In the spring of 2019, I did 10 days of fishing on two different locations. The logistics were rather cumbersome. The awareness of this "material handicap" occurs especially when you change shifts, when you fold and you have to have fun playing Tetris to be able to load the boat or the vehicle. As soon as the door of my car was closed, I said to myself: "What a mess!! And to think that I used to go fishing in 205! ». At that moment, I had a light fishing desire that I always liked to practice. It was decided, my next challenge would follow this path: few gears to make evening shots! On my journey, I was thinking of nothing else. I had 10 days of session behind me ... " It's madness," my grandfather used to say!
Objective : Make more than 10 carps in 5 short evening shots.
Programming : 5 evenings in May from Monday to Friday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
Approach To improve its fast fisheries, it is essential to plan its tactical and technical approach upstream and in adequacy with the place and the time. Indeed, there is a tendency to equate this type of fishing, and fishing in general, with randomness. So our passion for this unpredictable side is undeniable, but not only! It is possible, through the strategies chosen, to provoke our results. The optimization of our knowledge and experience is even more essential during these lightning fishing sessions than during longer sessions, the window of action being much smaller.
I keep quoting her over and over again: " What you call luck doesn't exist. Luck is what some people give to the tiniest details. " (Churchill).
For me, this quote is a perfect illustration of our hobby. It is thus important to consider the place of fishing (i.e. to know the behaviour of the carps in their environment) and the weather to set up the best strategy. The evening shots do not escape from it. And then, it is impossible to talk about fast fishing without approaching the necessary equipment. Our time is counted, it is thus essential to set up quickly to be quickly in action and to be the most efficient. If you need an hour to set up in two hours, you might as well stay at home! I am thus satisfied with almost nothing: a backpack, a small sheath, the reception mattress and possibly a level chair. This selection will allow me to face many situations and to be easily mobile and reactive.
And then everything is ready in advance: drying, soluble fillets, paste ... No room for improvisation.
The place of the challenge
This challenge will take place on a 10 hectare pond located in a forest environment.
The herd consists of carp of all weights up to about 20 kilos. This body of water presents a crowded bank exposed north and a more openworked bank exposed south. Many obstacles are present (trunks, roots, branches...). Note the presence of very active catfish in the summer. The fishing pressure is average. I haven't been there for some time and to my great surprise, the water level is high despite the lack of rain. Indeed many sources feed this place which saves it for the moment from the ambient drought.
I didn't choose the place by accident. I want to do evening tricks. So I had to approach a place where I knew that the carps would be likely to feed during the day. The upstream preparation, as explained above, starts here: to use its knowledge and its experiences to set up its fishing.
After several hours of observation, I choose a spot in the open water where there are two clusters of trunks entwined in all directions (about 70m away). These two clusters are not distinguishable at the surface whereas they are just below. The bottom is rather muddy but presents some rather interesting sand spots to fish. Note that this area is exposed South. To find all these elements, I used my faithful Deeper Pro+.
What a great tool to prospect from the shore without leaving any lead, markers... With the added benefit of recording the entire history of the survey via the smartphone application and thus obtain an accurate bathymetric map of the spot. This fishfinder is completely suitable for fast fishing. We can actually use one of its fishing rods to propel it and moreover, it saves us a huge amount of time when sounding. All this with zero clutter.
Climatic conditions
We are in a season when the fish start to regularly frequent the upper water layer. I wanted to do my evening tricks during a phase of depression, i.e. during a rather agitated weather (alternating overcast skies, light rain, short clearings, wind ...) with rather stable and mild temperatures. During these phases of disturbance, fish tend to stay on the bottom and are often reactive to our baiting. I was therefore attentive to the weather forecast in order to be able to draw as soon as necessary. The weather forecast announced this type of degradation between May 6th and 10th (weather forecast announced on Friday May 3rd). It was time for me to set up my strategy of priming as of this Friday.
Bootstrapping
As I said earlier, fast fishing is not synonymous with unpreparedness, on the contrary. If we want to make effective evening shots, we must condition the fish to feed during our fishing hours, otherwise what's the point of baiting?
I'll be fishing between 6:30 and 8:30. So I was going to bait on Friday, Saturday and Sunday always around 5:30-8:00 pm. So the fish on zone or close to it should be pushed to feed on the time slot that interests us. On the spot, the fish normally react quite quickly to the baiting. Baiting too early would provoke an activity too upstream. On the other hand, baiting too late would lead to activity too far downstream of the desired times. Here again, there is no exact science. It is a question of choosing according to the place, the weather and our convictions. For my part, the choice was made.
In terms of bait, I will have about one kilo per night of Peach And Mango mixed with Signal (1/4 of Peach and Mango and 3/4 of Signal in 14 mm). The purpose of using small baits is to cover a fairly large area and keep the fish on the spot longer. Also, my choice went on protein boilies because carps need it at this season when the natural food is not at its peak. I disperse little Peach And Mango compared to Signal because I wish to use them in eschage. Indeed they are very visual for a water of this type with the conditions of the moment (cloudy water with weak luminosity) and very instantaneous what is perfect to approach this kind of fishing.
Technique
On the assembly side, I will use two types of leader, both made in Fluorocarbon SHADOW: a classic one to get a snowman and a Spinner Rig to use neutral Pop-Up soaked with Dropper Peach And Mango.
The latter will be used as a mud/sand boundary. The choice of the colour of the Pop-Up will not be made at random but according to the turbidity of the water and the ambient luminosity: orange and white/black. Using SHADOW, by its rigidity, ensures that it will fish, which is important when you have very little time in front of you. The drawbacks of Fluorocarbon, which are its handling and its memory at the knots, can be easily diverted thanks to a trick to be discovered soon in video.
Braid or nylon in line body?
To accompany the assemblies and thus increase the attractiveness and stimulation of the whole, I will agglomerate dough (ADD'IT products) coloured orange for the same reasons as given above and I will use a mini net of Peach And Mango pellets.
This pond presents some severe obstacles and it is essential to stop the fish quickly before they reach it. So braid or nylon? This is a question that many fishermen ask themselves. It all depends on the location, conditions and fish. Let me explain. In my particular case, I had opted for braided to stop them quickly. However the too strong traction was responsible for two stalls from the first evening on mouths a little too soft. I quickly went back to nylon which allowed me to exert enough traction to divert the fish without "tearing" the mouths. It is therefore important to take all this into account in order to adapt as well as possible.
Day 1 - Monday
As on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the weather is subject to disturbances: heavy clouds, wind and light rain are present, sometimes giving way to beautiful clear skies. For once, the weather will be precise. As soon as I arrive, I throw a few balls in the same proportion as for the pre-priming but in much smaller quantities (2/3 handles at most), with recall if necessary. At 6:30 pm, it's fishing. 20 minutes later, I record a first start. I bridle the fish to prevent it from gaining one of the two clusters of branches ... unhooked! 10 minutes later, I start again. Same scenario. 7:30 p.m.: Third start! Ready to exhaust the fish, the other rod starts ! It's madness! Urgency obliges, the two fish will end up in the same net!
On the other hand, I understand why I stalled on the first two starts. One of the two fish, like part of the herd, has a rather tender mouth. The braid will stay in the bag for the rest! 8pm: a mirror of a beautiful length comes to end the evening.
Day 2 - Tuesday
The keystroke rhythm is almost the same as the previous day. I open the ball under a fleeting lightning bolt.
3 fish will follow in a much more chaotic weather.
Day 3 - Wednesday
The number of departures is down. I will still make 2 fish of the correct size.
Day 4 - Thursday
The weather is still choppy even though the clearings are more dominant than the previous days. I'll touch two fish between 7 and 8 pm including an old acquaintance with a rather nice scale.
Challenge validated!
Day 5 - Friday
The disturbed sky of the day gives way to a beautifully clear sky at the end of the evening. But the temperatures remain the same which should not disturb our friends too much. This last evening however smells like the hood... until a jewel comes to close my evening at 8:20 pm ! And as a bonus, it will be the most massive fish of my 5 outings. The descending sun makes it bright.
Conclusion
Organized, upstream thinking fast fisheries can be very effective. I will count 14 departures and catch 12 fish in 5 times 2 hours. That's more than one fish per hour, on a body of water with a medium density of fish! These lightning fishing often considered as a bonus can be much more than that if they are well thought out. Use your head!
