Good Morning.

I have received confirmation that my Colossus is on its way from the UK. A new house for my dogs and I in time for my next session. Trakker’s shelters have impressed me to date and I first saw the Colossus last October in France when it was being filmed for some promotional footage. I liked what I saw, but as always, until you slip it on your own foot for size (so to speak), you never quite know how good it is going to be. Size wise I am sure it will be big enough, but it is the other aspects I am interested in; how quick it is to erect, how strong is it in high winds, what is the ventilation like, is the integrated groundsheet impermeable etc… Oh and will it keep the mossies at bay! I will find out in due course…

My little break so far has been very worthwhile. I have emailed two finished articles off to relevant publications, and sorted out all of my washing. My dogs beds also need some attention as they have started to reek a little; a culmination of a stay in a dog kennel, long sessions, and little time in between for washing beds! My equipment is also reaching the stage where a thorough overhaul and general maintenance is needed, and the only way to carry this out is to take time out and spend a careful week going through all of your kit with a fine tooth comb. How many times have you noticed something is broken, only to arrive for a session and discover the broken item is… oops… still broken!

France is calling after my next session and I will be making the long journey back to my Gigantica base. I won’t be doing any fishing as the place is fully booked till the end of November, plus I caught my fish from there last year. I will however be sorting through all of my equipment, and also doing a little research on some French waters to fish on my way down to Spain – my winter destination for 2010/2011. What! Did you think I was undertaking another long, cold, and bleak winter carp fishing… never again!

I came to Italy to try to better my common carp record caught in Italy in 2008. I haven’t managed it yet, but I still have one final two-week session to go. It may be the fairy tale ending I am searching for. If I don’t manage it, it matters not, as it means I have to keep trying elsewhere. Spain could be the obvious place to do it?

I have however enjoyed the Italian experience and after a slow start, I have speeded up and caught very well during the last couple of months. The real big fish have been missing, but if I am really honest, I am not too bothered about that – I would rather just be catching carp these days and the lump will come if it’s really meant to be. I have realised there is no point stressing if the big fish aren’t coming as it does not make them suddenly appear in your net, and fishing for long sessions certainly does not guarantee a big fish either. Sometimes a little luck is needed and I have lost fish whilst I have fished in Italy…Who is to say that one of them wasn’t a 30kg common?

My next blog will come from the side of a lake on Sunday the 20th of June. I hope you join me for my final session in Italy.

Ciao

Jake and the dogs.

Tags: Colossus, france, Gigantica, Italy, jake langley-hobbs, trakker

This entry was posted on June 16, 2010 at 10:03 am 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.