My Blue Surprise !

Isit here tonight after just arriving home from an afternoon session on shruggs. i can happily confirm that i didn't blank but also that the fish i caught were on my home made squid and oct pop ups, which gives a carp fisherman an intense satisfaction.
the rod that had my own bait on caught all three fish while the other two remained silent has given me a huge confidence boost.

my first fish of the afternoon came about teatime in the form of a small (but welcome) 4lb common, i must admit that i was under the impression that it was a tench until i had it in the net.

after re baiting and flicking back out to a submerged Lilly bed it was half an hour later just as darkness was beginning to creep in all around me that the same rod tore off again, this take was much more carpish apposed to the tip bouncing take i received from the first fish. The bait runner clicked in and i was in ! This fish had other ideas and made several bids for freedom, firstly burying itself in the pad roots then wrapping itself around the other line at the net. Again this was a small carp of about 7lb but again was a welcome visitor to the bank.

I'm not sure about the black eye ?

I cast back out and within five minutes my alarm was making beautiful noises again, odd bleeps every thirty seconds usually indicates a bream but when i struck this one it would have been impossible to predict what had taken my bait. it was only once on the bank and under torch light that i actually realised what i had caught. It was a big BLUE surprise ! A blue orfe well over a pound couldn't resist my squid and octopus, my dad guessed what id been using on arrival home, suggesting that i stunk of them.

well it was a great end to an enjoyable evening session so i packed up and trudged home.

tight lines

nige

my possesd mind

I'm not actually fishing at the moment I'm sat at the PC, nor have I been fishing earlier in the day due to work. As I sit here my mind wanders back to the side of one of my favourite waters. It was there that I sat perched in a tree with Dave watching a group of about a dozen fish which were all good fish of which I'm sure two were at least low twenties. They were no more than three feet away yet we managed to stay perfectly motionless. Our heart beats could probably be heard from the other side of the lake as we sat there for nearly an hour admiring the sheer beauty of the creatures. There were commons, mirrors and a couple of koi around the 15lb mark (they were nice fish). I am desperate at this moment in time to get out on to my favourite water in fact I'm desperate to get out onto any water. It seems that I haven’t had time free recently to go fishing mainly due to the Mrs and work, my mind is still possessed by carp! There’s just something about them which triggers a reaction in my brain. They are so baffling sometimes they can be just feet away yet so silent and elusive that you don’t see them but on other occasions a blind man couldn't’t miss them! I often wonder if they deliberately make me aware of there presence just to show me that they are there, uncatchable except on the occasions when they let their guard down.
When a fish does feed on bait at close quarters I wonder if they can feel the tension and suspense in the air as it draws ever nearer to the hook bait. So often this is the only bait the fish will leave untouched after dinning for free on my loose feed. This leads me to despair but also gives me motivation to carry on trying to catch my quarry. I know Ive already posted today but i found myself writing this in my journal so i thought it may as well go on here too.

tight lines
nige

A Wintery Day At Shruggs.

After arriving slightly late (2 Hours) due to oversleeping i found that Dave was tackling up beside me before i had set up. i managed as usual to jinx the weather, setting up it was quite warm and sunny but by 11am the snow and sleet showers were becoming more frequent.My bait for the day was my 12mm home made boilies, this was a session to try them, Dave went with pop ups a foot off the deck on chod rigs.

2 of my baits on a size 6 mugga.

We sat all day watching the fish sunbathing out over the sunken lilly bed in the middle of the pond as is the norm at this time of year. We waited all day in the freezing cold and it was cold the northerly wind made sure of that. Dave got the first action of the afternoon at about 4pm which resulted in a small common of around 5 lb which fell to his pop up approach.

He also caught the next carp another pretty little common this time about 9lb, again this fell to the zig style pop up. At this point my home made bottoms had only managed a couple of the resident bream (gutted). So i decided to put a pop up on my right hand rod, 20mins later away it went again a pretty little common.

Dave with his bigger common. Me and my last minute screamer.

Please excuse the blank expression on my face, by that time i couldn't feel my fingers or toes.

I think my bream bashing boilies will catch carp, it just seemed that the fish preferred the single, visual pop up on the day. it may be that its still a bit early and cold to start feeding a food source into the lake but i shall try again if we get i nice patch of weather might try and sneak a short session in between shifts at work, preferably an evening if i can. At this time of year when the Lillys are still submerged it is possible to predict when the fish will come , by this i can maximize my short sessions by fishing while the fish are having it. A take is practically guaranteed between 4pm and dark. When the pigeons fly in to roost in the trees it is time to get everything ready for a fish, as proved yesterday as all 3 carp came between 4pm and dark.

I learnt a valuable lesson, whist it would of been nice to catch a carp on my own bait there is always next time, fish on the tactics that are going to catch the fish.

tight lines

nige

Taffy the trout master !

I haven't been fishing yet but i cant wait to get my rods out first thing Monday morning. My girlfriend wont be happy as it will mean i wont be stopping at hers on Sunday night :( but a man must do what he must do .

i have just been uploading pictures off my camera onto the computer and found a rather good picture of an enormous rainbow trout, with its captor my dad (the trout master)i thought it deserved to be on here for all to see. It was caught on an orange fritz lure just before Christmas from bank house fly fishery ( a truly magical place).

unfortunately the picture doesn't do this fish justice ! We estimated that it was somewhere in the region of 18lb which is the biggest trout I've ever seen on the bank . (let me know what you think ). It was one of about 20 fish my dad land that day ( as usual i was thrashed ! ) this is always the case when fly fishing with my dad as he is quite the trout magnet. In modesty he will say that its just luck and he can hold his own but in reality its unusual for him not to be top rod on the water where ever we go !

anyway back to Monday. I'm going to my local runs water ( shruggs wood ) to test my new boilies :). with the forecast snow i think a fish will be a good result so we shall see.

tight lines

nige

my first post !

Spring is well on its way and with it I'm sure the carp in our country's lakes are awakening from their winters slumber. With this in mind this past week I have set about my bait preparations for this years campaign. My hemp is maturing nicely in two ten litre buckets, as is my maize and my tiger nuts are fermenting as I write. Yesterday i had a play around with a batch of boilies in the form of the club mix and koi rearer squid and octopus. They are hung up drying now and seem to be just what i want :)

But will they catch fish ? Wells there is only one way to find out i guess. I will test them on my local runs water Shruggs Wood first to see if the carp in there are fond of them. The fish in there will eat practically anything, iv caught them on haribo sweets before now just to prove a point. I put this down to the high stocking levels of this small park pond (about 100 carp) considering that the pond is less than an acre in size i consider this to be high. Along side all the other species in the pond. The carp in here are by no means monsters but average around the 10lb mark with a few fish exceeding 20lb. I have spent many a day (and night) on this water, its was the first water that i started carp fishing on and provided me with some good sport although in my first year i only managed one fish at 11lb all year ! Now i can usually get a couple of fish a session, although I'm still yet to catch either of the big fish in there but that's fishing i guess.


An average shruggs common .

I intend to fish a water at Withnel heavily this year, this is a pretty little water and at couple of acres in size its not too daunting. This is a water with a good stocking of carp which average mid teens and above with a good number of fish over 20lb so i am told. I fished this water in November for three nights, i managed two fish of 14lb 8oz and 15lb 14oz and lost two others. This was a good result as it was the fist time i had seen the water .



An old warrior from withnel very welcome at nearly 16lb.

The other water which I'm baiting regularly this year is farrington lodges. This is a more difficult water and is requiring a different approach. As pellets are banned and this water is sparsely stocked I've been baiting with hemp and tigers although ill be putting in some boilies in the warmer months. I fished this water a few single night sessions last year and managed to bank a wonderful common of around 10lb aswel as a cracking tench and a few bream one night. So my hopes are high for this season, you never know i might be writing about a monster that Ive landed this time next year or maybe even sooner, who knows ?


tight lines
nige