Davy Claus relays a tale of when unrelenting persistence and flexibility in his angling paid off.
Tom Stokes – Ringing the Changes
15th March 2019
Tom Stokes has been using his experience and adapting his approach to suit the conditions coming out of winter and into spring.
The incredibly warm conditions in late February coincided with minus temperatures at night and ridiculously high air pressures. The warmth of the sun triggered many an early hatch to break out and knowing the fish would react accordingly, Tom fished zigs to great effect, catching a stunning old linear on the ever-faithful sliver of black foam fished up in the water amongst the natural food sources.
With conditions rapidly changing over subsequent weekends and the forecast of a huge pressure drop coinciding with storm Freya sweeping in off the Atlantic, Tom reacted by going back to his usual winter tactics of keeping mobile and fishing small traps to areas of showing fish. This was certainly the case on the weekend of the storm! With the big winds whipping up a lot of water movement, the fish responded to the warm turnover and drop in air pressure. Tom moved 3 times to different swims to keep up with the carp and ended his trip with five fish in total. Effort equals reward as they say!
Tom fished our Camsoft hooklink tied to Curve shank hooks all presented heli-style on the 45lb Olive Camo Leadcore. Simple tactics that work and by fishing two different styles to suit conditions, Tom ensured success came his way!