Amazing Day Ticket Lake – Whelford Pools – 30 Years apart – Carp Fishing

Mike goes back to his roots and visits a small, intimate, day ticket carp fishery called Whelford Pools. This was a lake that Mike cut his teeth on and learnt his early carp fishing craft. Time moves on, but it was great to go back for a day in January to try and catch a carp from a lake he’s not wet a line for the best part of 30 years. Luck was certainly on his side that day! Winter Carp Fishing at it’s BEST.

With the rise in popularity of all forms of angling especially cart fishing it’s fair to say that day ticket and Open Access Fisheries play such an important role in today’s angling World these venues give Anglers an opportunity to learn and to catch car on a pay as you go

Basis now growing up it was day ticket lakes that captured all my attention and it was at this point I discovered a wonderful complex of lakes nestled in a cotwood water park called wford pools over the next decade it was here that I learned so much I also met some

Wonderful people along the way but eventually time moves on and I ventured off in search of new adventures now fast forward the best part of 20 years and I decided it was time once again to wet a line as it was in great winter form also a friend of M

Mind Ryan had been doing really well fishing short sessions and from what I could see the carp had grown somewhat since my last encounters however if memory served me correctly this intimate little place always had a reputation for being rather tricky but I had a few days that I could

Spare in Hope of catching a winter wford pool’s carp and take that lovely walk down memory lane well we’re here and I cannot wait to get started you’re allowed to come in as a day ticket angler or booking angler at Wellford from 8:00 things have changed it’s a

Fantastic site already I can see Steve and oie have done some fantastic work with security and just looking around the place yeah it still has that old nostalgic feel but I can’t wait to see how it’s changed if it has changed to be fair but Ryan’s holding the camera we’ve

Got a day ahead of oursel um so time is the essence right now we haven’t got a lot of time you know what it’s like in the winter it’s 8:00 now it probably gets dark at half 4 and not only that I know this place can be tricky so uh but

The best thing is the weather’s broke it’s warm today so uh if there’s ever a chance to catch a couple of day ticket winter car up it’s today it has been fishing okay couple of fish have been caught Ryan’s actually had a few which is great news and the plan is to load

The bar up really lightly and have a little walk around you’re just going to park it somewhere and sort of pick Ryan’s brains and just see if my old knowledge of the place still holds firm so we’re just going to travel light I’ve literally got a chair one little bag and

I’m sort of going to have a little look around and probably give you a bit of a dissection of why and how I’m going to choose an area to fish today and what we’re going to look for in terms of signs of where they might be there will

Be people fishing that’s just the nature of the beast when it comes to day ticket fishing but I’ll give you a bit of an insight into how we eventually decide on the swim but first and foremost we’re hopefully going to kind of creep around very soft underfoot and try and sort of

Make a bit of a plan in terms of where they might be today so uh yeah not going to catch any chatting to the camera so see you in a minute well I think the plan is as we’ve already alluded to going to have a little walk ground um we’re in the first

Corner right looks like there’s a couple of Anglers fishing yeah there’s a few people up in the channel swims it looks like so instead of walking straight past them I think we’re going to take the other route around the lake and um see what options Maybe around this way mate

Do you have a superstitious way that you walk around the lake bizarrely you are taking me away that doesn’t sit right with my Fenway I always usually go clockwise but this is anticlockwise Wow have you got have you do you if you’re superstitious like we can go the other

Way if you like but either way I think the car are going to be this way or that way one L running back around here I think he might have seen something oh he’s got a little bit of a trot on yeah indeed I think we might have to get our

Trot on let’s go come on right I think it’s fair to say that we are both in the same mindset and there’s a bit of a process of elimination isn’t there in terms of how we’re going to cancel out areas especially on here it’s not not a

Huge Lake um but I guess it’s uh it’s all about having the same sort of observation mindset and right now it’s making the right decision because it’s easy to make the wrong decision I think it’s easy to jump in a swim although uh it is a day ticket we have to be pretty

Quick we’ve got our barrows parked in an open area but what’s the plan in terms of your mindset of trying to kind of go through the process of elimination of where these cart might be for today I think um through experience in the winter months the clarity and the water

Becomes a lot better so visibility and sighting fish becomes better all along the margins you can see the clearer areas and if the fish aren’t in these areas it will be extremely clear so straight away we’re going to have a look around the marginal areas and um if we

Don’t see any fish amongst them then straight away we can eliminate the margins and maybe place our hedge our bets and thinking the fish are going to be in Open Water um the fish really do like the edges in here and if we come across clouded water we definitely act

Upon it but until we do see fish in the edge um I think we’ll be able to eliminate some areas of the lake like I say it’s only a small Lake there is a lot of fish in here when I do see them in the edges is in big groups maybe 15

To 25 odd fish you do see the odd smaller groups but we want to be on the bulk of fish it’s colder is the colder months we’re in the winter and they are going to be grouped together so if we don’t see in the edges I think open

Water is going to be a good shout yeah no good shout I think uh already I’m looking at these margins Ryan they’re clear I can see the gravel margins um and because when they are in the in in close like you say they Cloud up the margins don’t they you’re not going to

Be able to see the bottom that’s correct so uh let’s quickly roll out as many arrows as we can and hopefully at the end of that quick lap we’ll be left with uh multiple choice bit pot luck yeah come on well we’re getting to the end of our walk

And I think one thing one thing that’s really important you got to be respectful for other Anglers as well it is first thing in the morning it is bite time um so you know the guys that are fishing already we haven’t got our rods out now you you could say that this is

The prime time for a bite so I don’t want to impede on those guys either be very easy for me to sort of see some fish if they were close to them sort of flick some leads out but for me I wouldn’t want it done to me and I think

You know those guys are all settled they’ve been here for the night if they’re going to catch you know you could class that this will be prime bike time so we’re going to leave them to it I think we’re going to continue our walk I’m definitely not even going to look in

The areas where they’ve got rods it’d be easy for me to peer over the side wouldn’t it and have a look where I think they’ve got their baits placed because there might be fish there not going to do any of that either I’m just going to tip toe my way around um keep

Really quiet go past them and continue our looking in the margins but yeah not sure if they’ve caught anything we’ll soon see if there’s any wet mats or wet Nets so that’ be a bit of a giveaway but we’ll continue for the first few hours

We’re just going to try out in the open water we’ve not seen anything obvious in the edge and we have the opportunity to look around and once a day breaks we’re we keep active we see what’s going on but as for a start I think we’re in good

We placed a good bet mate I’m I’m relying on your uh wford winter knowledge win wford winter hero here so mate if if you’re not going to get it right nobody’s going to get it right so no we have to see what happens today won’t we yeah come on let’s go

Well I’m talking with hush tones because we’ve made our swim Choice it’s the only area of the lake without no lines in it as Ryan’s already sort of alluded to these day ticket carp just know and that experience tells me in the past that if there’s a bit of water that’s had no

Lines running through it it doesn’t take them long to sort of settle in that area So the plan is is to be as stealth as possible I think it’s all one and lost on a day ticket fish especially a small one like wford within the first hour I

Don’t want to go flicking leads around and trying to you know find the perfect spot if I had 20 cast here with a bare lead because it’s such a small intimate water I just think the fish would know that we’re fishing for them so uh the

Approach is is to get two rods out really quickly really quietly we’re not making any noise I got a tiny little lead on here and I’m just going to flick it out for the first hour or so if I get any liners that’s a good sign because

Obviously it might mean that I’m fishing too far um but for the time being I’m just going to assess what I’ve got in front of me by getting a couple of quick rods out with tiny little leads not going to do any other cast two casts

Ran’s going to do the same and we’ll sit back and uh yeah see if we can make a plan for the rest of the day before I cast out I dropped my rigs in the edge to get the lead and components wet I’ve often found dry components can create small little

Bubbles of Trapped air once settled on the bottom now maybe it’s just a small percentage but in my mind’s eye it certainly helps my confidence meanwhile Ryan quietly set up and we got our rods out with one cast each before we kicked back to discuss the plan of attack for the

Day however it was at this point that I realized I forgot my Kettle a car pang’s winter essential but luckily Curley came to the rescue with his rather unique quintessential teit what I want to know is how do I or when will I qualify for a a knob on my

Cattle we ask you if you want a knob it’s not the other way around oh is it I’ve heard this many a time how do we uh how do you decide who’s knob ready there’s not like a a criteria that you must meet it’s I don’t know it’s very

Much a a feeling a gut feeling is it yeah I’ve also heard that you don’t get to choose your knob either no no you’re given a knob am I whether you like it or not yeah well I still haven’t got one so maybe I’m not hitting the criteria I’m

Not part of the secret society I just don’t think you get a cat on enough I think that’s the problem is that what it is yeah I I heard this all down to the handshake is it yeah but to get a knob yeah you got to be in the in the click

In the click yeah well clearly I’m not in the click and I didn’t make enough Cups of Tea but if I was i’ have this as part of my look at that more importantly who actually decided that was the right knob for you uh Luke bounds and why why on Earth did

He choose one that looked like it was probably from my Nan’s porcelain collection I think that one’s from the range you know just plug in is it yeah Plug and Play Plug and Play yeah does just just for the purpose of health and safety porcelain or China

Uh plastic plastic oh just I was more concerned about heat heat conduction so you’re all right you’re right with that we did give someone like a a metal knob once but I think that got quite hot oh mate a metal knob is definitely not the way forward is it right that’s

Enough about knobs we got to try and catch some cup the only signs we saw feeding fish that morning was in front of me and Ryan so I was sure the fish were still in the area however I felt I just needed to alter the position of the

Rigs well as you may have seen I did film a few of them I’m getting liners um both rods so that tells me well there it’s a small Lake the fish must be between me and the rod tip so I haven’t had anything yet it’s 12:00 I’ve left Ryan

Sort of fting around and he’s uh trying to chase some fish up in the channel and I think he’s got a great chance but Ryan did say alls to play for in the afternoon so that’s the best time to get a bik bowl Accounts at wford at the

Minute so I’m just going to bring these in and I’m literally going to tie some bags on as quick as I can and then pop them out about a rod length and a half this way so uh if the liner stopped tells me in the right area that’s all I can

Do still want to be really quiet if I I can I don’t want to uh want to make much noise just want to get these bags out inconspicuously just drop them in the zone right let’s do this right let’s just get this bag on tied to the

Lead and uh drop it out as quick as I can little bit of crino crumb probably seen me do this before I tie the bags to the lead and it sort of sits just here here now there’s a method behind my madness for that because although it’s far more convenient easy

For when the lead’s all wet and the tackle all damp you know you tie it to the lead there and it’s really simple just to recast it as quick as possible but the reason why I think it works so well is that when you cast this out the

Bag is attached to the lead and this hook link then which I like to fish a hook link about 10 in sort of kicks away from the lead and I think what happens is you get a small little bit of traction around here but any sort of

Fish that are a little bit wary of a parlor bait because one thing I’ve noticed there’s six or seven Anglers here today and I’ve noticed they’re all fish in bags but this one makes sure that the bag is here a little pile of Attraction but the hook link is about 10

In away almost inconspicuous with his own little free offering so uh it’s always done me proud that has and I think there’s more to it than just tying the bag to the lead you get a you get a hook bait that’s uh almost a foot away

From the lead and you could class that as maybe less suspicious or it might actually be the first thing they pick up as they approach the attraction not sure but it definitely works just need the fish to move in right let’s get this one out with the rods reset closer in the

Liners soon stopped and it was time to catch up with Steven Ole about the Lakes progress over the years however I didn’t have to wait long before the bobbin pulled up tight and battle commenced well it’s been uh 20 years or more since I’ve uh had a take out of

Here and I got to admit was great to be back just when I didn’t think it was going to happen today sort of give myself three or four days single day sessions that we’re going to plan to come up here and fish see the catch one day one is a

Great start don’t think it’s a big fish scaly one but for a winterday session to get a bend in the rod is exactly what we’re looking for steady as you go steady as you go in in in yes what done right thanks for that mate oh what result maybe 20 scaly cart

Right yeah in January M that Lit that Rod would been out like know 20 minutes we’ seen a show and I quickly skipped it in don’t want to be scared of sort of recast I’ve got little tiny leads on trying to make as minimal disturbance I

Can tied a bag to the lead little warut size just flicked out on that show 20 minutes it’s gone so uh yeah roving the rods around until the liners stopped I was getting a few liners and I think I was sing too far beyond them um so I

Brought them in a little bit and uh that’s the result winter car well there he is what a lovely way to uh to start this lovely day at wford pools the cracking scaly card releasing that car gave me a gentle reminder that once again time goes so

Fast decades had passed in just a blink of an eye however we still had a few hours of the day left to try and work a bite or two I put a little bit of baiting just to see if I could stop them in their tracks and yeah yeah to my disbelief the

Fish reacted within an instance threw a handful of pellet a bit of crumb bit of crino crumb and P pellet maggot and crino crum in and um as it’s fluttering down to the bottom two fish have passed through and to my disbelief one’s dropped straight away PEC go in tail up

And I didn’t need to see anything else come down i’ whipped the rod in got a bank stick in my hand I’m going to put a bag straight amongst and we see opportunities still present so let’s talking more doing I reckon uh Ryan’s rods here so he’s literally just going

To lift the rod up next to him down and move down I think he’s just got to maximize the opportunities while they present themselves so bag in hand mate bag in hand have a little look plenty of goodies in there we got bit of crino

Crumb with the maggots to add a bit of flavor a bit of crino booster some Edge pets some plenty of edge pellets and i’ got a little subtle hook bait hidden in the bottom it does the do we get him out there let’s follow you down M I’ll see

Where the see where the money spot is go so I’ve just got up the tree to make sure the coast is clear I’ve got the glasses on not any fish present now but um see a little silhouette of where I just put a handful of bait is right in

The center of their tracks they’re passing right through the middle of the channel so going to lower a single trap in the middle there and see if we can get another fish to Upright him yes now to walk the rod back to the rest with Ryan’s trap set I quickly redid my

Rod and got it back out on the spot but within minutes it was off once again and I was into my second Wellford pool’s carp of the day well that’s the second bite and quick succession in half an hour getting that Rod out quickly is obviously paid dividends because it’s just pulled up

Tight Steve and ol were sort of spotting the fish actually really in close local knowledge they know what they’re talking about and uh you can see a little group of them just chasing the sun classic winter Behavior really just getting the last raise of the day I brought the rods

In as I’ve already mentioned and um find the little honey pot the video SL yeah look at that that’s a bit bigger than the last one it’s got of a belly on it I’d say that’s that’s definitely 27 28 that which is uh it’s a great result

In fact Ollie was the Ollie was the guy that called it that this fish might be jew which is really strange a bit of a Mystic me but there he is it’s in the net there he is second one of the day in a real bullish shape nice bit of

Variety with the fish slipped back Ryan had found a small group of fish on the far Bank his Relentless energy and work rate in pursuit of a bite was incredible I was sure before the end of the day it would all pay off the lads who are in the channel have’

Moved off now and um I can see my two bags just down this Edge and I’ve just threw one handful of bit of crumb maggots bits and Bobs over the top and the fish has swam straight through the cloud of the maggots um they’re definitely aware of the baits here I

Think I’m going to have to sit on my hands a bit here and um let the fish play their part because they’re definitely in the area and there’s a good number of fish here so um keep an eye on them and keep track of their movements as I’m speaking now there is

Another fish just coasting over he’s passing over the bag now and just going out a sight to my left so we’re going to keep a good tab on this in then it’s looking good for a daytime bike let’s keep going Ryan now had two rods set on patrol routes he’d observe the cart

Feeding on on the far Bank while I decided to rebate both rods and cast them to two sets of bubbles just a little bit further out I’ve been catching on my normal slip D- rig both with half a crino 12 mil popup but tied to the back of that with two

Worms then I snipped the tails off to give the hookbait an extra kick before tying a bag of crino to the lead to complete the trap now I didn’t have to wait long before I had a really strange Twitchy bite what crazy little take that was they

Certainly know how to get away with it here it’s just a little bobbing lift up and down up and down and I thought to myself that looked suspiciously like a fish shaking his head and uh we all agreed on the next little bobbing twitch or shape i’ lift the rod and we’re

In I don’t think we can ask for anything more that’s three bites in a day so perfect end to a very very productive first day at wford pools lovely well as I was playing it um I think it’s a 30 pounder so what a great way to end

The day OE uh OE and Ryan said they recognized it there was a little linear scale pattern that was twisting and turning it was coming in and uh they immediately said that’s A3 car so what more can we ask for nearly home time literally I was just packing the stuff

Away getting stuff sort packed into the rock out uh maybe 33 pish but uh we better H up cuz the light is fading and cameras and light I haven’t got got a flash with me don’t really mix so I just need to get it done pretty quick and

Then uh yes home time time PR well done mate thank you very much what a great day W look at that look at that lovely linear line there wow finish the day off me half a crino pop up there there we go that’s gone look at him colors of it that’s 303 easily

Certainly didn’t expect to catch one this big today fantastic right I will give you 33633 6 what great end fantastic days fishing really yeah look at that that is as clean as a whistle and I tell you what that is a fantastic C look at him look at this big of the

Scales down here big sovereigns on it the guys done a sterling job here what’s on offer at wford pools for a day to C Fisher with C like this wow well there he is 336 of solid wford pool’s day ticket cart look at that oh yes yes yeah

We well sadly it was time to pack up and head home but what an end to a wonderful day at wford pools I guess I won’t wait another 20 years next time in fact I can’t wait to return the lake is is thriving under Steve and all his

Management the fish look incredible and once again this intimate little pool gave me a day full of memories to treasure forever by the time I’d loaded the van it was dark but after all Ryan’s effort and hard graph to chase those wford pools carp around I heard a whistle and

Eventually he got his just reward