Solar Tackle’s Jake Anderson recalls how he landed his target fish on his first ever night on the Essex Manor…
After much anticipation it was finally time, my Essex Manor ticket started for the coming season after months of waiting and hours spent looking at the mega carp that resided in the lake. I was excited to give it a go for a night before my planned european trip to Lake Serene.
I loaded the van and set off from Kent, making my way towards the Dartford tunnel, traffic aplenty. What is normally a seemingly long journey flew by, I was buzzing to get to the pond, really just to wet a line and assess the lake for when I returned from my French adventure.
An hour and a half later and I had arrived at the Manor, excited at the prospect of a new challenge. I quickly parked up, grabbed my Polaroids and went for a wander, hoping to spot some of the lake’s big inhabitants.
It didn't take long, as I reached the corner of the lake next to the car park swim I saw fish showing out in the middle, 3 or 4 good fish consecutively. It doesn't take you long to realise why the lake is nicknamed dollop city or why so many anglers want to fish this lake for all its gems. Five minutes spent looking at the pictures of the fish in the container on site and it's quite hard to grasp how many fish of this standard can be in one pond.
I made my way towards the Pump Swim and as I was walking I saw a massive shoulder just break the surface between the margin of the Middle Pads and Flat Swim. Barely any ripples pushed away from the spot as the fish slid back down, a much more delicate show than the ones I had seen previously. I froze to make sure I didn't miss any other signs the carp where in close quarters between the two swims. Shortly after the fish disappeared into the depths, 6 or 7 50p-sized bubbles rose to the surface, followed by a few more a few feet away.
Rushing around to the area I went to the Middle Pads first and for some reason I just didn't like the feel of the swim with the conditions. I spent about 15 minutes in the swim before walking back down to the Flat Swim. 30 minutes passed before I saw another sign of carp, a dorsal just broke the surface and gave away the carps position to the right hand side of the swim and it was game one.
Water bottle left to claim my stake to the swim and I wandered back to gather my gear and set up for the night. Once I had my gear in the swim, I got the brolly set up and set about finding some decent spots to present some traps on.
A rod with just a 1oz lead was readied and flicked around the swim. I found 3 nice clean spots with the silt up on the marginal shelf. The two outer rods where placed around 6ft off the reeds in my margins. The middle rod was more strategically placed, I cast past the shelf and pulled the lead until I felt it reach the top of the shelf. I clipped up to this position and I knew once I’d recast that when the lead hits the clip it would be sitting around 2ft my side of the drop off.
Three spinner rigs where set up with Solar Candy Floss pop ups mounted to the bait holder swivel. Once the rigs where in place, I baited each rod with 2 handfulls of Solar Club Mix 20mm boilies, a tin of sweetcorn and a light scattering of hooked on baits chilli hemp.
Just before dark the carp gave a good show in the middle of the lake, crashing out up and down the lake. I was full of excitement at what might occur during the hours of darkness.
I woke up to motionless rods at about 6am, I needed a strong coffee to get myself together as it wouldn't be long before I was packing up my gear and heading home.
Around 8am my receiver let out a couple bleeps followed by my bobbin slamming into my rod blank as the fish made its way down the shelf.
Picking up the rod I was met with heavy resistance and line started peeling from my spool, wobbling at the knees I was desperate to land my first Manor carp. Ten minutes passed and the carp was fighting doggedly up and down the margin. As it rose to the surface I saw the shear size of the carp’s frame. After a few mouthfulls of air the carp was ready for the net. YESSSSS! She was in the net and all mine, I took a minute to appreciate the opportunity I had been given and called my friend Sean over to do the pictures.
He looked into the net and identified the fish as the king of the Manor, a big mirror known as Georges! We got the fish onto the mat and I was blown away, I couldn't believe my luck. After hoisting the George's up the needle on the scales swung round to 48lb 12oz, a new PB to top it all as well.
After a few snaps where taken I spent a few more moments appreciating the carp in the margin before letting her drift back off into the depths.
It just goes to show that even if you only have a quick night to spare it's always worth making the effort to try tripping up some of your target fish.