DH FISHING |
I'd mentioned in my last blog that I had planned a fair bit of bank time in October. My thought process pointed towards the hope that the old Club Lake Carp would be having it, taking on their reserves for the coming winter and just maybe the elusive individuals that had evaded me so far might just trip up! As the time drew nearer, the anticipation rose and the prep began, stocking up on bits and bobs needed for a couple of 72hr+ stints on the bank. I'd decided they were getting the bait, with plenty of particle purchased and the freezer stocked up with Boilies. The 5 days up to the off, i was rubbing my hands with intent, as a big southwesterly system was flying through, with low pressure - conditions couldn't have been any better! Only if it had stayed that is!! As if by some sheer coincidence, as the Thursday came, the weather had done a mega 'u-turn', with the super Carpy conditions being replaced by what was to be frank, utter garbage..... High Pressure and North-North Easterlies. Still, i soldiered on regardless, hoping the fish wouldn't be put off too much by the change in weather and i arrived at the lake on the Thursday afternoon. I'd turned up with a right arsenal to be fair, armed with over 15kg of particle and the best part of 10kg's in boilies. Getting it all there was a bit of a slog though and set about getting comfy whilst deciding on my methods of attack. For the first night, i decided to go relatively softly, going boilie only on one area and just a few spods with a bit more boilie over the other. I'd decided once again to mix the KSC & VNF Food Source Baits from Xcel, as with the latter being more suited to the cooler months, now was the time to start introducing it in a slightly higher quantity. Despite a ridiculous amount of activity in my swim during the following morning, i hadn't managed a fish, which left me bemused, considering the amount of liners i'd had! Although as i later discovered, after losing patience, a wind in revealed my rig had become festooned in weed, however it had definitely not been picked up by a fish. The bead which would have pulled tight in the event of a pick up had remained unmoved, so i could only have put it down to me not being presented!! By Friday afternoon i'd got plenty of fish milling around infront of me, but still nothing to show for it, despite bubbling on the spots. I stuck to my guns though and applied a little more bait ahead of the second night. I woke to a moody dawn the following morning, after brief spells of sleep punctuated by more liners signalling fish visiting the baited areas, but it was clear by now something wasn't right. Had i put too much particle in? Were they not really taking the Fishmeal baits in Gusto? (I was using these as hookbaits). I guess i could have speculated all day, but as morning gave way to afternoon, i rung the changes, going more blatant in my approach. I decided to deploy the VNF Food Source bait, with 14mm pop ups on Hinged Stiff Rigs. This was a complete u-turn bait wise from what the KSC offers, in that the VNF is a milk protein bait and with its lighter colour is without doubt easier for the fish to pick out sight wise. Well, what happened next could have been an enormous fluke, but around 20 minutes after, the right hand rod tore off, with a powerful Carp on the end, which actually flat rodded me on a tight clutch as i played hardball keeping it out of the weed. When i caught a glimpse i knew which fish it was. A magnificent old Yorkshire warrior that i had already caught earlier in the season... But with it being one of the biggest fish in the lake, i concentrated fully on getting her safely in the folds of the landing net! Following a bit of cat and mouse with my other line doing the over and under routine, the fish suddenly stopped dead and gave up as it had a small ball of weed covering its head.... and it was game over!! To catch this fish once in a season was more than enough for me, but to bag it again left me well and truly elated and at this point i must thank Steve Chapman for coming down to help me out with a few pictures, which turned out top quality. Definitely wouldn't have got them on my own! For the record the old Mirror was 8ozs down on my previous encounter, but the number didn't really matter as the 24lb 10ozs revealed on the scales was largely irrelevant. After slipping the old beast back, i wasn't too fussed if nothing else came along, but settled in for the night with the attitude that any more would be a bonus. Well, the same rig and spot produced again in the early hours with a nice upper double Common, but that was to be my lot before a morning pack up and re-fuel in anticipation of my second session to come. Before i left the lake, i baited several spots with both particle and boilie and when i arrived back at the lake 24hrs later, the fact it hadn't been eaten filled me with dread to be honest, plus there were barely any fish visible at all! The lake seemed completely dead. So i held off with the bait, freshening up the spots i was actually fishing with light scatterings, but i fished for two days with hardly a bleep, long story short. Maybe i'd got it completely wrong with the big bait tactic, but you live and learn i guess!! I sat scratching my head to a degree, but got in to the thought that they would have to feed at some point, so put a little particle on the spots and a bit more boilie to try and finally draw them down. I wasn't convinced they weren't eating it beforehand though, despite the evidence to suggest they simply weren't feeding on the baited areas that i could see. Maybe blatant was the answer? So i opted to do the night with KSC Fluoro's on both rigs to see what transpired and at around 9pm they started showing in numbers and then things paid off as the left hand rod out in deeper water registered a take in the early hours, with Yellow doing the damage. This old Warrior was one i had been pursuing all year and had not yet caught, so i was well pleased to be rewarded with this one. Furthermore, i recieved another take before dawn, same rod too, only for it come off due to my chod filament failing at the hook!! Put it down to bad luck though as the product in question, Fox Trans-Khaki Rigidity in 25lb had served me well all year. In to the final night i kept a little bait going in but decided to hold off with most of what i had left for when i went home, so they were left with free grub to feed on. Again the fish showed once more that evening and i was confident of another, this time pink fluoro's were on the rigs and thankfully the same rod went yet again, with a cracking fish known as the Torpedo Lin on the other end.... Very Welcome despite it being a recapture! So, i left the lake satisfied to a degree, with four fish under my belt altogether during my 'holiday' and i left the spots well primed. Three were re-captures, but i suppose it will be a common scene until the ones i want trip up. I didn't anticipate getting back for a while, but as luck would have it, work was on my side and i had 48hrs off the following Wednesday, so i eyed that for a return. As it came around, i toned down the bait considerably, taking 4-5kg of particle and just a couple of boilie, again with the intention to bait with at least 50% of it when i came away from the lake again. On arrival, all of last weeks bait had gone.... a welcome sight as i now knew they'd got their heads down properly in my absence and i was confident of another fish. As it had produced, i stuck with the Fluoro approach and it yielded again the following morning, with a lovely mid-double Linear, which although not the biggest fish, was one i had not yet caught and did actually want to catch. I stuck it out for a few more hours after, but that's a wrap for October and from here on in it's not going to get any easier.... But, with these milder conditions still lingering on, maybe there's time for one or two more just yet, before Autumn gives way to winter. Just a couple off 40 fish for the season, but we'll have to see..... Would be nice to get over that milestone for me personally.
In the meantime though, thanks for reading and Tight lines, Dan
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