For the last two weeks my angling outings have been less than fruitful.
My carp swims on the Exe have not shown any fish other than mullet and the last 5 outings have seen me go home with a dry net every time. At the beginning of the season I'd go as far as saying that carping on the Exe was easy... but now it would seem the carp have moved onto a diffrent area of the river... and with no fish in the swim, easy fishing it is not.
I decided to give the river a rest in the hopes that a bit of bait and no pressure would encourage the fish back into residence. With this in mind and the fact I needed to be reminded what a carp looked like, I made a visit to Darts farm pools. As i drove up the path I could see that the were alot of cars which meant alot of anglers.
Every swim on the main pond was taken so I set up shop on another pool which was empty of anglers.
I could clearly see a few decent fish up in the water including a stunning ghostie pushing the 20lb mark so I was more than happy to settle for this pond.
On inspection of the water I could see movement in the far bank reeds. Some sneaky tactics were then employed to ensure my hookbaits were bang on the money.
I fired my lead minus the hooklink literally onto the far bank.Then placed my rod in the stand with the baitrunner on and walked round to find my lead. It was then just a case of clipping on my baited hooklink and dropping the rig by hand right on the sweet spot.
 |
| Darts farm |
After being ultra confident of a run or two the whole night remained quiet.yet another blank!
My dad on the other hand has been enjoying some good tench sport on the canal during short evening sessions. On that note I tried to steal a slice of his pie and end my string of blanks. Unfortunately, my rods remained still and lifeless, so I went home fish-less wondering when and where my next bite was coming from.
 |
| Evening on the Cut |
On a blazing hot Monday I was booked in at the hospital for an MRI scan on my duff knee. I took this as an opportunity to take a quick peek into a few tasty swims on the river Exe before my lunchtime appointment. As I peered through the bushes (like a fish-pervert!) my eyes lit up at the sight of four large carp. I had no rod or tackle with me; so it was a case of hoping a fish would hang around long enough for me to get my scan out the way, and to get back with the necessaries to extract a fish or two (or four!).
as I laid in the machine, my thoughts were not on my scan or the results, I was more interested in getting back to the river to try and end my run of misfortune.
I returned to the river with the tools to get the job done. after a while in the company of a few mates and a can of cold cider, a long dark shape drifted past nosing its way in the direction of my bait. 5 minutes later my beverage was launched into the air as I scrambled to get to my rod which was nearly dragged in. As I hit into a fish, my rod was bent as a nine-bob note. This was clearly a goodun!
My legs turned to jelly and nerves started to mount as the thought of losing this fish instantly crossed my mind; a side-effect which is suffered by most anglers who have endured a fish drought.
With the pressure on me, an the fish hell-bent on freeing itself from the hook. This battle turned out to be nothing short of epic as a powerful force took me from the banks into the water to stop it snapping me off on a dangerous snag.
After clearing the fish from its safe house, I clambered back onto the bank and was now slightly in control.
A few wild lunges and hairy moments later, an absolute brute of a mirror carp was sketchily bundled into the net by my ol' mate Max (aka Gordon Gekko!)
 |
| I think i,ll call this one Flipper |
What a result!I could see instantly why this fish's strength stood above other battles I have had, as you can see this fish has the pectorals of a Gurnard and a tail the size of a rudder. Clearly a very old fish. Who knows, she may have been swimming the Exe longer than I've been on planet earth; food for thought indeed.
With no scales to get an accurate weight we,ll be left wondering the exact credentials of this corker,but frankly it does not matter.
needless to say i was absolutely made up to have ended my run of blanks with a very special fish.
till next time,be lucky
No comments:
Post a Comment