Good Morning.

I thought I better get the blog written for the day as I think I might have another busy night ahead of me. After the big move yesterday and finally making it to my swim (which took about 45 minutes in the boat), I got the homes set up and sat down with a coffee. I felt drained to say the least and I really just wanted to go to sleep! I mustered up the motivation to quickly put the rods out, more as a token gesture, and I was finally done.

The rods were placed up against the reeds and last night I fished with three rods rather than four. I had barely sat down when one of the tips lunged forwards and I was in already. I grabbed the rod and a tug of war began. Sadly it only lasted two or three seconds as the hook quickly pulled. Nevermind, and to be honest I did not mind one bit – the fish were here and that was the important factor.

After redropping the rod I sat up for a couple of hours. I sat there thinking about my lines entering the water and how it might be tricky with the boat at night. The only way to fish this swim is to have the rods up very high to clear the reeds in front. The motor on the boat is always a worry where lines are concerned, and as I fish on my own, it is not possible to row and reel at the same time. I decided to quickly put some reflective tape hoops over the reeds where my lines came over them. These would act as a guide at night so I could see my lines if needed. I rowed out with the tape, and would you believe it – I had a take! I dashed back as quick as I could, which is not easy because there is a small gap in the reeds where your boat goes in and out. It is like a driveway and has reeds either side. It is a nightmare to row through, and too deep to wade the boat out. Rowing or using the motor is the only option. Fortunately my new oars are very strong, so you can literally row your way through any reedy obstacles. I did this as quickly as I could and got to the rod which had a nice bend in it! (I am fishing locked up)

The fish was pulling hard so I gently walked backwards and things started to move. You have to do this procedure very slowly and take your time. If the fish pulls you have to give a step forward and so on. Your heart is in your mouth the whole time, but it really gets the adrenalin going that’s for sure! I figured I had done enough so I took to the boat. I started the engine and put it in reverse to back the boat out of my driveway, all the while holding the rod, which was being yanked by the carp. (Women take note : men can do more than one thing at once!) Unfortunately my plan was scuppered as some reeds had wrapped themselves around the propeller and the boat was now going nowhere – a nightmare situation! Now I had to row and reel at the same time, albeit, reel line, row one oar! I eventually got to the reeds and the fish had shed the hook! Oh dear…

A Chocolate Malt Lover!

Fortunately I had two more chances; one at 2.30am and one shortly after 7am. I landed both of these and everything went smoothly. My reflective hoops work fantastically by the way, and serve as a great warning for you so you avoid your lines going out in the boat and coming back to your swim. The two fish I landed were both small commons. One was probably about 8kg and the other was about 6 and was absolutely stunning. The smaller one put up a great little scrap, and for that reason he had a proper picture taken; definitely a male carp, and possibly a monster common for the future!

The little copper scrapper!

My laptop screen has unfortunately malfunctioned slightly. I can not see the colours properly and I have a mixture of reds and greens. Very psychedelic but not really what I need at the moment. I will continue with everything as normal, and hopefully my screen might return at some point.

The Enduro was a great success and quite a few carp were caught in the end. It was a well spirited contest and all the competitors made me feel very welcome, and I must give a special shout out to “Freddie’s Camping Team!”

I think about half the pairs caught and the other half blanked but what was very noticeable was all the carp that were caught were taken from fairly dense reeds in shallow water bays. I am now set up in one of these very swims, and the two guys that fished here had six carp over the two night contest- three each night. They did point out that all of the carp they caught were small but they lost one good fish. The actual organiser, Marco, fished here last year and caught many small carp, he had one big fish though which weighed 29kg!

I have a carpy feeling that I am going to be very busy every night as the carp are obviously here and by the sounds of the crashes I heard last night, there are plenty here too. All my takes came on two 20mm Chocolate Malt pop-ups and this bait is working very well for me; however, I have some Mussel and Oyster with me, so I will now try that on two rods, and leave Choccy Malt on the other two to see which performs better. The fourth rod is going out tonight now I am more prepared and all set up, and I am hoping this will make things even more hectic!

I have lots more to sort out, so I will be back tomorrow with a better constructed post and some pictures of the swim etc… as this blog has been put together rather quickly!!

Cheers

Jake and the dogs!

Tags: carp, Chocolate Malt, Enduro, Freddie's Camping Team, jake langley-hobbs, Mussel and Oyster

This entry was posted on April 19, 2010 at 12:29 pm and is filed under The Italian Job!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.