This whole fishery responds very well to bigger baits such as
corn, luncheon meat and worm. As with all commercial carp fisheries, there are
times when each of these baits becomes 'flavour of the month'. for about three
months this summer, worm over chopped worm was unbeatable, but in the past a
combination of luncheon meat, corn, worms, casters and maggots has been spot
on. You don't need much of any of them, this is definitely not a 'chuck loads
in' water. Feeding and casting has to be accurate to get any consistent results
here.
Fishing on the main match lake (Plantation Lake) is with two main methods,
either pole at about 5 metres and 11 / 12 metres, or bomb, feeder or waggler
tight to the island. Fishing to the island needs to be deadly accurate, drop
a couple of feet short and you will not get a bite, stray six inches too far
and you are tying a fresh set of tackle on. There are lots of fish that live
against the island, but I suppose that they get easily spooked, because it's
hard to keep them feeding all day. One thing that I have noticed is that many
of the experts at this style of fishing will fish for the first half hour without
putting in ANY loose feed. I guess their reasoning is that the fish live there
anyway, so why give away too many clues that you are trying to catch them. Who
knows, I'm just passing on a bit of information that might be of use to you
one day.
Pole fishing is by far the most popular method for fishing Plantation Lake, in fact the whole complex is ideal for pole fishing, with lots of pole sized carp to be caught, as well as the skimmers and roach. With the carp averaging 4lbs, you dn't need that many fish to reach a match winning total, which is often in the 30 to 60lbs range. You have to be accurate with your feeding, using a pole cup to feed the long line, and you need to be patient, with the fish often feeding well for only the last part of the match. This is especially true of the inside line, where you are fishing at about 5 or 6 metres. Feed carefully, little and often, and you could well be in with a shout when the scalesman comes round. My normal approach would be to cup in a couple of cups of mixed caster, corn and meat on the 11 metre line, and one cup of the same on the 5 metre line. I start by fishing the long line, feeding with the pole cup occasionally, and hoping to pick up a few carp. At the same time I would be flicking a few loose offerings on to my 5 metre line. Every 15 minutes or so have a cast on the inside line, if you don't get a bite within a minute or two then go back out on the far line. As soon as I see an indication of a fish on the near side line, I concentrate on that line until the end of the match, increasing the feeding frequency, but not the amounts that I feed each time. The far swim is abandoned from that moment on, since I have absolute confidence that I will catch more fish close in. Fishing's like that, confidence plays a huge part, how does a fish know when you're confident. It's a complete mystery to me. My only variation on the above method is that on relatively calm days i.e. when the wind is not howling straight down the lake, I will feed two close in swims, one either side of my peg, at 45 degrees to where I'm sitting.
Methods for the other lakes are very similar, with the exceptions that on Forge Lake I would fish the 'long rod' (18 - 20 ft) and a running line, because I don't want to be added to the list of people who have had poles broken by carp on that lake, and if I am forced to ever fish another match on Mill Lake (see favourite pegs for my thoughts on Mill Lake), pole is the only method worth fishing there..
