Watching the weather forecast and reacting accordingly to the conditions is one of the real skills of carp fishing, and experienced angler Paul Bacon did just that recently on a trip to Grenville, where his decision to fish on the back of the wind rewarded him with one of the best big carp hauls of 2024 so far.
Faced with an easterly wind on the large Cambridgeshire syndicate water, Paul decided that the wind was too cold for fish to follow and instead set up in a familiar peg on the back of it.
"I'd not been to Grenville since last august, so Paul, the owner, said I could do a longer session than normal," he said.
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With the wind off his back, Paul was able to fish at 38-wraps range and didn't have to wait long to get in on the action.
"Things got hectic pretty early," he told us.
"The fish in Grenville travel in large shoals, so I was getting spells of 24-hours non-stop action followed by a blank day. This allowed me to sleep, eat, make rigs and stay recharged, as I wanted to catch as many as possible this trip."
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Knowing the stock of the lake, Paul introduced a heavy amount of small baits into his swim, opting for 8mm and 12mm DNA Bug boilies that had been soaked for two days prior in Bug food liquid.
At the business end he used his interesting long Blowback D-rigs with DNA Pink Peril pop-ups, set to sink incredibly slowly.
These tactics and baiting strategy resulted in Paul catching 32 carp throughout the session, with nine of those over 40lb and the biggest a 59lb 12oz mirror - his second biggest UK carp.
"It's sessions like this which show why I always take six rods to Grenville," he said.
"I have three ready to go and rigged up, so I can get rods back on the spot as soon as possible. When the fish are in your swim, you only have a small window, so you need to make the most of it!"
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