Good Morning.
Unfortunately the blog could not be published last night as the connection was hampered by a big storm. Since I have been at Gigantica the weather has been threatening a big one, and last night we got it! The weather changed and built up throughout the afternoon, the clouds took on strange wavy shapes and were a vast mixture of greys. More bizarrely the small fish started leaping clear of the water. It was quite a spectacle to observe. The wind changed direction several times, before the first few drops of rain fell, the eerie silence was then broken with a loud clap of thunder, and the fading dark background was illuminated with powerful flashes of lightning. This was the storm we should have had the other week, but it seemed to steer past us if I remember correctly. The blog was all typed up ready to go, and then my connection would not work. It does sometimes fail with bad weather and these are the risks I take, writing a blog in the great outdoors!
So, to recap on the last 48 hours! After I posted the last blog on Sunday, I carried on tiddler bashing for another hour or two. The keepnet was filling up quickly as I caught roach, rudd and bream, using sweetcorn as bait. It was great fun on the light tackle, and what happened next was even better. I had noticed the odd pike chasing fish and the inevitable then happened. I was bringing a pound roach to the net, when a set of jaws suddenly opened and a small pike of about 8lb took the fish sideways on. It moved away slowly and still hadn’t let go, so I decided to see what would happen. The water suddenly became a mass of scales and blood as the pike managed to swallow the roach whilst swimming round on a tight restricting line. My main line was only 4lb and the fragile hooklink 2.5!! The clutch was already set so I very cautiously played the predator and tried to get him into my landing net. I knew if the pike suddenly lunged the line would cut on its teeth, so great care had to be taken. It was almost a lesson in playing a fish, and the loss of the carp earlier that morning came flooding back!! The pike tired and was beat, so I netted him tail first. I had to get a picture, so I went and summoned the Turtle from his den. “You never just caught that?” were his surprised words. “Good angling!” I suppose in a way it was…
The first pike encounter!
I now had decisions to make; where to start carp fishing? Big Southerly was the chosen swim so I drove round with my tackle still in the back of the van, from my session at Jim’s lake. In no time I was set up. I cast two rods seventy yards out towards the toilet block; a popular mark from this swim, and one other rod was cast left towards some snags. Using one of the available boats that you can rent for 25 Euros a week, I rowed out some bait to my temporary marker. I had ground some boilies and scattered these on the spot. Two rods were then cast either side of my marker at the 70 yard range.
There were plenty of fish showing all over the lake. I must have counted 100 fish smash through the surface layers during the evening. I was very confident of a take as I got my head down. At 5am one of the 70 yard rods beeped a few times. A very large bream was the culprit! Oh well, I suppose you at least know there are feeding fish on the bottom, and where there are bream, there are usually carp.
Before I actually got into carp fishing in 1988 I coarse fished for silver fish. I also dabbled at pike fishing in the winter months. These species had been targeted after the move to London and I actually grew up fishing for trout etc, on the River Esk in North Yorkshire. Catching the small fish over the weekend rekindled an old flame; it is fun after all to while away a few hours catching the small stuff. I therefore took my match fishing set up round to the Big Southerly swim and carried on with the task of removing the ‘unwanted’ nuisance species from the lake. It wasn’t long before I had the fish feeding and soon I had twenty or so fish in their new temporary netted home. I found the best chance of a bigger bream was to let the bait get to the bottom, resisting a strike at the bites on the drop, which are usually from the lakes rudd and roach. I connected with a larger bream and was just bringing it to the net, when from out of nowhere a massive set of jaws engulfed the snotty! This fish must have been in the 30-40lb bracket! Huge pike have been spotted in Gigantica and this was definitely one of them! Such was the ferocity of the violent take; my light tackle stood no chance this time! It broke me up, and I had a small thought for the bream that clearly ended up as a snack for the hungry predator.
I gave the bream bashing a break for a while and made some lunch for myself. I was just uploading some pictures onto my lapotop when a few bleeps from my left hand rod, fished to the snaggy area, had me alerted. I was on the rod in a flash, and desperately tried to stop whatever was on the end, reaching any unwanted underwater obstacles. I got the fish moving towards me, although it was kiting into the edge dramatically. It suddenly turned and headed out into open water, and then a pike appeared on the surface with my boilies hanging out of the side of its jaws! Not what I wanted to be honest. I really thought it was a carp, although it did feel small, but then a carps a carp! I got my landing net ready. The ones they supply you with at Gigantica are fantastic. The arms and handle are made especially for Gigantica by Harrison of Liverpool. They are very light and easy to pick up with one hand. (You also get supplied with a very good quality unhooking mat, made by Proline, a weighing crook and a Venture XL retaining sling. This is only to be used whilst you get your camera equipment ready.) As I dropped the net into the water to net the tired pike, it suddenly tail walked! I swear I could hear John Wilson laughing hysterically and saying “Isn’t that magic!”
Very good landing nets.
Every angler is supplied with this equipment too!
It was getting on by now, and the storm I talked about at the start of the post was gradually building up. I took a few pictures and decided an early night was on the cards. I moved anything that might get wet into my van, put my mossie net on my door, and watched the storm from the comfort of my sleeping bag. My dogs are quite used to storms and they don’t scare them. In fact I think my dogs are probably the most extreme Dobermans out there! Tornados in Italy…we love them!
Come on the big storm!
I had a few liners throughout the night and at 5am this morning another big bream managed to hook itself. I am fishing slack lines and backleads to my 70 yard mark. I watch as the line slowly tightened and the bobbin hugged the underneath of my Mamba XT rod. It was a bream without a doubt.
Yesterday I went for a quick visit to the tree line area. I saw a few good fish sitting in the snags. I think a sensible move is on the cards. I am not a quitter though and while the weather is in my favour I think another night in the Big Southerly should be executed; third night lucky perhaps. The weather is supposed to improve over the next few days with clear skies and dropping winds; perfect weather for the Tree Line swim.
Over the past week or so I have mentioned a few times on the blog that I will be returning to the UK for a week. I actually fly back to Liverpool on Monday. The blog is going on vacation!! I have two important fishing related meetings lined up for my return to the UK, and I must briefly catch up with my family. This just gives me an excuse not to have to return again for a couple of years!! I thought about writing the blog during this week, but have decided that instead I will place some links to some interesting chapters of stories. You can read these from start to finish and they cover some of the exciting sessions I have undertaken in the last six months. The blog will undergo some maintenance and changes whilst I am in the UK, and it will be re-launched once I return. Keep reading the blog for the next few days though, as I will still be covering my closing session at Gigantica.
Madine is next on my list. Not only am I working at the World Carp Classic event, but I am also fishing it for three weeks prior to the event. The WCC is a fantastic competition, it has now grown to be the biggest and best, carp fishing match in the world. It attracts anglers from all over the globe competing for the big prize table. More about the WCC and Madine later! It is now time to get back to the fishing at Gigantica.
See you all tomorrow.
Jake & the dogs.
Tags: bream, carp, Gigantica, jake langley-hobbs, Madine, Proline, WCC, World Carp Classic
July 15, 2009 at 12:31 pm |
Any fish?