May

With all of life’s priorities there is never enough time for fishing no matter how high up the list it comes.  I just haven’t been able to fit in a full night on the Marsh so I figured the best way to maximise my chances was to fish as many short sessions as I can.  I’ve set up so I can travel light, pick up the gear and go at short notice for quick visits to the lake, mostly evenings but with the odd early morning thrown in too.  I’ve been fishing boilies on both rods and groundbaiting lightly hoping to put my bait in the right place at the right time.  So far my plan to adopt Carp methods so the Tench will drop their guard has failed and I haven’t managed to fool any Carp either.  I don’t think I’m doing too much wrong, I’m confident in the methods and bait, I just haven’t put it in the right place at the right time.  A classic mistake but the truth is the Tench show themselves very rarely and the Carp appear even more infrequently.  Twitching weeds and patches of bubbles occur frequently all over the lake, so frequently they hinder more than help.  It’s been busy for the last couple of weeks too, which narrows down the options but in truth I’m happy fishing the more unpopular areas.  They have all the things the fish like but they’re just too uncomfortable for many anglers.  It’s challenging fishing, just what I like.

Spending time at a beautiful, natural water has been a privilege and watching spring grow ever more green with a growing symphony of birdsong has been a joy.  The weather has been mixed but I can’t remember a colder May.  What I’m beginning to find difficult is sitting behind rods and doing nothing.  I’m making an effort to avoid disturbing the water too much so deliberately not recasting too often.  I’m more used to moving my baits around and searching for the fish so this inactivity doesn’t come easy.  Something has to give and I may well get the float rod out soon.

Homemade rear rod rest, you can get them with Korda stamped on but they cost a tenner.

After a spell of motionless indicators I needed to get a bend in the rod so Isaac and I squeezed in a couple of hours at the easy place.  It was a rare sunny afternoon and a couple of handfuls of floaters got the Carp in piranha mode but were a little shy of the hookbaits to begin with.  Dunking them in a Crafty Catcher dip seemed to do the trick and takes came regularly after that.  It was fun for a while but the Carp were small and there was no sign of any larger fish around.  The fishing lacked challenge and we’d soon caught our fill so hit the road.  Time is short this week too, how should I use it?  Go for the quick fix or get stuck back into the main course?