Evening From Gigantica!

It is late once again as I type a few words onto my laptop. The forecast weather has arrived and today westerly winds and occasional blustery rain swept across the lake. A westerly wind is not really in my favour in the Tree Line swim, as it tends to push the carp out of the snags and to the opposite end of the lake. My swim is situated on the west side of the lake in the top left hand corner. All I can hope is the warm weather returns which will bring lots of carp swimming back to me!

There were no chances last night. I did fish two rods slightly away from the tree lined edges, just on the bottom of the drop off. The edges of the lake are fairly shallow but only for a couple of feet. This then slopes away, quite sharply in some places down to 18-20ft, getting gradually deeper. In the morning it was overcast so I went for a quick look around the back of the trees. I saw one or two fish. I decided to try my tactic from yesterday morning. I sat behind my rods for the next three and a half hours, daring not to move and not to take my eyes off the rod tips. Cooking breakfast was rather stressful as it is normally when you start an activity like this, that you get a take. None came however!

I had to get my latest article wrapped up today, so at 11.45am I decided it wasn’t going to happen and I reeled in the rods. Anyone who is reading my series ‘No Fixed Abode’ in International Carper will know I have been including a survival feature…The Langley-Hobbs Bankside Survival Guide!! This gives useful tips and ideas on how to make long session carping more comfortable and explains how I cope with day to day tasks etc.. Next months is the final part in the first survival miniseries and it looks at Essential ‘other’ Equipment I find really useful. My first job was to take some pictures using my Canon EOS 20D camera. Funnily enough I bought this camera from Danny the Head Bailiff at Gigantica last November when I visited here. It is a great camera and has really helped me with pictures for the blog and my stories etc.. So my first task was to take some pictures for the feature and then I wrote 750 words to include with the equipment pics. If you want to read it, be sure to buy the August copy of Carpworld; International Carper is at the back of the magazine.

My Diem Jackets..Essential Equipment!!

Once all the pics were burnt to disc it was time to drive to the local Post Office and post it to Gary. Gary Hood is the designer at Angling Publications who works on the layout of my material each month. I am actually popping back to the UK in a couple of weeks for a flying visit. I have some fishy business to attend to (more news to follow), and I will also be popping in to meet the team at Angling Publications. Finally I will be catching up with my family and friends very quickly before I jet back to Paris and then head to Madine to fish for three weeks. Afterwards I will be helping at the WCC…I can’t wait!!

After I returned from the Post Office, I had a slow walk around the lake. I spotted a small carp in the tree line, and then continued to walk around the perimeter of the lake. Not suprisingly many carp were spotted at the east side of the lake, enjoying the westerly wind no doubt. I can’t move swims incidentally because three English lads are fishing this week, and one of them is on that side of the lake. How are they getting on? Two lost carp between them to date, however I would expect to hear news of a capture or two in the morning. Finally on the fishing update, Danny the bailiff caught a small common this morning.

My rods were all back out by 6pm this evening. I am sticking with one in the tree line where I have lost the two big fish from the monstrous takes. I also have two rods slightly further out in deeper water. I guess the great thing with this swim, is the fact there always seems to be some fish in the area. I always stand a chance!!

Hopefully the weather will be warm first thing. If it is then I will be up to my usual early morning antics, sat by my rods and waiting expectantly!!

If you have a few spare minutes check out Reel Carp. It’s a retail outlet based in Sheffield, specialising in tackle bait and supplies for Carp fishing. Click on the pic above to go straight to their website.

Come back soon and find out the latest news from my session at Gigantica.

Cheers.

Jake Langley-Hobbs

Tags: angling publications, carp, Carpworld, common, Gigantica, International Carper, jake langley-hobbs

This entry was posted on July 8, 2009 at 12:19 am and is filed under Gigantica. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.