Another angle

May is just a week old, yet I've already experienced two totally uneventful sessions down at Sandwich Coarse Fishery.My quest for five "twenties" before June 16th is looking more unrealistic by the day? It's now Bank Holiday Monday and I'm sat in my study watching the rain "pissing" down. Fortunately, before this heavy precipitation set in, I was able to get across to the fishery and have a chat with Ken about my prospects for a morning session tomorrow. Big "thumbs up" as there will only be three other anglers on and, therefore, my swim choice will be pretty good because of this situation. 

If the sun is shining, then these Marsh Frogs are everywhere around
the various pools of Sandwich Coarse Fishery. 
They make enough noise in the daytime, I can only guess at the din created during the hours of darkness.

I have no knowledge as to how these other anglers will be presenting their baited rigs, although can make a calculated guess because of what I've witnessed previously. And, due to my recent results, I now find myself thinking along the particle route and wondering if it's worthy of experiment? As with anything in life, the only way to find out is to give it a go. If everyone else is using commercially manufactured boillies and/or pellets, then my home prepared particle baits should offer an edge, purely because they are different, not because they are better. I've done quite a bit of tank testing recently and feel that a, very basic, blow-back presentation should do the job?

The beauty of this type of situation is that I can be 100% confident that no-one else will have thought along similar lines. The fishery isn't full of "monsters" thus very unlikely to be of interest to "serious" (?) Carp anglers. It's just a very pleasant venue which appeals to guys who want to enjoy their time on the bank, doing whatever to target the fish which inhabit the murky depths. I do have another ploy which might need to be explored, yet requires a visit to Tesco before I can follow it up. Spam and/or bacon grill have been very good baits, way back in my Stanborough days, so there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be effective in 2024? Just to add to this thought process, there's alway Peperami as an option? Still, I'll await the outcome of my particle approach before going off down this avenue.

When modern day Carp anglers see my "Tring" swing arm indicators they 
immediately think "Noddy" and give me a wide berth. A win, win situation I guess?

Well I've just got back home after my third session of the month and can report that my particle approach was rewarded with my only two Carp of the morning. Neither fish was a "double" yet provided evidence that my thought processes are headed in the right direction. Not too sure when I'll be able to get back down to Sandwich, but know that a Tesco trip will have been undertaken in the interim and my particle options will have been added to alongside the tinned meat that's available on the shelves. As an aside, one massive positive I gleaned from this morning's efforts was the effectiveness of my "blow-back" presentation. Both fish were absolutely nailed on a (barbless) size 10 Gardner "Rigga" hook. My ancient tackle being perfectly suited to this type of close range angling, there being very little chance of a hook pull when using rods with a 1 lb 10 oz t/c. I've now gone back to using my ABU Cardinal 66 X's, opposed to the later Cardinal 55 models which I had played with. The rear drag system, on both these reels, is far more user friendly than any modern bait-runners or front drag reels that I own. I did also see my first Hairy Dragonfly of the year, but it didn't hang around for a photo!