Pleasant Surprises

The short session last Sunday on the local lake with my 2 mates had fired something up inside me. As I have described before in this blog, when I was in my early teens I used to spend every spare moment over the lake on the estate where my mother lives, float fishing bread for roach. I used to keep the rod made up in garage to grab at short notice, and always made sure there was enough bread in the house for me to pinch, but leave enough for the breakfast toast. And I've now found myself in a similar situation. It's a bit difficult as I have now moved away from my mothers, but this Tuesday I was back there as I had the dentist in the morning. I arrived back from the dentist at around half 10, and I had 3 hours to kill before I had to get off to work. It wasn't exactly a hard decision.

A corner of the lake on 'Castle View' Estate

As soon as I arrived back from the dentist, I went off into the shed to make up a rod. I grabbed my brothers 12ft Garbolino squad combo rod (as my rods were at the house where I live) and my Diawa exceler reel. I then slid on a 3BB waggler (although I used No4 and No6 shots to shot it down) straight through to a size 12 hook. Now this does sound quite a heavy outfit for roach fishing, I actually gave a little cringe as I typed it, but these fish see very little angling pressure, so as such are not tackle shy. There's also the slight possibility of catching a carp too, so I wanted to make sure I would be able to land it if the opportunity arose. Once the rod was set up, I quickly made a bait box full of bread mash to use as a ground bait (by soaking 6 slices of bread in water, then mashing it with a fork and adding 2 teaspoons of sugar to help it bind) and made my way over to the lake.

There was quite ripple on the water, so I chose to fish an area of the lake that I've only wetted a line in once or twice. To my right was a reed bed that protruded about 6ft into the lake, and as the wind was coming across from this direction, it created a nice area of calm water in front, in which I could present my bread flake in the best possible way.
I kicked the swim off with 2 golf ball sized handfuls of the bread mash. My plan was to start off feeding light, and then increase the amount I fed if the fish were really switched onto it. It only took 5 minutes before the first roach hit the net. Not a big fish, maybe 6oz, but I was happy that the fish were there and willing to feed. So I slipped the roach back, and fed the swim some more.

An example of the roach in the lake from a previous trip


 

2 minutes later, another roach succumbed to the bread flake. I had a feeling this was going to be a good session. I slipped it back, fed a bit more and then recast the float into the swim. I didn't have to wait long for another bite to start developing, and after a bob here and a weave there, it eventually glided across the surface and slid under. I hit it and the rod instantly gave a better bend. The fish didn't power away, infact it didn't take any line, but it kept deep and wallowed around under the rod tip. I felt quite excited to find out what it was and lived in hope that it would be a sizeable roach. Alas, after 30 seconds the figure of a baby common carp broke the surface and was soon lying in my net. This was a pleasant surprise, as it was the first time I had caught a small carp from this lake. I felt chuffed as beans as I slipped the little carp back and was already considering this to be a successful session.

The small common carp

Although I was pleased to have caught the small carp, I did feel that this was a fluke and the numbers of such fish in the lake would be very low. Oh how I was proved wrong, when on the next cast I had another baby carp lying in the net, this time an immaculate little mirror!

Beautiful Little Mirror Carp

All in all, I finished my short session with a total of 9 roach and 3 small carp (I managed to land another small common). I'm always happy to be out fishing, but to catch something is always a bonus. I would of been happy with just catching the roach, but those 3 small carp really made my day. It gave me a satisfying feeling to know that the older carp in the lake were spawning, and that fry were surviving and thriving. As long as the council keep the lake clean and free from litter, the future is looking good for the fish of this lake.

Tight Lines,
A R Howorth

The best laid plans...

Irony

Ironically, my last blog post was all about planning my fishing trips and how the lack of planning could be your own downfall when it came to catching fish. Low and behold, the Tench session that I had meticulously planned had to be cancelled because of work commitments and I still haven't gotten round to visiting 'Watersmeet country inn'. With us now into the beginning of June, I think I will delay this trip to next year and focus more on the opening of the river season and the big summer carp that like to lurk in the warm margins.

All is not lost

Although my Tench session had been ruined before it began, a week or so later I did manage to get out onto the banks for an 8 hour session. I had work in the evening so a trip to my local commercial (only 10mins from the house) was in order. Mathern Mill is a simple fishery with 2 lakes, 1 predominant carp lake and another with mixed course species, both around 1 and a 1/4 acres in size. With a day ticket costing £7, it can make quite an enjoyable day out of the house.

My session

When I arrived at 7:30am, I was quite surprised to see a number of rods already on the water, but then remembering it to be half term, I could understand why. I decided to fish on the mixed course lake as I wasn't after catching anything in particular, just fishing for bites. I chose a swim with some nice marginal cover, and an island around 20 yards in front of me. It was a warm, clear sky day and already carp resembling submarines could be seen cruising inches under the surface. Now, with there being a ban on surface fishing on the lake, my first thought was to get out the pellet waggler gear, but unfortunately this had been left in my other tackle box at home. Even though I could see numerous fish up in the water, the lake was only around 4ft deep and I was convinced I could get them to feed on the bottom.
I made up a ledger rod (what I use as a sleeper rod) consisting of a lead clip set up and hair rigged halibut pellets, cast it out to within inches of the island and popped it into the bite alarm. I then proceeded to set up my usual commercial outfit, consisting of my John Wilson 12ft Msterline Avon rod, A Shakespeare Mach3 reel, with 6lb line straight through to a 3AA clear waggler and a size 12 hook.

Waggler fishing in the margins

Now at this point, I would love to be writing about how I had endless sail away bites on the float, describing the fights of the fish, what baits I caught on etc. but the fact is I had one solitary 4lbs common carp all day, caught on the ledgered halibut pellets. I can assure you though, it wasn't for lack of trying! I tried fishing short, I tried fishing long, I tried fishing up in the water, I tried fishing on the bottom, I tried big baits, I tried small baits, I just could not get the fish to feed! I don't think I was alone though, there was no one really bagging up that day. I've come to a few conclusions, the 2 most obvious are that the fish with the increased temperature were simply not interested in feeding and/or were getting ready to spawn.

The fish that saved me from a blank

With all that being said, It was nice just to be wetting a line again, and it was even nicer to avoid a blank. The one thing I did come away with however, is quite a nasty sunburn. By the end of the day I came back looking like a lobster, so if there is one lesson I have learnt, it is that I will now be carrying sun cream with me on all my future fishing trips!!

Side-note

If you have read my last post, you would have read about the local lake I used to visit on a whim to catch mainly roach, and if I was lucky the odd carp. Well, I hadn't fished there for at least 2 years, when this Sunday on the way back from a boozy weekend in Bristol, one of my mates said 'Do you fancy a few hours fishing down the lake when we get back"? Now he isn't really an angler, nor is my other mate who tagged along, but they like to come and watch me fish just to be outdoors relaxing, so that is what we did. It was only a 3 hour session, and even though the stick float I had set up was bobbing from start to finish we only caught 2 roach, it was one of my most pleasurable sessions. It dawned on me, I was sat outside in the fresh air, with 2 of my best mates, sharing funny stories from our weekend away, with a rod in my hand, watching a float dance and weave across the surface and eventually getting a roach in my hands, that this is why I love fishing so much.

 

 

Rutilus rutilus

 

What next?

Well, with the rivers opening again in 13 days, it seems inevitable that over the next month a few tales from the river will appear in my blog. I'm hoping it will be as close to June16th as work allows, but failing that, my father is coming home from Dubai for 2 weeks on the 13th and has booked a few days away in a cottage on the Hampshire Avon. 1.5mile stretch with exclusive use! To say I'm excited is an understatement, so fingers crossed you'll soon be reading about our successes there!
Until then, Tight Lines,

A R Howorth