Good Evening.

Last night we had the strangest thunder and lightening storm I have seen for a while. The thunder and lightening built up for a couple of hours and could be seen getting closer. For a while it seemed to surround the lake, but not a splash of rain had fallen. Eventually the odd large drop could be heard against the bivvy, almost like hail stones, which then came in random showers which progressively got harder. This lasted ten minutes, the wind did pick up for a short while and then the freaky storm passed. It was a proper ‘close encounters’ weather of the weird kind!

No bites came during the night to myself or Ian. An angler to our left had a 35lb mirror from the tree lined margins, which now makes the grand total of carp, five for the week. Interestingly enough all the carp have been caught from the edges and none have come from open water. I guess this is a reflection of the warm weather we have had all week. The wind has been blowing in a north westerley direction from this morning for the first time this week. It favours the swim Ian and I are fishing in, and fingers crossed it will get a few carp moving out of their sanctuary’s and across the lake into open water towards the swim known as Big Girls!!

Tomorrow is the start of a new week at Gigantica. As nice as it would have been to catch something this week, I will take what I have learnt from observation into week two. One thing I did notice was the group of carp that normally can be found skulking in the submerged trees along the bank by swims known as The Pink and very aptly named The Stink, had all moved to the opposite corner of the lake and were patrolling up and down the margins of The Beach and Alcatraz. I don’t think these fish moved because of the weather, but more due to the pressure from the anglers and the disturbance created in their usual habitat. I did get one or two of these fish taking a few pellets, and then asked Barry, an angler fishing in Alcatraz, if he would like to have a go stalking one. He accepted the offer, but by the time we were in position the sun had climbed higher and the fish started to move further out. At one point we counted a hundred carp basking on the top. What a sight!

The blog has been rather uneventful this week in terms of fish and my tactics. Don’t despair and lose interest as thats how fishing is from time to time! However, I am glad some of you enjoyed the fish pictures I posted. As I said in an earlier post this week, I will be fishing solidly for the next two weeks from tomorrow (probably from two different swims) and I am glad to say my article is now complete. After fishing open water this week, I am hoping to be able to fish to some marginal features and sit on top of my rods the whole time. This week my rods have probably only been in the water for a third of the week, partly due to the weather and partly due to my workload. Stop complaining Jake and get on with it!

Join me tomorrow when my Gigantica session really begins called “Two weeks on tiger nuts”!

Cheers

Jake Langley-Hobbs & two Doberman dogs.