UP IN DA CLUB

Hello to all

First of all let me offer a warm welcome to our new manager Roberto Martinez, I have a real buzz for the new season and cant wait to see a bit of a re-shuffle and change in tactics at Goodison. Yes we may have to wave goodbye to mans like Felli and Bainsy but 40 million notes will do nicely; unless that cheef Kenwright pockets it that is!

Good luck Roberto, lets bring excitement and European footy back to the park!

Fishing time now folks, as I wrote last time about my new found love of Carp fishing, I followed this up by joining a Carp fishing club. I had received an invite from the ever eccentric angling legend that is Zyg Gregorek to join his syndicate the 5C's. I decided to take him up on the offer and soon found myself heading up to Anglers Paradise to meet some of the other members and take part in a rather strange initiation ritual. All the members have done it said Zyg as I had a bin load of fresh pond weed ( bugs n all ) tipped over my head. If that wasn't enough I then had a bag of ice stuffed down the front of me keks and had to sit there in silence for an hour or so while the rest of the members went about the monthly meeting. I looked a right wally an me thingy had basically inverted its-self to escape the harsh touch of the ice, but I survived the ordeal and went on to part 2 of the process. Next we headed down to Zygs Boat house on the Main carp lake where I would have to walk the plank then take a swim round an island to collect an item than swim back to the boat house were the initiation would be completed with a shot of fine malt. That bit was a piece of cake for a part time ninja such as myself but the ice down the pants......ooooooh! would'nt wanna do that again lol.

The following weekend I returned for a 24 hour session on the main lake in search of Carp, I was joined by fellow 5C's member an good pal Dom Garnett. After a quick walk round the lake we discovered we had the

whole place to our selves,( which was nice ) we set up in the sun bathed shallows and spent the day supping cider in the sun whilst attempting to catch one off the surface.The carp proved to be very cunning when it came to the floaters but I did have one clear chance, but fluffed it to my dismay.

The light was quickly fading as the day drew to an end so I decided to pack the floater fishing in and get my rigs in place for the oncoming darkness.I fished both rods at around ten yards amongst the weedy pads on a patch around the size of a snooker table.The area then took a bombardment of chopped boiley and a mixed selection of pellet which all took a good soaking in tutti fruity glug, both rods were fished on 2oz in line leads with short hook links comprising of size 8 Arma points tied up on 20lb Cortex with a small piece of shrink tube steamed over the eye of the hook to give it that extra bit of sting.

With that all sorted it was then just a case of playing the waiting game, to say the evening was nice would be an under statement.The sky looked amazing, I haven't seen that many stars since I camped out in the Andes. A strangely warm but cooling breeze drifted over the lake setting a lovely scene for a fish or two. Dom was first off the mark with a cracking zip linear of 19lb 8oz's, what a start we both agreed! After a few quick pictures she was slipped back to go about her daily ambles,We sat back in victory only to interrupted by the sound of a screaming buzzer, I was thankful that it was one of mine disturbing the peace; as I picked up my rod which instantly crunched into submission. As I connected to the fish my spool started to melt, Cat on! I yelled! an unstoppable run saw the fish get round what felt like a  proper snag which I thought would end my fun. I could feel the line grating as I piled on a serious amount of pressure testing the tackle to its limit, eventually I persuaded the fish into open water but I still had the chore of getting it through the pads and into my landing net.I was beginning to worry about the state of my line after extracting the cat out of the snag but it seemed lady luck was on my side as a lengthy Cat was just about bundled into the net.

Not what I was after but a 35lb 7oz Cat was a great consolation prize and a good first fish.I inspected my line and just as I thought it was shredded above the leader splaying off tears in the mono filament.Good job I was using 20lb main line, I reset the trap after removing all the damaged line and re rigging etc. Then gave the swim a good top up before changing clothes and retiring to the comfort of my sleeping bag. At 2 30am I had another flat liner of a run but this time on my other rod. After a good fight I dipped the net to scoop up a common (which looked to be a good twenty) only to spook the fish back into the pads where my barbless hook proceeded lose contact.I soon had a fresh bait back out and drifted off for a while before I was woken up the alarm alerting me of another take, this time I had my way with the fish that was again a lump of a Carp.

This beautiful 22lb 4oz fully scaled was my prize and the action didn't stop there, The whole initiation seemed worthwhile and I can't wait to get back down!

Til next time

Good luck

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Hello to all

Regular reader's of this blog may have picked up on the fact I'm a mad keen Everton fan, you may have also noticed that in past blogs I,ve given David Moyes a bit of a hard time and often pointed towards him buggering off in favour of a new manager and fresh tactics.....Well its happened now and I know David reads this blog as he has often used my tactics so I would like to apologise for my derogatory jibes and wish you luck in your new job.

Come on Martinez! hurry up and get yourself over the to the Park ladd.

Anyway lets talk fishing

I don't know why or where it came from but I have recently found myself turning into a bit of a Carp nut? the underwater world that ticks in my brain mostly contained thoughts of big ol catfish swimming round but they have moved on for the time being, and carp have replaced them.The majority of my carping revolves around wild venues such as rivers and canals, I have enjoyed some great adventures and tangled with lots of big carp on such venues but now I have opted for a big change.

Devon and the south west are home to some stunning still waters that contain huge carp, with some even reaching weights of 40lbs plus! I have decided to take the time to learn the finer arts of the trade and try to trip up a real lump or two, fishing rivers and canals etc may seem a very daunting idea for some but from what I have gathered from years of fishing them is that wild fish are fairly easy to catch once located,I have found the opposite in similar situations whilst fishing still waters for heavily pressured fish so that's that, its time to improve my skills.

Myself and Ty had our eyes on two venues not far from home, both very different to one and other in looks and stocking levels, but both fishery's boasted Carp to over 30 lbs. Another thing that they had in common was the fact that they take a proper hammering 24 7 365. with that in mind we turned up for a quick over nighter in the evening of bank holiday Monday, surely most would have gone home we hoped? yes but the lake bed is probably littered with munga and all sorts of crap from the week-enders I was thinking. Anyway negativity aside we got there to find a decent looking area (which would put the pair of us up) free of other anglers, a gusty wind was pushing hard into the deeper area of the lake which was free of lines so we wasted no time getting settled in and the rods out.Well that's a slight white lie really,I was moving at the pace of a snail as I had attended  a Music festival in Bristol the previous day,by the time It took me to get a rod in the water Ty had banked two decent doubles in the form of a 16lb 1oz Common and a 18lb 7oz Mirror ( good angling mate )

Not to make my self sound even more foolish but Ty also lent me one of his rigs, you could say I was about as prepared for the session as George Michele was for that impromptu stunt he pulled on the M1 the other day.I finally got my act together and got the rods out,I was fishing simple bolt rigs with pop ups on both rods which where punched out into the teeth of the wind on the far margin,meanwhile Ty was on a flyer landing doubles left right and centre from a sheltered shallower area in a long island channel. at around midnight I decided I was sick of hearing Tys Delkims screaming so I moped of to my bivvy to get some well needed kip. At around 5am I finally had a take and swiftly landed a plump Mirror of 14lb 5oz,Ty was up and had already banked a fish, enough was enough. it was obvious that the majority of the fish were held up out of the wind,well away from where I had set stall, a move was a must.I decided to leave Ty to hold fought whilst I went to collect the dog,whilst driving I was thinking tactics and where I would move my rods so I could get it done quickly on my return.Me and Pepe arrived back at the fishery to find Ty had landed another two and had a nice Common in the sack to show me what a Carp looked like, Anyway; rods moved and the dogs actually behaving in a mildly social manner......that's before he gets sight of a little black Moore hen and breaks free from my grasp in a mad dash for an early lunch. Splash, there he go's, over my rods and straight in the water briefly disappearing before he popped up with a sour look on his face.Right that's it! I said, in the car with ya! after getting rid of the little rascal I tied up two little micro bags and sent the rigs back out.An hour later I had an absolute screamer of take and lifted into what felt like a good fish,moments later my heart sank as the hook pulled.dismay and disappointment were just some of the feelings I experienced before I calmed myself and set about tying a fresh rig,the carp gods smiled down on me and granted me another chance on the remaining rod. It was almost like a reward for containing my anger,this felt like an even better fish and was plodding around powerfully almost hugging bottom.After a while I managed to get the fishes head up and guided it towards Ty who was stood there withe the net waiting.Ahhhh a huge sense of relief was enjoyed as a lump of a Common wallowed in the net.

Bingo! my first still water 20 and a new pb. At 27lb 14oz I was pretty chuffed with that one and I went home feeling a whole lot better.

The next day myself and Ty were out fishing another busy Carp fishery, when we arrived mid afternoon the whole place was rammo. But I had sneaked in early and set our bivvy's up in two prime swims then payed for our tickets and gone home to do chores and what not. A cheeky move yes and i,m surprised our bivvys weren't thrown in the water as I had been informed by a lad on the lake that a few disgruntled anglers had turned up looking for a peg. Never mind ay? I soon had my rods clipped up to a couple of Carpy looking spots that I had previously ran a lead over and discovered some lovely hard patches of gravel.The rigs both hit the clips and landed with a satisfying donk.I kept  the lines super slack and baiting to a minimum as I had heard alot of the fish are suspicious around large baited area's,plus the fact I was only on a quick session so it seemed a sensible option to fish for a bite at a time. the night past without as much as a bleep,I wound in to check my rigs which came back clean an dandy.the rod I had fished towards an island over hang could be any tighter,however the other rod that I had cast over towards a similar feature had a little room for improvement.Ty suggested that I removed the hook link an chong it over to the far margin and put the rig right under the tree by hand. A cunning plan my friend, ten minutes later the spool was melting as a fish bolted off out the bay to seek sanctuary of the snags.not on your Nelly i said as I put my hand over the spool to briefly lock everything up.The fish turned and started to head towards me and the net, A small crowd gathered  and not long after a beautiful Mirror with large apple slice scales glistening on its large flank was expertly scooped up by Ty.

Another still water 20 was my prize, 22lb 6oz this time.Could I be getting the hang of this carping? we,ll soon see.

Til next time

Be lucky