I seem to start every blog with saying that it has been some time and once again it has. Not that I haven’t been fishing as I have managed it a few times but there doesn’t seem to have been much to write about. I first started the blog as a way of analysing my fishing as a returner during covid after a long absence and had some initial success I have hit a wall and only seem to be catching rudd this year! Anyway, here is a round up since my last blog entry.
Spring was late in my part of the world and we seemed to have a cold easterly wind which went on for ever. My next trip out was in the middle of April at my “go to” lake where I only managed to catch two rudd on the float rod and nothing, not even a twitch on the feeder. After several hours of getting colder and colder I packed up and went home!
My next session was an evening one at the pond over the road. It was only a couple of hours and the weed wasn’t too bad yet and I pulled out a number of small rudd, tench and carp. A pleasant time but looking back at the photos I noticed that I was wearing fingerless gloves so it must have been chilly!
Then there was a gap of about three weeks, it was still a chilly wind and so I decided to return to my “go to” water as I knew that I could hunker down behind some bushes and keep relatively warm. When I arrived, to my surprise there were people fishing in the sheltered swims, they had obviously had the same idea as me! I thought that I would stop and see how they were getting on and as I walked over to them an elderly chap stumbled towards me with blood streaming down his face. He said that he had just fallen over and seemed to be a bit shocked while his mate sat there carrying on fishing.
I asked him if he had a first aid kit, which he didn’t and so I got mine out of the car and spent a few minutes cleaning him up and put a plaster on his nose to try and stop the bleeding. It wasn’t too bad an injury, just a bit of a scrape, it didn’t need stitches or anything and he went back to his fishing! I moved around to the other side of the lake and put out the float rod and feeder rod and was soon catching rudd, only small ones and nothing on the feeder rod and after a few hours getting blown around I packed up and went home for a warm.
Then summer came, we were in second week of June and it was hot. The wind was warm and gentle. I decided to visit a water where there was a good chance of getting a carp as well as silverfish. This water is the only one that the club has left which needs a key for the gate padlock and it has been tricky to open although previously I have managed it. Today I couldn’t. I wiggled, I jiggled and eventually cursed but it didn’t do any good. I was stuck outside and after a few more attempt decided to give up and go somewhere else. It was a bit more of a drive but soon I was there, in the gate and unloading my gear ready for the long walk to the water.
This lake is an old gravel pit with steep sides which makes it a bit tricky to fish although at the far end the banks are flatter and there are plenty of trees for shade, which was exactly what I needed and so I made my way there. As I passed each swim I looked in to see if there were any signs of fish but there was nothing. I got to my swim and set up with a carp rod with method feeder and boilie and my float rod. I was soon into rudd an was enjoying catching at almost a fish a cast but what I really wanted was the buzzer on the carp rod to sound. Instead of which I heard a voice behind me, it was a fellow angler who was fishing light and making his way around the lake. We chatted for a few minutes and he told me that there were plenty of carp on the surface in the swims I had walked past a couple of hours before. When he had gone I decided that it didn’t make much sense to keep fishing where the fish weren’t and took my stalker rod, white bread, landing net and mat and made my way to the other end of the lake. When I arrived I could see the fish and so threw some bits of bread in for them. I crept a bit further forward and cast out, nothing happened. The carp weren’t really interested in eating as they slowly cruised around with just the occasional fish looking at the bread and sometimes sucking it down and sometimes not. Nevertheless I kept on fishing and eventually got a bite, fish on! Soon he was into the water lilies and spat the hook leaving me disappointed and frightening all the other fish away.
I waited for a few minutes but they were well and truly spooked and so I carried on walking around the lake as I could see carp in the distance and tried again. Once again the fish were very shy and showed no interest in my bread and as I was now directly in the sun and baking I decided to go back to my original spot in the shade for a drink and a spot of lunch. That accomplished I stuck the carp rod and feeder rod out and had a relaxing time while I didn’t get a bite at all. Towards mid-afternoon I decided to call it and went home, once again failing to catch a carp and only managing rudd. I have fished this water a number of times without catching a carp and thought that I was going to break my duck today but it was not to be.
So, there it is, my fishing trips this spring, not very exciting and I have got a bit disheartened at not catching anything decent. Maybe I had beginner’s luck when I first started but I would often come home buzzing from having caught a decent fish. Recently I have come home disappointed and a bit fed up. Still, I expect that everyone goes through these patches and I will just have to keep on keeping on and it will come good in the end.
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