Click

After a couple of settled weeks; mostly dry, hot and sunny weather we had a couple of overnight storms over the last few days. It rained heavily over Saturday night, the barometer dropped to 1004mb, its lowest level for over a month and the forecast for Sunday morning was dry and cloudy with a fresh south westerly wind. I had a chance for a couple of hours fishing in the early hours, before the children got up and the mayhem would commence. With the forecast conditions it seemed too good an opportunity to miss, provided I could drag myself out of bed that is. 

The alarm sounded just before 0500, I swung out of bed and sat there for a few seconds, should I just get back in for five minutes? No, that would be fatal I trudged through to the kitchen & put the kettle on. By 0530 I was at the far end of the lake with the fresh wind blowing into my face. There were a couple of other anglers present but the area I fancied was free and looked good. I cast a PVA bag rig baited with maize alongside the reed bed to my right then set up a boilie on a chod rig, the intention was to wait for signs of fish then cast to them. I didn’t have long to wait, a decent sized fish rolled off the tree line opposite, that would do nicely. First cast landed short but the second was bang on. This was just out of range for baiting up with the catapult but I fired 10 boilies along the trees leading up to it.

All I had to do now was settle back on my chair, make a brew and wait. A couple more fish rolled in the same area while the tea brewed and patches of bubbles regularly broke surface in the open water. There were definitely fish in the area but I’d been here too many times to get carried away. My thoughts were disturbed by a bite alarm, not mine unfortunately but an angler at the far end was into a fish. Judging by the length of the fight I guessed it was a Tench. I had short tugs on both rods but as I don’t go in for the modern trend of ridiculously slack lines I’m sure these were liners.

I’ve sat behind motionless rods here for so long that when my alarm sounded at 0610 it took a moment to realise what was actually happening, a proper take on the chod rig, before panic took over. I found myself holding a well bent rod with a nice weight plodding away on the other end, meanwhile my heart was racing, arms shaking and my legs were jelly and whatever was on the end was determined to reach the snags. The old and unfashionable 2.5tc Tricast took on a proper curve as I stepped backwards and tried to steer the fish into open water. I succeeded and the fish kited across me towards a bed of lilies but there was no way it was getting in there! I soon had it in the margins and I guessed I had a Tench on the end, this was confirmed when a large, dark paddle slapped the surface. It was a Tench and it was a very nice one indeed! After a couple of nervous moments with marginal lilies I dragged it over the cord, get in!

With the fish resting in the net I got the mat, scales and camera ready quickly. I wasn’t at all disappointed not to have a Carp in the net, I’ll never be disappointed with a Tench! On the mat it was clear this one was bigger than I first thought, long and dark with big fins and even with a spawn free empty belly it added a few ounces to my personal best! I have a tradition of very poor photography with Tench which unfortunately continued with this one too. One last look before slipping her back into the mysterious lake, lovely!



I recast and sat back with renewed confidence, there were other fish still rolling, maybe not Carp but there were heavy swirls from fish I’d be happy to catch. There were also clouds of bubbles breaking surface every now and again in the area too. Noise to my right and the Carper over there was into a fish which he lost in the lilies, he didn’t seem to give a shit so I guess that was a Tench too. Time passed quickly, I was startled by a couple more liners and sat on the edge of my chair hoping a fish would pick my bait up. I didn’t happened and by 0900 the bubbling and rolling had stopped, the kids would be up very soon so time to go.

At last I’ve finally managed to bag a fish on one of these short sessions. The conditions today were about as good as I could hope for but critically there were fish feeding where I expected to find them. Was this a one off, a lucky guess? Or, is this the first of many? Whatever, today things just clicked.  When will I be able to get back to the lake?

Interlude

Where have the last few weeks gone? Summer is well and truly here now and long may it continue but with all the other warm weather distractions I’ve had little time to fish. The Ashes series has arrived with a bang and the thought of another four (nine!) matches like the first test is almost frightening. This match will be compared to 2005 and I’m not sure I could handle another summer like that! There’s lots to do in the summer, lots of time for socialising while the good weather lasts, parties, festivals, pubs…something has to give. 

The easy place just doesn’t interest me at the moment, it’s the Marsh or nothing. No matter how badly I fair I just love the challenge. I’ve managed two recent trips using differing methods at opposite ends of the lake. Both times I felt I was well in with a chance, I had fish in my area but on both occasions I couldn’t tempt them to take my baits. Every time I fish the place I get frustrated by my futile attempts but when I reflect I’m full of ideas for next time. I’m not going to moan about hot weather after the year we’ve had but… from a fishing point of view a brief change to cloud and south westerlies will help. Then it can go back to warm sunshine again. At this stage of the season the lake is quiet and peaceful and it’s a great place to spend my time. I’ll have one of those bloody fish yet!

I have managed to read a couple of good fishing books lately, both written about Carp fishing and both by Dave Lane. I don’t much like the “how to” type writing so Dave Lanes anecdotal style is right up my street, he tells a good tale too, just like Rod Hutchinson did in “The Carp strikes back” a generation ago. His first book covers his earliest fishing and takes us from water to water as he strives, mostly successfully to catch bigger Carp. He eventually finds himself fishing the Colne Valley and much of the book is dedicated to the famous Wraysbury and the equally famous Carp that lived in there.

The second book is called “A Flick of the tail” and this one features Dave fishing many different waters and catching huge Carp from most. The waters and the fish are well known in the Carp world, it’s a shame that Pike anglers aren’t able to write in such clarity. Along the way he dips in and out of fishing a mysterious water known as “The Mere”, for the huge “Black Mirror”. Both the water and the fish become Dave’s nemesis and the final chapter tells of the time when their paths finally cross. I really enjoyed both these books, the stories of trying to track down a handful of big fish in very large waters is similar to the fishing I enjoy, albeit for different species.

Big party plans this weekend so no fishing and I hope the warm dry weather continues a little longer. However the year is zipping past quickly and soon I’ll be looking forward to a bit of this…

Making the most of summer

Life had caught up with me, I needed a big fix of fresh air, countryside and fishing and I needed it straight away. I arrived at the Marsh later than expected but was pleasantly surprised to find only two other anglers in attendance and ‘my’ area free. By 2000 I was settled in and fishing with two rods, a chod/pop up cast to the trees and a helicopter snowman placed alongside the reeds. An area in between, near a dead tree was baited with 100 boilies and I began the waiting game.

The day had been a mixture of sunshine and cloud with a southerly wind blowing across the swim. As darkness deepened and the bats came out to play a couple of large fish rolled in open water, I was pretty sure at least one was a Carp. Will they move in onto my bait? Should I chuck a zig at it? A Tawny owl announced nightfall and I climbed into the bivvy, what would the night bring?

The answer was nothing, not a beep on the alarms. Even the dawn chorus seemed subdued save from the efforts of the cuckoo. The early morning period passed in a similar vein despite it being bright and breezy with a fresh westerly blowing into the swim. No fish were showing and I had zero confidence, what should I do next? I made a snap decision and moved off the water, baiting up before I left. I may be back…


After a quick pit-stop I was fishing the easy place by 1230. I’d had a brief look around and decided on the 2nd point, despite a few fish rolling in the middle bay. I was banking on Carp moving out of the snags and onto the far bank spot I’d discovered last time. My first cast saw the snowman taken before I’d even put the rod on the rests, the result was a strange, peach coloured ghostie Mirror thing. The rod was soon back on the spot with a dozen or so freebies on top. For my other rod I baited the gap on the left with Hemp/Maize and fished plastic baits on a Chod rig, just for a change and to see what happened.

I added a small PVA bag of crushed boilies to the heli rig every cast and this rod was in action regularly. I had five more takes on this in all, 2 lost 1 aborted and 2 more landed. The spot is definitely a good one and no snag problems from this angle, also the Heli rig is working! The same can’t be said for my Chod rig. I switched between the fake maize/corn and a boilie and received pulls on both but nothing hooked itself. I think I need a heavier lead and a tighter line for it to be effective. Heavy rain came in the afternoon and I took shelter in the car but this became boring. After 4 hours fishing I’d had enough so braved the rain and bundled everything in the car. This quick fix had only produced small fish but had been worthwhile as I’d learnt plenty.


After another pit stop I planned my return to the lake with mixed feelings. I still want to catch one of those big Mirrors but in reality time is running out. I’ll have even less time when summer gets into full swing and I’m losing motivation for fishing the place. The fishing is hard, however I approach it and for whatever species I’m fishing for. Sitting behind motionless indicators just isn’t interesting enough for me. Up until this weekend it has been very busy which spoils things too. Maybe the truth is I’m not just up to the challenge, perhaps I need to go away and remind myself of all the things I’ve forgotten about before I take on the challenge again? However, just one more trip…

I needed a total change of scenery so ignored “My area” and fished the other end, on the right hand side. My view was a scenic little lily fringed bay that screams Carp. Opposite me a row of overhanging trees then further to the right Norfolk reeds, more lilies and trees on a rarely trodden bank. It was to this area that I cast my left hand rod, rigged with a chod and pop up. No freebies necessary as this area had been baited lightly this morning. For my other rod I had plenty of options but elected to drop a helicopter/snowman rig to a gap between the lilies and the tree. Here I catapulted about 25 boilies. By now the rainstorm was long gone and I was treated to a calm, sunny evening, however an ominous cloud had me scrambling to set the bivvy up double quick, though in the end it wasn’t necessary. With my dodgy eyesight it took a few casts to get the rigs where I wanted them but by 1945 I was happy, settled and prepared to wait.

Half an hour later movement on the surface had me setting up another rod. I couldn’t be sure what species was responsible but it had to be worth putting a Zig out just in case… A few minutes later ‘something’ rolled close to my right hand rod, the signs were good. Shelley joined me for an evening of chilling by the water, for once we had a thoroughly pleasant evening for it. We were treated to the usual birdsong and aerobatics but no action on the rods. Just after 2300 Shelley went home, I wound in the zig and climbed into the kip bag, come on fish!

As usual I awoke at regular intervals throughout the night and in the early morning but sadly I wasn’t woken by fish.

I was up and at ‘em by 0600 but there seemed to be little showing. As the morning wore on the usual bubbling took place around this silty bay. Over the years casting to these has proven fruitless but I couldn’t resist dropping a spare rod into the area, this time baited with fake Corn. This got the expected result. I felt I should have caught something on the rod cast to the tree and couldn’t resist checking my helicopter rig, surely it must have tangled? No it was fine and the bait still smelt good but obviously none of it had been good enough for the fish.

Shelley returned and I fried our breakfast then slowly tidied up. Something heavy swirled in the pads so the bonus rod was wound in and the zig deployed in hope not expectation. By 1030 all was tidied and the fish had defeated me again. However I had enjoyed this trip and I’m definitely not done with the place yet! My grand plan has not put a fish in the net but I still feel positive that with a change of approach I can make something happen.



It just happened to be father’s day so Madi and Isaac made a picnic and the three of us headed off for a walk into the beautiful Suffolk countryside. We went up and down hills, through fields, copses and woods along paths we’d never trod before. The picnic went down well and we rested on the edge of a wood on top of a hill before meandering our way home where I stretched out on the settee and the children kept me awake with pleasant chattering until it was time to go back to their mum’s. It was a lovely afternoon.



My Dad was always a reluctant angler, his only reason for going was to keep me happy but I think he enjoyed himself once we got there. I hadn’t planned another fishing trip but it was father’s day and my dad hadn’t caught a Carp for about thirty years and with the good weather holding, tonight was an ideal opportunity. Along with Shelley we headed for the piranha pool, nothing too challenging tonight. I fed mixers and set up a couple of floater rods then dropped a boilie down the edge for myself.

The Carp eagerly slurped at the floaters but were shy of the hookbaits to begin with but after a bit of experimenting with baits and a dip in some flavour things clicked. However the first take came to the boilie rod only minutes after dropping it in and this turned out to be the biggest Carp I’ve caught from this pool so far. Another funny ghostie thing was held up for the camera. The next fish came to this rod too but eventually it was Dad’s turn and he soon had his first fish for many years in the net, without even getting out of his chair. After that we hooked fish regularly on the floaters, finishing with about a dozen between us, Shelley catching the most.

I crammed a lot into this weekend, lots of time spent in the countryside with people I love and some much needed solitary time too. I managed to catch a few fish but still no sign of the one I really want. It’s time to do things a little differently.

More of the same

A day in London saw me ending up totally stir crazy but Sunday came around and I had time for a few hours at a lake, but which lake? I ended up driving to the easy place on a hot sunny afternoon, praying there wouldn’t be too many cars parked up. Thankfully there wasn’t. I headed for the oldest lake, which holds the bigger fish, apparently. Three anglers were pole fishing close to the first car park but my favourite area was completely free and I had plenty of choice. I heard one of them complain "Here comes the method feeder brigade..." as I walked past, not sure what that means?  I walked around and found fish quickly, plenty in the middle bay and a few in the end bay. I opted to fish the channel connecting the two with a couple of snowman rigs to the marginal trees while I fed a few floaters. After an hour I was fishless so could no longer ignore the large group of fish in the snags to my right, time for a move.

The fish soon began responding to the floaters I was feeding, there were one or two bigger ones amongst the group too. Meanwhile I dropped a snowman rig along the margin to my right with about a dozen freebies chucked on top. At first the Carp slurped down the floaters eagerly and I was soon into a decent fish, a nice Common wallowed around and allowed me to draw it into the net. My best fish of the season so far for sure so out came the scales but it was not as heavy as I expected. Another slightly smaller common soon followed but then the fish became more wary. I switched to using a pop up boilie as bait so I could cast further which got me a couple more fish including a nice Mirror but ducks interrupted my feeding and the bigger fish that were beginning to look very catchable drifted away.

The boilie rod had remained untouched to begin with so I moved it to a clear area on the far bank, hoping fish would drift along out of the snags. I was feeding the first of a dozen free boilies when the bait was taken almost straight away but I lost a small fish. Takes came fairly regularly on this spot but angles and snags saw me losing a couple more through hook pulls it really was hit and hold stuff. Eventually I landed one which freed itself from a snag after putting the rod back on the rests and waiting. I moved the bait to the right a bit more and managed to land a couple more by giving myself a bit more free water to play with. After each take I fed 10 or so more boilies. Eventually with the floater fishing drying up I moved back to my original swim as this gave me a better angle to land fish off this spot and it worked with one more fish. I packed up with 7 Carp in as many hours, good fun and plenty learnt. 

After my quick fix at the easy place it was back to the hard water for another short evening trip tonight. Once again I settled into the quiet area after a warm sunny day to find the breeze blowing into my face. As usual I cast a snowman heli rig to the reeds and baited the area with about 30 frees. For my other rod I changed tactics and fished a Zig rig a foot down. I was settled and chilling by 1845.

At 1925 I had a twitchy pull on the reedbed rod and as I hadn’t had anything like this so far this season I struck in desperation. Probably a liner… I recast with another dozen freebies then the same rod ripped of an hour later. A proper take this time but it had stopped before I reached the rod. Was the lead too light? Probably not as the Baitrunner should have negated that. A positive sign at last, my methods and bait will work! I baited up with another dozen boilies, just in case. A little after nine I noticed a patch of bubbles in the open water off the reeds so wound in the Zig rig and replaced it with a chod and a dozen more frees scattered over the area. Rudd swirled at dusk and something larger rolled near the reeds but no more fishy pulls. I packed up as the first bats arrived at 2145, hopefully there’ll be time for another go at the weekend.

For once my run of good fate continued and with Isi for company I arrived at the lake to find my preferred swim available. I took my time setting up and we were settled by 2000. I had no doubts about tactics either, my usual helicopter/snowman rig received the addition of a small PVA mesh bag filled with crushed boilies and a couple of pieces of dissolving foam into which I pushed the hook. I was hoping this would help my hookbait land cleanly. I was happy with my first cast so I scattered about 40 boilies over this area and the first part of plan A was ready for the night. My second rod took rather longer as I kept buggering up the cast but I eventually settled for one of many that fell just slightly short. This was a Chod rig and pop up as I couldn’t be sure of what would lay below the water here. I had intended to bait this area up from the adjacent bank but my lively ten year old needed distracting with his float and maggot set up. By the time all was ready there were a group of anglers socialising within sight and I didn’t want to draw too much attention to what I was doing. In the end my hookbait was the only food in the area. Fish were splashing in the snaggy area beside me, were they spawning? Were they Tench or Carp? I hoped not.

The day had been warm and bright with a North Easterly wind which didn’t abate and the temperature began to drop. The evening passed quickly with me setting up camp and Isaac catching a Rudd every chuck. It was nice to see him doing it pretty much all himself, baiting up and unhooking his own fish. We heard a Cuckoo from time to time as well as the laughing Woodpeckers. Rather less welcome were the Swans swimming into our lines. Isi got bored with catching Rudd and demanded food so the stove was fired up and sausages soon sizzled. With the whip out of the way I baited the margin area with hemp  & maize  then plopped a pop up rig baited with plastic onto the spot. The Bats were out by the time we’d eaten so with a hot dinner and a mug of tea in his belly Isaac retired to his bedchair in the bivvy and I settled into mine out under the stars. 

I took a while for me to drift into slumber land, I ran things through my head and for some reason I was confident I’d got things right, I was confident things would happen tonight. The sky darkened for a while and then began to lighten but save from a couple of beeps to each of the boilie rods, nothing occurred. I was out of the bag for a slash at 0530 but felt the cold so climbed back in and drifted back to sleep.

At 0725 a series of beeps on the chod rig found me out of the bag with bleary eyes, what was going on? A couple more beeps to the same rod, ‘that has to be a fish?’ I staggered over and wound down, fish on! Something plodded on the long line and didn’t want to come in. All went solid but I kept the pressure on and walked backwards…the line freed suddenly and I had to gain line quickly, something was plodding on the end again, then went solid for a second time. I tried to keep pressure on…then everything went slack, the short hooklength had parted.

We left the lake an hour later after a hasty fried breakfast. Isaac caught a few more Rudd while I tidied things away and that was that. On winding in the reedbed rod I found the bait and hair wrapped round the back of the hook and tangled, no chance there! Live and learn. Despite the fish loss I felt upbeat, two consecutive trips where I’ve had takes so I’m getting things right. Best of all I’m learning from my mistakes, back at home I fine-tuned my leaders, getting everything spot on as opposed to ‘that’ll do’. Then after a trip back to work for supplies I tied up new rigs with bigger hooks and stronger breaking strain hook lengths. I’m relearning stuff I’d long forgotten about all aspects of Carp fishing and the next time I fish I’ll be better prepared. Hopefully that will be soon!

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? 

Back to reality

Almost a month later than planned I found myself walking the banks of the Marsh for my first look at trying to catch a Carp from this mysterious lake. I arrived at around 1000 and spent an hour watching the water and casting a plumb rod around, trying to refresh my memory on depths and the bottom make up of a few swims. For once we had dry, bright, sunny weather which had brought a few anglers out but thankfully none were in the areas I fancied. I had a plan you see…famous last words!

Today the wind swung back to another ‘orrible Easterly so I wanted to fish on the back of this cold wind. In theory the afternoon sun should warm this end of the lake too. The forecast was for a cool night then the wind would swing to a South westerly tomorrow morning, which should in theory, also see the Carp moving around at this end of the lake. The fish rarely give any visual clues on this water so my little theory was all I had to go on. Unfortunately I had to leave the lake for a couple of hours work, would the swims still be free when I returned?

The answer was yes! By 1430 I had a couple of rods fishing over a nice scattering of boilies, a helicopter/snowman rig was cast to an overhanging tree while a pop up on a chod fished alongside a reedbed. I considered fishing a Zig rig but discovered I’d left some of the vital components at home, oh well another time. I then had nothing else to do but sit back in the warm afternoon and enjoy chilling out and watching the water. Despite my lack of success on this lake over the years I still really felt I was in with a chance today, we’ll see. I’ve decided to try leaving my baited rigs in place for much longer periods of time this year. Being a Pike angler at heart I’m used to recasting fairly often to search the water so I struggle with sitting on my hands. I’m thinking I might need to adopt a bit more of a stealthy approach this year, maybe casting too often with heavy leads could spook wary fish.



It was a nice change to be sitting in the sun which seemed hotter than forecast, sheltered from the cool wind my end of the lake was flat calm. Despite the spring weather the lake is still wearing its winter colours, the rushes are beginning to push new green shoots through but the beds of Norfolk reed are still in winter beige. I had a radio with me, no cricket this time but Town got an away point which was good in the circumstances. My eyes grew heavy after a while and I could easily have drifted off to sleep but I was determined to watch the water for clues. The reed stems beside me were knocking regularly as fish brushed through them but they looked to me like small fish, not the bigger Carp or Tench I was after.

At around 1900 I recast both rods and topped the bait up ready for the night. Both rigs landed bang on where I wanted them which doesn’t happen often. Lines were pinned to the deck with back leads, indictors turned up, landing net and unhooking mat ready. All I needed was a fish. As the sun set the skeleton trees were silhouetted against an orange glow, reflected in the calm water, loads of silver fish topped all over the lake, a pheasant called in the wood, song birds called goodnight and the night’s first bats swooped low. It was lovely-you should have been there. Everything looked great but I hadn’t had a bleep so what was I doing wrong? If I consulted the Carpy magazines I might deduce that I hadn’t drunk enough tea or ear-bashed the other anglers enough. Perhaps my rod rests were too far apart and maybe I should have folded my reel handles? Actually I’d made great effort in ensuring absolutely nothing in my set up matched.



By 2130 the temperature had dropped dramatically, in fact it was becoming bloody cold. A half-moon cast shadows and the sky was riddled with stars. It all looked too beautiful but I was cold so climbed into my kip bag. It had grown so cold that it was hard to believe I would be disturbed by a fish tonight. Normally I’d feel confident at first light but will it get warm enough quick enough? I crawled out of my kip bag to relieve my old man’s bladder around 0330 to discover a heavy covering of frost on all of my kit, bugger this back in the bag! It was the same story at 0630 when I next peered out of the bivvy door, not what I wanted or needed. I decided to trust my rigs and baits a little longer.

At 0900 I was sitting with a cup of tea, the wind had swung to a south westerly and the day was warming up but I knew my best chance of a fish had come and gone. I felt I’d done the right things fishing wise but had the cold night ruined my chances? Nearly all of my overnight sessions have ended like this which suggests I’m doing something very wrong. I need to start thinking ahead and doing things a little differently. I left the lake a little after 1030 but I’ll be back. 

After a few hours in the garden the lovely lady and I decided that as we didn’t want to do anything other than chill out for the rest of the day then we might as well do it by a lake somewhere. After last night’s blank I decided I wanted to see a bend in the rod so we drove to the easy place. A few handfuls of mixers soon had the Carp in Piranha mode and it wasn’t long before we were both into fish. It was fun for a while but once again the sun hid itself and the temperature dropped making things uncomfortable. We packed up early and headed home. This quick fix didn’t do the trick, I won’t catch the fish I’m after here so I have to knuckle down…

Spring at last!

For the first time this year we were treated to warm spring sunshine and it was too good an opportunity to miss. Isaac took a lot of persuading to get out of bed but very little coaxing to have couple of hours fishing. We arrived at the ‘Puddle’ a little after midday, all set to hammer the Carp on floaters. Warm weather and sunshine make life, and fishing, so much easier but we hadn’t bargained for the wind which was much stronger than forecast. Our first two choices of swim were already taken so we ended up fishing a new spot which had the wind blowing from left to right. With this in mind I began feeding floating pellets upwind of our swim, knowing the waves would carry them towards us. Usually there is an instant response but today it took a while to get a few fish moving and taking our freebies.

With the strong wind Isaac struggled to get his freelined bait out whilst avoiding the trees behind us, more lessons we all have to learn but I did help him a little today. It took a while to get fish taking floaters in front of us but by feeding little and often one or two fish obliged. Isaac was first to hook up and despite being a little rusty with playing fish he soon had a small common in the net, shortly followed by a second fish which was slightly bigger.


It seems the actions of a couple of fish feeding attract others and in time there were several fish moving into our swim, slurping down a few floaters, then moving off. A few minutes later this group of fish would circle into our swim again. I hooked the next fish and at this point Isaac’s competitive streak reared its head, with a cheeky grin he refused to hand me the landing net! I managed without help and netted the biggest fish of the day so far. We continued feeding little and often, the Carp continued to move in and out of our swim but bites did not come regularly, Isaac managed to catch a couple more and I added another to my tally. After a couple of hours we’d had enough, I’d caught the biggest fish but Isaac claimed victory with the most. It had not been as prolific as we’d come to expect but we’d enjoyed ourselves and I was very pleased to see Isaac playing his fish with confidence. I hope this is the first of many such trips this year.


The following day I was back, this time with Shelley for company. The weather was still pleasant and spring like so enjoying some comfortable time outdoors is still a novelty that we couldn’t pass up. The wind had dropped since the day before, we settled into a quiet corner and I began to chuck a few floaters in. As usual it didn’t take too long before Carp homed in on the food and as usual the action of fish feeding soon attracted others to join in. We caught fish regularly, mostly Commons which looked under nourished and sadly many had mouth damage from previous captures but Shelley caught a little Mirror that was absolutely mint.


We moved on to another lake where the fish are fewer but hopefully bigger. There were few Carp moving here but we found a sheltered, likely looking spot and settled back in comfortable chairs with mugs of hot tea. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and watching the birdlife. Blackbirds were busy in the bushes and a Woodpecker made an appearance opposite us, departing before we could get our cameras ready. Crows cawed in the trees and somewhere out of sight the Pheasants were making a right old racket, it was good to be out in the countryside. The fishing didn’t seem to matter but I did manage another small Common. Spring has been a long time coming which makes us even more determined to enjoy it while it’s here! The sun began to sink and the year’s first bats took to the air, we fished on until it was too dark to see then happily headed for home. 

I've well and truly shaken off the Carpy cobwebs, now for something more challenging.