Good Morning.
The snow is falling outside at the moment and the bad weather is expected to continue for another few days. My timing for once has been perfect as it means I am writing my articles sat indoors and not out on the bank in the snow; and by the weekend I should be ready to go to the next location with everything finished and the weather should have retreated by then too!
My internet stick that I am using at the moment has also run out of credit. You have to wait until the date of your agreement in the month begins (mine is on the 12th), before you can top up your sim card to take advantage of your 100 hour interent time once again, for the following month. If you have some credit left on your card you can still use the interent but at a much higher rate – you will get charged everytime you connect and you can easily spend a small fortune each day, rather than just 20 Euros for the month’s offer. It is worth waiting for the month’s offer to commence. These internet sticks are good value but there are also a few things to watch out for. If you have an internet stick in your home country, always check with your provider before taking it abroad, as you will need to investigate the roaming charges. These can be ridiculously high and if you connected five times one day in France for example, you may get a very nasty shock when you open your next bill back in England or Germany. This is why I use a different stick in each country. You may have to buy the dongle for each country, but in the long run it is more economical to do it this way. I am currently using a WIFI internet connection where I am based, so for the time being I can leave my interent stick alone till my promotion begins on the 12th.
This brings me onto today’s post from the past. What was your best fight with a carp? I remember mine clearly, as if it was yesterday. Fifty five minutes of arm wrenching battle with a brutish mirror carp at Cassien. Some fights stick in your mind for certain reasons, freeing the fish from a snag, having to go out in the boat, this fight however, is remembered for the fish’s determination and power.
I was undertaking my first session at Cassien and was based in Aviron. I had starting catching with some regularity in the month of March and it was quite embarrassing as everyone else was sat behind motionless rods for most of the month. Every two days or so I caught a carp and the average weight for my 14 March carp was over 40lbs!
I had lots of morning action and this carp was no different. The run came shortly after 10am and I was on the rod before the fish really got going. The west arm was fairly full of anglers at this point but I went into autopilot knowing I probably had many eyes watching me, as I donned my waders whilst holding onto the bent rod, and slowly made my way out into the water. I had played all of my carp from the bank so far and had lost nothing. My swim only had a couple of nasty snags lying on the lakebed and these were tree stumps. The only danger was at the beginning of every fight if one of the rods happened to be placed near one of these underwater obstacles and the line happened to get pulled into one of the stumps. Fortunately it rarely happened and on the occasions it did the line somehow managed to come free even without the use of the boat. I did use the boat towards the end of my session but only to get the experience. I landed 69 carp and 67 were from firm ground.
This morning’s run started off no differently and for the first few minutes the carp just plodded around going from left to right. A German angler fishing to my left had a visitor in his swim and I could see them observing the ensuing battle as it took place. I prepared the net thinking the carp was coming when suddenly it took thirty yards of line rather violently and I was forced to backwind with some velocity. What an earth had I hooked? I started to retake some line and thought I had tamed the beast when the same thing happened again. This time the fish shot off to the left hand side and I realised the German visitor had left. I glanced at my watch and noticed I had been playing the carp already for over twenty minutes and I was making no progress. I started to think maybe a catfish was responsible, and every time the fish came near, it took line with so much power, that I was helpless to stop it. My rods at the time were a Century model and I could feel every flick of the tail as the fish surged away. Thirty minutes ticked by and my arm was now beginning to ache.
The sun in March was strong in the morning and combined with the sweat pouring from my brow, the sun and the fight was making me feel dehydrated. Apart from splashing my face and arms with lake water there was little else I could do and the fish kept going like it had only just got started. Forty minutes passed and I still hadn’t got a glimpse of the leviathan. I started to think that maybe this was the one, was it a hard fighting sixty or seventy that was refusing to give up? I certainly wasn’t going to throw in the towel and neither was the carp and for the next ten minutes nothing changed.
Finally the bouts of anger were subdued and I eventually got my first sight of the responsible creature. This saga was nearly over and the net was ready and waiting. In a fitting climax to the bout, the fish had one final lunge at freedom. I was now holding the fish on a tight line and letting the rod do the work, my arm was killing me, my fingers had pins and needles and my vision had black dots flickering in front of my eyes.
Ever so slowly the carp tired and begrudgingly turned on one side, it rolled precariously as I drew it towards the net and five minutes before the clock struck one hour, I had my prize tamed and caged in my landing net. I let out a massive cry of relief and punched the air. Two anglers were already making their way over to see exactly what I had caught; surprisingly though this was one of the smaller carp of the month and just below average; he weighed 39.5lbs or 17.8kg. Without a doubt it was a male carp and its tail and wrist were enormous. This explained where its indescribable power came from and even though it lay exhausted and sulking in the mesh, it still looked like it was ready to go again.
What a brute!
Fifty five minutes of arm wrenching power!
The carp measured over a metre in length and was solid and like a well trained athelete – a true fighting machine. What a fight and I doubt I shall forget it in a long time.
Back tomorrow, with more ‘tails’ from the past!!
Cheers
Jake and the dogs.
