Good Morning.

At eight-thirty yesterday evening I heard a carp roll down the left-hand margin. My rod placed in eight feet of water was near to where I heard the carp give away its presence. I heard another rolling sound, so I quickly slipped on my Wellington’s as the red led from my receivers lit up, and the tip subsequently whacked round. “What timing with the boots,” I thought, as I made a dash for the rod in question. As soon I was stood holding the rod however, I knew something was wrong. That terrible grating sensation came back up the line, and sure enough, it was probably caught on one of the many loose branches that adorn the margins at this time of year. This is one of the additional challenges that lay in store for anglers who fish when the water levels are at their maximum – the perils of driftwood!

One big branch = one lost carp.

I felt the fish pulling hard so occasionally I gave it a few turns of freedom. The fish didn’t feel particularly big or strong for that matter, so I started to gain line bringing the carp towards the snag. The line continued to grate, the fish pulled sharply a few times, and it was suddenly gone, leaving my hook embedded in the woody tangled mess. I put my rod down and donned my waders. In the darkness I waded out till my shockleader was back on my spool. I then applied pressure and the whole lot began to budge. Ever so slowly the big branch appeared from the depths, and there was my bright purple pop-up, hooked neatly on a small stem. The last time I was snagged I won the battle – this time I didn’t, and that’s the way it goes I guess.

Around nine o’clock the star’s twinkle was hidden by dirty clouds and the first drops of rain descended. It was comforting knowing the temperatures had dropped slightly and I lay there watching my isotopes in the dark. I was abruptly awoken at 3am by a single beep. The glare from the led illuminated the front of my swim as I waited for another burst – nothing. I needed to pee (!) so I nipped to the nearest bush and hopped back in the bag. Flash stuck his head out from underneath his cover on his bed as if to say “Do you mind mate, I am trying to sleep here!”

Thirty minutes later I had a liner on the margin rod from earlier. The three quick beeps had me into my boots in seconds and I studied the rod tip and checked the line was still in the clip on my SK3. Everything seemed in order so I returned to the bag again. Animal noises were in abundance last night; dogs, wild boar, otters, and a host of other park-life poachers. The otters are regular sightings at Brava and I see at least one every night. I remember a session last year when a family of otters were working the margins thirty yards along from my swim. It seemed the young were being trained by the parents and they had obviously just successfully executed a kill of some description judging by the splashing and fighting in the edge.

At seven-thirty I finally got the sound I was waiting for. A couple of beeps were followed by the thrill of the ripping baitrunner accompanied by my two receivers two-toned chorus. I was on the rod in seconds and immediately I felt the grating again. I continued to wind and suddenly the line pinged free. I wound down for what seemed like ages until I made contact, and the carp was actually right in front of me! It suddenly woke up but never left the shallow 18inch margins, instead preferring to do its battle, right here, and right now. There were a few tense moments as the carp almost tail-walked across the shallows to escape the net, but finally and with the help from my headtorch, she was mine – and what a beauty too!

I left the carp in the net and prepared the necessaries. I sat on my bed for a moment and took in the last few minutes. Deep down I felt I deserved that one. On the scales she read 14.75kg or 32.5lbs; I left her in the retainer, popped her back into the water, and got the kettle on whilst I prepared my camera equipment. There is nothing like photographing a nice common in the morning followed by a cup of PG tips!!

That will do for starters!

After the pics were done and she was duly returned I then made some breakfast. My boy Flash was given a long cigar-like rawhide chew to keep him occupied for twenty minutes(a normal dog would spend days eating it!), and I was just photographing him in full chew mode, when the margin rod signalled something was going on – another liner or a pick-up. I reeled in to find my fluro pop-up was not fully buoyant from the night before, so I changed it for a fresh one, filled a pva bag with some treats, and slung it all back into position; this was quickly followed by four spods of the margin mix for this particular rod!

OH YEAH!!

How is my new line faring? Well I got snagged earlier whilst reeling in one my rods. The 16lb held up fine and in fact the hook I was using, snapped first. I used to get snagged sometimes at Cassien whilst reeling in, and then would have to go out in the boat to try to free the hook or lead. Directly over the snag in the boat would allow a direct pull from above and quite often my hook would bend and free first, before any line breakage occurred – that’s what you call knot-confidence! Boats aren’t allowed at Brava so I always reel in quickly with the rod held high. If you get snagged then there is little you can do apart from waggle the rod around, walk in different directions to get another angle on everything, and then if all else fails – pull for a break. I hate losing tackle – not because I am tight, because there is already too much lying around on lake beds all over the world, and it really used to irritate me when I used to see anglers at Cassien pulling for a break, because they were too lazy to go out in their boat to free the end tackle, which to be honest, 99% of the time you get everything back.

Tuna - Frank W swears by it...

Tuna fish is an ingredient I am adding to my spod mix this session along with my other ‘bits’! The great thing about not having a bait sponsor anymore (and I don’t ever want one again)  is I am free to use whatever I want, and I no longer have to worry about saying the wrong thing. My spod mix is Vital based in that it has the SB-X boilies in it, but to this I have added some pellet, various Dynamite Baits liquid attractor, the tuna (Spanish!), and a few DB Mussel and Oyster boilies that I have to use up. Together it makes a fantastically fishy concoction that I am positive is helping me this session. The carp incidentally was caught on the snowman comprising a 24mm Vital SB-X bottom bait with a 15mm Mainline pineapple pop-up. This was fished with the blow-back rig using a long curved hook, and I placed a piece of shot behind the bottom bait to stop anything sliding on the hair, and to add some extra weight; so when the carp sucks it in, essentially it drops lower in the mouth making it harder to eject.

My fishy fish mix.

The rods have all been sorted for the next 24 hours and I have a feeling there is more to come. I said in a post a few days ago that the margins held the key when the levels are high, and it seems to be proving correct. However, if I do suffer from anymore losses due to branch snags, then I will definitely move swims tomorrow morning; only slightly further down the bank to my left, therefore still concentrating my efforts in this bay, where there do seem to be a few fish sheltering from the cold easterly, along with Flash and I, of course.

Cheers

Jake & Flash