carp on the fly rod !

No I'm not barmy(that's debatable) yesterday i did indeed have a quick few hours on shruggs. after recent success on bread i had been working on a new method of presenting it and i can quite happily say that on the first test session it proved very effective :)

a 12lb leader (12 feet) attached my pollyfuse line and a nice through action rod were my tools for today, paired with a small home made sight bob, white so's it didn't spook any wary carp about six inch above a size 8 hook.

First cast !

on arrival i found a group of fish in the pads under the big oak tree, i set up further up the bank and practically crawled into position. i led there glaring down through the surface film at my quarry, a lovely plated mirror i estimated to be about 12lb, what a great start that would be i thought as i flicked out my simple rig baited with a piece of bread flake. the fish stayed motionless as my bait landed about 3foot up wind from it, i could see its dark empty eye checking for the cause of the disturbance but it didn't seem to notice me only feet away led flat on my chest, heart pounding as is always the case in these situations. I inched my bait back so slowly that it looked natural to the fish as it sifted through the surface debris , it sat and watched my bait for a couple of seconds and engulfed it in one swift movement. Striking the pads erupted like a volcano, water exploded form the surface as fish scattered in all directions. I was attached to an express train within seconds it had made its way through the pads, i was just a spectator holding on for the ride. I could see the backing on the reel and was getting worried, i hate playing a fish on the backing, a fear of the knot slipping.so i decided to try and stop the fish, and stop it i did ! with my hand firmly gripping the reel i started to fight back, rod butt dug harshly into my gut and rod hooped over tip to butt. The fish was soon to be mine though and weighed in at a respectable 11lb.

my prize for good angling :)

i wandered round the other side of the pond where i once again found a group of fish sifting flys off the surface from the lilly pads, a fish named ruby ( a linear mirror) who was last banked at 19lb 80z appeared out of nowhere and engulfed my bait. i struck and found myself climbing the yew tree behind me to retrieve my tackle, big fish are my downfall i think I'm jinxed ! but my confidence was high and very next cast i hooked a nice common which weighed in about 9lb after another enthralling battle.

i still had fish in the pads infront of me and it wasn't 20 seconds after until i was into another fish.

the bread had no sooner hit the water than a mirror launched at it from about 6 feet away ! IT WANTED IT THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY :) and weighed in at 9lb 120z .

three fish in as many hours at this time of year is quite good going on this water so i was well chuffed. i think i may go and have a dabble tomorrow after work see if i can get into a lunker who knows?

tight lines

nige

Using One's loaf !

After a mid week evening session on shrugs which resulted in a small common and a 'gud un' lost i was quietly confident that i could winkle at least a fish out yesterday. Only arriving at 11am meant that my best chances were already dead, this is a early morning venue. I was pleasantly surprised to find the pool free of anglers on arrival as confidence oozed through my veins i set up in a peg amongst some lily pads to find straight away that half of the stock of carp were sat in them in front of me. The fish in here are very fond of bread however the ban imposed on floating baits early last year meant that catching them was impossible. Or was it ? After several texts begging my aunt to run me some bread up i was ready to try my luck. I moulded rig putty around the hook to weight it then added a good piece of bread this produced the desired effect of a piece of bread which i could free line that would flutter down through the water in front of the carp.

My first cast was unbelievably poor due to the excitement and ended up in the tree above me !
second time round though it was perfect, i watch the bait land 3feet in front of a fish which obliged by picking the bait up after about five seconds. I was in ! A short scrap pursued as the fish wasn't at all keen on being dragged from its watery home and in the net i could see that yet again it was one of the lakes small fish, a fully scaled mirror of about 5lb. Not huge but not a bad start.

a good start .

while waiting to see another target fish move back into the pads (they had spooked) my rod on an alarm screamed off . The fish boiled at the surface and set off, on striking i swore, i thought i was stuck solid, dumped again by one of the decent fish. With my 3lb blank arched over i managed to get the fish moving and once out of the roots that battle really began. Every time i thought i had the upper hand my clutch screamed again, this fish hadn't been caught in a while, it wasn't having any of it. this carried on for a good ten minutes before i finally managed to slip my net under her. This fish was awesome all 14lb 12oz of it, my first double of the year and probably one of the best fights ill get all year.

This fish possessed a tail like a paddle. no wonder it fought so well.

not long after fish were present in the pads again and another piece of bread was being flicked into them, again another almost instant response resulted in another small mirror which ended an afternoon off nicely, i wouldn't complain if i was to catch 3 fish every time i went.

my apologies for the poor photograpghy but its quite difficult using the self timer in the rain :(

As i write this I'm preparing for an evening session On banister farm with my dad after tea where hopefully carp will be taking off the surface :) i shall update in the morning with a net full of fish i hope .

tight lines

nige

Another short session.

Another short session was on the cards yesterday afternoon, i finished work at 2pm, I had my rod licences and the weather was reasonable. Carl (my cousin) has been asking me to take him carp fishing as he would like to start but doesn't really know how to kick start his chances. So after a trip to carters with a list of terminal tackle he would need he joined me in the afternoons sunshine (and rain.)

Having not caught caught many carp and his biggest only being about 6LB i thought a trip to shruggs would be a good choice.

Within ten minutes of arriving two other anglers had had a couple of fish so my confidence was sky high, sure enough it wasn't long before my right hand rod was bent over into a fish which Carl finally managed to net (third time). i was looking down at a pretty little mirror of about 8lb.

not a monster but it gave a good scrap !

At 6pm Carl's right hand rod gave a single toner and i thought we had managed to get him amongst the carp at last but it turned out to be a tinca or which Carl was somewhat disappointed despite it being a good tench.

This was unfortunately the only action his rods would see on this session but there's always next time mate :)

my right hander produced a bream and when recast produced a screaming take which resulted in me doing duel with a decent carp in his territory ( the Lilly pads) needless to say that after a good five minutes of me gaining line and the fish taking it back he won. The hook pull ensured that my lead and rig hurtled towards me at a hundred miles an hour. i was gutted because it was a good fish but that's fishing and we cant win them all. Can we ?

i intend to return on Sunday afternoon after work to try and bank my first double of the year, although i have had a fish every time I've fished shruggs this year i haven't had anything remotely decent but with a cold spell supposedly on its way maybe things will slow up and the decent fish might have a chance to get at the baits before the four pounders. you never quite know when a big fish is going to grace your net at shruggs which is one of its attractions.

tight lines

nige