In part one of the Alternative Approach I introduced you to a complex of waters in the Weald of Kent known as Cackle Hill Lakes. Now in Part Two I will endeavor to explain my choice of tackle and bait along with the reasoning behind the methods that I will be adopting and that I will use to start my Cackle campaign.

I guess that the reader will now be expecting to read the following.

My carp tackle consists of a set of three 3.25lb test curve rods which are then matched to three big pit style reels, a marker and matching spod would then complete this almost industry standard carp kit.

 The overnight accommodation would have to be a pram hood style bivvy that weighs a ton and this also becomes the storage area for the numerous bags boxes and buckets that are often loaded onto the carp barrow. This is then ferried to the swim, which is chosen due to being big enough to erect the bivvy and extended winter wrap in rather than for its fish catching potential!

Well unfortunately I am not a modern media driven or, a well known tackle consultant, and as such I only ever change and invest in new items of tackle if I actually feel that they generally will improve my fishing.
 
My main overnight shelter is a very old Hog brolly system and my extreme winter wrap comes in the shape of a spool of silver duck tape!
Bite alarms come in the shape of the Korum Kb1 which are mounted on single banksticks. A lightweight bedchair with short legs allows my chair to be pushed back into the brolly and away from the elements.

My cooker, wet weather gear, pva all fit into a small carryall. All my hooklengths, scissors and split shot fit into an old PVA container and all my baiting needles, beads, swivels etc fit in a very small and ancient grey Stewart Box!

For fishing on the match and mixed lakes I will use my 2lb Precisions test curve, through action rods with a pair of Gold spools loaded with 15lb Bullet line, the reason for this is that the island on the match lake is a fair cast and in my experience the Bullet line casts well and the tapered spool technology helps the 2lb test curve when casting to this feature. The use of a heavy main line is because the use of leaders on the Cackle complex is restricted but I will cover this later.

The Specimen Lake now requires that a rod with a minimum test curve of 2.75lb is used so my old AKN’s will be used and are still paired with my trusty SS3000’s that are loaded with 18lb line. The heavy line sinks well which is a major plus as the fishing on the Specimen Lake is all short range, but the reeds and snags in the lake must be considered and respected, so the thick diameter of the heavier line will provide good abrasive protection which when matched to the AKN’s unique tapers that combine a powerful backbone with a through action will allow me to apply maximum pressure through the length of the blank when playing a hooked angry carp in these type of confined surroundings
Terminal tackle is always a very personal area as is bait. Now I use what I have faith in as do other anglers, like my main tackle items I tend to stick with what works.

A 15lb Hydrolink hook length works on all levels and instead of shrink tube I trap the hair to the bend of the hook with a little Thinking Anglers hook bead which again works, simple. The trapping of the hair to the bend of the hook means that the hook flips over every time.

The finished rig features a long hair with a single pop up. Just below the pop up a split shot is placed so that the bait wafts just off the lake bed. When the carp sucks in the light bait the weight and the hook become harder to eject and the split shot pulls the hook point downwards, you guessed it simple.

This is my main presentation and I use this for all my summer and autumn fishing. When winter moves in I sometimes fish my pop ups raised higher up on with a version of the John Mach and chod rig but I will explain this rig when I come to use it.

Earlier in the article I mentioned that the use of leaders at the fishery is restricted. The reason for this is the number of breakages and lost end tackle that the two owners have witnessed over the last few weeks.

The result is that leaders are looking likely to be banned, so my normal TA lead core leaders may have to stay hidden until winter arrives. Until then I will use a length of heavy tubing with an inline lead arrangement.

Now some of the specimen lake bottom is soft clay, and to combat this I use drag back PVA bags. These bags will allow me to pull my lead out of the clay and position my hook bait before the PVA melts.

So now onto bait, a topic that dominates so many carp anglers conversations. Well even after twenty plus years of carp fishing I still prefer to leave this area of my fishing to the professionals.

Due to Cackle Hill being a popular day ticket fishery the lakes see a vast array of different baits on an almost daily basis. Boilies are the number one bait choice for most of the anglers fishing the complex and every angler will fish with their own favourite boilie, so trying to establish a bait in the summer will be a huge task for an individual angler so my tactic is to wait till the weather has turned slightly wetter and colder in the hope that the banks will become quieter.

As already mentioned all my rigs use a pop up boilie and in the summer, I do not try to compete with the variety of baits introduced by the other anglers. Instead I favour a soaked particle, pellet and boliie approach. This method consists of filling a bucket with some prepared “Hemp & Hookbaits” my favourites are the varieties containing the maize, crushed tigers and maple peas. To this mix I add an assortment of halibut pellets and some boilies.

This mixture is then covered with boiling hot water, this helps release oils and attractors from the various particles and pellets. The boilies also swell up and become slightly washed out which gives the impression when introduced that they have been on the lake bed for a couple of days. The pellets breakdown and the whole mixture becomes a nice sludge of sorts. To this I add my liquid attractor’s such as salmon oil baits dips and other liquid food addictives.

This mixture is then introduced into the lake with a large Cobra bait spoon. As soon as the spooned sludge hits the lake you can see the oils and attractors leaking from the mix. As the sludge drops through the water the various components become realeased from the mixture and disperse through the various levels of the lake. Finally the washed out boilies and some of the heavier parts of the mixture come to rest on the lake bottom. The overall effect is a cloud of attraction that goes through the various depths of the lake.

My single pop up is then cast with a PVA bag filled with some crushed boilies and sludge that are taken from the bucket and mixed with a little salmon oil. This method does not melt the PVA bag and means that my pop up settles on the lake bed with an optimum amount of attraction around it.
So there you have it a brief insight into the type of tackle, rigs and bait that will be used to launch my campaign. Part three will cover my first session on the Specimen Lake, will I catch, who knows!