It’s a similar story on the main body of the lake too and in all three sections there are quite a few tench, brown goldfish, some silvers and a few big eels to 8 lb. In summer pole, waggler and groundbait feeder all catch well and my advice is to try the float fishing tactics in the near side margins and open water areas and the feeder cast to the distant island or far bank margins.

Pellets are the main feed and hook bait in the warmer months, I like to soak the pellets to soften them for feeding and ensure they all sink. On the hook a soft hookable pellet is ideal either mounted directly onto the hook for float fishing or hair-rigged for the feeder work.

Don’t fish too light at Bolingey because you will get smashed up. For pole work 0.17 mm diameter rig line to a 0.15 mm diameter trace is light enough. Likewise rods and poles need to be able to cope with big carp - Bolingey is not a venue to arrive at undergunned!	Use a strong hook too and I find that size 14 or 16 is good for pellet, meat or corn hook baits. You need a strong powerful elastic too something like a grade 14 or above. For the waggler and feeder a reel line of at least 5 lb and preferably 7 lb is advisable.	News Reel bagged carp to nudging doubles with the waggler shallow proving best for the bigger fish. Give the lake a go with the methods and baits we have outlined and you too can capture the magic of Bolingey.

Now you can catch the carp very well by fishing the pole or waggler ‘up in the water’ that is well off the bottom and to make the most of this style loose feed 10-12 pellets each and every cast, at least once a minute as this will encourage cruising fish to look for the feed. Be prepared to lift and drop the baited pole rig two or three times a minute, or to cast the waggler at least once a minute to present the bait in a way that emulates the falling loose feed.

If the carp won’t feed off the bottom, and also when fishing in the margins plumb up and present a hook bait just touching the bottom. Feeding the swim to catch the bottom feeders is best done by introducing larger amounts of pellets say 40-50 at longer intervals using a large pole cup and top up when your bites stop. For feeder work plug the feeder with a nice fishmeal type feed or small soaked pellets that can be squeezed together. Try and be accurate with your casting so that the rigs land fairly tight to the island or feature.

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