I headed down to the legendary Redmire pool from Gloucestershire with a 35 mile drive ahead of me. I was very excited as I remembered watching “A passion for angling” back in 1993 when I was 13 years old. I will never forget the series when Bob James and Chris Yates ventured over to Redmire in search of monster carp. It summed up the whole angling thing for me and since then I have acquired a passion for carp fishing. The interesting thing is none of my friends have this addiction but to any carp angler the feeling of actually catching a carp is quite an achievement in itself, and that first carp bite can change people lives forever. I was lucky enough to catch my first carp of 3lb  on a small lake in Ledbury when I was 14.

When I arrived Rob and Jeoff Shaw had already set-up their stuff in Willow pitch and the one next to this. I decided to opt for the opposite bank as the weather looked surprisingly good and we were blessed by Isaac Walton for this. I set-up my 3 rods and decided not to use any buzzers in the true spirit of Redmire. As the evening progressed the weather got worse until I had to get my brolly out. I had decided not stay the night as the worst rain was forecast for that night. On the next day I arrived fresh and anxious to catch a fish.

Anyone who has fished Redmire will understand that there is a lot of Canadian pond weed in the lake. Also with the weather being so cold the fish were sitting up by the dam and not in the shallow water. The only bite I had resulted in a hook pull from the evening pitch. I started my first day fishing in Pitchfords and put some sweetcorn on some clear areas of the lake, which I could see wearing my polarised galsses. I checked it the next day but no fish had visited the area suggesting to me they were in the deeper water by the dam. On day 2 I cast all my rods into the central channe of the lakel but I think the fish were sitting above the weed and therefore missing the bait presented to them. I think I would have opted for a helicopter rig next time as the weed was very bad. The bait I was using was fake pop-up maize that normally works well in the colder months. On the other two rods I had spam and a Mainline Cell boilie. If I was to go again I would just use fake sweetcorn on all rods I am sure that would result in success with a small PVA funnel web bag of pellets attached to the hook.

I would give my right arm to fish in the summer and try and tempt a Redmire carp on a floating dog biscuit. My other favourite tactic is floating bread soaked in honey. From my past expereince the carp go mad for it for some reason. I got the idea after reading BB’s legendary book on carp fishing. The other end of the Redmire lake is very shallow and I could only imagine what it would be like in the summer months. The carp would be rolling in the red mud/clay of the lake and easily visible I am sure. Rob Shaw was fishing opposite me and he caught 2 beautiful carp so congratulations to him. One was 22lb and the other 26lb specimen so it just goes to show that November can be as productive as any other month of the year. The experience is one I will treasure and hope on my next visit I am able to catch a carp.

Good luck and tight lines!