Good Evening.
The fishing now has a rather bleak and desperate feel to it. The lake looks uninviting and lifeless. It is asleep. Just like my little Robin searching for scraps of food I carry on each day looking for a possible way to catch a carp. I feel like I am running out of answers, I have tried everything; the session now has reached the sticking point. You could say it has become a pointless exercise, but, this is often the reality of winter carp fishing. No one said it was going to be easy.
He is easy to capture!
Despite the above paragraph I owe it to myself to fight the good fight. Throwing in the towel is not what winners do, and you are only a loser if you don’t try in the first place. I need the change of scenery and I need a new water to gaze at, but there is still more work to be done before I give in and move on. If I look back to last year at Cassien, January was a desperate month, as was the first week of February. January was saved by the capture of a 26.8kg mirror on the first of the month, and then things got tough. I suppose I am now suffering from Déjà-vu and experiencing a similar state of affairs on a different lake in a different country and that just makes it a greater challenge. One more carp would finish off my session perfectly and I am going to give it my all to try and achieve this.
Looking for some answers!
I have redone all the rods today. I tied a couple of new rigs and replaced the hook on my 360 rig. I am always wary of hook sharpness and the back of my hand resembles a pin cushion where I test the hook point for sharpness. At this time of year one take could be the only chance you are offered and a blunt hook is no excuse for a loss if you could have replaced it. My long range rod was retrieved and put back in a position I have tried before. I armed this rod with a supersize offering to see if that might tempt a carp. My shallow rod from the carp spot had a new hook, a new combination of two pop ups adorned the hair and I dropped it back on the sandy lakebed in the area of the riverbed. The reed rod has been moved further out and placed on a hump in 6ft of water. All I can do is try new approaches and new surroundings and see if could make the difference.
A very large mouthful!
A new hook and new combo.
The water temperature remains cold at 4 degrees. Cat ice has greeted me the past three mornings in the margins but last night was a little milder and it kept it at bay today. I have checked the weather forecast as it did start to snow a little today. It was not forecast and the weather looks quite constant for the coming ten days – not much above 3 degrees in the day, not much below minus 3 degrees at night, and limited sunshine with no rain.
A basket of fries to accompany my afternoon movie!
Italy is cold but not as cold as the setting for the film!
Due to the Groundhog Day experience I am going through I gave in yesterday and watched a film in the afternoon and also one this afternoon! I don’t have my dvds but I found some old films on a website where they are streamed onto your screen, meaning you don’t even have to download them. It is completely free but the films are very old and if you want to watch new ones then you have to pay. Both films that I chose to watch, just out of coincidence, bear a strange resemblance to my life if you think long and hard about it for a moment. The first was a film called ‘The boy in the plastic bubble’ starring John Travolta in probably his first role. He has no immune system and has to live in a sterilised bubble for most of his early years. My bivvy now resembles that bubble! The second film starred John Hurt and Hayley Mills 
and was called ‘Cry of the Penguins’. It is about a scientist who goes to live on his own for six months in the Antarctic to study a colony of penguins. They both made me chuckle and it passed an hour or so each afternoon.
My wood pile has now pretty much gone. I am now going to go and gather some fallen branches off the ground and build a fire to restore some energy. I have some nice chicken to cook and some alarms to listen out for in case I get a take. The will power is still strong but unfortunately the confidence is quite low. There is the slight sense that I may be flogging a dead horse at the moment but then you never know do you. Tonight or tomorrow morning could bring what I am looking for.
Back tomorrow.
Jake and the dogs.
Tags: cassien, Hayley Mills, jake langley-hobbs, John Hurt, John Travolta, Robin
January 25, 2010 at 9:27 pm |
evening mate,
things are now sounding harde then ever for you now but like you said one run is all you want, and all you can do is keep the bait in the water. just a quicky….. have you tried using zig rigs? maybe for days i dont know suggestions thats all(anything for a bite)
you know how to fish in your own manner, hope something comes for you in the next 24hrs mate you deserve one mate. hope charley and flash are keeping you good company lol. keep the fire stocked up and those lines in water and all you can do is look and listen. keep up your hard work and enthusiasm and a winter whacker will soon be gracing your net.
all the best mate
tom
January 25, 2010 at 10:23 pm |
Yes, January is by far the hardest time of the year for carp fishing. You are fishing quite a big water, so could it be that you are fishing in the wrong part of the lake? Maybe the water temperature is higher somewhere else and the carp are literally stacked there… I wish you good luck and will check back tomorrow evening.
January 26, 2010 at 12:58 pm |
Yes that is quite possible….the lack of sunshine tells me that the lake is not warming up in other parts though, I have travelled long distances in my boat and I get a similar temp reading wherever I go. The days are low cloud, grey sky and no sun….I don’t know this lake that well but I am told by some that my place is good and by others that it isn’t. It is the usual scenario of carp fishing – everyone has their own opinions on everything!!
Cheers mate
January 25, 2010 at 10:50 pm |
hang on in there Jake,we all are hoping and waiting to see your huge smile whilst holding that big Italian common. Don’t loose the plot like John Hurts character did in the arctic lol.
all the best
Iain.
Ps me and my brother in law are hoping to get a place in the carp in 4 cancer comp on Linear’s brasenose 2 in june, never fished a carp match before, should be a good experiance i think, good luck again.
January 26, 2010 at 12:52 pm |
Leave my penguins alone!!! I am fine mate….honestly grrrr !! lol
January 26, 2010 at 1:28 am |
the war of attrition has started matey, to feed and look after yourself properly is now a struggle and mother nature is relentless. make sure you look after you and the dogs first, not the fish, they will wait. (the fries didnt look overly great-sorry mate!) take care. tim
January 26, 2010 at 12:50 pm |
Tim.
Feeding and looking after myself is not a struggle I would like to point out…I eat very well each day, get ‘lots’ of sleep, have heating and the dogs – the dogs are fantastic! The fries are a matter of personal choice I guess…sometimes I do chunky ones, yesterday I went for the skinny French Fry variety….the quality of them is down to the fact I left my professional deep fat frier at my house in the UK and my Coleman stove and Trakker saucepan had to make do (they actually tasted tremendous!!) The four chicken thighs I cooked on my logfire at 8pm were truly magnificent (few herbs, little chilli)…I am doing fine Tim!! We all are….My main problem now is unfortuantely just ‘boredom’!
Cheers Jake and the dogs
January 27, 2010 at 9:53 pm |
fair enough matey, as you have since confirmed it just sounded like you were starting to struggle a little mentally. i think its good that you are able to tell it as it is with the ups and a lot of winter downs so was just a sympathetic “look after yourself”. hope it came across the right way. we did briefly meet at gigantica late last year after you d pulled away from orient, i was fishing lac du charlou and came up to see if the shop had a throwing stick for sale as had broken my mates. ended up a good week at the end and had popeye out at 56lb 8. nice considering our weather was nt great to start with. hope you re well. take it easy. tim
January 27, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Hi Tim.
I do remember you mate! Well done on your result! I know I should wake up every morning feeling like I am the luckiest man alive and quite often I do…but there are the odd days when the weather is glum, the mood is quite low and you just want to go and hibernate till Spring arrives lol…
Stay in touch mate and keep following the Italian Job as it unfolds…I have a feeling there is plenty more in store and to be honest I am through the worst part…it can only get better from here on in!
Cheers
Jake and the dogs.
January 26, 2010 at 5:59 am |
Hi jake and co, it’s three thirty am here.This time of the year always drags for me.No fishing and a back full of pain no fun i can tell you.But It’s also a time for looking forward, it’s staying lighter every day ! .And i look at the garden every day, and the bulbs are poking there noses through the soil, and the buds are on the trees.Spring is on it’s way no matter what the weather says.Plans are being formulated in the back of my brain “not a pretty sight” subscriptions have just been renewed for my syndicate lake and the sap is rising “dont ask”.It wont be long till i’m back on the bank, and this winter will seem like a forgotten nightmare .Hang on in there your doing a great job and your blog is keeping us all entertained. Fishing aint about the fish there just a by product, All the best to you and the dogs Alan
January 26, 2010 at 1:03 pm |
Do you know what Alan? I said just that on Sunday’s post…I love the Spring! I am almost there…as the title of yesterday’s post said…peaks and troughs…we can’t grin from ear to ear every day and sometimes when staring out across a large expanse of still water…you get very little back!! Even the swans were ignoring me!
Here is to the Spring mate!
Jake and the dogs!
January 26, 2010 at 10:21 am |
Just a quote that someone once told me!
“IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, YOU WILL!!!”
keep on in there jake, that screamer is only round the corner.
cheers
ash and bolt
January 26, 2010 at 11:07 am |
Hi Jake,
Followed the blog for quite a while now, everytime i need a bit of inspiration to get out and wet a line i just check your blog and it always fires me up.
I’m luckily enough to fish a large pit, and even luckier to be able to have a nice fire burning whilst i fish, and your right there is an art to it so you get an A+. It’s all the prep
January fishing is hard, but oh so rewarding and i’m sure you’ll be getting yours any moment now.
Mind how you go fella,
Baity.
January 26, 2010 at 1:01 pm |
Morning Mate,
Look, just remember im sat in an office staring at a screen for 9 hours of the day. I know things are tough right now, and i am not surprised its becoming a struggle, but its times like this when out of the blue a Carpy will show its face. Get that fire burning John boy!
Take care
Geoff
January 26, 2010 at 1:12 pm |
Thank you for your motivational pep talk Captain Geoff…I am off to gather some wood and tonight’s post will be full of positivity. In actual fact yesterday’s post wasn’t meant to be read as a negative post…just some reality and my thoughts on the situation. You could call it a Monday moan but there was supposed to be some humour hidden in there!! Half the day is nearly gone for you…soon be lunchtime!
All the best Jake
January 26, 2010 at 8:08 pm |
hi jake
here in holland is -10 in the night en all the waters are with ice on top no fishing for us en you are fishing in italy smile come on en the wacker is coming to you
take care and have fun dennis