An update now on the campaign to save Farlows Lake from being turned into a marina. I have been informed by the bailiffs that the marina proposals have been turned down by the council. Great news! However the owner is planning to resubmit the proposal, so we will have to keep an eye out for the future. Thank you to all those who emailed in support of the campaign.
Best Fishes,
John
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Gary Westcott and myself fished in the British Carp Angling Championship qualifier at Farlows Lake recently. Unfortunately we didn’t qualify but we did score five points for the Carp Catchers Team. Gary and I had two carp for 45lb 2oz and also lost one. Garys fish came on his own Innovate Baits boilies, mine came on Mainline Baits Activ-8. We had a great weekend and really enjoyed the experience.
20lb 4oz
24lb 14oz
Best Fishes,
John
Top day ticket water Farlows Lake is facing closure again as the owner has has resubmitted plans to turn it and the adjacent canal into a marina. This is a very famous historic carp water, please help to save it by emailing Margaret Smith at smith@southbucks.gov.uk and letting the council know your thoughts. Please make you thoughts constructive and positive, as negative or abusive comments will be counterproductive. Farlows Lake is self funding and can be used by anyone whilst a marina I’m sure will be for the privilaged few. Please help to save Farlows Lake.
Best Fishes
John
Here’s a pretty linear mirror that my mate Gary and I had at the BCAC qualifier at Farlows Lake. The pretty one weighed 18lb and ounces.
Best Fishes,
John
Gary and I fished the 2009 BCAC Qualifier at Farlows lake again this year. We got down on the Thursday and had a good look round, then had a nice social in the bar that evening. The next morning we were up at first light and after a cup of tea we scouted the lake again. We had a hearty breakfast in the onsite cafe and then the moment of truth the draw!! Gary and I were fortunate and came out second and got our second choice of swim. We were up against some stiff opposition, The O’Connors, Ian Russell, as well as last years winners, but we felt confident. Things started slowly in our swim but after spodding out 3 kilos of 18mm Mainline Cell Freezer Boilies I had a run at 9.30pm on a rod fished to an island gap. I managed to get the carp away from the snag, but half way in it kited to my left towards a gap in the islands. The carp had to be stopped so I held on and gave no line and unfortunately the hook pulled argggh!! Gary had a take that night and was cut off almost immediately. Next morning we found another snaggy spot and had a fish within an hour which weighed 18lb and some ounces.
Finally we were off the mark with a nice common carp. The take came to a combi link rig tied with Rigmaroles Hydro-Link Silt with two pieces of Enterprise Pop-Up Sweetcorn as a hookbait. In the afternoon we tried zig rigs on top of the gravel bars to no avail. We spodded out about another 6 kilos of bait for the coming night. We added some sweetcorn and Carp Company Icelandic Red Cranberry & Caviar Freezer Boilies to the spod mix. At about 5.00pm I had another bite on the island rod which was cut off after about 20 seconds. Another cut off on the same rod about two hours later had Gary and I pulling our hair out. We both tied on the heaviest Nylon leaders we could (leadcore and braid leaders are banned) in an effort to combat the cut offs. Gary had one cut off and landed one carp that night which weighed 19lb plus so now we were in the running. Next morning saw us land another 18lb pluser, which put us well into contention. It was not to be though and at 12.00 the hooter sounded to end another BCAC qualifier. Had we landed any one of the fish we lost we would have qualified.
Best Fishes,
John
I went down to Farlows lake recently for a short session. The lake was fairly busy, but there were a few swims available. After a good look round I settled on one of the open water swims on the smelly bank. The conditions were fairly mild and sunny with the wind blowing over my shoulder as I cast my first rod. I felt the rod down onto a clear area and placed the rod on my pod to allow the line to sink. My second rod was cast about 10yrds to the left of my first rod and placed on the pod also to let the line sink. As I set the indicator on my first rod I noticed the line was going to my left “that’s strange” then the penny dropped, fish on!! After a fairly decent fight I slipped the net under a nice gnarly old mirror carp of 18lb 4oz.
Result!! It’s great to get a fish right at the start of your session. A 16lber folowed a couple of hours later and that put up a hell of a fight plodding up and down the margins like the monsters do, I just could not get its head up. Both carp were caught on my new sweetcorn rig and the hookbaits were Enterprise Pop-Up Sweetcorn . The hooklink was 25lb Rigmarole Hydro-Link Silt tied to size 8 Gardner Longshank Incizor Carp Hooks .