First Trip To Flaxlands For 2026

Well, for the first time in probably six months I actually got the fishing gear out. My usual fishing partner Marko let me down… apparently something to do with work, excuses, excuses… so I had no choice but to go solo! All jokes aside though, it felt great to get back out and especially to get back down to Flaxlands.

With at least five cars already there I wasn’t sure what I’d be left with, and the usual hot pegs soon went. I ended up heading round the back of the big lake and settled into peg 5.

Having not used my match gear for a while, let’s just say I was faced with an organised mess. Note to self, sort the gear before I actually need it next time. It slowed me down a bit but did give me time to watch the water while I got everything sorted.

I started with my bomb rod armed with our new Mini Match Wafters as hookbaits in Almond & Betalin (which smell incredible if I do say so myself) and pinged a few Nut 365 pellets over the top. It didn’t take long to get a bite, probably about ten minutes.

With my first Flaxlands carp of 2026 in the net I could relax a bit and enjoy the day, nobody likes a blank. That said, I knew I had to stay active to keep the bites coming and work out where the fish were holding, so I kept things simple and mobile and worked the swim.

If you know the lake you’ll know the left-hand margin is usually the banker in that peg, but on this occasion it just didn’t produce. I had three fish from there but the majority came from open water.

The key was relocating the bomb every 15 minutes, pinging three small groups of four Nut Pellets each time and moving again if no bites came. If I got a bite, I’d stay on that line and top up with a little more feed.

This approach kept the bites coming all day and really picked up in the afternoon. Once I properly located them the action stayed consistent, and by the end of the session I’d had 32 bites, landing nearly all of them.

Key lesson for me, don’t just rely on the obvious hotspots. Keep working the swim, try different areas even if they don’t look likely, and stay active.

I do have to say I’m really impressed with the new wafters. The band groove in the middle definitely helped keep them secure, and a quick dip in Almond Betalin before each cast seemed to keep the bites coming.
Tight lines