Archive for February, 2010

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Moving, Working, Catching, And Now A Competition!!

February 28, 2010

Good Evening.

Apologies for no post yesterday, I had a very busy and tiring day and little sleep on Friday night. I moved swims yesterday and am now situated where Christian was fishing. It is not a tactical move, but it does allow me more water to fish, and it also means Danilo and I are now fishing together which is slightly more sociable. We have been catching which is good news but on the whole the carp have been fairly small. It does not matter though because we are having fun, we are catching carp, and we know the big fish are there to be caught.

My lucky mascot...a miniature Charley!

My Friday night started off very well. I had a carp at around 11pm after I had spent the afternoon carefully placing my rods on their spots. I redropped the rod after I caught the fish, and on my return I could hear voices and see head torches. I had two Romanian anglers fishing about thirty yards to my left, and they had arrived after dark. I suddenly heard a boat motor start-up and off they went to drop their rods. Guess where? They dropped two rods right over my lines and then returned to their swim. Naturally I was straight into my boat and I went and challenged them politely. In all fairness they weren’t aware I was fishing, and after a few words and an explanation, they went and retrieved the rods. Unfortunately they took my two rods out in the process, which meant I now had to go and redrop them both. I had a hunch no more carp were coming and I was right! All night they were back and forth in their boat and apart from carp fishing, they were fishing for catfish too!

We have use of the 5HP Bandiga Boat!

In the morning Christian started to pack up, so the decision was made that I would join Danilo. We both have an extended diary in that we can fish for as long as we want. We both like cooking and we get on very well so what could be better! The day was spent moving my mound of kit and by 4pm I was all set up. It was too late to go and choose new spots as the light was soon to go, so for the night I fished two rods roughly where Christian had been fishing, and one on my hot spot from the other swim because it is still possible to fish from my new location.

My boat pack that contains all of the essentials.

Two of Danilo’s spots have been producing well and he has been catching with regularity. I had one short enquiry this morning from my hot spot which did not develop into anything. I shortly went out in the boat for a couple of hours to find some features I liked the look of. I had just returned when I had a run on one of my other rods positioned in the channel. I played the fish from the bank and a small common was the responsible culprit. The variety of the fish in this lake is awesome. Some of the carp are very long, some are beautifully scaled, and some are like sparkling gems.

A lovely little carp!

and another...

I am now very happy with my three new spots I have decided to pick. I am fishing a variety of depths from 2m to 5m. I have found a nice little hard hump which looks spot on and I am fishing one rod, very long-range, to a shallow area near some old lily stumps. This is just a test but we both reckon if the sun is shining the carp might like this spot in the daytime. The weather today has been rather grey but every other day we have been treated to lovely Italian sunshine and blue skies. The water temperature is now around the 9.5 degrees C and the carp do seem to be liking it!

Dinner-time in another location!

Just for fun we have decided to have a week-long competition. People – it is Italy versus England. I will do my best okay! It will run for a week from 6pm today and will be decided on weight – not numbers! We are both allowed to help each other in the boat to land fish, as it is a friendly competition, and we will carry an extra set of scales and a sling and an unhooking mat in the boat, to weigh and record small fish that are released from the boat without a photo.

We do have a new larger boat to use which has a 5HP petrol engine. It does make life much easier getting around and it is really useful for searching out features with great efficiency. I will be using my 6HP outboard at the next lake I fish and I know it will help me a great deal. You may think the noise might put off or scare the carp, but they are used to petrol engines on some of these big lakes where they are allowed and it does not really make any difference. As an example Danilo caught a small common at 4pm this morning. I went out with him in the boat and I drove! An hour later he had another small common from the same spot. I am positive a carp getting hooked will spook the fish more, but they seem to return quite quickly to eat.

Bang in the middle of its bottom lip!

It is now getting near start time for our friendly competition. I better get my fishing head on and do my best. The good news is the carp are responding to Dynamite Bait’s Fresh Fish and Red Fish boilies, and I have been catching them on both flavours, all on pop ups. I am using singles, doubles and triple 20mms, and yes…I am using a little colour for extra attraction, in the shape of plastic corn or the white fluro Spicy Shrimp and Prawn 20mm pop ups.

Back tomorrow with an update.

Cheers

Jake and the dogs.

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Posted in The Italian Job! | 8 Comments »

Good Morning!

February 26, 2010

Hi Everyone!

There has been some very sad news in Italy in the last day which could affect the fishing in many rivers for a long time. I am informed by my two friends I am fishing with, that a man who got sacked or made redundant from his job at a refinery, lost the plot and opened up the oil waste pipe in revenge. The oil then entered the river Lambro in Milan which travels into the river Po. The Po feeds many other rivers and also enters into the sea. I am unsure of the quantity of oil but I am told it is the equivalent of 6000 oil tankers and it is old toxic oil. It could have catastrophic effects on the wildlife and ecology of the river system and several lakes, that these rivers pass through.

This is a short video clip someone sent me showing the damage the oil has already done.

Watch Video

On the fishing front I have caught one more small common which I had at 4am yesterday morning. The action for Christian and myself has slowed up a little, and Danilo, who is fishing on the right hand side of both of us, has caught a couple of carp for the last two nights running. The biggest carp so far has been about 10kg and some of the fish have been very pretty indeed! I am not worried that the action has slowed a little in the last 24 hours as I am now confident that a larger fish may turn up soon.

There once was an ugly duckling!

Last night we had a little barbeque which was a great way to spend the evening. Pork ribs, sausages and pancetta, and fresh bread, was all washed down with a little red wine. Finally, warm runny Nutella on hot bread was our desert. A perfect way to spend an evening by a lake, carp fishing with friends.

"Take it home with you!"

Finally, one of the unfortunate eyesores at the stunning lake we are fishing at, is the litter left by other anglers. It is disgusting and what makes me more annoyed, is the fact the anglers think that bagging it up and leaving it behind is okay. If you are going to go to the effort of putting it into bags – take it home with you! I normally clear up any rubbish that has been left behind by other anglers; I would need a dozen large refuse sacks to clear up the area ten yards left and right of my swim. I have made a start!

Cheers

Jake and the dogs.

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Posted in The Italian Job! | 13 Comments »

Sun, Carp, and Smiles all Round!!

February 24, 2010

Good Evening.

I was woken this morning by a slow drop back, just after 8am. I was pretty sure that my lead had ejected and to begin with I presumed it was a small silver fish. I wound down and felt very little as I reeled in. Occasionally things went solid but I kept reeling and eventually I saw my line near the bank kiting to my left. The Sonik prototype rods I am using are very stiff and not exactly what I would call responsive. I felt very little as I changed the fishes direction and suddenly in front of me, at my feet, was a carp!! It was then that I realised I would actually need my landing net!

The first carp fell to a 20mm Mussel and Oyster pop up tipped with white corn.

Catching a fish on the first night is always pleasurable and this was no exception. I did not weigh the carp but estimated it to be around the 8kg mark. It was very pale in colour and in good condition. I strolled up the bank to see how the other two had got on during the night. Christian had three fish to 10kg and Danilo had a good night’s rest. We are catching fish though whatever the size and we all agreed that we might be in for a good session.

I wandered back to my swim and got the rod back into position. The bottom of the river bed or lakebed is actually quite soft; a mixture of mud and sand. I have an anchor in my boat and there was some deposited on it yesterday evening after I had dropped one rod. It does not smell bad and I don’t think it goes very deep on the bottom – it is more of a covering really. I have caught carp fishing in thick mud before so I am quite confident in this kind of situation and I also think that my pop ups with their white tips of colour will help greatly.

PVA stocking for extra attraction by the hookbait.

I checked my emails and wrote a short tweet on twitter, when my middle rod suddenly went into carp mode. It was now 10am and there is nothing better than getting a run in the morning sunshine. I hopped in my boat and went out to meet the carp that was pulling quite hard. My backlead followed me all the way out and suddenly disappeared as I got over the fish. The fight wasn’t prolonged and I soon had another pristine common in the net.

You can just make out the other hook if you look closely.

I will make you better again!

Crude and painful!

Danilo had seen me out in the boat so he came down to take some photos. On closer inspection I noticed the carp had an old hook in the corner of its mouth, which was where I had hooked it too. I removed my hook and then got my forceps and scissors as some delicate surgery was needed. The hook was attached to some leadcore which was being used as a hooklink. The leadcore had wrapped itself around the gill and had actually started to grow over. After some careful work with my surgeon’s hands I neatly removed the obstruction and I swear I heard the carp say thank you!

Number two of the morning.

After some quick shots I returned the little fella and he swam off strongly, no doubt feeling much better after his short ordeal. I went straight out and redropped the rod back into position. I also placed a bottle marker with some reflective tape attached to act as a guide at night. I dropped this at the back of the channel. The centre of the channel is 15ft deep and either side the depth is 10ft so there is a nice difference in depth and I am sure the carp will use this as a regular patrol route on their travels. Most carp on big waters are very nomadic – always on the move. They can clear you out very quickly and for that reason I mixed up 5kg of boilies, chopped and halved and added some liquid attractor to boost it. I then scattered this along the centre line of the channel covering a distance of approximately 100 metres. My three rods are placed along this line. I must admit that my rods were placed rather quickly last night and I decided to focus my attentions on the river bed as a good starting point. It is working so I will stick with it and try to create a good spot over the next two weeks. Incidentally the water temperature is a healthy 8-9 degrees C.

A simple bottle marker with the addition of reflective tape.

Nothing else happened during the rest of the day and it was no surprise really. The sun got very hot and it was nice to sit and enjoy the fine weather. I am sure most of the action will come from the hours of darkness till mid morning so I have made up a boat pack which contains all of the essential bits of tackle so I can redrop my rod immediately after a fish. Not only does this mean you have your hookbait back in position quicker, it also increases your chance of a good brace of carp. It could be the difference between catching one ten kilo carp or a twenty kilo carp too! Dropping the rod back in position immediately after the capture also saves vital boat battery life.

I am now going to eat some food with my friends and see what occurs during the night. Hopefully it will be a busy night for all of us. My friend Christian who has fished here many times informs me that it is quite normal to catch small fish to begin with and the bigger fish usually move in after a few days – I think the next few days could be quite exciting and if the fish all look as good as the one in the picture – bring them on!

Catch you tomorrow.

Jake and the dogs.

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Posted in The Italian Job! | 16 Comments »

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