17/08/15
Early mornings are without doubt the best time to fish,
whatever the species. I love night fishing so would normally set up the evening
before and fish through the night so I can be in position for dawn, it’s much
more relaxing than being hauled out of bed by the alarm clock. I haven’t managed to fish a single night this
summer, priorities are elsewhere but I need the escapism of fishing now more
than ever. For the time being I only
have space for short sessions close to home, the most interesting/viable
fishing available would be trying to catch a carp or two from a club water.
The weekend didn’t provide any fishing opportunities but I
did manage to wander round a pit and chat with a mate for a while. Mr D is probably the most experienced Carp
angler I know and I left his company with a few new ideas and a plan to put
into action. The plan was simple, everyone
uses boilies so I will stick to particles and next time I fish the lake I need
to drag my sorry backside out of bed in the morning.
And so a couple of days later I was driving round the lake
at the unearthly time of 0520. Getting
up early is never as bad as I think it’s going to be, and I had a spring in my
step as I headed for my chosen swim. No
looking around this morning, I knew where I was going to set up as fish were
still seeking sanctuary in the weedy bay I’d fished last time. I set up away from the water then quietly
settled into position, both rods were baited with Maize and had a PVA bag of Hemp
attached, one lowered into the right hand margin, the other placed beside a bed
of lilies. My great idea this week was
to keep feeding each spot with a pouch full of particles every now and then. Hopefully any Carp in the weed would follow
the seeds down to my hookbaits.
I sat back in my chair with the first brew of the day, aware
that I should try to be less clumsy than usual as I was fishing close
range. The early morning mist might help
me hide but it wouldn’t stop vibration from heavy footfalls. The bay seemed quiet; it would be sods law if
the fish had moved off! A tell-tale
tremor in the lilies gave the game away; a fish was moving about and not far
from my bait either! It occurred to me
that it had been a while since I’d actually had a take on a rod mounted on a
buzzer, all my fish this season had been on the float. A minute or two later I was alerted by a
sharp tap on the rod fished to the pads.
This had barely registered in my brain before the bobbin slammed and the
spool was spinning. Still sat on my
chair I bent into a fish and immediately piled pressure on to keep it out of
the pads. This worked and I had a fish
of some kind under control, it didn’t feel big and I wondered if irony had
struck and left me with a Tench. I kept
the pressure on and within a minute had dragged a nice double figure Common
into the net. The protracted fights on
the float rod are all well and good but personally I prefer to get ‘em in
quick! A wren scampered up the nearby
tree as I laid out the unhooking mat. I
decided on a quick self-take photo which was a bit tricky but I soon had it
done and the fish back in the lake.
My quiet swim was well and truly disturbed and I had to
reposition both baits by which time the rising sun had burnt off the mist
leaving a lovely sunny morning. Surely
there were more Carp in the bay queueing up to eat my bait? I relaxed in my chair enjoying the
Kingfisher’s successful fishing trip, these things are always too quick for my
camera, as was the Weasel that briefly poked its head around a tree in my line
of vision. All very nice but for two
hours I hadn’t seen any more signs of a Carp in the bay despite a brisk North
Westerly blowing into the bay. Then
around 0825 the lilies quivered again and I started to feel expectant once more. However I was on a deadline and nothing else
occurred before this ran out an hour later.
I was pleased though, for once a little planning had paid off and I
really should get my carcass out of bed early more often!
The self take was a bit tricky
21/08/15
Another early morning start saw me back at the lake around
0520. I didn’t need a look around today,
I felt certain there would be fish in the bay so made my way straight there and
set up quietly. Within a few minutes I
had two PVA bag rigs in position and was sitting back with a brew to scan the
water.
It was a cloudy, humid morning. What little wind there was rippled the far
side and I began to wonder if I’d made the classic mistake of just dropping
into a favoured swim as the bay appeared deathly quiet. I’d hurried into the swim as I only had a
couple of hours fishing time. I started
to look further down the lake, considering my options for a move but no wait;
there was a subtle quiver amongst the lilies.
As time went by I spotted more subtle signs around the bay and as more
time passed the signs became less subtle, there were definitely Carp in the
bay. The lilies in particular were
rocking and surely it was only a matter of time now? The line twitched… Just a liner?
A Carp rolled amongst the trees near the other rod and I
began to get a few liners on that one too.
Then it went, a twitchy take not a ripper I picked the rod up feeling
slight pressure and wound in a twig??
What the hell had happened there then?
It didn’t waste time wondering just got the rig back quickly, was there
still a chance? Surely the rod by the
pads? When Carp fishing I like to put a
rig out and just leave it, thinking a recast would cause more disturbance and
spook the fish. Surely my PVA bag rigs
couldn’t have tangled?
Time ran out and I had to pack up, with all the activity I
was baffled as to why I hadn’t caught. I
retrieved the rod to the pads to find a load of silty muck masking the hook and
covering the bait. Maybe the liner wasn’t
a liner? This was an example of leaving
the rig in place may have cost me the chance of a fish and thinking about it
this isn’t the first time this has happened to me on this particular
water. Another lesson learnt the hard way.
Another window of opportunity materialised and I allowed myself to make plans for another visit to the bay. The lessons from the two previous sessions gave me optimism, I’d caught a fish on the first occasion and had a good idea why I’d failed on the second. The bay gets overlooked by most anglers so if the fish were still present I felt I had a good chance of catching. I had time for a quick circuit of the water on a very hot day. Unfortunately there were several anglers about including one close to the bay and no sign of a Carp anywhere. My plan remained unchanged, if I could I’d be fishing the bay.
I had a restless night with little sleep but still managed
to over sleep by twenty minutes. I’m not
even sure if the alarm went off? I was
soon up and after filling a flask I was off to the lake. I walked round the bay as quietly as
possible, there was an angler bivvied up in the bay but judging by the angle of
his rods there was a lot of weedy water between him and the spot I wanted to
fish. I settled into my swim quietly and
set up two PVA bag rigs. Both had fake
corn on the hair but on one I used a Tiger nut and cast to the pads; the other
had a piece of Maize and was dropped under the tree. The bag mix has undergone a bit of a tweak, a
couple of other ingredients added but more about that another time. Two pouches of mixed seeds were pulted over
each one and I was fishing. Now were
there any fish in the bay?
It had been a warm, humid night and as the morning haze
cleared it revealed a clear sky with a few small clouds moving quickly on the
fresh south easterly wind. My shady
corner was sheltered and calm so any fishy movements would be easy to detect,
unfortunately I wasn’t seeing any. There
was a family of swans and a clutch of annoying ducks but nothing at all
carpy. Bubbles a plenty broke the
surface, particularly around my margin rod but they could be caused by
anything. The cloud thickened and
dropped a little light rain on me; the forecast hadn’t prepared me for this but
thankfully it didn’t last long. After
three quarters of an hour an alarm sang out but it wasn’t mine, the angler on
the edge of the bay was into a fish which he soon netted and returned. There were Carp in the bay, even if I
couldn’t see them.
As if to underline this I had a single beep on the nut cast
to the pads; followed a few seconds later by the lilies thumping and bumping as
a good sized fish moved among them. I
hardly had time to think before the nearest rod ripped off and the old rod took
on a good bend. I didn’t realise my clutch
was set but it was just as well it was, whatever I was attached to took a bit
of line but I couldn’t give it much, I had to keep it out of the weed. This I managed to do and it was soon under
control and plodding around in the clear water in front of me. It wasn’t long before I saw large scales on
the flank of a Common enclosed in the mesh.
This was obviously a bit bigger than I expected so I left it in the net
while I sorted the scales and camera.
With everything ready I lifted a large, almost mint conditioned Carp
onto the mat, I don’t go all dewy eyed over Carp like some real carpers do but
this one was a belter. The first clear
look revealed it was a lot bigger than I’d imagined but even so the weight on
the scales was still a pleasant surprise!
After a quick photo I slipped it back and tried to get a
bait back out there but the fish had shifted a lot of weed and it was difficult
to get the rig into the same position. I
had high hopes of another fish and sat well into the morning but there were no
further signs of Carp in the bay. I
should probably have moved but it was pleasant just sitting, enjoying a warm
morning and letting the waterside soothe my soul. It’s been interesting trying to catch these
Carp and having landed a nice fish with limited time, after learning a few
lessons and tweaking things a bit has given me a buzz.
Belter
