The Old Hall pt 7

Time had flown bye, the session was upon me before i could prepare my thoughts, i had spent a couple of sessions up in the shallow water and planned to move back down to the deeper end of the lake, thoughts of the big two tone shadow i had seen a few sessions earlier had plagued my thoughts since i had set eyes on it. At no time had i seen this fish up at the shallow end and i have wondered if it is a fish of habit, staying in the deeper water for much of its time.
I arrived with some time to spare before true daylight, the nights were so short and light, without the dawn chorus it would be hard to tell when daybreak was starting. As i trundled my way from the car with a loaded barrow, i could hear laughing at the farthest end of the lake where i had planned to be, seconds later i heard what could only be described as the sound of something immense hitting the water. I parked the gear and sneaked down to the far end to find a handful of kids bombing into the water, swimming and laughing. I turned on my heal, got back to the barrow and headed to the shallows.
With a cool easterly and rain forecast i decided against the far bank and instead tucked myself back into the sandy bank swim on the back of the wind, this gave me a quarter of a lake that was near flat calm, great for spotting any cruisers. The rigs went out with 30mm hand rolled B1's, each with a 10 bait stringer of 18mm baits on to help avoid the bream, the bivvy was thrown up quickly to avoid the start of the rain and i was soon sat quietly with a brew in hand. Tired out i contemplated jumping into bed and getting some sleep, but after having so many early session captures i sat it out. Rolling a smoke and with the kettle chugging away the right hand rod on the stream mouth went into overdrive, I was giggling like a madman as i leaned into a powerful fish. Another fish on within an hour of arrival, I'm sure these carp are responding to the splashdown of the 3oz leads during darkness, it was happening too often, yet when Ive stayed up through the nights and recast every hour or so, i don't seem to catch. After a good tussle with the fish in open water it was time to slide the net under it in the margins, at the sighting of the net, the fish found some extra energy and was off across the lake again, kiting me out on an arc, keeping the clutch tight i leant and turned it from its current direction and back to the folds of the waiting net.

15lbs 12 oz of angry mirror carp greeted me as i unfolded the mesh on the mat, popping the talon tip hook out, a quick dab of treatment on the hook hold and a few pics for the records and back it went, still angry. I held it a while in the edge before finally letting it slide out of my hands.
Kettle went on for a fresh coffee and a new rig was readied to go back up to the stream mouth. Into the waders and out i went, tiptoeing across unfamiliar ground along the margins to my right in the darkness, occasionally snagging my feet on sunken reeds and lilly rhizomes. The rig was lowered into place and hand full of chopped B1 boilies applied tightly to the area of the rig, with a smattering of bait leading from the reed bed to the baited area.
Sitting back with a brew and the smoke i hadn't managed to finish, i reached for the ipod to play some mellow tunes when the same rod ripped off again. This time dragging the pod from the ground and over onto the floor, the rod kept on going and without the solar rod grips I'm sure i would have lost the lot, the swims here are like concrete and its nigh on impossible to get bank sticks in, some areas i can secure the pod in place by sinking the legs, but this swim is not accommodating!  I pounced on the rod and while trying to play the fish and sort out the other rods from the tangle of stainless and bobbins i had little choice but to let the fish run. Once some semblance of order was created, and the other rods securely back on the pod i finally had time to enjoy the fight off the 2nd carp of the session. Unbelievable, the bait hadn't been on the spot for more than 15 minutes. The fish powered off, determined to reach the sanctuary of the reed bed 90 yards away, it felt good and was travelling at some speed, the spool was a blur as line peeled off it. As the fish slowed i turned it on itself and everything went slack, it was off, i cranked on the reel and picked up 30 yards of slack line when the tip banged round to my left, it was still on and still travelling at speed, i had to stop it from reaching the island and had no choice but to bully it a little, it turned towards me and kited across the front of the swim heading back to where i had hooked it, it was tiring and after another lunge to try for the safety of the Lilly's to the left of the swim, it was in the net finally. What a scrap, one ill not forget I'm sure.
Looking into the net the reality dawned that this fish was a repeat, being the scaley mirror from the previous session.

A couple of snaps and it was soon returned to steam off down the margin to my left still angry but none the worse for his ordeal. Both of these fish are stock fish from 2 summers ago and are whacking the weight on nicely, this time this fish took the scales round to 16lb 2oz
I sorted the mess out and got the two live rods settled back on the pod, re baited the 3rd rod by which time the day had dawned. It was overcast and looking like it was going to be very wet, perfect for the coming session.
Throughout the morning i would have fish turn up over the heavily baited area that had the middle rod positioned on it. I had applied a kilo of 18mm baits slowly and quietly in ones and twos from first light and I had many sightings of fish swimming directly over the area, I had the feeling that they were not interested in feeding but they certainly knew where to find it if they wanted it.
The island rod had been quiet since its application on arrival, i decided to leave it alone on its 8 bait stringer. The right hand margin rod had to stay put after producing 2 early session fish. By early afternoon it was clear that there was a lot of the stock up at this end of the lake, very few signs of feeding, but plenty of shows in the shallow water. By shows i mean slight ripples, the odd small vortex of a tail fin, these fish rarely seem to show themselves during daylight hours, preferring to lump out during darkness.
Evening came and went and i was soon in the bag grabbing some much needed sleep, waking to the dawn chorus i tried my best to get motivated but somehow after brewing up found myself back in bed catching some more sleep. Mid morning passed me bye, i was surprised not to have had a fish through the night or early morning, my feelings that the fish had moved off to the deep end had me thinking of a move, i reeled in the rods and went off for a walk about.
I spent some time down the far end, watching the lake for signs, but to no avail. The lake was quiet, the rain hammered down, it looked perfect for a fish, so when a fish crashed out twice on the far stream mouth i had no choice but to fire a single popped up Scud hook bait out to it.
The rod had been on the rests no more than 20 minutes when the bobbin dropped back, on it fast, i leaned into a small fish, thinking this was the first bream of the session, when suddenly i saw a small mirror wallowing about on the end of the rig, later i would find out this was a spawned on fish and doing quite nicely indeed, certainly one for the future.

 The rain decided to come on with a vengeance for the day and soon the banks were dripping and the humidity levels were rising. The downpour had put a lot of oxygen into the water and the two streams had picked up the pace that they were emptying into this end of the lake. Everything looked perfect and as evening drew on the rain ceased and the fish became very active. Sightings over the bait were becoming more and more frequent, the occasional indication of feeding was starting to be seen, but i couldn't determine if it was carp, it may have just been bream. It had been odd not to have had them in the swim this session but i was pleased, the 30mm hook baits baits seemed to be doing the business with the carp and keeping the bream at bay.

I had lost faith in the island rod, it hadn't seen any activity at all, it had been on the spot for over 24 hours without even getting any interest off even a skimmer bream. I opted to fish the rod down the margin to my left, i went out in the thigh waders to find a nice clean area and after walking 15 yards along the margin out in front of a reed bed i took a step too far and found a deeper area, i could not walk around it, and neither could i go past near to the reeds, it was considerably deeper than the surrounding area, so that was the left hand rod sorted for an area of interest.
I was soon back out in the waders with a baited rod and a bucket with a kilo and a half of crumbed Bacteria B1's, confident this new found area would bag me a fish. Evening passed nicely with a good curry followed down by some toffee cake, a smoke and a brew, life was good , 3 fish out in the session. Happy days, if i didn't see another fish this week i wouldn't have cared.

Then within an hour all hell broke loose.

The middle rod screamed and a fish boiled in the shallow water, at the same time four other fish bolted out of the area, leaving bow waves as they all headed to the sanctuary of the island and on down to the deep end, i was left with a very angry, powerful fish running me ragged in the shallow water, it felt like it took me an eternity to coax the fish towards me, the fight was solid, the fish not kiting, not trying to go anywhere just trying its best to out bully me, permanently trying to go directly away from me. Steady pressure soon had it in the margins under my feet, once there the fight changed, the fish now decided it wanted its freedom and made a serious effort at locking me up in the small set of pads to my left, once out of that problem it then powered to my right, doing its damnedest to head past the stream to find safety in the reed beds, i wasn't prepared to let it get near them, a flick of the drag and the reel locked up, the rod went round and stayed. A battle between test curve and fish was on, even pressure saw the better of the fish and it was beaten, rolling over the net i saw a big common. During the unhooking and weighing i soon realised this was a fish i have banked before, but it looked immense in comparison to last time it had graced my mat. Weighing in at a needle width over 21lb it was up nearly 3 lb since late winter. I didn't fancy self takes with the fish as its one of the ancient originals and can be a bit of a handful at times when on the mat, so i popped it into a sack in the margin for the few minutes it took for a friend to come up and do some superb shots for me. I was elated the season was coming together nicely, and 4 fish had honoured me with their presence in a session.

My guest left me after a brew and a chat and as the evening wore on, tiredness was taking over, id not slept, there hadn't really been time. I was soon in the bag and willing sleep to come when the middle rod belted off again. A small mirror of 9lb was soon on the mat, another fish for the future and again another stunning looking creature.

For the second time that night i got myself back into bed, sleep wouldn't come easily, i was anticipating the next fish. I eventually dropped off and woke to the cacophony of the dawn chorus above my head in the willow trees, a glance at the time and i had around 5 hrs of session left before i would have to start the pack down. I got myself up, determined not to sleep away the last of the session, trickled in the last half kg of bait onto the middle rod and as time trickled away a pale fish came into view from the far margin, it meandered its way across the shallow water, the tip of its dorsal barely breaking the surface tension, it came closer and closer to the middle rod, it looked immense. I realised this was the two tone mirror and it was now yards from the rig, it disappeared from site, time ran away and i didn't see the fish again. I waited eagerly for the resulting take that never came.

I've now spent 24 nights on the old hall pool this year, I've had 20 positive takes, landing 19 of the fish, with just a couple of repeats, i seem to be over the bream issues but I'm sure they will soon be having me tearing my hair out ! I look back on the results so far and I'm really pleased at the consistency at which I'm fishing, I'm finding fish easily enough, getting them to feed seems hit and miss, they love the bait but they are very cautious. I've had a few liners from fish in the swim that have subsequently bowed out of the area and now i'm confident that once they find the line they leave and don't come back.
I'm now nearly halfway through my expected time on here this season as i had worked out i could do approximately 50 nights over the year. While i appreciate this is a lot of bank time for some people, i really miss the longer 3 and 4 night sessions, there's more time to kick back and relax into things, sleep can be gotten at any time without feeling a waste of an afternoon, but so be it, i will continue to work hard on the venue, i need to keep moving around to try and find the locations the elusive fish may frequent.
When i started on the lake i didn't want to view the albums of the fish in the venue, the surprises of not knowing is far more fun, i didn't want to see a fish in the book and want to get preoccupied with a specific fish.

But now i have seen my quarry twice, i  have my target.....