So I’ve not done a fish since February and I’ve not had any fish from my new syndicate Hams Hall as yet with roughly 10 nights under my belt through late winter all resulting in blanks my time has been spent marking out swims, getting to know people & generally getting a feel for the water so never a loss & a much more productive time of year to do it with plenty of space & not peeing people off foaming up the water. This weekend was the first session of year I’ve fished where nature has felt like its awoken with lush greens, sunny days & an armada of bird life in the skies, though in reality I feel a lot of spring has already passed me by while I’ve been pulling out my hair & crawling up the walls with unresolved transport issues that have kept me away from the bank. I say unresolved because it took me and the mrs 2 hours to load up all my gear including a 3 man bivvy, 2 bed chairs and bags into my fto coupe which was like a 3d version of Tetris at an Olympic standard. Hopefully I’ll be waving goodbye to the batmobile this week and hello to the new carpwagon aka a carpy green mondeo estate. Anyway, worried for available swims large enough for the party dome I was pleasantly surprised at how few were on the lake & after a quick lap & chat we dropped into the steps, a swim which doubles with the dug out swim. Fish had been seen and my nearest neighboughs were the outlet and the point. Also my partner in crime on the syndicate Dale was popping down with his mrs potentially joining us for the night ( in his own bivvy ) obviously! #notaswinger All 3 rods flicked out on singles with a donk from the lead being my only markering efforts we set up camp.
Dale +1 arrived & while leaving the girls to get acquainted dale had 3 pike in very quick concession on his 2 ft spinner rod which resulted in a new hole in my net, a wet sling & a few laughs. Note the ocd must hide fingers disorder and carpy smile. It was great to all meet up anyway as were off next week on a social together along with some other friends so ice broken as the girls hadn’t met before. Dale and his mrs decided not to fish the night & shot off after an hour or so leaving me to “get fishing” .
Right hand rod went down 8 feet in the margin. The middle & left rod went out about 40 yards toward the small island in the gully between 2 humps. Both spots had half a dozen spods of soaked contrast boilie, hemp & a few other bits n bobs with a light spray of contrast boilie around the areas with the stick. The margin rod went on my stiff hinge bottom bait rig combined with a lead clip & pallatrax stone for ultimate rig concealment, a rig I’ll show and go into detail another time. The other 2 rods were on ntrap kd combi rigs with curve shank hooks and clipped square pair leads, one on a snowman presentation the other a barrel tipped with white corn, all 3 rigs critically balanced.
The rest of the day passed uneventful with a bankside chef curry special & a bottle of red to wash it down we were soon in our bags relaxing to the onslaught of Canadians scrapping on the lake. The mrs was making me laugh with her “what was that” “oh my god” commentary of every tiny noise with the bivvy door going down (mozzie only) to assure her that the bats & mice wouldn’t be able to eat her alive. I awoke first light with an alluring mist hugging the water & no sooner had I met the morning call of nature my left rod tore off. Lifting into it still half asleep the culprit made a good heavy run then proceeded to spit my hook. Devastated!!!!!!!!!! & my first fish…..lost.
I don’t think I set the hook properly blaming the dust on my game through absence. The rod was flicked back out to my left, away from the crime scene leaving my middle rod still rocking & undisturbed in the zone. Half hour later a savage knock on the middle rod had me choke on my coffee & leap over to the rods. The lead had moved with the bobbin left raised though I decided to sit on it & cook breakfast.
Having time to study the surface water & rethink my game plan over breaky, a couple of cruising carp and some handed on local knowledge put me on the zigs. Both left and middle rods, one at half depth to my left & one on an adjustable just nicked under the surface over the baited area. A few PVA bags with mixed pellets (sinkers and floaters) were tied and sent out periodically with the catapult.
With the sun blazing in comparison to this year’s previous weather so far the bivvy was rolled back & we both soaked up the relaxation carp fishing offers. Around 2pm the left hand rod bent right round & with my alarm screaming my name I lifted into another fish which almost immediately became a fight less resistance. Head down I wound in a good 5 kilo of carpet weed that the fish had bumped me off with absolutely consuming the lead & all 5 feet of the hook link. Rig checked & lead rubber replaced with PVA tape the rod went back out though that was to be the last fishy occurrence of the trip and with the car being completely loaded all bar the rods and net last minute chance……not this time.
Thanks for reading. My next entry will be from the Evesham vale twitter social next week