After 3 weeks of planning, preparation and general excitement the day finally arrived...
Danny rolled up in the van after Monday evening and we were off up the motorway eager to get there full of expectations discussing tactics, rigs and all things carpy.
The weather was perfect when we arrived... a light breeze blowing into the bay we had selected to fish. We quickly got onto our pegs and got the rods out.
Sat watching the water we saw loads of lovely carp rolling and crashing, trying to "get one over" the carp I dropped a floater rod in the bay to my left where carp seemed to be basking soaking up the late evening rays.
Unfortunately the fish weren’t interested in the floating trout pellet I presented and when the 'big un' (estimated 25lb+) saw my line the whole bay erupted as it powered away.
Later that evening I spotted a lovely Mirror (20+) roll over in the bay on the opposite bank, so it was on with the 4oz distance lead and a monster chuck over to the other bank where I walked round, baited up my rig and placed in the margin with the assistance of Danny from the opposite bank, dropped in a few free offerings and the trap was set. Danny chose to drop a bait in the margin to his right, and one on a bar we'd found earlier with the marker rod, with his 'secret' bags, full of all sorts of goodies. Now it was time to play the waiting game.
After tying up a few new rigs and talking tactics for the evening we decided to take advantage of the Pendle View dinner delivery service... Two double cheeseburgers and chips delivered to our peg, piping hot with a dashing of tommy ketchup! Perfect!! After all the travelling and setting up camp etc the burgers didn't last 2 minutes! After a quick feed and watering (couple cans of strongbow) we sat out and watched the water for signs of feeding fish.
Unfortunately the first 24 hours passed really quick unfortunately Carpless for both me and Danny, although we did manage to land a nice Perch and a Rodney Roach on the waggler rod when fishing for bits... Only one fish came out of the venue that night, a mid double a few pegs down... but all was quiet elsewhere including mine and Danny’s peg...
Time for a Re-think...
Deciding that the carp moving over mine and Danny’s baits in the night weren’t interested in our boilie choice Danny decided to go a little more adventurous, Using a mix of mainlines Cell and Peach and Mango... and with a stringer around 3 foot in length (slightly exaggerated) he flicked it out onto the hotspot where the fish were moving in the night. I decided to fish tight to the reed bed to my left and in the bay 60 yards out in front of the boathouse...
As the night set in fish started to move again, so we knew we were in with a chance, the large mirror I’d seen the day before rolled right over my bait in the bay before disappearing with no further signs. I was woken in the night by carp all over Danny’s swim, it seemed it was only a matter of time before one of the rods screamed off..... Silence...
At 5:30 am I was sat peeking out my bivvy door when I got a bleep and the hanger lifted ever so slightly... then, bleep... it dropped back down, the without hesitation the hanger flew up and cracked the rod and line peeled from the spool... no time for the trainers (not a bivvy slipper kind of guy) straight on the rods and bent into what felt like a big fish! After several minutes trying to steer the fish through the lines it came to the surface... as Danny lifted the net out of the water I could see it wasn't the monster mirror id seen earlier, but a pristine common. On the scales it went 12lb so no monster, but a lovely fish and was a very welcome sight on the bank.
After this we kept plugging away trying different tactics, baits etc, but unfortunately the fish just weren’t having it... in the 48 hours we were there only 3 fish were banked, and us having one of them left us quite chuffed.
I'd definitely visit the place again to try nail one of them 20's and I know Danny is eager to get back and set the record straight!! A great venue, with good potential, It's a shame we didn't bag any monsters, but that’s Carping.
I think a Runs water is on the cards for our next trip, give us some practice for the next time we hit a monster carp venue!
Peace Out, Ryan
I think that carp is a stunner, But i was very interested to see how many boilies and half boilies you were about to cast out,
ReplyDeleteDoes this really work ?
,,,Paddy,,,
The PVA stringer used dissolves when in contact with the water... this leaves a tight area of bait next to your hook..
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the half boilies is to release scent and flavour into the water much quicker, also this is something different for the carp, compared to the traditional round boilies.
You cant really see from the picture but i have a whole ( round boilie ) and a half boilie on the hait together just to give me the edge...
Also Paddy, Danny decided to make the mother of all stringers wityh around 20 baits on, this was looped over the hook to create a 'pile' of free offerings with the hookbait hidden amongst them, the carp feed confidently until they take the hookbait and BANG! fish on :)
Ryan