Good Evening.
Another day has passed and I am lying on my bed with my laptop in front of me; funnily enough, on my lap! The dogs lie beside me on the floor and I can hear their sighs and breathing as they sleep, and the distant rumble of traffic from the roadside. The air is relatively still apart from the slight rustle of the leaves in the trees and occasionally a faint splash reveals the whereabouts of a carp. It is a mild night and the rain seems to have disappeared, taking with it the coldness that accompanied it.
I woke early again this morning and lay in bed watching the rods. I had to summon myself out of bed to go through the recast ritual to the tree line. Recasting in the morning is never something I normally do, as I often think you are potentially disturbing feeding fish. The tree line though is a different kettle of fish and yesterday showed that it sometimes does the trick in producing a carp. I crawled out of my bag and went through the process. Happy with my work, I put the kettle on and sat watching the day wake from its slumber. In the distance I could see movement from the Briggs bivvy (no doubt Joan making Steve’s porridge for breakfast) and small birds started to appear in the bushes to my right and left, hoping for a few scraps to start off their day. Finally the two sleepy dogs decided to get up and come and join me. They both enjoy a good stretch when they finally climb out of bed, then they go off and do their morning routines, and finally they normally return and go straight back to bed. It is a dog’s life for Charley and Flash.
My two rods placed out in open water are being left alone today. I topped up my swim with half a kilo of bait and I decided to try a little trick; some garlic spray. One of the Czech guys gave it to me at the river the other week, and who knows, the garlic odour may help draw a few carp down onto my bait. Garlic is a renowned winner for the carp. Oddly enough, a large carp has just been heard rolling/crashing, and it sounded very close to my spot. That is what you call perfect timing and now I just need the run before I finish this post!
No one else has caught so far. Dan popped round the lake this morning delivering a fresh baguette to each and every one of us (what a service!) and gave me the full report from Tim and Steve; nothing to report. I suppose it is early days for Tim and Steve and it would not surprise me if one or both of them caught a whacker by the end of the week. I suppose it is fair to say that I am due a big carp, as it has been a while now (Oct 5th Orient 25.2kg mirror), and wouldn’t it be a nice way to finish my final week’s fishing in France, with a fitting fifty to fight!
I feel like I am now turning into a pig. Tonight’s dinner consisted of sausages (pork again!!!) and potato scallops which I deep fried. A small portion of fried onions finished it off handsomely and I do like the spicy tomato ketchup you can buy these days in the supermarkets. Mine came from Aldi as I am on a budget and I no longer shop in posh shops! I think beef is on the menu tomorrow and it will be a relief to eat another animal, although I do have three more pork sausages to have for breakfast first!!
The time is now 20.21 French time. I have a choice now? Sleep or drink coffee and sit in the dark….I think I will decide that one so no comments or suggestions please!!
Back tomorrow with more Gigantica news.
Cheers.
Jake and the lazy dogs!
Tags: bivvy, carp, Gigantica, jake langley-hobbs, Orient
