The Old Hall pt 4

In my keenness to be bank side I had managed an earlier dart from home, arriving at the lake at around 1 am, with the predicted weather for sun and high pressure from Friday on-wards, i had the feeling the fish would turn up at the shallower end of the lake to bathe in the sunshine and enjoy the warmer, shallow water. The rods were positioned with ease due to the near full moon, i could make out much of the lake and dropping a rod to the island and 2 out into open water was easy, they all went out on small bags of crumbed Bacteria B1 with a sprinkling of matching pellets in the bags, home was up and the kettle on by 1.30 am. Setting the phone alarm for 5 am i jumped in the bag to catch up on some much needed sleep after the long drive down. My eyes had barely closed when the repetitive beep of the alarm on the right hand rod signalled a bream had attached itself to the rig. The fish was quickly unhooked in the margins and the rod was recast.
At first light the clouds had come in and with the easterly wind due, the lake looked perfect for some fish activity. The rods were re baited and cast accordingly with just one change, that being the left hand rod was now presented in the mouth of the stream, 60 yards along the left hand bank. The day soon passed with no sightings of the fish in the shallower water. I was so sure they were going to show up and waking up Friday morning to a misty lake i was unsure if i had made the right decision and whether the gamble to be in place ahead of the fishes arrival would work. By 8am the sun had broken through and lit the lake up. A quick jaunt up to the high ground behind my swim and i saw my first fish, a really large backed, black fish was sat on the edge of the reed bed in the corner of the bay, once i had got my eye in i started to notice a few more fish slowly ambling along the reed line.

2ft of water, 2 Swans, Canada's and a dozen ancient carp underneath them

Taking a chance of scaring them i decided to get 2 baits into the area, one as best as i could get it, went into the corner, the 2nd rod went back out onto the stream bed, with a 16mm scud popping up an inch off the bottom, both slackened right off, but on a very tight clutch. Back up to the high ground and i was amazed to see the fish were still present and now in greater numbers, By mid morning there were now around 15 fish present, milling around lazily in the sunshine. They were cruising in and out and along the reed lined edges in around 18 inches to 2 foot of water and were so visible in the crystal clear water. It was a fantastic sight. Over on the far margin i could see what i thought was a group of fish moving together, i watched them work their way along the reed line then suddenly the reality hit me that this was not a cluster of fish, but one very long, wide fish. It turned into the reed line before coming passed me and i soon lost sight of it.
Over the course of the day i would see fish using the same area of water time after time, always following a similar route to and from the shallowest water and often cruising over the 2 sandy plateaus i could now see. Waiting for an opportunity whereby there were no fish visible on the far margin, i recast the island rod to the farthermost sandy area near the treeline, slackened off a little line and cranked up the clutch, thankfully nothing spooked out of the area.
 Up to the high ground again, to watch and learn, the moment i could see a fish approaching a baited area i had to dash down onto the rods, eagerly awaiting a take on the rods. I would give it a few minutes then clamber back up to see the fish had ignored the bait. i was starting to feel like a Yo Yo.
By mid afternoon there were less fish showing, a little wander around the area of the stream and i could still see the odd fish creeping about. They were still up here, but now most were sat deep in the reed beds, basking but barely moving.
A friend came down to see me and on his way he had seen a big fish at the other end of the lake, this he believes to be one of  the missing fish. I took a walk and set eyes on the 3rd big lump of the day, a really pale fish, it was sitting under the choppy surface and was a good way down but was still huge to look at.
As evening drew on i moved the rods back to the baited areas, reluctant to fish the rods so close the reeds throughout the dark hours. The rods were quiet through the first few hours of darkness but once the near full moon lit the lake up the bream awoke and went on the feed. I got little sleep that night until dawn was breaking when the liners and bleeps stopped. Id managed to avoid hooking so many by doubling up on the bait size, fishing 2 16mm bottom baits with a slice of scud on top on each rig
The final day came and with it a cold overcast day, a quick check of the weather and it looked like they had changed there minds about the day, the sun wasn't due till late afternoon. I contemplated a move for the remainder of the session and having seen the big pale fish at the other end of the lake the thought of it kept eating away at me. With having had little quality sleep since arriving, it was only the coffee that was keeping me going, i was totally shattered and decided i really didn't have the energy to move so stayed put on the big beds of bait i had put out. At around 2 pm the sun started to make an appearance and within no time so did the fish, not as many as the previous day, but they were here and that's all that mattered. I was back on fish. As the evening drew on there were more carp gathering up in the shallow water, and i fully anticipated a pick up. Again i was up and down the bank watching the spots, seeing carp come right over my rigs, but totally ignoring them, where they just not feeding or was the end tackle blatantly obvious in the shallow water ?Darkness came on and i jumped in the bag early, with a 7am departure the following morning i was going to need some decent sleep. Shortly after 9 the middle rod over the main baited area went into meltdown. There was no time to get into the shoes, instinctively it was out in the socks, lifting the rod into a weighty fish, it went right, powering for the island, but turned at first time of asking, from that point on it did little as i manoeuvred it towards me, once in the very shallow water at the reed margin it seemed to wake up and suddenly became a handful, such an angry fish in shallow water this one. On second attempt i slid the net under it and saw a common carp of bulky proportions, once on the mat the reality of a repeat capture of "stumpy" common was apparent. A quick mat shot and a lift on the scales revealed him to no weigh 19lb 3oz and back he went powerfully.

It had been a tough frustrating session being on the fish so often and so close that this felt like a result. A quick brew and i was back in bed, smiling I'm sure. It wasn't long before a 5lb bream had hung itself on the island rod, managing to get a double 16mm bait into its greedy mouth. Over the night i was woken to bleeps and a few more greedy bream, again as with the previous few nights, up until first light, when they seem to switch off, a quick coffee and it was wrap up and go time.

The Old Hall pt 3

Time had been limited recently and it had been the best part of a month since my last visit to the old hall lake, again i left home with plenty of time under darkness to arrive and mooch around before deciding which swim to choose. I ended up with my original plan which was to fish the last area of the lake that i had not fished. This was to give me some time plotting the lake bed in this final area. With an hour of darkness still upon me the rods were flicked out to 3 different ranges, one off the bottom end, around 8 yards from the bank, one out in open water straight out in front of me at around 40 yards and the third rod, an underarm flick out along the reed lined margin.

Once the rods were settled i got the home built and after a cuppa it was time for a snooze till daylight. Within minutes of shutting my eyes i received a single toned take of the right hand rod, what initially felt like a bream soon started to pull back and was making a desperate attempt to get itself into the reed beds under my feet, once turned from the snaggy margin it was soon in the net. A small but immaculate common of 12lbs, no monster, but my 6th fish from the venue. I would later find out this fish was, although only little, one of the oldest of the lakes residents. It was taken over a 16mm B1 Bacteria bottom bait topped with a 10mm Scud.

small, but an ancient fish

Great start to the 3 day session. By mid day the wind had turned as forecast and was now picking up and pushing towards me. Everything looked right for the fish to be in the vicinity. The day passed quite quickly with no sightings of any other carp, and other than a bream of around 4lbs the rods stayed quiet. As evening drew in i managed to bait up without the attentions of the resident tufted ducks, spreading around 2kg of rolled baits over the 3 rods, with a similar amount of B1 pellet to accompany the boilies.

I slept well after my 2am start that day and was surprised to wake some time after dawn after an undisturbed sleep. I woke to a stunning sunny morning, the breeze that had faded away under darkness soon picked back up and again was pushing from right to left long my bank, giving me ideal conditions for the carp to be patrolling. With a few tufties and mallards having found my baits, i was getting cleaned out, i left them to get their fill, knowing it would enable me to fish over fresh bait for the last night of the session. I refrained from moving the rods just yet, preferring to leave them quiet and the lake undisturbed, these fish are wily and are rarely fished for so im sure the act of recasting could possibly scare them from the area, if they were present.

Again the day passed quickly and i was soon entering my second night. With no sightings or activity from the bream through the day, and even the tufties not hassling me too much, i decided to add just a small amount of fresh B1 pellet and a smattering of rolled baits over the spots i was fishing. With the rigs rebaited with balanced rigs then a hefty amount of paste wrapped around the hookbaits, they were all dropped back onto the baited zones and darkness enveloped the lake.

I woke in the middle of the night to a stuttering take and lifted into a bream, this would be the first of  dozen over the night, each would come to a large hookbait and would managed to shift a 31/2oz lead out of the silt and swim freely off with it, coming up against a tight clutch. After the first few i was getting slimed up and smelt awfull, i really didnt want to get into the sleeping bag in this state, so i opted to spend the night sat up dozing in the chair untill the next slimey bait theif came along. By first light i was exhausted and looked a sight. I managed a quick wash and wipe down to remove the filth off my hands and face and started an early pack down of the gear, leaving the rods out till the last minute and was unrewarded for my efforts. Although id banked a carp,I felt like i had had a blank session, i think this was due to the speed at which i had caught it and then sat fishless for the rest of the session.

Over my first 5 sessions, totaling 13 nights i am relatively happy with the progress i have made on the 4 acre water, Ive mapped out much of the lake, I have found some interesting hard areas, loads of soft clean aerobic silty spots, found plenty of areas with mussels present, i have managed to fish in all areas of the lake and to make it all worthwhile, i've managed 6 carp from the low stock of around 35 fish.

Im doing something right, but now i need to work on avoiding these pesky bream. With a 3 nighter due next week i'm keen as mustard to be up there. Spring should have woken properly now up there, its a late to bloom venue due to its height above sea level. Roll on thursday !