A warm welcome to this week’s blog update and I
would like to open this week’s blog update by talking about the emulsifying
branch of our sport that is carp fishing and my quest for one over 10lb. I am now around a month into this quest and I
am beginning to think that I have bit off more than I can chew by choosing such
a natural venue to target for my very first taste of carp fishing and maybe I
should have cut my teeth on waters with a higher stocking density.
I knew that carp fishing would mess around with
my head a bit but I dint think the demons would set in so fast, is nyt rig
tangled?? Have they eaten any of the bait?? If they haven’t am I fishing over a
100 boilies?? Are there any carp in this pool?? All these questions go round
and around in your head both when you are on the bank and while you are away
from it and thinking about this place, it does really get into your mind carp
fishing.
The time had come to stop sticking and start
twisting and questions needed to be answered, fortunately for me the most
important one was answered late on Friday evening when a local lad dropped into
my swim for a chat and confirmed, to my relief, that there are a good number of
carp in the pool peaking at 24lb with a good number of doubles and plenty of
smaller carp so really good news on that front.
I was at the time of his arrival around 5 hours into another blank on
the boilies and starting to think they were not going to be the way to go on
here and this hunch was confirmed by my visitor who informed me that boilies
are not the way to go and more natural baits perform better and as you will
read in the update later on this was confirmed the next day when I returned to
fish maggot and hit a carp.
This only leave two questions unanswered in is
my presentation ok and has the bait I have already put in been eaten, well, the
second of these I will just have to cross my fingers and set my mind set to the
fact the bait has been eaten and is all gone but still be a bit conservative
with my new baiting approach for the first few weeks on the new bait and the
first question will be worked on this weekend when we fish flushing meadows, I
will be solely fishing a one rod approach on the bite alarm for the carp given
the stocking density of this water it will let me know if my rigs are working
or not.
My hope is by the end of this week to be in a
situation where I have complete confidence in my rigs I am using in that they
work and catch fish to out my mind at ease when fishing Curlston Mere in the
future. It does leave me with a surplus
of boilies and I intend to spend some time on the local Warrington Anglers
waters like Moore Quarry and Grey mist mere when I have some free time of a
weekend.
This blog has always been a true and honest
representation of my angling life and will always be that way, the lows are
just as important as the highs in my opinion and to give a true idea of my
thoughts and actions then honesty is always the avenue I will go down.
The world of social media this week landed an
amazing video into my news feed and I have to say it took my breath away at
what this group of people fishing in America have managed to capture it surely
puts the pike on the Dee taking your dace as you bring them in into perspective
that’s for sure, people who follow the blog on Facebook will have already seen
this and for those not following the blog on Facebook take a look for
yourselves below:-
Blogs
Facebook Page:
Away from angling but still keeping “jaws” in
mind we visited the theatre this week to see the Lion King Musical at the
Palace Theatre and I have to say I was amazed by the production quality and
atmosphere created by this most magnificent of productions from start to finish
you are left gobsmacked by what is being created in front of you and their
representation of this classic film from our childhood. The end of the show and n ot a single bad
word could be heard from anyone with everyone you spoke to saying just how good
of a show it was, I think it is coming to the Liverpool Empire Theatre next
year and I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t seen it to go, you will not
regret it!! Unfortunately cameras were not allowed inside the theatre so I
couldn’t get any pictures for the blog.
On to this week’s fishing….
“The Early Bird
Catches The Roach”
Saturday morning and hunched in my armchair I
tentatively sipped a strong cup of coffee as tried to jump start my body into
action a job I had hoped would have been accomplished by the shock of a 4am
alarm clock going off in my ear but a few late lie ins since the river closed
had left my body well out of routine and like I craved the caffeine kick of the
dark cup of coffee my body craved the warmth of my bed.
The coffee finished I set about loading my car
for the fishing trip ahead, in the pitch dark I clumsily shuffled the gear into
the back of the car my body working on auto pilot. The past two weeks I had not left the house
till around 7am and arriving a few hours after sunrise I felt I was not only
missing out on the best time of day for fishing but the best time of day for
the soul.
The car loaded and I had no destination
dilemma’s this week as my mind was set on a session on Curlston mere for its
silver fish but unlike most weeks on the bank I was limited to just a morning
session. I set off on my way just as the
sun was beginning to illuminate the horizon with its ochre glow and I decided
to stop off on the way to capture the sun coming up over the River Mersey Eastury.
As you can see from the picture the overnight
skies had been clear and it meant we had been exposed to an overnight frost,
not good for fishing but created a beautiful moment as the sun caused the grass
to look like it had been bejewelled as the early morning rays gave the grass an
almost glistening effect. A quick few
snaps and I was back on my way to my chosen destination as I already felt late
but I had no one to blame but myself.
Arriving on the banks of the pool the sun was
already in full view and the water was reminiscent of a witches cauldron as the
steam rose from the water’s surface creating the an almost haunting atmosphere
and cutting through that mist was a badelynge of ducks and in true spring
fashion their numbers where heavy on the side of the drakes. Excited for the session ahead I hastily
unloaded the car and set up in a swim that allowed me to fish close in whilst
presenting a boilie bait for the carp on spot number one.
The overnight bone chilling frost was cutting
through my thick jumper and I was left regretting my decision to cut down a
layer of clothing for the spring months although I did still remain thankful I
had decided not to part with my Skee Tex thermal willies as they kept my feet
warm at least. The frost did come as a
real surprise to myself as I had been on this same place the previous evening
for the carp quest and had basked in glorious sunshine so I was left I no doubt
that this shock drop in temperature would affect the fishing quality.
The swim I chose, in Hein site, was a huge
mistake as it was situated in the last place to receive the warmth from the
sun’s rays due to the thick tree line to its rear but it is the only place I
can fish spot one from as all the other swims don’t give you the angle to stop
the fish from reaching the safety of the snags should I hook one that is. I went about my setting up routine which I
have to admit is so set in stone I am sure there is an air of OCD about
regimental agenda but eventually I was in a situation to make a start a deep
breath and I began to build the swim with 2 or 3 maggots every few minutes
always remembering the golden rule “you can never take out what you have put in
but you can put in more if their having it”.
My setup rig wise was simplicity itself
utilising some home-made polystyrene floats that take only two number eight
weights to make them cock perfectly this allows the bait to fall naturally and
also the fish feel no resistance when it picks up the bait, deadly for both
small and larger species of fish. The
rig already made before I set out I was fishing in no time and I expected to
wait a bit for my first bite due to the cold but before I could think twice the
poly ball shot under and my first fish of the day was ion the bank a small but
very welcome roach.
I waited what seemed an eternity for the next
bite to the point I felt it wasn’t going to happen and this was in my mind
purely down to the being in the cold shade as all along the far bank fish where
topping. In true fashion I missed the
next bite, was it the shock of the flat going under or was it that I am getting
older I pray it’s the penultimate one.
As I waited for the fish to move in I was treated to the unmistakable
calls and flight patterns of a pair of lapwings in the field in front of me,
their unusual call and their unmistakable plunging dives making them easy to
identify.
The sun eventually penetrated through the tree
branches and almost instantaneously the bites came and I managed to string together
a few more roach and again missed as many as I connected with. I was beginning to think the swim could
really come alive when I struck into something solid that certainly wasn’t a
fish and was a pretty decent sized snag and on 2lb line I wasn’t holding out
much hope but thankfully it came to the top and I managed to snag the branch in
the mesh in my net and get it in, least I now know there is a clean bottom in
this swim.
The session moved into late morning and again
the lack of activity in the swim was made up for by the local wildlife when I
was treated to the local pair of crows seeing off a low flying buzzard and for
a good 5 or 10 minutes they battle to see off this predator from their
territory. I kept drip feeding the swim
and eventually the float bobbed into life and gently moved away and I struck
into a fish that held deep and was certainly better than any fish I had caught
that morning a real arm wrestle ensued and eventually the metallic flanks of a
superb 14oz roach graced the net and I was more than made up, it was in mint
condition and a joy to have caught and in that one fish the session was made.
The fish returned safely I settled back into
that last hour of the session and managed to catch a few more roach but one
thing did happen just before I packed in that made my mind up about my approach
to carp fishing this pool and that was the fact I hit a carp on my pole rod on
a single maggot, now it wasn’t a massive carp and certainly wasn’t over 10lb
but it was big enough to eat a boilie I would have said. The fact I hit this carp on maggot from a
single morning session whilst I have done numerous hours on there on boilies
not to mention I had a carp rod out on boilie the whole of that morning as well
without a touch has made my mind up that boilies are not the way to go on here.
I leave you all with a sunrise picture I took on
my way to work this week…
Till next week I wish you all
Tight lines
Danny
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