Ian Russell reflects on an incredible 48-hour session he had on Linear Fisheries’ Oxlease Lake when it finally reopened earlier this year.

R E O P E N I N G

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I’m sure I wasn’t the only angler that was eagerly anticipating the reopening of Linear Fisheries earlier this year. With news spreading that the lake’s largest common had hit 47lb the previous summer, I was one of the many anglers that was gagging to do a bit of time on Oxlease.

Although I was busy with various work commitments for Avid Carp, I managed to find time to do a 48-hour session on the popular day-ticket venue when it finally opened to the general public. On arrival at the lake for my first session of the year, I was absolutely astounded to find that there were only two other anglers eagerly anticipating the grand reopening.

Seconds later, the rig and lead arrangement flew past my ear and the carp waddled back to its watery home. Gutted.

Only an angler can understand how it feels to lose a fish. My stomach turned and the air around the swim turned blue momentarily. Once I’d stop cursing, I took a reality check and told myself it was only a fish. Deep down I was absolutely devastated.

I spent the next couple of hours getting the rods sorted properly and spodding out a mixture of Sonubaits Hemp ‘N’ Corn, 2mm S Pellets and a kilo of our 12mm Code Red boilies. Throughout the day and the evening I managed to bank a total of 10 carp to 22lb, but the night remained surprisingly quiet. I was up at first light the following morning trying to work out why I’d caught nothing through the hours of darkness. As I sat drinking a cup of tea, it all started to become clear. Looking down the far end of the lake it was hard not to notice all the carp flinging themselves out of the water. This was happening in front of a small swim that only ever gets fished when the lake is full. They had obviously followed the wind and moved well away from me.

As quick as I could, I packed everything away and hastily headed straight for the new swim. I didn’t have a lead around in the peg because I didn’t want to spook the carp. I just wanted to get a couple of rods on them as quickly and quietly as possible.

Roy Parsons popped around for

Once the gates were open, I drove into the car park, grabbed a bucket and headed off around the lake for a quick recce. Within five minutes off arriving at the lake I saw several carp show a couple of rod lengths of the lake’s island. I knew exactly where I needed to be, so I headed back to the van and frantically loaded my barrow.

Once back in the swim, I flicked all three rods across to the marginal shelf off the island whilst I sorted the rest of my kit out. Within a couple of minutes

of the rigs being in the water, the left-hand rod rattled off and I was into my first fish of the session. Now I’d like to tell you that a lovely carp splashed its way into my waiting net very quickly, but unfortunately it didn’t. The fish stayed deep for a few minutes, before showing itself about 10 yards from the bank. It was a very large mirror that looked like a fish I’d seen over the 40lb mark last summer. What a result I thought to myself, as I guided it towards the waiting net. One more dive and it’ll be mine.

H O W T O T I E I A N ’ S B L O W - B A C K R I GA quick swim change soon put Ian back on the fish.

Although not the biggest of the trip, this 23lb mirror was

certainly the best looking.

0 1 . Strip some coating from a length of coated hooklink and tie a loop in the end.

0 2 . Using a baiting needle, carefully attach a Code

Red wafter.

0 3 . Tie a small rig ring about 1cm away from the Code

Red hookbait.

0 4 . Pass the point of an LSK hook through the middle of the rig ring like this.

0 5 . Pass the hooklink through the back of the eye on

hooklink this.

0 6 . Fix the hook in place using a knotless knot. Ian likes quite a long hair.

0 7 . Slide a piece of shrink tubing over the eye and steam it over a kettle.

0 8 . The finished rig should look like this. It’s simple and extremely effective.

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his usual early morning coffee and we both sat staring at the rods, fully anticipating for them to rattle off at any second. The swim was alive with feeding carp.

I’d opted for a super-simple presentation that I had complete faith in. I’d gone for my trusty longshank blow-back rig which had been tied using size 4 LSK hooks and 15lb Captive coated hooklink. I’d threaded a small PVA bag of 2mm Code Red pellets onto the hooklink to reduce tangles and add a little bit of attraction around my hookbait.

By the time Roy had finished his cup of coffee, I’d banked three mid doubles and a tench. The biggest challenge on Oxlease and most heavily-stocked day-ticket venues is singling out the larger fish. Knowing that the lake’s largest common gets caught regularly from the reeds in the corner of the swim, I flicked one rod away from the showing fish to a quieter area of the lake. As the

other rods were kept busy with regular bites from smaller carp, this one lay dormant, hopefully ready for a larger carp. In a bid to tempt a bigger fish, I catapulted a few pouchfuls of boilies over the rod every couple of hours. As the day wore on, the display started to slow down as the carp gradually moved out of the swim and further up the lake. By now I had landed 22 Carp and 8 Tench. As the evening drew in

my first Carp take came to the margin rod and after a right old tussle a lovely 23lb mirror was photographed. It was the biggest fish of the session so far. Now I had to be off fairly early the following morning, so I decided to stay in the swim for the night . A couple more pouchfuls of 15mm Code Red boilies were placed around the margin rod on dark and the other two rods were cast out at about 30 yards range with

small mesh bags attached.

During the early hours of the morning, after an uneventful night, the margin rod was away. From the off, I knew I was into something powerful. It felt totally different that the doubles I’d landed the previous day. After an impressive scrap, a huge shape boiled a few yards from the bank and I managed to bundle it into the landing net. I could see that it was a big fish but it was still too dark to make out whether it was a common or mirror. As soon as I switched the head torch on I could see that it was a whopping great mirror. With the fish sulking in the net, I rung Roy because I knew he’d be up bright and early. He gave me permission to retain the fish till first light. Young Tommy Maker was in the next swim and kindly came and helped me weight the fish. I was shocked and delighted when the scales finally settled on 39lb 2oz. What a lovely way to celebrate my return to Linear!

0 1 . Add some Code Red pellets to a Pocket PVA System.

H O W T O T I E A P V A B A G

0 2 . Compress the pellets using the plunger.

0 3 . Twist the PVA until you create a compact package.

0 4 . Tie two knots in the end of the PVA like this.

0 5 . Cut between the two knots using a pair of sharp scissors.

0 8 . Carefully push a stick needle through the centre of the bag.

0 7 . Nick the loop of your rig onto the gate on the needle...

0 8 . ...and carefully pull the hook into the end of the PVA bag.

Ian’s new bobbins certainly brought him a little bit of luck.

Washed-out Code Red wafters did the damage.

LSK hooks in size 4 were Ian’s chosen hook pattern.

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A N G L E R P R O F I L E : I a n R u s s e l lA g e : 51 U K P B : 57 lb 8o z O c c u p a t i o n : F u l l T i me A n g l e r

At 39lb 2oz, this is one of the largest carp in the lake. What a way to mark the reopening of Oxlease. The future looks very bright.

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