Good Evening.

Before I copy and paste my diary piece below I will just add my thoughts over the last two nights. Last night was surprisingly quiet. I did not mind one bit as it meant I got a solid eleven hours kip. I really needed it and I felt full of beans this morning. I decided not to retrieve the rods, instead I would see if anything occurred during the first part of the day. I was on lookout duty for pikeys, and boats full of birdwatchers, and spent the first part of the day relaxing in the morning sun.

The last two days has seen a change in the weather. The sun and heat has now returned, and I am wondering if the carp exited the bay during the change in temperature as overcast weather moved in on Friday and moved off this morning. I know there are carp here today because I have seen some whilst out in the boat, and whilst I was out I put some bait down at lunchtime; I would check later when I redid the rods to see if it had gone. I left it till about 3pm and I started retrieving the rods one by one. I made a few changes that I mention in the diary piece, and the bait I put down, has been eaten by all accounts. The water clarity has gone crystal clear in the last 24 hours and the water level has dropped a little since I have been here. The change in water clarity is either due to the fact the feeding carp have gone and it was them who clouded up the water, or it was down to the rain on Friday, and the sudden return of the sun today. Tonight is going to be a test to see what happens. I have made one change to one rod and have put a meshed 26mm Spicy Tuna bottom bait on, instead of a double pop-up offering; the other rods remain unchanged.

What do I do if tonight produces nothing? Another move may be on the cards, or I stop my session and go to another lake where the chance of a really big common is much smaller. I am going to do a 24 hour poll tonight to see what you think I should do, and whatever the outcome I will react to it on Tuesday morning.

Thank you for taking part, the poll is now closed!!!

The Korda diary piece of the last 36 hours.

I have decided to change my format for this month’s diary piece. I will give you a full blown account of what happens in the next thirty-six hours, rather than recall the last month’s events. I am set up and the rods are out as I write, and as things have started to warm up and I have caught fifteen carp in the last five nights; I thought it would be a cool way to do the diary this month.

It is 5.26am at this precise moment and it is still dark outside. My dogs are asleep on their beds on the floor and apart from their sighs as they sleep, I can hear birds in the woods and fish topping, as dawn is about to break. The reason I am up at this time is I have just suffered from a hook pull at mega long range. I am fishing locked-up and tight to some reeds and when I get a take, it is normally just one or two beeps as the rod tip violently pulls forwards. I was sleeping, rather heavily I might add, but got to the rod and expected an immediate strong tug of war to pull the carp away from the snags, yet after feeling some resistance, the hook pinged free. I shot out in my boat and redropped the rod, and by using a red flashing light in my swim, I can return in a straight line in the dark. On my boat I am using a petrol outboard engine as it gets me around quicker and as they are allowed on this lake, it makes no difference to the carp as they are used to the sound.

6.00am after going to bed for a lie down, I suddenly get a take on a rod placed at 200m range. The end result was a small common about 12lbs. The carp aren’t all huge in here as they successfully breed every year, so small ones are quite often caught. I released it from the boat, re dropped the hook bait back onto my spot using my eyes, and after returning to my swim – it’s back to bed. I am so tired!

8.30am a boat containing birdwatchers arrives in the bay area. I wave at them to avoid my lines and they pick up one with the rudder of their craft. I wave and shout at them to stop but the braid snaps. I go out to challenge them and the braid is still trailing off the back of their boat. I was not best pleased with them! I tied the two loose ends together, found where my rig had been dragged to, and then checked everything before redropping and returning to my swim. It’s time for a cup of tea. F&%£*”# birdwatchers!!

11.00am just had some breakfast, cornflakes, toast and coffee! On Saturdays I generally have a little tidy up and it is normally my day off from writing, apart from the blog, of course! The sun is now shining and it is going to be like this for the next ten days. Things should really pick up now. The smaller carp have actually started spawning (or practising) in the reeds. My plan today with the rods is to leave them out till mid afternoon, then I will go and check them all in turn and bait up. I am only baiting up with a few handfuls of boilies, scattered along the reed line.

1.00pm a pike angler entered the bay fishing the edges of the reeds. He avoided all of my lines till he got near to my swim and then the problems began! I tried to explain to him to bring his boat under my lines, as they are very high up on my pod to avoid the reeds in front. He decided to do it his own way and caught one of my lines. After some choice words from me, he dropped his outboard motor on full power, and sped out of the bay. This is normal life on these big European lakes and pike and carp anglers don’t mix well!!

1.27pm just watching seven gliders skilfully piloted as they circle round each other high in the skies. There is a glider base situated at the lake which provides daily visual entertainment.

2.30pm I have just had a sudden take on a long range rod, and after a real tug of war, as the fish was in the reeds, my hook sadly pulled. On reaching the spot in the boat it transpires my Hybrid lead clip had not dumped the lead which is the reason I could not extract the fish out of the reeds. I can only put this down to the fact it was probably a small fish, as I have had several carp using this very lead clip and the lead has been dumped each time! You win some you lose some, but at least it is turning into an eventful day for my diary!

3.15pm I am now repairing a seat I have and I have just repaired my laptop screen which had gone psychedelic! I accidentally sat on it at the last lake, causing a small dent in the casing. I undid the screen components, pushed out the dent, relieving the pressure on the LCD display, and happily it’s back to normal. My life does not revolve just sitting behind rods!

4.45pm I have now finished doing the rods for tonight. I redid two as I am happy with the other pair. I am now getting settled as dusk approaches with more feeding carp hopefully!

8.00pm just written my daily blog and it is about an hour away from darkness. It is a lovely evening, slightly overcast, and I am expecting a take at any moment if the last few nights are anything to go on!

8.30am I have just woken up after an amazing night’s sleep, which I really wanted I might add! We all like to be up catching carp, but I am not in a competition and I needed a night off to be honest. The carp have been very considerate! Just having a cup of tea and I am going to sit and watch out for pike anglers in boats, so they don’t catch my lines.

2.00pm I am now just doing some video work for Korda’s website. This is the second one I am compiling and today I did some rig footage showing my 360 rig that I am currently using.

4.00pm I have just been to get my rods and I have changed the mono shockleaders to the 50lb Arma-Kord leaders so they don’t have any stretch in them. This may help win some more of the tug of war battles I keep having with the carp, as the slight stretch in the mono leaders may be giving the carp a slight advantage. I have won most of them to date, but the last few have gone in the carp’s favour! Carp fishing seems to be all about peaks and troughs of success and overcoming certain problems.

6.00pm I have just successfully put my rods out and now it is time to sit and enjoy the balmy evening. It does seem after last night’s unexpected quiet that the carp may have done one, but I saw one earlier by my swim, so it seems either the hot day has brought them back, or the cloudy weather the last day or so, switched them off the feed a little. Tonight will be an interesting test.

7.30pm I now have my dinner on the go. Tonight I am having some pasta which is nice and quick to prepare, but filling and full of energy. After last night’s good sleep I am hoping to stay awake till about 11pm, as I am hoping my 11pm rod will produce a take as it has done the last few nights. Two red kites have just flown over my head, and the bird life at this lake is fabulous – the downfall is the birdwatchers in boats they seem to attract!!

That’s it for this weekend!

Back tomorrow.

Jake and the dogs.

Tags: Arma-Kord, boilies, carp, jake langley-hobbs, Korda

This entry was posted on April 25, 2010 at 8:37 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.