I have mentioned before that I go sailing and that there are similarities between that and angling and one of them is that they are both dealing with the natural world, over which we have no control. This was brought home to me this week during a couple of sessions in different locations, the first at my “go to” water and the second on a visit to a water I have only been to once before.
For the first session I wanted somewhere near to the car to fish from as my back has been playing up recently and I didn’t want to strain it so my “go to” lake seemed the ideal spot. I put out my feeder rod and carp rod, both with method feeders and waited. I had a nice size skimmer bream on my feeder rod after about half an hour and that was it. I was fishing sweet corn on the feeder and boilie on the carp rod but didn’t get a touch after the first fish. It was a grey day here in the east and the wind has been northerly for a few days so I wondered if it had got a bit cold for the fish. There was very little sign of life with just one or two carp jumping. After a few hours I had a walk round and spoke to the other angler on the water and he wasn’t having much luck either. I lost my method feeder in a tree so came home feeling a bit grumpy.
I have got used to catching some decent fish lately and wanting to prove that I still could I went to a different water where I had caught plenty of roach and rudd before and seen some carp. It was quite a walk from the car park but my back was feeling better and with the help of my secondhand barrow I made it OK. I was just unpacking everything when I realised that I had left my rucksack with lunch, sunglasses, drink etc. in the car so it was another half mile return trip to fetch them. I had to thread up my carp rod from scratch and eventually was fishing, much later than I had wanted. It was a bright but cloudy morning but looking around I could see some threatening clouds so got my brolly set up just in case. I was sitting in the corner of the swim with a steep bank behind me and to the side so was quite sheltered and comfortable. All I needed was a bite and sure enough the quiver tip pulled round and I had another skimmer bream. The morning passed with a few twitches on the quiver but no more fish and nothing but a few beeps on the carp rod. I decided to change things around and so put a small hemp boilie on the carp rod and decided it was lunch time. Of course, no sooner had I poured a drink then the alarm sounded and I was into a fish, well I thought I was but it didn’t feel like a carp as it was coming in much too easily for that and turned out to be another bream!
While I was waiting for bites I had been feeding next to the swim with chick peas and sweet corn and during lunch I noticed a carp swim right up close to the bank in front of me so moved my carp rod to the baited area. There was much more activity on the water than my last session, fish jumping, bubbles rising and swirls in the water. I also saw a heron and a kestrel and a few interesting planes heading for an airshow. I also had a few beeps on the carp rod so was encouraged that there were fish around however I was not catching anything so decided to change the feeder rod for the float rod to see if my luck changed. I also alternated between boilies and tried a pop up but no luck. It was then that it started to rain showing the wisdom of putting up my brolly as I was snug and dry underneath.
As soon as I cast the float out I started catching rudd and spent the next hour or so dodging the showers and pulling in hand sized fish. In one way I was happy to be catching something but in another I felt that I was going backwards as I had moved to the feeder rod to try and catch bigger fish and get away from endless roach and rudd. Then the carp buzzer sounded properly and the rod was dancing around. I could immediately tell that I was into a carp as it shot off for cover. I managed to pull it around and it went off across the lake when suddenly the line went slack and I lost it. When I reeled in I saw that the hooklength wasn’t there. It must have come undone at the knot as using the quick change bead there is no way that it could have slipped off. This has happened several times recently and I am wondering about the wisdom of buying ready tied rigs. That was about it for the day as I didn’t get any more beeps on the carp rod. Just as I was thinking about packing up it came on to rain again so I sat tight and waited until the shower passed.
So, what did I get from the day? I was pleased that baiting the swim had attracted a fish but very disappointed that I didn’t get to land it. I was also disappointed not to catch more on the feeder rod but at least hadn’t blanked! I was also pleased that I had tried different baits and methods of fishing rather than just persevering with the same thing. It brought to mind the saying about doing the same thing and expecting different results being madness or something. It was nice to get to the bank after a break of a couple of weeks and it does seem from talking to other anglers that the high pressure and chilly north winds are making fishing difficult so it is not just me!
Oh yes, I also got a sore thumb, trying to hold too may things at once the baiting needle pierced the skin near the middle thumb joint and slid in towards the hand. I pulled it out quickly but of course the damage was done. It didn’t bleed much and once again the antiseptic cream and plaster came in useful! It feels a bit sore this morning and I couldn’t get the cream inside the wound so I hope it is OK, I will keep an eye on it!
Be First to Comment