Parco Del Brenta 2022

Following the success I had in 2021 at Parco Del Brenta in Italy, when the opportunity came up to fish the lake again I jumped at the chance.

This time I had 2 weeks at the amazing venue, and was armed with the knowledge from the previous trip to hopefully help me bank some of the mega carp that swim around in the lake.

Arrival:

Upon arrival at the lake I was faced with scorching temperatures at around 40 degrees. From the offset, it was apparent that this was likely to affect the week's fishing. Having spoken to the group before us they had told us that the fishing wasn't its usual self, and they believed this to be down to the reduced water levels due to the lake having been drained into local farmers fields due to the drought they were experiencing out there.

Choosing a swim:

When it came to choosing a swim, I came out midway in the draw and decided to go for Swim 1, which gave me access to the main body of water and also the road that ran through the middle of the lake. My planned approach for this session was to fish for a bite to start off with and to then see how the fish reacted to bait. I therefore settled with 3 separate spots at different distances to scope out where the fish were willing to feed. I put around 5 small spombs over each rod to start off with, with the plan to top this up every so often with a couple of spombs to avoid overbaiting, but to keep introducing the bait regularly. 

Starting off:

The first couple of days and nights passed with no joy, and it was until the 2nd night that I eventually got off the mark with a 30lb and then followed by a 49lb Mirror in the early hours of the morning. I was chuffed with this, and was hoping that this was the turning point for the session. 

The rest of the night and following day was very quiet, to my amazement and another plan was on the cards. However, in the afternoon I was told that the anglers in Swim 7 were leaving and there was to be a draw for people to move in there if they wanted too. Despite catching in Swim 1, I preferred my chances at that end of the lake based on more fish showing down there and also on the back of the 2 guys having a few fish between them. 

Moving swim:

I couldn't believe my luck when we drew 1st out the hat for the swim and this meant the gruelling task of getting everything packed away and moved in the 40 degree heat. I couldn't help, but question whether we were making the right decision, but sometimes in fishing you've got to try stuff to find out. 

Having moved into Swim 7, I went about getting the rods out before it got dark. With one of the rods positioned against the Reed margin up the left hand side of the swim and then 2 rods fished closed together on a gravel patch. I went for a similar baiting approach putting 5 spombs over each rod.

The rest of the week, went okay despite the pretty awful fishing conditions and I managed to land 18 more carp, meaning I ended the week on 20 carp including:

• 1 x 50 (51.8M)
• 1 x 40
• 12 x 30's
• 3 x 20's
• 3 doubles

2nd Draw: 

The 2nd week went very similar to the first with very hot temperatures and the fish not being overly interested in feeding. I came out towards the end of the draw for the second week and opted to fish Swim 4.

Finishing the session: 

I managed 7 carp the 2nd week, including a 46lb Common on the penultimate day. This was a PB Common for me and I was chuffed with this and it made my week.

Overall, I was made up with the result and went home absolutely shattered after what was a gruelling couple of weeks on the bank in the heat. But, another successful session at that, again testament to the power of using a bait that you can trust and know will catch you fish even when the going gets tough !!