Back to the ressy, I arrived at about 5pm to find the place deserted, it was flat calm and cold, about 3 degC apparently though isn't that kind of temperature starting to feel normal now? There was some very slight surface disturbance out where i've been trickling a bit of bait in but it was impossible to say what it was.
I wanted to get a bait out to that area obviously but I really didn't feel like staring into the wall of grass bank and so I set up a bit closer to the car park and walked a rod around to the swim I started in last week to cast it to the mark. A very slight easterly picked up as I was getting the rods sorted out, it was blowing straight into my face and I hoped that it wouldn't pick up too much, not nice at all. The middle rod went out to the right area followed by about 30 boilies and I walked it back the hundred or so yard to the swim and carefully tightened the great big bow out of the line, the right hander was cast from the swim and a touch further out and right of the last one while the left hand rod was dropped short at 35 yards odd onto an area that was always good for a winter bite years ago but that I rarely fish nowadays.
A change of scenery
What no hill? Well maybe a little bump but at least I can see the rods this time
The weather has been horrible during the afternoon, I had a bit of work on at last and though it was fairly pleasant when I left home by the time I got on site it was hammering it down with sleet and didn't stop for three hours, mission aborted!
The grand total for this place so far this year to all anglers is six fish landed and a couple lost, all of the last five bites have come between seven and ten am and the only one at night was a mid double I had about three weeks ago, the weather doesn't look wonderful for work in the morning and so i'm planning on stopping till ten to cover that period.
6.40pm - Its gone a bit murky now but compared to last week its bloody lovely!
8.20pm - Its started to drizzle again and the sodding battery has just died on the phone after a marathon gassing session with Wally and another mate
9.20pm - Well that was an eventful little spell! Isn't it weird how time goes so slowly when you're waiting and then disapears in a flash when its all happening. At 8.35 the middle rod absolutely belted off, no warning bleep and certainly no doubt of what it was, all was going swimmingly and then the flaming hook pulled after a minute or so, after calling myself every name under the sun I clipped a new rig and two bait stringer on and got it straight back out, I then wound in the left hander with the intention of getting that near to the same spot, a bite's all the nudging I need at this time of year to concentrate on an area, i'd just tied a stringer on to that rig and the right hander tightened up and then dropped right back, thankfully I didn't manage to cock that one up and a very well behaved 21lber was soon in the net where I left it for a minute or two while I got that other rod back out to replace it, casting into increasing mist which meant I couldn't see my far bank markers at all and just had to judge it by angle.
Photo's sorted and the remaining rod back out without any hassle and with that the feeding was over
You've got to love them in their winter colours haven't you
6.40am - Got up and re-cast all rods just on dawn, nothing happened at all over night
9.15 am - Just had two liners on the left hander
9.25am - And another liner
10am - That's it, I can't wait any longer i've got to scoot, i'm sure they have had a little feed this last hour due to those liners, its no coincidence that they occurred when the bites have been happening but it wasn't to be
Rob,
ReplyDeleteThat's a stunner, such a clean young looking fish. Catch that in another 10 years time?
Hello Richard
ReplyDeleteThey are nice looking fish in there, a bit deceptive though as they were stocked somewhere around the late 70's and in general haven't been growing for a good while, its quite a heavily stocked water carp wise plus there's a lot of other species competing for food. I actually carp my first carp from there in 1989 and I dropped my ticket at the end of the season these diary entries relate to so its nice to kind of cap it off like this.