More Like It

Tuesday afternoon saw me calling in on my local water after work. A brief walk round and I discovered the wind swirling about and the temperature decidedly on the chilly side. After talking to one of the guys I found out that there had been 5 sets of rods on the water ll day and only a single bream caught, my confidence slipped lower. I managed to find a more sheltered corner and got my rods out, one down each margin and one straight out around 25 yards. As usual I used DNA S7 boilies on simple hair rigs and semi fixed leads. about an hour and a half into the session 2 of the resident young rods on the water had stopped off to have a chat when my middle rod set off on a run that must rank as one of the fastest runs I've ever seen. After a strong determined fight a mirror of 17lb 5oz slipped into the net.

I always had the feeling another fish was on the cards and I tried a few changes to bring me an extra fish, pop ups and snowman but as usual it was a plain old bottom bait (tipped with fake corn) that brought me second run. Another mirror of 19lb 2oz in the net made me feel that my season was finally off the mark.

Little Thief

I returned to my local water on Monday, my good friend Jay had had an 18lb common the previous week and several 20's had been out and I was keen to keep up. It was a perfect evening, warm and a light breeze blowing into my face and I was fairly confident. A resident blackbird is getting more and more bold and comes to nearly arms length to be fed pellet and broken boilies. Its always entertaining to watch him hopping about. I spent a few minutes tying a new rig and critically balancing a bait, turned around to put some bits away and turned back to see that bloody bird running off with my newly tied rig! Since we started carping the decision to recast or not recast has always played heavily on my fishing mind. A good friend of mine advocates recasting often as your rig my be tangled or hung up on some debris and he does very well. Another mate advocates trusting your rig is correctly presented and leaving it for a long time and he does equally as well. Me? I just fret! Anyway the finally result of my evening session was carp 1 - me 0.

Plan B

Isn't it funny how things change over time? Its a constant reminder that things, good and bad, are only temporary and you should never view anything as permanent. There is a reservoir on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors that started out as a strict trout venue and was vigorously enforced with worm and fly fishing being the only method. We fished Scaling Dam as kids but the rising prices and the discovery of carp on our doorstep soon pushed the venue from our minds. Fast forward 30 years and I was back at the weekend just for a walk around with the dog and my eldest daughter and oh how the place has changed. Firstly the strict worm and fly rule seems to be long gone and it now appears to be the wild west as far as tactics and baits go and secondly the fact that coarse fish have started appearing. Among those coarse fish are pike and they'll be loving the roach that are exploding in population. I'm not sure yet of the numbers of pike or the size but Jay and myself will be looking at a session there after the summer as an alternative (a plan b .... I think this through you know!) to piking on the rivers. Day tickets are available on site, £12.00 for 2 rods, sea deadbaits and lures and its open until the end of november.

Kick Off

I managed to get my first over night session in last night. I was in search of carp at my usual venue but less than confident with the cold foggy weather we were forecast on the north east coast, they say its grim up north and they'd be right. Its been hotter than the Mediterranean everywhere except here! I was set up and cast out by about 6pm and managed to get a hot meal prepared and a cup of tea made before the dark added to the fog. I was fishing slack lines to try and keep them on the bottom so it was completely without warning when the baitrunner screamed into action. A short and disappointing fight saw a 14lb 6oz common slide into the net. As you can see from the photos the fog made taking pictures in the dark more than a chalenge for young Jack. Whilst taking the photos one of the other guys alarms sounded and it looked like shaping up to be a busy night, by the following afternoon it was apparent that looks can be very deceiving. One fact that was blindingly is that I carry far too much gear.