Good Evening.
As I write tonight’s post the rain is just beginning to fall – once again! I am being treated to an evening thunder and lightning display and I have the best seat’s in the house. The wood I am set up in is very mature and many of the trees have fallen or lay resting against other unstable looking trees. It is probably not the best place to be during a strong gale or whilst lightning is striking, but life is all about beating the odds, and the odds of a tree falling on my bivvy are probably a million to one. I shouldn’t tempt fate though.
Black clouds approaching. Take Cover!
Thank you for all your kind messages throughout the day. I have been very busy today and have not had a chance to answer any, so this is my answer to you all. Thank you! They are appreciated as always and as ever it is nice to catch the first carp of the session for my loyal readers. I can often feel the tension building up in some of your messages, and just as I was confident of a carp, I am sure there were many of you who probably knew a capture was imminent! I am sure there are some people who think that because I fish all the time, the alarms must be going off constantly, and I must be catching, left, right, and centre. That would be nice although it would probably get rather boring. The real challenge for me when tackling a new water is learning as quickly as possible how to catch the carp, and overcoming problems as they arise. The rain is now pelting down outside and I am sure there will be more water arriving through the forest shortly. Unfortunately in this swim I am actually set up in the best area of terrain, as every other square foot of ground is very soft and water-logged. You have to take what comes and deal with it when it does. If you don’t like it then the only choice is to move swims.
Boat in place ready for a quick launch if needed.
Today was spent moving my rods. I have now turned my pod ninety degrees and the rods are now pointing towards the reeds. I have three rods placed down the reedy margin in various depths from 1-2m. I have kept the fourth rod by the tree stump spot. I have placed the rods in such a way that the angle of each is not interfering with the neighbouring rod. I am using back leads to keep the braid pinned down and they are being fished at a variety of distances from 60 – 300 yards. This is to try to minimise disturbance in my other spots should I get a fish. I am expecting the hooked fish to kite left into the reeds, so I have my waders ready and I will try to apply sidestrain to keep them out. If I succeed and the fish moves into open water then I shall take to the boat to finish the fight. If the carp does manage to get into the reeds and becomes ‘hidden’, then the boat will have to be deployed to find and extract it. Whenever you fish in this manner it is very important to have all your strategies in place before they are suddenly needed at 3am, and when it is dark. I always go through each rod in turn in my head, working out what I will do in certain situations. Prepare and be ready for action!
The rain has now eased which is comforting. Apart from the occasional drip on my shelter from the trees, I can now just hear the distant traffic from the main road about 200 yards away and the chime of a church bell. This swim offers peace and quiet and in the morning you are treated to a full chorus of varied bird song. There are many birds of prey that soar the skies, along with the many day-time gliders that are wrenched into the skies from the base to the right of my swim. Have you built up a mental picture of where I am?!
"I love the rain..don't you?"
To finish tonight I just want to take the opportunity to answer two questions included in a comment from a guy called Ben (possibly from Australia?).
G’day Jake,
Oh to be you mate! Fishing hard in foul weather really is the epitome of an avid angler. Fair play mate! Look forward to your rewards flowing in, in the coming weeks.
Couple Q’s….Do you fish with a receiver but leave it on the bank or too greater range?
And those 20mm’ers are they cork/airball? Must take some weight to keep them on the deck?
Cheers,
Ben
I use two ATT V2 receivers and for the following reasons. I like to keep one in my bivvy on a bivvy table next to my bed, and that’s where it stays. The other one is my mobile speaker and I either clip it to my belt or I hang it up outside. At the moment my rods are a long way from my bivvy and I would probably not hear the one in my bivvy if I was stood by my rods. Two just serve as a safeguard and together at night they make one hell of a racket!
Dynamite Baits pop-ups use cork dust these days and I love them because they stay popped up for several days. The choccy malt pop-ups seem to be very buoyant indeed, more so than any other in the range. I use a large 2BB piece of shot on the tag end of my hooklink coming off my ring swivel (360 rig) and with the choccy malts I also put a small piece of shot on the hair beneath the second pop-up (this is pinched on between the rig ring and the pop-up so it does not interfere with any movement of the hair sliding on the hook). I will put a picture on tomorrow’s post.
That’s all tonight folks. I want a good night’s sleep, but I also don’t, if you know what I mean!!
Cheers
Jake and the dogs!!
