdown, a real one toner! All the way down his left near margin this fish charged on, taking line at a rate of knots! After a scary fight that almost resulted in Mark getting in the water to free off the line that was tangled around a marginal bush his fish was on its way to the bank and the waiting net.
A stunning Linear Carp going 21lb 8oz on the scales, Guess I'm cooking the fry-up...
So, with the cooking out of the way I had time to relax for a while, well longer than expected in fact, with the day closing into night nothing else happened until around 2am when my 'banker' (near margin rod) finally produced a take, and what a take it was!
From nowhere, not even the odd bleep came a pure 'one toner' that even made the dog jump and give a little startled bark!
Running like a madman I finally reached my rods but it seemed like it took forever as the alarm was going nuts. As I bent into the fish I could tell it was a 'good un' taking me around the back of the island more than once! Its scary enough being dragged around the back of an island during the day but in the pitch black it was nerve shattering! After the scariest fight of my life I lifted the net on an enormous specimen! My hands were all over the place while trying to remove the hook but eventually 'She' was free to pose for the camera..
A 27lb 6oz personal best! What a way to even the score with Mark!
With no more action in the night we managed a few hours uninterrupted sleep before having to pack up early and head home as Mark had to work a night shift that night.
This lake is awesome! and I've fished it a lot, because its local to work I spend a fair few weekends here now chasing its resident Carp.
This is a special venue for me because it holds my personal best Carp to date.
Thank you for reading my blog, if you liked this page or even if you didn't please write a comment and follow me on twitter. copy and paste this URL to like minded/fishing obsessed friends and forums. All comments and criticisms are very much appreciated.
Paul Ringer.
