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