DH FISHING |
With it being over 3 weeks since my last outing, with the moons aligning and the green light for a weekend session, i was raring to go this Friday! It was all meticulously planned out, but you know what they say about best laid plans!!! Came home from work on Friday night, to sort the gear, with the aim to be on the way to the lake by 5pm, soon to discover my barrow tyre felt a little flat.... Me being me, i thought i would be ok as it didn't feel too bad on the drive fully laden, but i didn't anticipate the difference mud and grass would make once i embarked on what was soon to become a ridiculous journey down to the lake! As i struggled through the worst of the mud, it became clear it was going to take me some time to get to the lake and what would usually be a 10 minute walk was going to much longer. A bad situation then became worse as the heavens opened and i then lost my footing in the mud, went flying, as did my barrow. So now my gear was covered in mud, i was covered in mud and getting increasingly more wet by the second. Anyway, after much cursing and getting my breath back i carried on bit by bit and about 45 minutes later actually got down to the lake and although i was absolutely drenched and sweating cobs, i'd managed to keep the vitals relatively dry, so set up camp before getting the rods out. Settled down with some supper hoping the night would reward me for my efforts and despite constant liners, nothing materialised. With fish patrolling the margins, after some breakfast, the following morning i decided to try a bait close in, see if it produced, but as usual the Carp were again ignoring it. In to the second night, i rung the changes, going to a VNF bottom bait on the deeper water spot and a 16mm VNF Pop up for the night in the edge. As soon as it began to drop dark, the liners started again up until 9pm, then all went quiet and i went the rest of the night without a bleep, although calamity number two struck in the meantime as my bedchair decided to snap on some of the wealdings! After bit of messing about in the early hours under the brolly, the only way to salvage any form of sleep was to prop the bedchair up with two buckets, which worked relatively well. Disaster averted, in a fashion and i woke to a beautiful dawn, quickly concluding things looked good for a fish off the top, so smashed the mandatory bacon sarny, packed most of the gear down and off i went stalking, with a 16mm VNF Pop up side hooked on a size 8 Chod hook the line of attack once again. After three attempted takes, where the fish just missed the bait, i moved back in to the spot that produced last time and after about 45 minutes a fish approached and took the bait on its second attempt. Bit of a heart in mouth moment as everything went lifeless, mid fight and a ball of weed rose from the depths, but a scoop with the net soon revealed there was a Carp in there, as it proceeded to go nuts. knowing it was all game over! I was well chuffed with the last one, but to be frank had i blanked on this session after all the chaos i'd have been pretty irritated to say the least, so this one was more than welcome at an ounce under 17lb!
Things probably looked good for another fish, but i had to get off home, so the session was salvaged just in time.... Now, better get looking for a new bedchair and barrow tyre - If anyone recommends a very strong bedchair that will take 25st without breaking, hit me up on facebook. Not looking to spend too much really, so Nash Indulgences etc are out of the question. Tight lines, Dan
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Well, it's been a very difficult couple of months on the angling front for me, with several sessions proving unproductive. More recently at least, the Carp have begun to show signs that they might just begin to be co-operative and despite blanking again on Monday, i was back at them again today. Got down to the lake for first light and decided to continue plugging away in the area that i had been in up to date and with three shows as i was setting up, i felt relatively confident (Although i am rapidly realising good signs on this lake can be inconclusive). By late morning, the fish i had seen had drifted elsewhere, so i decided to wind in and go look for them and within 15 minutes i was on the move, as the Carp were indeed otherwise located. Sensing an opportunity to possibly stalk a fish from the edge i lowered both rigs in off the edge of some silkweed on to slightly cleaner bottom, baited with some whole and chopped Xcel Baits KSC and then sat back and watched. A few hours went by and the occasional fish had sensed the presence of the bait, but they weren't really willing to have a prolonged feed. To my surprise, i'd been seeing the odd fish taking what i assume to be flies off the surface, so i decided to try and make the best of a bad situation and kept firing out a couple of Xcel Xcelerate wafters. These were soon singled out and eaten by the fish, so i gave trying to get one off the deck up as a bad job at this point and tied up a hooklength to freeline an 16mm Xcel VNF pop up. I'd be fishing the bait on a Sz.8 PB Choddy hook, tied on with the ever trusty palomar, to a length of Korda Kruiser Kontrol in 12lb. Once i'd got sorted i realised the fish were slightly out of casting range, so had to move to the swim next door in order to get the bait in the 'zone'. Within two minutes of getting the bait in the right area, a fish approached, tentatively took the bait and i was in - Certainly not what you'd expect in the middle of March, but i'll take it! With this being my first Carp in over 5 months owing to my broken leg and what have you, i was understandably nervous as i watched the fish twisting and turning in the clear water. But soon, after a steady fight, she was in the net - talk about relief! A quick weigh revealed 17lb 10ozs, but when they look like this fish, it really is just a number! Here's hoping this one is the first of a few nice fish this year.
Tight lines, Dan Zig fishing was something i knew i was going to have to get to grips with over this winter, having not really needing to use them beforehand.
On my last outing, i noticed that the Carp were well up in the water, occupying the upper 2-3ft, in anything between 10-15ft of water, which considering the recent wintry weather we'd been having came as bit of a surprise to me. I had been told they have this strange habit though, so now i've seen it to believe it, i'm having to adapt my approach. So yesterday i went in with a zig from the off on one rod, having again seen fish in the same areas as on the previous session. Offering an Xcel Baits Scopex & Blackcurrant pop up, trimmed down a little i was hopeful of a take, but long story short it didn't come, with nothing to my VNF pop up presented over bait on the bottom either! It's becoming apparant, at least one of the factors at my end isn't right. Be it tackle, bait colour or where i'm fishing the bait in the water column. My bait has been bang slap in the kill zone, so something has to give! After chatting with a few angling buddies, i'll be refining things slightly on my next session. I feel i've been fishing my bait too far below the surface, so it will be a longer zig to start with, on a lighter hooklink. I had been using 12lb Korda Krusier Control, but in retrospect, it could be a little too blatant, so will be trying something slightly lighter. Going to stick with the size 8 PB Choddy hooks for now, as i feel it is more likely to be the previous factors that may be stopping me getting a bite. It's a shame a fish hasn't put in an appearance yet, but as with the one i managed before i broke my leg, i feel it's just a matter of time and homing in on the right combination - which hopefully will be sooner rather than later! Tight lines, Dan. Well, it had been the best part of 12 weeks since i last stepped foot out on my 'Unfinished Business' campaign, owing to breaking my leg and the desire to re-visit the scene of my 'little accident' was beginning to get the better of me.
A culmination of not feeling up to it and weather has held me back in the past fortnight and after this weeks plummet in temperatures, it looked set to hold me back again. However thanks to a quick reccy from a good mate, i recieved the news i wanted to hear.... the lake had no lid. So off i trundled this morning, knowing that with a good 6-8" of Ice cold extra water in, i would be up against it. I went in fishing on the bottom to begin with. One rod on an Xcel Baits Yellow Banoffee Fluoro and the other on a VNF pop up, both with 20 or so VNF 16mm Freezer bait over the top. For the first hour and a half i sat and watched the water for signs of life and not long after the rods were out a fish had crashed out, which was good to see. A short while after, the ripple on the lake suddenly ebbed and revealed all i needed to know. There were Carp everywhere infront of me, but i couldn't see them beforehand due to the sun still being low in the sky. All moving very lethargically about 2-3ft under the surface. I found myself in a bit of a conundrum, as a didn't want to wind in and spook them by doing the sensible thing and whacking a zig out.... but in the end i gave in and did it anyway, with an White Xcelerate Fluoro pop up my choice of bait. I opted to leave the VNF rod alone and did my best to get the zig out in the area without spooking the fish. Although they did drift out of the area for a bit, they did come back so i was hopeful of a take. Long and short, i watched numerous fish ignore the zig time and time again and when 2 fish slowly mooched over a baited patch in the margin without so much as a hint of a pause, i felt they simply weren't interest in a feed so i decided to call it a day. Nice to be back out though after them, despite the lack of fish on the bank. Having a dabble on a stretch of Canal next weekend for silverfish, which i'll write a blog on, so look out for that. Tight lines, Dan. |