Good Evening.
This is a brief post to inform you all that I am on the move again. I am currently sat in a service station taking a quick break from the driving; I have 142km left to drive and I will sleep across the seats of my van tonight and wait for my friend to turn up at 10am tomorrow morning. No more carp were caught from the Gin lake – I named it for its clarity!
No takes came through the night or early morning so I wandered over to see if the fish were milling around in the usual spots. I amusingly noted that only my pop up remained in the spot I dropped it on yesterday evening and the rest of the pellet had been snaffled. I now think I would have been better off using a piece of pellet as a hookbait and when I return to this lake I will certainly try this approach on the static rods.
I had another go at the stalking and I did try pellet as the hookbait, tipped with a piece of yellow pop up corn to help me see it on the lakebed. I dropped it carefully by a snaggy tree and hid out of the way. I flicked five pieces of pellet near my rig and sat back and waited. Very soon I had four or five very nervous carp sitting right underneath me and I could see them in amongst the branches of the snaggy area. I was given a confidence boost when one of them seemed to take an interest and starting mouthing the lakebed three inches from my hookbait. It was another frustrating saga and I waited till 12.30pm before walking back to my swim to begin packing up.
The packing up went very smoothly and by 3pm I was done. I just had to have one more go at the stalking and I had deliberately left out my landing net, my rod, and my waders and camera. I put the dogs in their cage and crept back to my spot. To show how cautious these carp are, the remaining five pieces of pellet were still visible. Even in my absence they still hadn’t plucked up the courage to take it. I watched for a while and dropped my hookbait in a slightly different place, closer to the snaggy hide. My rod was placed in a way, so if a carp did take the bait, I could pull it away from the snags from the right hand side. That was my plan!
After twenty minutes the same small group of carp from this morning appeared and drifted back under the tree beneath me. The light was now obscured and the sun had dipped behind some trees so visibilty wasn’t great. I could tell the final moment of glory was not forthcoming and I called it a day. They showed no interest and disappeared, along with myself.
It is possibly too early for a feeding frenzy and I think the carp are still waking up a little at this lake. They did seem to be swimming with a slower pace today and the fact some were trance-like under the tree suggested they were still feeling the effects of the cold water. I will probably return to this lake for another go in the summer as it is a lovely little place and I think it could produce some beautiful carp. I would love to catch one of the grass carp too!
So…I am now setting off again. The blog will return tomorrow evening with a new update of the new lake. I can’t wait!
Cheers
Jake and the dogs.
