Well, it went down to the final session of the close season on Lake 61, spawning seemed imminent so the session was expected to be possibly cut short.
Week after week all around me 30's were being caught by it seemed anyone who remotely waved a rod in the general direction of the lake, well done to all of them.
Yet my sessions continued to regularly produce multiple catches, including 2 hits of 10 carp, with over 50 fish caught this close season mainly consisting of a few high upper doubles and mainly low to mid 20's, with a good selection of upper 20's mixed in to include 2 x 28's and 2 more 29's which took my tally of 29's from the lake to 6.
So on this final session my son Danny and I arrived at 5am on the Thursday morning, we walked round the lake twice, watching the water yet few signs of the carps whereabouts were to be seen. It seemed strangely quiet.
There was a stale South westerly wind blowing towards the Road Bank and I knew of the good catches from here and from the High Bank Bay area over the last few days to include a 32lb less than 12 hours before we arrived.
So this recent form, and the location of all the anglers already on the lake in this area should have seen us also fish this end of the lake. This close season most of the big fish had came out from this end of the lake.
Yet my thinking of this stale wind which was forecast to continue for the next few days, the recent angling pressure in this area of the lake, the imminent arrival of the weekend anglers who often tend to favour this area as its less of a walk, and the fact that no other anglers had made the long hike elsewhere saw me and Danny head in the complete opposite direction to the
far side of the Lake. My main reason was purely a gut feeling, that's where we should be and that's all there was to it.
Danny chose peg 18 which had produced well for us both over the last 12 months, a 16 fish result for us to include
Danny's PB 31lb common last August Bank Holiday, in March I had 6 fish in 12 hours from this peg in very cold conditions to include my PB Mirror at 27lb 12oz and my 4th 29lb common, and 2 weeks ago I managed a 10 fish catch which produced me my 6th 29lb common.
Danny was soon set up and snug in his bivvy and he had cast pva bags out to the known marks. I chose Peg 17 to his left as this offered me lots of open water to chose from should fish start to show out at distance, my rods were cast out with pva bags 1 at 80 yards and 1 slightly left at a 20 yard mark. Danny was using Cotswold Baits T2's in 14mm while I continued to use the 10mm which had done so well for me over recent months. We had both decided to keep things quiet and minimal in the hope of not disturbing any fish that might either already be in the area or were slowly heading in this direction.
After 4 hours of watching the water and few signs of fish, I found myself pacing the bank and clearly not confident of my choice of swim 17. Swim 19 to
Danny's right was available yet would surely be taken in the next 24 hours, 19 is the last swim on this bank where the lake then forms a small bay, it offers good marginal and stalking options, though constant casting pressure from anglers in pegs 22 further to the right and from peg 24 the opposite side of this small bay would see any resident fish exit the bay faster than the AC Milan supporters after the Champions League Final. I had to make a decision and fast. Where are those gut feelings when you need them?
Down came the rain, a short heavy storm which seemed to spur a few fish to break surface and give away there whereabouts, this was enough to decide my move into Peg 19 as quickly and quietly as possible. Both rods were flicked out less than 20 yards again with very small thumbnail sized pva bags.
The next 2 hours passed quickly and I was surprised I hadn't had a run. Danny had been out a few times as the
tench were definitely in a playful mood. I decided it was time to set my stall for the night so put out 10 spods of mixed pellet, crushed and whole T2 boilies to a gravel patch about 25 yards to 1 rod, this was just behind an area of deep silt. The other rod was cast along my right hand margin as tight as the trees allowed, a piece of pop up foam then helped me move down the bank and accurately catapult half a kilo of 10mm T2's around the hookbait. Job done.
"Danny!! leave the tench alone and get the frying pan out, we've got peppered steaks for tea and a container of Mums mixed pasta salad" I also managed to squeeze in a 3 litre carton of red wine (spread over 3 nights remember) sorted.
Half past midnight, and I have a common of 28lb 10oz, then at 5am another at 26lb 12oz both from the spodded area, this is a fresh development as lately the carp seem to have been avoiding any beds of bait so I am pleased with this.
A few tench escaped from Danny's swim and found there way into mine and were promptly returned ceremoniously with full military honours. The rest of the day saw dozens of carp sunbathing and me chasing them round with the same skills and finesse as a young grizzly bear cub attending its first ever salmon run. Kept me busy if nothing else.
Danny continued to play with the tench.
Phil from Cotswold Baits visited and offered me the chance to join his team as a Tester/Helper which I was delighted to except, and he witnessed the start of a spectacular heavy summer downpour which it seemed that every carp in the lake came to the top and boshed out to enjoy it. At 1 time I counted 6 heads up out of the water all at the same time, words could never describe the scene and I have no idea as to why the fish reacted in this way. It was one of the best hours I have ever spent on the lake.
The evening and night was quiet, even the tench seemed worn out and had finally gone to sleep. Saturday morning and I was up at first light, 5ish anyway, the sun was up and the glare was bright, and hours and hours of watching the water for any signs of fish soon had me cross-eyed and dizzy, day dreaming and hallucinations soon set in, Cameron Diaz called by the bivvy and asked if i wanted any company, I declined the offer. Instead I wandered down the margin and sat in the greenery and yes, feed bubbles, strong healthy feed bubbles, in fact it looked like a
Jacuzzi in tight to the reeds. Within 15 minutes I had moved my pod and had 2 rods out. One cast to the reeds the
far side of the small bay where fish were now showing regularly, again with a small bag and a 10mm T2 boilie, the other was a single grain of yellow plastic underarm flicked along the reed bed and surrounded by half a tin of Green Giant hand thrown around the hookbait. The lines were spooled out to be as slack and flat to the lake bed as possible, the bobbins laid down on the bank in the long grass and foliage. Less than 20 minutes and the right hand margin rod saw the slack line slowly pick up to eventually raise the bobbin and yes, a magnificent effort from a long, thin, sleek, mean, toned and honed carp who was convinced he was a tuna from a past life, 18lbs of muscle and I admit to my arm aching after a memorable fight, great fun in the afternoon sun.
Steve had arrived into swim 17 earlier that day and wandered down the bank in time to witness a larger carp roll and bosh virtually 10 yards out during the fight with the 18lber, seemingly attracted to the fuss and commotion in the area. My right hand plastic rod was again dropped back down the same margin, a few more handfuls of corn was added to the hookbait area, and my other rod was pulled back from the far margin and
re baited with a fresh 10mm T2 and my favourite thumbnail sized pva bag, and dropped out the 10 yards to where the bigger fish had just shown.
So I'm sat there, elbows on my knees, head in my hands sun beating down, fish showing well in the bay area all around me, the clock is ticking, its the last Saturday of the close season, I have heard many stories of how John Rose had left his swim in search of fish, and stalked 5 x 30's during this very close season from the margins, Carpynik had shown us how it should be done with his 5 x 30's, yet my first concentrated attempt at stalking has landed me a spirited upper double, hmmmmmm maybe its just not meant to be, maybe I should reach for the carton of wine, or maybe I should grab this rod that has just screamed off and almost burst my eardrums with the high pitched one toner, its heavier, yet its fighting much harder than I remember any of my 29lbers, so my first impression its at best a mid 20, after a good 10 minutes in the margin rod also screams off, with no snags in the lake
Im happy to turn the alarm off and let it run, Danny soon arrives to grab the rod though the fish has come off by now.
It seems like 20 minutes has past since I first leant into this fish, it must be a female, its stubborn and has a mind of its own, its stayed very deep and took some persuasion and fought well taking 3 attempts to net it. At first glance I guessed it to be an upper 20, more than likely 20lber no 7, but for once the scales pulled that bit further to 30lb 5oz, which was 5oz enough for me to be certain it was my first 30.
Danny eventually got fed up with the tench, the next day as we were slowly packing he managed a nice 24lb common.
Gut feelings can work out, I was in the right place this time, maybe not the next time, that's fishing.
Great, job done, now onto the next 30 soon hopefully.
Ian
