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
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