At last!

I errr decided work could do without me again and snook off to my local hole in the ground. I arrived on a hot and sunny afternoon and to think themissus predicted rain.....never.
I set up my carp rods and and looked around for where to drop them, as the weed has all been killed it seemed a bit pot luck. I cast one short and to my right so it was somewhere near the bottom of the slope and the other went out in front of me about a third of the way accross. Before attaching the baited rig I cast out, clipped up and checked there was no weed. I then wound in, baited up and cast both rods. It occurred to me that none of my replacement gear had been tested and wondered how it would stand up.
Next I set up my waggler rod as a bit of entertainment fishing a single maggot on a size 16. I'd put a couple of roach, skimmers and small perch when the heavens opened and a thunder storm errupted. I have to addmit that I havent seen rain that heavy or sustained in a long long time but to its crepit my Conquest waterproofs kept me comfy and dry even when stood in the heaviest downpour dealing with a troublesome bream.
Once the rain had passed I swapped the size 16 for a size 12 and swapped the maggot for a prawn. Within a few minutes the float slid away and a perch about 6 oz came to the net. A few minutes later and the float went away again and this time the fish went off on a spirited fight going through my carp lines and still managed to stay on. I was relieved to say the least to slip the net under a gnarly old warrior of a perch which pulled the scales around to 1lb 10oz my best by a fair margin.
A couple of bream about a pound took the prawn and with the sun heading rapidly for the horizon I decided it was about time to pack up.
Minutes later my nearest rod roared off and at last I was into a carp. It came in reasonably easy and decided to put up a spirited fight under the rod tip. With the complete absence of weed I was able to back the drag off and alow the tip and drag to do most of the work. It was about 10 minutes before I even saw the fish and was a definite releif when I lifted the net around it. A beautiful 16lb 1oz common was the perfect end to the short session.
My fox reels have come in for some raised eyebrows but the drag is exceptionally smooth with a really good line lay. I cant fault them.

Trent

I snook off early again a few weeks ago for an evening spell just above Long Eaton on the Trent. I chose the peg which blessed me with the bream last season and settled in with a single rod. Before tackling up I used my old Conoflex carp rod with a newly acquired GTE 6000B Baitrunner, you cant help loving those reels, with a bait dropper to load up a patch of river bed with hemp, pellet and corn loosely bound with pellet groundbait.
I let the swim rest for a bit while sorting my kit out then set to work........ yep not a touch all evening. Did I over feed the swim? Was the garlic infused hemp not right? Was it too cold (boy was it cold when the sun went down)or is it that the swim choice was wrong and the fish just weren't there or all of the above?
Anyway I'm already planning my next trip!