Respected big fish angler Alex West has sent us an account of a productive year on the notoriously tricky venue Sutton No. 2 lake in which he tempted some of the lakes most sought after residents. Alex pays special attention to water craft and presentation and this article reflects some very accomplished angling. Well done Alex!
Cemex Angling’s – Sutton at Hone lake 2: syndicate needs little introduction to those in the know, due to many anglers writing of the historical English home grown carp it holds. Their reputation for being scaley stunners is almost second to none. The lake itself is a 4.5 acre gravel pit with many gravel, silty and snaggy features. It has depths from a few feet in the margins up to about 10 in other areas with an average depth of 6-7 feet.
In the last few seasons this previously days only venue has opened for night fishing for 48hrs on and 48hrs off from November to March 30th. It holds approximately 60 – 70 original carp plus around 10 or so stockies which have a reputation for being tricky to tempt. Sutton can be busy one day and void of anglers the next so this being as varied as the weather adds to the challenge.
My affinity for the pond and its inhabitants started way back in 2003 before I started fishing Yateley and in the autumn of 2004 I managed a 34lb common during a wet and windy evening session in the gate swim on a new moon. Before and up until this time I had read and gazed in awe at pictures of beautifully proportioned scaley mirrors and commons.
With hindsight I lacked the drive in more ways than one to get under the skin of the lake and the jewels it held. Since then until 2009 with experience gained from other venues the draw to return to Sutton was too strong to resist.
In 2010 I reacquainted myself with the place so with only one ticket for Sutton and the fish not getting any younger it was now or never. My plan was fish for bites where numbers of fish were found and generally doing things different to the norm hopefully learning as much about the fish and the lakes features as possible. Using the limited time of 1 – 2 days per week as best I could and capitalize on any going areas and methods I came across.
The tackle choice was simple my trusted set of 12ft 3lb tc ESP sniper rods to have the power and steer the hard fighting carp away from an abundance of snags present, the faithful ‘original’ lead core and the fantastically reliable Long-Shanx hooks due to their excellent anti eject properties have a proven track record on Sutton. I think this is due to the carp being particularly riggy and ‘spotty’. What I mean is during previous fishing over there I remembered them being able to eject the rig whatever the lead setup and doing me and other anglers regularly.
For example: when the rig and baiting wasn’t quite right for a given situation. To stack the odds in my favour I tried to be extra careful in hook choice and rig/free offering positioning often to the inch! Taking my time to be as careful as possible with minimum disturbance keeping everything pinned down tight to the lake bed. My reasoning on this one is that due to the coloured nature of the lake the carp would have been forced to adapt by using there sense of feel to suss angler’s rigs rather than their eyesight which would be impeded because of the reduced vision clarity.
Bait choice was also a simple one from the mainline stable some of which had already been established over the last season too in 14 and 18mm sizes. That’s said during certain times of the year the carp get right on the naturals so alternative baits had to be experimented with to search out a bite. In fact the first fish I caught from there in 2010 was in July on a hemp rig which took me 6 blank days to perfect. During which time I had a couple of chances which the carp dispatched in typical Sutton fashion and ‘spat out’!
I was happy with the lead set up which was matched accordingly to fishing gravel in the edge or silt out in the pond. The carp in Sutton would often move around/hold up in areas according to weather conditions, angler pressure and the sun. Sometimes I would need to follow the fish especially if the lake got busy. However when the angling pressure was medium i.e. four or so on, the weather would determine where they would be. An edge I found in these circumstances was to get in the swim early as the conditions unfolded and build up the confidence of the fish present with little and often baiting with no lines in the water.
A very famous angler once wrote about feeding first and then casting in second when you can’t see the spot or fish; this can be effective in masking the entry of a lead. When fishing the edge where u can see if fish are present placing the hook bait first when the fish are out of the way and then inch perfect feeding seems to increase the chance of a bite on the carps return. Fishing Sutton with more of a trap setting mentality similar to one previously adopted on the car park lake has so far proved effective in terms of fish per rod hours. Though I’m sure a large slice of lady luck has played her part too.
The majority of Sutton fish I have landed came from two main areas I have concentrated on at the mouth of two of the main bays. By using the fish holding features in these areas as interception points as carp move through or lay up the accumulation of fish creates competition for food and increases the chance of a bite. However there has been more than one occasion where an opportune situation as arisen due to a change in fish movement, weather conditions or angling trends/pressure. Using previous experiences on the venue has lead to the right method used at the right time. One such instance sticks out in my head more than any other.
In late March there was a sudden rise in temperature after a cold spell of weather. After a few early captures including the biggest fish in the lake things seemed to switch off until the sun came out during a couple of days very high pressure. During a session along the bank which receives most of the spring sun a few carp started bobbing up near the surface clearly making the most of the warm day light rays. I picked a swim where I had seen some good fish moving up and down and ended up using a washing line trick to position a bait and small trap of boilies, chops and hemp on the nearest fishable shallow shelf. This spot also had the added bonus of being close to a swim which had been closed for the whole season. With very little line in the water and different line angle the chance of a bite could be increased.
The marginal shelf here was ideal in its depth i.e. where the cold blooded fish wanted to be because the sun was warming the upper layer more than the lower layer further down the shelf. In this instance a thermo cline separated the warm top layer and cold lower layer. Id fished the 1st night and baited the spot. The next morning I positioned a bait and at around 1:30pm at the hottest part of the day I had a take from this spot which turned out to be a really special carp called the ‘Brown’ which hadn’t been caught in over three years and at 36lb+ capped off an amazing first proper season on Sutton. I’m sure you’ll agree from the picture she really does live up to the lakes reputation, notorious for producing some stunning old carp.
Good luck
Alex west