CarpQuest Blog - Rigs, PVA Sticks and a Puppy

CarpQuest Blog – Rigs, PVA Sticks and a Puppy

On a sunny, and surprisingly warm, Sunday morning I ventured out for my second session of the year. My first trip, a week before, had not ended so well. The plastic line-guard on one of my Daiwa reels shattering. I am still waiting on the replacement Daiwa are sending me.

This was to be a real short session. I wanted to test a few rigs and experiment with my usual packbaits to how they worked with PVA stick. I had not previously used PVA and this year I want to get them worked into my rotation to allow a wider option of baits and range in my fishing. It had been almost a year since I last fished Quail Lake. The ice was off now for a few weeks and it would be interesting to see if the venue had changed.

It was also time to take my new puppy Raven with me to see how she does at the bank and being my fishing companion. At 5 months old it would take all of her concentration and patience to sit there calmly as I fished.

Given that this would be but a few short hours on the bank I decided to travel light. I only took my old 8ft ugly stick with a shakespeare reel spooled with 12 lb Berkley Trilene Big Game, a pair of banksticks, a single bite alarm, a weigh sling, backpack full of tackle, weigh scale, folding chair and lots of water for myself and “Raven” to consume. I was set to meet up with a friend who was bringing his landing net and carp mat. It is amazing just how much stuff we drag to the bank even for such a short session!

We arrived at the lake around 10am and met up with James. There were so many people out there fishing already it was like seeing an army of ants crawling across a hill. The majority of anglers were fishing from the shore, their chairs setup, cool boxes nearby and lines flying out with baits attached. A few folk were out upon the water casting fly lines from their belly boats and inflatables. It took us a while walking but we finally reached one of our usual spots that was free from other anglers.

James fished an area just out from an inlet pipe. I fished directly out into the middle of the lake, prehaps 75 yards off the shore. The next few hours were occupied with numerous false takes and short runs; the likely culprit, trout. I experimented with using a bait glug/dip and got some practice in with making PVA sticks. I learned quickly that PVA mesh and sweet corn, right out of the can, just do not mix – the PVA stick quickly dissolving between my fingers to demonstrate the error of my ways!

Having forgotten to bring a hanger I constructed one from a broken stick. It worked surprisingly well and was adept and indicating the focus the corn based baits were getting.

Just before our session came to an end a passerby informed us that Quail Lake was so busy as it had just been sticked with a few thousand trout for the put & take crowd. One thing I know all too well is that trout really enjoy corn and will voraciously peck away at any bait that resembles it.

Raven had done really well for the few hours fishing. She spent most of her time watching warily the nearby anglers and was especially interested in those out on the water fishing with their fly rods. She is an expert at digging holes and soon had one excavated to place sticks and her bone within. For a couple of hours her patience held out and I am actually looking forwards now to taking her with me again for a longer session. As she is so young it is very important at this phase to keeping her socialization with others paramount and introducing her to new environments.

Here is the video I made of today’s session.

Tight Lines,
John