The Problem Water

After a busy spring and summer I seem to have time to go fishing again and spent a couple of hours on the canal catching rudd and an eel and went back to a water that I haven’t fished for about a year. I used to call it my “go to” water as I could always be sure of catching something then I began to blank. I can’t have been the only one as there was some discussion on the club’s Facebook page, apparently the ammonia levels in the water were too high and it was suggested that we leave the fish be for a while. This lake is next to a farm yard and the surrounding fields drain into it so it was not going to be a quick fix to sort the problem out

Anyway, I got to thinking about the lake and wondering how it was doing and so I took the Missus out for a walk one evening and we had a look round. I took some floating pellets to see if we could attract any carp to the surface. The first swim we looked in there were several carp lurking and they made short work of the pellets. We walked around the lake and I saw several signs of fish, bubbles, swirls and a couple more carp and so I decided to come back the next day.

It was later than I had wanted the next morning due to having to run several errands so it was nearly ten by the time I arrived. I parked the car next to the lake and quietly made my way to the first swim and saw a couple of fish just under the surface next to the bank. I fetched my stalking rod which at eight foot just fits into my car already made up along with a landing net and mat and put a piece of bread crust on the hook and I was off! I threw out some pellets to get the fish feeding and then lowered the hook onto the water. After a few seconds a fish took the bread and left the hook so I re-baited and tried again. This time he took the bait and the hook and I was in! The fish didn’t put up much of a fight and was soon in the net. I had left my scales in the car but it seemed a good high single / low doubles fish and seemed in good condition. I carefully put him back and decided to take a walk around the lake and see if I can could catch some more. This time I used a pop up boilie as bait but couldn’t get the fish interested so went back to the car and got out the gear I needed to set up in the swim next to it.

I put the carp rod out with a method feeder and white pop – up boilie and then set up my float rod. I mixed up some groundbait and sat down in my new chair ready to fish. On my first cast the float went under and I was into a little rudd which fought more than the carp size for size! I went on catching rudd and roach for a while but nothing on the carp rod, the buzzer stayed obstinately silent. After an hour of fun I decided to change over to my ledger rod which has still got a swing tip attached to see if I could get a bigger fish off the bottom. I continued using red and white maggots and although the tip was shaking a bit it never developed into a bite. I tried elsewhere in the lake but still with no luck. By now it was lunchtime and as it was quiet I thought that I would get my sandwiches out. This tactic sometimes catches a fish and I was halfway through my lunch when the buzzer went off and I was into a fish. It didn’t feel like a carp though and that is because it wasn’t, it was a bream! He came to the net quite easily on my carp tackle and I soon had him on the mat where I could see from the mark on his back that he had had an encounter with a cormorant or something sometime in his life! A quick photo and I weighed him in at 3lb exactly before putting him back. The rod went back out and I was able to finish my lunch in peace.

After lunch I decided that I was bored and got the float rod out again! I soon started catching rudd and roach until the float dipped and a fish jumped a few feet away! I reeled in and there was another bream, slightly smaller than the first one but just as lively, in fact while I was attempting to take his photo he flipped himself off the mat and back into the water!

Then it was quiet for a while, I changed the boilie on the carp rod to no avail and was just thinking about packing up when the float disappeared. I struck and there was something bigger than a small rudd as it was pulling hard. I gently applied pressure and brought it to the surface where my worst fears were confirmed, It was an eel! Now I know that eels are amazing fish that travel across the Atlantic and are now an endangered species (not around here though!) but I don’t like catching them. They twist and turn so that you can’t get hold of them and invariably in their greed they swallow the bait and the hook and you have no chance of getting it out. This eel had done exactly that and so I cut the line and let him go free. That was it, time to go home.

So, a decent session where I proved that fish were still alive in the lake and seemed to be thriving. What about the chair? Well that was OK, it didn’t collapse on me and was comfortable enough, not too comfortable that I would fall asleep but OK to sit on for a day’s session. To be honest once I was fishing I forgot about the chair and concentrated on what I was doing so in some respects it wouldn’t have mattered what chair I had bought!

Anyway, I got to thinking about the lake and wondering how it was doing and so I took the Missus out for a walk one evening and we had a look round. I took some floating pellets to see if we could attract any carp to the surface. The first swim we looked in there were several carp lurking and they made short work of the pellets. We walked around the lake and I saw several signs of fish, bubbles, swirls and a couple more carp and so I decided to come back the next day.

It was later than I had wanted the next morning due to having to run several errands so it was nearly ten by the time I arrived. I parked the car next to the lake and quietly made my way to the first swim and saw a couple of fish just under the surface next to the bank. I fetched my stalking rod which at eight foot just fits into my car already made up along with a landing net and mat and put a piece of bread crust on the hook and I was off! I threw out some pellets to get the fish feeding and then lowered the hook onto the water. After a few seconds a fish took the bread and left the hook so I re-baited and tried again. This time he took the bait and the hook and I was in! The fish didn’t put up much of a fight and was soon in the net. I had left my scales in the car but it seemed a good high single / low doubles fish and seemed in good condition. I carefully put him back and decided to take a walk around the lake and see if I can could catch some more. This time I used a pop up boilie as bait but couldn’t get the fish interested so went back to the car and got out the gear I needed to set up in the swim next to it.

I put the carp rod out with a method feeder and white pop – up boilie and then set up my float rod. I mixed up some groundbait and sat down in my new chair ready to fish. On my first cast the float went under and I was into a little rudd which fought more than the carp size for size! I went on catching rudd and roach for a while but nothing on the carp rod, the buzzer stayed obstinately silent. After an hour of fun I decided to change over to my ledger rod which has still got a swing tip attached to see if I could get a bigger fish off the bottom. I continued using red and white maggots and although the tip was shaking a bit it never developed into a bite. I tried elsewhere in the lake but still with no luck. By now it was lunchtime and as it was quiet I thought that I would get my sandwiches out. This tactic sometimes catches a fish and I was halfway through my lunch when the buzzer went off and I was into a fish. It didn’t feel like a carp though and that is because it wasn’t, it was a bream! He came to the net quite easily on my carp tackle and I soon had him on the mat where I could see from the mark on his back that he had had an encounter with a cormorant or something sometime in his life! A quick photo and I weighed him in at 3lb exactly before putting him back. The rod went back out and I was able to finish my lunch in peace.

After lunch I decided that I was bored and got the float rod out again! I soon started catching rudd and roach until the float dipped and a fish jumped a few feet away! I reeled in and there was another bream, slightly smaller than the first one but just as lively, in fact while I was attempting to take his photo he flipped himself off the mat and back into the water!

Then it was quiet for a while, I changed the boilie on the carp rod to no avail and was just thinking about packing up when the float disappeared. I struck and there was something bigger than a small rudd as it was pulling hard. I gently applied pressure and brought it to the surface where my worst fears were confirmed, It was an eel! Now I know that eels are amazing fish that travel across the Atlantic and are now an endangered species (not around here though!) but I don’t like catching them. They twist and turn so that you can’t get hold of them and invariably in their greed they swallow the bait and the hook and you have no chance of getting it out. This eel had done exactly that and so I cut the line and let him go free. That was it, time to go home.

So, a decent session where I proved that fish were still alive in the lake and seemed to be thriving. What about the chair? Well that was OK, it didn’t collapse on me and was comfortable enough, not too comfortable that I would fall asleep but OK to sit on for a day’s session. To be honest once I was fishing I forgot about the chair and concentrated on what I was doing so in some respects it wouldn’t have mattered what chair I had bought!