Good Morning.

I set my alarm clock last night for 6am. The plan was to get up early, pick up the few bits of tackle I had sorted out last night, and saunter down to the Tree Line swim for 7ish. I did not expect to see John Lilly sat opposite me at one of the tables when I woke up, but as my alarm failed to go off, the sight of John so early in the morning had me off my bed in double time!

Derek appeared back at the lodge, so after a brief chat, a coffee and a bowl of cereal; I made my way down to my favourite swim. I already had my rods made up from last time, so after a quick rig check, and a quick cast to clip up at my previous marks, I dropped the baits into position. I noticed one of the rod tips knock as I sorted out my chair to sit on, and before I could turn around my ATT bleeped and the rod tip wrenched round. I was in!

I mentioned I had switched rods the last time I lost a fish in the Tree Line swim. I figured a softer actioned rod, would be more forgiving and allow me more chance to apply pressure without hook pulls. Everything felt solid immediately, which is unusual, and it soon became apparent the fish was snagged on something. I applied pressure and felt a little kick, but it was no good; this fish was in need of assistance! I telephoned Dan and he arrived in minutes. A boat was needed so he nipped further along to the next swim and soon appeared like Joan of Arc, stood up and rowing one handed, towards the snagged carp. I could see the branches twitching constantly, so I was confident the fish was still on. I pointed Dan in the right direction and he soon confirmed a nice linear carp was still attached and snagged up on some other line. Braided line in fact.

Dan spent several minutes freeing the branches and shouted over that he could see my safe zone leader. “Get ready” he shouted. Sudenly the fish came free, so I pumped hard on the reel whilst holding the rod to my right. I saw the fish boil on the surface, but then it all went solid once again. The carp was still caught up on a long wire of line and was flapping around helplessly on the surface. Dan saved the day, once again, and cut through the guilty braid. I was now in direct contact and it was now time to finish the job. After all the commotion, I really wanted this carp in the net.

Dan stayed out in the boat and spent time freeing any rigs and line from the trees, whilst I managed to get my carp under the rod tip. Despite its ordeal it still put up a feisty display of strength, but I was determined to win the day. I drew the linear over the landing net cord, and to be honest, I felt rather relieved and also quite chuffed. Going back to the Tree Line seemed like a good idea after all.

Korda Carp Care: Yellow for the body.

Blue for the mouth.

Dan appeared complete with an assortment of leaders and line. Snag swims need a good clear out every so often, and the swim was now back in good working order. The carp had a few abrasions on it from the drama of the last twenty minutes, so Korda’s Carp Care products were applied carefully. The blue liquid is applied to its mouth, and the yellow liquid is applied to the body. She was soon ready and willing for some photographs so Dan took my camera and did the honours. The fish is known as the English Fish and its the first time the fish has graced the banks since the lake was taken over by Danny F. The weight was 27lb and what a stunning looking carp it is.

The English Fish

27lb of Gigantica perfection!

I am now eating some breakfast, and then I am giving Dan a hand to put some sleepers at the back of two swims that were dug further back this week. This will obviously allow more room for larger bivvies and access. The swims are all fantastic at Gigantica; lovely soft gravel and the fronts of the swims extend into water to help preventing fish reaching bushes either sides of the swim. They are very well thought out and perfect for carp anglers.

I will be back in the Tree Line later on. Today will be extremely hot and once the swim operation has been completed the rods will be back out. The news from the vets is as follows: Flash is happy, and has been eating and drinking and doing what dogs normally do after eating and drinking! He will have his opeartion today, and the vet is very confident everything will go smoothly.

See you later.

Jake and the dogs.

This entry was posted on August 6, 2009 at 10:37 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.