old mill lakes saturday 7th december 2013


I arrived to the lake around 10 a bit later than i wonted but none the less i was there. i pulled up in the car park and started to unload the stuff onto my new barrow i had purchased earlier in the week, i cannot fault the barrow in anyway sides that extend and a big chunky tyre. I managed to get all my gear on with out a problem and it was a pleasure to push instead of having to carry all my gear to my chosen peg in 3 or 4 trips, anyway back to the fishing i had a walk around birch which is the lake I'm fishing didn't see any movement or fishing moving about there was a couple of guys on there fishing which i had a word with them they hadn't seen anything either and nothing had been out on the friday night infact nothing had been out in 2 or so weeks and birch not being the easiest lake at the best of times it was going to prove a challenge.

After walking round i had decided on my peg i think the peg was called the beach swim but I'm not 100% sure on that anyway it looked a nice swim the wind was pushing into the bay in front of me and to the right there was a nice gully. i got the rods out straight away i was using a maggot rig on my left hand rod which was constructed by a simple lead clip system down to a supple hook link at 20 lbs then a size 8 curve hook from Rc Tackle Developments which are deadly sharp! then onto the hair i tied a micro swivel to the hair to which then i was going to tie my ball of maggots onto this is, its something new I'm using it also prevents the maggots to move the hook or get tangled up when there rigging as the swivel will just move with them. I then nick on a small pva bag of dead maggots so i new there was going to b a little bait around the hook so i chucked it to the spot i was fishing which was just of the point of the bank. My right hand rod i was going to simply use a 3ft zig rig with a yellow and black foam which was constructed by a simple lead clip system (as i won't to drop the lead with a zig every time), then to a 3ft floating hook link from gardner tied to that was a size 12 mugga hook also from gardner then my foam on the hair i was just going to chuck this rod out into open water just to see weather the fish wear milling around in the upper layers and to try get a quick bite!. after that i set up camp for the night got everything nice a neat and got the kettle on!!.

A couple of hours went by and i was watching the water the whole time to look for showing fish but there was nothing at all it was quite all the way round the lake. Around 1 o'clock i decided to have a recast with both rods again the zig rig going out into open water and the maggot rig I decided to moved a bit further out to around 60 yds into deeper water. Again i was sat watching the water the whole time just for that one show then i was going to put a bait on it but nothing happened still quite it got to around half 3 and i decided to change my zig rig to a bottom bait they clearly wasn't moving around in the upper layers as i hadn't seen anything at all so i though this would b the best idea. The rig its self was again a standard led clip system to a 6 inch supple hook link the hook was a size 8 curve again from Rc Tackle and on the hair i had a 16mm single bloodworm boilie from sticky baits, I nicked a small pva bag of crushed boilies and few dead maggots on the hook and cast out to the right of me in open water. I had another recast just before bag with both rods and got settled in for the night!.

Nothing through the night very quite temperatures dropped to around 2 degrees i think i woke up around half 7 to the wind blowing hard into my face which that soon woke me up wen i stepped outside. I recast my rods same methods as i used for the night after i had done that it was time to put the kettle on a make a bacon buttie! I left the rods for a couple of hours and around half 10 i decided to move to the swim which was directly behind me as i hadn't seen anything show in the morning and it just wasn't happening in the swim i was in, also another angler had turned up in the morning a decided to go directly opposite me and near enough cast straight at me so i moved recast the rods to new spots and sat behind them watching the water for any signs or for the rod to scream off!.

I sat there in the blistering wind for about 3 hours not even a bleep or anything. i decided to pack away around half 12 1 and get back home for a hot shower and a sunday dinner! unfortunately it was another blank for me but I'm going to keep persevering and it will all pay off my next session with be on the 21st december i am also fishing christmas day and boxing day so i will be doing an indepth blog about that session hopefully i can bag a lump I'm sure that would be the best christmas present ever!

Tight Lines.  

November 9th 2013! Quick 24hr at Old Mill

Stood watching the water for movement!

November 9th 2013!  Quick 24hr at Old Mill 


Hello again guys & girls my latest session was at Old Mill Fisheries, Market Rasen.I got to the lake around 2pm saturday as i got there i had noticed Chris (the owner) had been working hard putting up a fence around the 2 pits to keep otters away so I couldn't drive up to drop the gear off, so I had to park in the car park to un load and walk it up to the peg i was choosing. First off i had a walk around the lake, the lake i was fishing was birch which is the main lake with Carp which should be doing 40+ if they have had a good munch on!. The biggest to date which has been out was a 39lb common know as (big common) absolute beauty. Anyway i carried on walking around the lake trying to look for showing fish as i walked around i came back to where i started still not seeing any signs of fishing moving around i saw a nice little peg on the old side of the lake and decided to fish there it looked like a nice area to put a few rigs into place, so i went back to the car got all the gear out and lugged it over to the peg. As i got there i saw a fish bosh over by the far reed bed this made me more confident in my choice of peg i quickly set up my rods and got a rig over by were i saw the fish boshing. On that rod i used size 8 curve shank hook from Rc Tackle Developments ( sharpest hooks I've ever seen check them out on Facebook) tied with a standard knotless knot about 6 inch hooklink which was N-trap semi stiff in gravel at 20lb then to a simple lead clip system I was only using a 1 oz lead as this was plenty to get me to the spot i wonted. On to the buisness end the bait i used a milky toffee pop up with a few sticky baits bloodworm boilie as free offerings I casted the rig were i saw the fish boshing and left it there and went on to set my second rod up. I set this rod up exactly the same as before but i was putting around 20/30 maggots onto the hair simply by threading them onto some floss with a needle and tying it to the hair. I used this rig in conjunction with a pva bag full of maggots half dead half alive so i new there would still be some around my hook bait and not riggled off. I put my second rod out by the island to my left. As i got the bivvy up and everything inside the skys opened and the rain came thrashing down so i had to retreat into my bivvy!. As the hours past and it got dark all was quite so i decided to get my head down for the night. I had a few knocks in the night on my maggot rig but nothing came of it.

Cold morning!

 I woke around 7am sunday morning it was a very cold night getting down to around 1 degree I opened the front of my bivvy to see it was frozen as well as my rods and net!! i reeled my rods in and rebaited using the same method as i did at the start and positioning the rods in the same place this time i scattered 50/60 sticky baits bloodworm boilies around both my hook baits to see if i get get a early morning bite! . After i had had my breakfast and a nice warm cuppa i took a walk up the bank to scatter maggots around my maggot rig simply buy catapulting them to the far island, i left it for another couple of hours with no response at all it was looking like a blank at this time! . As i was sat watching the water as i like to do to see any signs of moving fish, over to the reed bed on the far left i saw a fish make a swift but noisy appearance so i reeled my maggot rig in rebated and chucked to were i saw the fish show just to try nab a bite. As i was sat there another angler came walking round who had packed up and on his way home, i managed to talk to him, he had been on a 48hr session with no fish at all but i did manage to find out that a bloke had been fishing the same swim i was in with maggots and he was fishing them to the island were i was also fishing them this gave me a bit more confidence that i might just grab a bit! .

Frozen rods and net!

As dinner time came there was a big south westerly blowing into the bay that i was fishing i decided to bait up with my last couple of pints of maggots over my left hand rod as i was walking down the bank i saw a micro light coming into land i stood and watched him come over my head which i was later to regret as i got to the peg next door to me i heard a "beep beep" then bang my rod went screaming off!! i ran as fast as i could to my rod but as i got there the screaming stopped i struck into what i though was going to b a fish and it actually ended but being nothing!! the fish had spat the hook and i was left stood there thinking why did i go to bait up but thats the whole fun in fishing. After that i had nothing else and the session came to a close with me blanking but….. i will b back with a few tweaks to the rigs i will hopefully b able to bag a nice one before christmas comes!. 

right hand side of swim!

left hand side of swim!

How I got into Fishing

Hi guys and girls as I said in my last blog I am going to tell you a little about how I got into fishing, especially carp fishing.

I started fishing when I was about 11 lugging all my tackle on my push bike down to the river about 5 miles away. Getting a little spinning rod out and searching for pike with some friends definitely brings back memories. Then we decided to start fishing lakes so off we went again on our push bikes with a rod, reel, a few weights, hooks and floats. First off we were catching small fish like roach, rud and tench which at the time I didn't mind catching at all, after all they were fish. Then sadly the group split up and the fishing dwindled down from every weekend to once in a blue moon. This ended up with me selling my fishing gear and I totally went off the sport.

A few years later when I was about 15 a friend of the family took me out fishing for carp on a little lake close to my village called Tilly's pit. I was sat there with a pint of maggots flicking a few over my float, then bang! The float shot under so I struck the rod. The line started screaming off the reel, I gradually gained line back and the fish came to the surface. I was ecstatic to see it was a little mirror carp. My friend was showing me how to play the fish nice and gentle and let the fish do the work. As it started to tire  my friend slipped the net under and it was in! My first carp I had caught! I was buzzing at this point. My friend pulled it out of the water and there it was in all its glory a little mirror carp only weighing a few lbs but from that moment on all I wanted to go in search of was a bigger carp.

After that session I saved and saved. I vividly remember bugging my father to take me to the tackle shop so I could buy all my new fishing tackle. Since then I've expanded and upgraded my fishing tackle and continue to do so.

Thanks for reading, tight lines.

Start Of My Blogs

Hello guys and girls my name is Jake Bannister. I have recently started a Facebook page called Lincolnshire Fishing Association where I share pictures, my experiences and where I will tell you guys about my trips out when I go carp fishing. A friend has suggested that I should start my own blog so here I am :) I'm still new to this but I will try my best to keep all you guys informed about my trips out, rigs, bait, water selection, etc etc etc.

I would be grateful for feedback from everyone reading this blog, as I can adjust to what everyone would like to see. This can be from your own experiences, stories, tips and tricks that you use, or great locations that you really want to suggest to others. Please let me know, and I am more than happy to take on board whatever you suggest.

Any questions that you may have, please don't be afraid to contact me through e-mail, through the official Lincolnshire Fishing Association Facebook page, or even on here as a comment because I would love to answer them!

In my next post I hope to talk a little bit more about myself and how I got into carp fishing. I will also talk about the way I do things, but honestly I don't think that I am a better angler than anyone else, I just have my own thoughts and ways of doing things. At the end of the day, I am still learning just like you guys, and I just want to share my learning experience with everyone else.

Thanks for reading, tight lines.