Davy Claus relays a tale of when unrelenting persistence and flexibility in his angling paid off.
Tom Loraine keeps busy into the winter
14th December 2018
Tom Loraine has kept himself busy over the recent weeks and despite numerous events that sometimes test your spirit, has managed to keep pushing on and had a nice result for his efforts!
‘I thought I’d send over a few pics from the start of winter and as I write this it seems the temps are decreasing day on day and winter is in full beast mode!
After a slow start and a tough couple of weeks I was starting to think December might be tougher than I first thought. After a few blank over night trips I was lucky on a pack up and a walk around as I always do when I leave to spot some small bubbles just breaking the surface in a deeper part of the lake. I decided to concentrate here for the next session and so I gave them a kilo of 10’s and 16mm of Manilla with the stick and planned to come back in a few days when I was due another night.
I spent 2.5 hours on the dreaded M25 due to the piss poor weather and 3 accidents on route so I turned up in a foul mood and just to cap it off it was raining! A few carp showed long in a certain zone I’d seen the bubbles the week before, so rather than spook them I set up a swim further down the bank and fished over to the area. The night was very eventful with 5 carp banked ranging from 21 – 27lb. It’s always nice to be rewarded after such a poor couple of weeks and goes to show how important location is at this time of the year.
All these caught using my usual combi hinge utilising the TA Tungskin in 25lb, on test bristle filament and size 5 Out-Turned Eye Hooks set up Heli style on Olive camo leadcore, fished with 16mm Manilla whites.’
Well done Tom!
It seems that very often, at this time of year, it’s just a case of vigilance and observation that can turn a trip around. Watching for all those subtle signs over the next few months will be key to many cold water captures and if you’re like Tom and act swiftly, winter can produce some cracking results!
Fish of 21lb, 23lb, 23lb, 24lb, 27lb.