Mike Willmott - Essential Baits

Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
Mike Willmott
LIFE AND
CARP LIFE
PART THREE
Mike Willmott returns this month with a
continuation of his well received series Life and
Carp Life, where the Park Lake, Springwood, river
fi shing, and The Black Mirror all play their part in
making the journey what it is!
Our Springwood
logbook – very handy.
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here does all the time go? I seem
to be asking this question more
and more with each passing year,
a sure sign of getting old, some
might say, and I couldn’t argue with that! It
does seem, however, that the more you try to
squeeze into your life, the quicker it fl ies by
– it seems we can’t win! The summer of 2004
was a classic example of this, in fact it flew
by so quickly, I never even kept a detailed
account of the few times I fi shed, which
is very unlike me because I’ve got detailed
diaries stretching right back to the early-’70s.
The whole year just passed me by so quickly,
but I did manage to squeeze in a handful of
nights on my own Springwood Pool Fishery,
during which time I banked a new lake record
common, shortly followed by a lake record
mirror at 29lb 4oz and 29lb 8oz respectively,
proof indeed that our Springwood fish were
moving in the right direction. It was surely
only a matter of time before someone banked
Springwood’s first 30!
We keep a syndicate logbook at the fi shery
and one of the rules is that each member
must make an entry into the logbook before
leaving. This is an excellent rule because it
gives arriving anglers up-to-date information
about what’s been caught and what swims
have been fi shed. Fortunately for me, I was
able to use this diary to track down my own
movements that year, which was proof in
itself that I wasn’t fi shing anywhere else,
although I was preparing for a long-range
assault on a very difficult Berkshire water, for
what I believe was the ‘ultimate challenge’, but
more of that later.
W
Lee with a stunning
river mirror from our
favourite venue.
A beautifully
proportioned
river common.
Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
BRIEF RIVER ENCOUNTER
I did, however, manage to find a few days
spare that enabled Lee and me to embark on
our annual pilgrimage to our favourite stretch
of river in Belgium. In last month’s issue you
may have read about Lee’s encounter with
a stunning 40 that he caught on the surface
from this stretch of river, and because of its
unpredictability, coupled with the fact that
most of the fi sh are uncaught specimens,
we’ve fallen in love with the place. I can
honestly say that this type of fi shing appeals
to me more than any other. I would much
rather be on the river catching unknown 20s
and 30s than on a commercial venue fi shing
for huge carp with names.
I’ve always liked a challenge and the river
is certainly that! You have to learn to cope
with so many different facets of angling and
the old grey matter is constantly ticking
over. Some of the fish are just beautiful, and
that’s far more important to me these days
than the size factor, which so many carp
anglers seem to have become so obsessed
with in recent years.
Following a very busy summer, the winter
months were now fast approaching and I was
able to find a little more space from the dayto-day
activities and work pressures involved
with running a bait company, operating
a fishery, dealing with various planning
applications, and spending time with the
family, although it has to be said that as
I’ve got older I no longer have the desire
to fish long hours during the freezing cold
The really cold snaps
would quite often fi nd
me breaking through
the ice to reel in at 4.00
a.m. so that I could
pack up and be at
work for 5.00 a.m.!
and often unproductive months of January
and February. In fact, I often look back to
my younger days as a postman and find it
hard to imagine where on earth I ever found
the endless enthusiasm to fish the countless
number of hours I did during these months.
The really cold snaps would quite often
find me breaking through the ice to reel in
at 4.00 a.m. so that I could pack up and be
at work for 5.00 a.m.! Yes, I’ve endured the
hard times over the years and enjoyed every
moment of them, but I’m not sorry to say
I’ve endured the hard times
over the years, but they catch
up with you eventually!
that those days are long behind me now!
After countless blanks and several close
encounters with hypothermia, you begin to
realise that perhaps fishing isn’t the most
important thing in your life after all. That’s
usually the first sign of an angler reaching
maturity! These days I have a much more
laid-back attitude. Basically, I sit at home
with a big mug of coffee waiting for the
weatherman to tell me when to go! Some
people would call it the lazy approach – I call
it the sensible approach!
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Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
BIG-FISH TIME
However, it doesn’t take a genius to work
out the type of weather patterns you need
to be looking for during these months, and
on January 10th 2005, the weatherman
promised dropping air pressure coupled with
mild air from the south and temperatures
reaching double fi gures. A moderate to strong
southerly wind was due to be gusting in at
30mph and if all that wasn’t enough, the new
weather pattern coincided with a new moon
– time to get the rods out!
I was still flirting, albeit very sporadically,
with the Swindon Park Lake, and on this
occasion I’d arranged to meet Frank Warwick
down there for a look around. Frank was
Welcome to hell! The
infamous old concrete
diving board, one of the
fi rst sights that greeted
you on arrival at the
notorious Park Lake.
interested in fishing the Park during the
coming year and was keen to see the place
and have a chat with me about it first. To be
honest, I wasn’t too sure it would be his cup
of tea because it can be a bit of a rat race on
there at times, but that was for him to decide,
not me.
Having said that, despite the favourable
conditions the Park was fairly quiet, although
most anglers would find it hard to associate
the word ‘quiet’ with the Park Lake! I arrived
during the small hours, in fact it was 1.30
a.m. to be precise. This is my favourite time to
arrive at most venues and I very rarely arrive
anywhere during daylight hours these days.
Most anglers are usually tucked up in their
bags at this time, and with the lake being
much quieter, it can be a good time to hear
a fi sh or two bosh out and give their game
away. You can also be on your toes at first
light and in ‘pole position’ should a fi sh show
its whereabouts. I’ve almost frightened the
life out of some anglers in the past by stalking
the banks at these times, so please accept my
apologies, both belatedly and in advance!
On this occasion however, I couldn’t
believe no one was fishing and I began to
wonder if the weatherman had got it all
wrong; after all, it wouldn’t be for the first
time would it? I don’t know how many of
you read my article in last month’s issue, but
those who did may recall that I visited the
lake the previous February (after not having
fished it for six months) and managed to
bank a cracking 38lb mirror. Well, on this
occasion there were lots of similarities, not
least the fact that just like then I hadn’t
fished the park for six months, and I was
hoping that a little bit of history might just
be about to repeat itself !
On the bigger, deeper
pits, the only time I tend
to fi sh on the end of
the wind in the winter is
when it’s either a mild
wind or a new wind
24
By first light I hadn’t heard or seen any
signs of fi sh. The wind was now blowing a
moderate southwesterly and temperatures
were into double fi gures, which is about the
most you can expect in the middle of January.
Eventually, I decided to set up in a swim
known as The Rats (as was the case last year),
which was situated at the infamous ‘concrete
bowl’ end of the lake into which the wind was
blowing. On the bigger, deeper pits, the only
time I tend to fi sh on the end of the wind in
the winter is when it’s either a mild wind or a
new wind. Once it becomes stale, I prefer to
move further back from it, and if it’s a cold
wind, I prefer to fi sh on the back of it where
the water temperatures are generally more
stable. Shallower pits or small lakes will often
call for a different approach, but this was a
big, open pit with depths of over 12ft.
I positioned all three rods out into the
deeper silty areas of the lake at ranges of
between 60 and 80yds, with depths averaging
about 11ft. I stayed away from the pop-ups on
this occasion in favour of B5 balanced bottom
bait presentations (wafters) with a layer of B5
paste around each hookbait. Conditions were
good and I wanted to fi sh over a bit of bait to
pull the carp down and get them searching,
but didn’t want to risk overfeeding ’em at this
time of year. I therefore scattered about 30
x 16mm B5 freebies over each rig, not too
tight, and well spaced out, to hopefully keep
the fi sh on the move.
Nothing occurred during daylight hours
but I decided to keep the baited rigs in
position for the night ahead, but cleaned off
the lines by tightening up to the lead and
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Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
Last February’s 38.
Was history about
to repeat itself?
tapping the rods vigorously. This vibrates
all the way down the line and dislodges the
build-up of tiny particles that gather on the
line, often making it look like thick rope!
The paste wrap I mentioned earlier not
only provides a greater release of attraction,
but gives the hookbait (boilie) a good few
hours of extra protection before the water
pressure starts to take its toll and softens
it up. Mind you, the smaller nuisance fish
are much less active at this time of year, so
I’ve usually got no qualms about leaving the
baits out for longer periods of time if I feel
it’s needed. I’ve usually got a tub of hard
hookbaits close at hand as an alternative
option should the need arise.
At 11.00 p.m. I had a single bleep on
the right-hand rod that needed further
investigation. It was raining hard and the
wind had increased to almost gale force by
now. Initially, I thought drifting debris may
have been the culprit, however, after closer
inspection it was clear to see my Dymag
indicator head was bouncing up and down
against the underside of the rod! At that very
same moment the line was wrenched from
The mild southwesterly
pushed itself down the
length of the lake.
the clip and the Delkim shrieked out into the
night sky. I lifted the rod and ‘cupped’ the
spool to help set the hook, and what felt like
a very big fi sh powered off in the opposite
direction. There was little I could do about
it other than to give it more line. Eventually,
I gained a little control and managed to stop
the fi sh and get it slowly moving towards
me, albeit very reluctantly. In typical big-fi sh
fashion, it plodded back and forth but, try as
I might, I just couldn’t lift it off the bottom
and into the upper layers.
I was convinced that I’d hooked a very big
fish and felt absolutely gutted when everything
went solid, which was unusual in this area
because I wasn’t aware of any underwater
obstructions. The fish had obviously found a
snag that must have blown down during the
winter gales and it was locked up solid. I gave a
few shouts to Terry Hancock, who was fishing
the swim next door, but due to the high winds
and driving rain it soon became obvious that
he couldn’t hear me.
To be honest, there was nothing he could
do anyway, but I must admit, it was going
through my mind to get my small inflatable
boat and life jacket out of the van, which,
in hindsight, would have been completely
suicidal in such conditions! It’s quite
frightening what goes through a carp angler’s
mind when big fi sh are involved. Often the
word ‘sanity’ doesn’t even fi gure and all
logical thoughts sometimes get thrown out of
the window in our quest and desire to achieve
our goal. I take it you’ve been there before!
25
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Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
Farewell! This chunky
mid-30 turned out to be the
last fi sh I caught from the
challenging Park Lake.
You either love the Park Lake or you hate it,
and for most anglers it’s the latter!
Due to the diffi cult circumstances involved
in catching the great fi sh, it represents the
ultimate challenge in carp fi shing. Most
of you will know by now that the fi sh in
question was The Black Mirror, a carp that
had graced the bank on just 12 previous
occasions, and one which is regarded by many
as being the most iconic carp of all time.
In truth, I should have fi shed the Mere
many years ago when I first set foot on the
venue, but alas, something always stood in the
way. It was now or never, but the 320-mile
round trip, coupled with an extremely busy
lifestyle and limited time availability, meant
it was always going to be a difficult task. Over
the next three years or so this ‘obsession’
was about to put an enormous strain on
my personal life, however, I was absolutely
determined to see it through to the end and
nothing was going to stand in my way.
Out of respect for the fi sh, the
environment, and those still pursuing their
dream on this venue, this series of articles is
neither the time nor the place to discuss my
personal campaign on this particular water,
other than a few brief ‘background mentions’.
It was, however, the most entertaining and
memorable chapter in my carp life so far and
I hope one of these days, when the time is
right, I can share those moments with you.
26
Fortunately, just as I was giving the boat
rescue operation some serious consideration,
the fi sh broke free from the snag and powered
off again. I couldn’t believe my luck – what a
relief. A further 10 minutes passed by before
I slowly felt I was winning the long battle
– then all of a sudden, for no apparent reason,
it all fell slack! I just couldn’t believe it. On
retrieving the rig, I found that the braided
hooklink had parted about 2ins from the
hook. Presumably the damage must have
occurred on the snag and it was only a matter
of time before it parted. I was gutted. History
so nearly repeated itself and I knew for a fact
it was a very big fi sh.
Soaked, cold, and tired, I retreated to
the warmth of my bag, but you know what
it’s like when you’ve just lost a very big fi sh,
especially in the middle of winter – the words
‘if only’ repeatedly go around in your head
and you constantly beat yourself up over it.
You give everything you’ve got to get that one
bite, hoping it’s the one that turns your whole
season around. Yes, this was definitely one
of those moments and it hurt like hell, but
experience eventually helps you get over it.
In such circumstances I always remind myself
that if it wasn’t for our failures, we wouldn’t
enjoy our successes. It’s an occupational
hazard that goes hand in hand with fi shing for
big carp. We’ve all been there at one time or
another and I’m sure we’ll all go there again!
Frank turned up the following morning
with his mate Charlie. We had a natter and
a brew before they decided to fi sh opposite
me for the day, but I don’t think they were
particularly impressed with the place and they
soon decided to abandon their Park plans
and head to a different venue in Oxfordshire.
Mind you, I couldn’t blame them, you either
love the Park Lake or you hate it, and for
most anglers it’s the latter!
Incidentally, that lost fish was the only
slice of action for several weeks at the Park,
which made it even harder to bear. The cold
weather soon returned with a vengeance,
which put paid to any further action before
the season ended.
Over the next several months I was just
using the Swindon Park Lake as a ‘stop off ’
venue because it was conveniently situated
about halfway between my house and another
venue I was targeting. During this time I
managed to catch a few more Park fi sh before
finally calling it a day, but the place will
always be a fond memory in my carp life.
THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
I was now becoming increasingly drawn to
another venue, one I’d been contemplating
for a number of years in search of a very
big mirror, which, in my opinion, is the
absolute pinnacle of everything that swims
– the perfect carp in every sense of the word.
Things were coming along
nicely at Springwood.
SPRINGWOOD’S FIRST 30
After having some early success on the Mere
I had to pull off during the autumn months
because things had got very busy back at
Essential HQ. Apart from establishing our
own fi shery/fi sh farm, Essential Baits was
growing signifi cantly and I could no longer
disappear into the wilderness and leave
everyone else to run the business!
Lee was now employed as our full-time bait
production manager, whilst daughter Kelly
was also drafted in to help with the day-to-day
running of the bait enterprise, alongside Deb
and Kim. It’s a hectic life for sure, and I was
averaging 15-hour working days (and still am)
during the busy months, but in all honesty it’s a
labour of love and I wouldn’t trade places with
anyone. Let’s be fair, I get to talk several hours
a day to customers/friends who share the same
passion, not to mention all the good friends I’ve
made from within the industry spanning the 25
years Essential Baits has been trading.
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Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
AD
PAGE
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Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
As for my Springwood fishery, everything was
beginning to develop nicely. The stock ponds
were maturing, the weeds were under control,
our small stockies were growing rapidly, and
planning permission for a mobile home was
finally granted. All the fish in the main lake were
now showing very good signs of growth and in
October of that year (2005) I managed to bank
a fish known as Harvey at a weight of 30lb 5oz,
a particularly historic capture because it was
Springwood’s first-ever 30!
This was not only a personal milestone for
me in terms of all the sacrifi ces I’ve made in
my life to create the fi shery, but for my family
and friends, including all the syndicate lads
who have put in a tremendous amount of
hard work over the years. When we purchased
the lake in 1999, the biggest carp was no more
than an upper-double, and here we were, just
six years later with our first 30. I don’t think
words could ever describe how satisfying that
was! I was now even more convinced than
ever that we were on the verge of something
very special. We had some stunning carp
coming through, the scenery was improving
with each passing year, and the future looks
very bright indeed.
LATE AUTUMN BREAKS
Following the capture of the Springwood
30 I got a call from Ian Welch, head of
RMC Angling, inviting Lee and me to
fi sh at Yateley Pads Lake, which was a nice
welcome break. We’ve fi shed The Pads on
a few occasions now and I would highly
recommend this venue to anyone wanting
Springwood’s fi rst 30
– another ambition achieved.
to book an exclusive group booking venue.
The trip proved to be a fruitful one and we
managed to bank a few
20s and couple of
low-30s, most of the
fi sh falling to the
edge of the dying
pads at close quarters
over a combination of
red maggots, casters,
and chopped B5
boilies, a combination
that has always
proved deadly at that
time of the year.
After returning from
the Pads Lake, Phil
Roots kindly invited
us both to fish at his
Rootswood Fishery in
Revenge at Rootswood!
Lee with his 41.06
mirror in the fi rst hour!
France, due to the previous disaster we had on
the place! Those of you who have followed this
series may remember Part One and our last trip
to Rootswood in the middle of February where
the lake froze up on our first night, resulting in
us having to smash the ice to retrieve our rigs
and return to the UK the following day! We
were now out for revenge!!
Well, the revenge mission didn’t take long,
in fact just one hour to be precise! This is
how long it took Lee to bank a new PB in the
shape of a cracking mirror of 41lb 6oz. What
a start! Later that evening it was my turn as I
managed to bank what is probably the longest
carp I’ve ever seen, it had no depth to it at all,
but the long, mean-looking leather still pulled
the scales around to 45lb 6oz and was well
over 3ft long! The following night I managed
to bank a nice brace of 40s within an hour of
each other, weighing in at 43lb 2oz and 43lb
5oz. It was certainly payback time from when
the lake iced up on us two years earlier!
I’ve got to be honest, commercial venues
are not usually my cup of tea and I would
normally prefer to be pioneering new territory,
or fishing a remote stretch of river for smaller
carp, but, having said that, Rootswood is one
of the better commercial venues I’ve fished
and I would recommend it to anyone.
Following all the travelling back and forth
to the Mere, coupled with my late-autumn
trips to the Pads and Rootswood, I was ready
to hang up the rods for a month or two and
knuckle down to some important product
development work. The late-winter months
through until early-summer are, without
doubt, the busiest times of the year for my
role within the bait business because I’m
usually putting together all the finishing
touches to packaging designs and working
on advertising for the trade year ahead. This
can be very frustrating when you know the
conditions are spot on, but
I always try to get my priorities in order,
and besides, the fish will always be there
– hopefully!
28
The revenge mission didn’t take long, in fact
just one hour to be precise! This is how long it
took Lee to bank a new PB in the shape of a
cracking mirror of 41lb 6oz
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PARTY TIME!
It’s always a welcome relief when I can break
up the workload with a social event, though,
and in December I got an invite from Pete
Springate to attend his and Dougal Gray’s
joint 60th birthday party at the Fisheries pub
in the Colne Valley, which was organised
by all-round good egg, Les Bamford, and
what a night it was!
Apart from celebrating
the night with Pete
and Dougal, I was
able to catch up with
some old mates who I
hadn’t seen for a few
years, people like John
Carver, Chris Haswell,
and Bob Baker, among
others. Many old-school faces from far and
wide had gathered to celebrate the occasion
and it was pleasing to see so many stalwart
names within carp fishing history, such as
Bob Morris, Robin Monday, Vic Cranston,
Kenny Hodder, Steve Edwards, and Albert
Romp, and others. During the night we
presented Pete and Dougal with a ‘birthday
copy’ of my book, Carp Life, which was
signed by everyone present. So, Pete
or Dougal, if you’re reading this,
guard those books with your
life – they will be worth a
Everything was going
well, until all of a sudden
the landlord came
running out of the pub
hurling abuse at us
fortune one day!!
I can remember sleeping in my van in the
car park that night, as did Pete Springate,
Kenny Hodder, and Dave Gawthorn in their
respective vehicles. However, before retiring
to the warmth of our bags, we decided to
have a late drink, and without giving it too
much thought, I decided to light up one
of those wax logs to
keep us warm.
Everything
was going well,
until all of a sudden
the landlord came
running out of the
pub hurling abuse at
us, with Les Bamford
and Dougal Gray in
close pursuit because they thought we were
setting fire to the outside tables and chairs!
Now I can put up with most things
in life, but getting on the wrong side of
Dougal isn’t one of them! Fortunately, the
situation was soon resolved and the fire was
extinguished before anyone got hurt! (me!).
Coincidentally, this was the very same night
of that big oil refinery explosion in Hemel
Hempstead a few years ago. I don’t
know what time it was but I
was asleep in the van when
I heard this huge explosion
Pete Springate, Dougal
Gray and Chris Haswell.
Old friends that I never get
tired of meeting up with.
Sir Pete offi cially being
knighted by Les Bamford.
that shook the floor and rocked the van.
After the earlier events of the wax log fire
and associated aggro, I came flying out of my
van expecting to see Dave or Kenny’s motor
going up in smoke! Goodness knows what the
landlord must have thought when he heard it!
See you next month. MW
Life and Carp Life Mike Willmott
This tremendously long 45
was one of a hat-trick of 40s
and payback time for the lake
icing up on our previous trip.
29
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