The Old Hall pt 10

Much of my time on the lake had been spent fishing at either end of the 4 acres, i had decided that i was going to fish the main body of water for a couple of sessions and it was with that in mind that i arrived and settled into the very first swim i had fished when i started the campaign last winter. Halfway down the footpath bank and tucked in between tall vegetation either side of the swim.

Once true daylight was upon me it was time to get the bulk of the bait out for the duration of the session. 2 kg of whole 18mm SAE B1 bacterias and 2 kg of the boilies crumbed up, the crumb was spodded out to around 40 yards to a tight area of approximately 2m square, the 18mm's were then scattered over the top and surrounding the area to create a 6m diameter patch. With 2 rods settled onto the zone, one in the crumb pile and the other offset on the outer left hand edge, it was time to sort the deeper margin swim out.

As daylight had come through i noticed the elderberry trees around the margin area i had chosen were in full fruit and i soon had around 4 kg of the little black berry's cleaned, mushed up and applied into a tight spot around a rod length out in front of the tree, followed by a few handful's of corn.
By mid morning the cloud had dropped and shrouded the lake in a very fine drizzle, it wasn't actually raining but everything was soaked and id forgotten to pack a coat leaving me a bit bivvy bound compared to normal! The low cloud stayed for the day , thickening and thinning depending on the strength of the northwesterly breeze. Autumn had definitely arrived.

The nature reserve was quiet with just a few dog walkers, the weather turning had definitely kept them at bay. The day passed without incident and with little signs of carp in the area. I spent some time during late afternoon scouring the lake for my quarry, but for all my efforts i didn't lay eyes on a fish. The left hand margin rod over the natural berry's had produced  a couple of slimey skimmer bream to around 3lb on corn baited rigs, but no other activity. As the evening drew into an early dark at around 7.45, and having had a long day i opted for an early night in the hope of being blasted out of my slumber with a fish. It was 4 am when the right hand rod over the crumb came to life with a few bleeps but no proper run, i hit it and what i initially thought was a bream, once under the rod tip, changed its behaviour and started to power off up and down the reed edges, it turned out to be a small, spawned on carp of 8lbs. A very scaley mirror carp and certainly a good looking fish for the future.

With the rod back on the spot with a 3 bait stringer to help keep the rig nice and straight during the cast i contemplated going back to bed but i was now wide awake and anxious to catch again. I didn't believe for one minute that the carp I'd had was the only one present in the baited area, and my confidence in catching a 2nd fish was high.
Daylight seeped through the blackness and another damp day arrived, in the couple of hours between the fish and dawn, i had seen and heard nothing. The swim, although only a little over 4 foot deep appeared devoid of activity, and i started to wonder if the take off the little carp had spooked any other fish away from the area.
With plenty of time for a hearty breakfast and few coffees before i would even consider re baiting up the rods the morning soon passed, again during this time the margin rod produced a couple of bream throughout the day but very little other activity from fish was seen. The misty rain passed by mid day but the breeze remained constant from the north east, the forecast was for a shift to north west mid afternoon which meant it would start to push directly in towards me. Perfect, as the fish in here seem to move onto a new wind pretty quickly but never stay on it for more than a few hours. I brought the rods in during the afternoon and put a couple of laps in around the lake, searching for these elusive fish. Nothing, 2 full laps without a sighting. had i seen anything to go at i was prepared to move, but as i had seen nothing i decided to stick it out over the bait and hope the wind pattern shifted. It did and with it the sun had burnt off the misty rain and the afternoon was soon heating up with the late summer sunshine, with the promise of a clear starry night ahead.

As the last of the evening light drew in, the mats and slings were dried off and stored away under the bed, trying to tempt fate into having to get them soaked again, all the rods were baited up and replaced onto the baited areas and it wouldn't be long before the left hand rod on the main area was off with a half decent bream around 5lbs . a quick re bait and recast, again with a 3 bait stringer, and the rod was set. I filled the kettle and lit the stove, but before it had boiled the bobbin on this same rod pulled up tight, but very slowly, god damn bream.

result

I lifted into it and immediately i realised this was no bream, although the indications on the bobbin was a typical  bite from them, The fish plodded and i knew it was decent, it was heading for the island and in the darkness i had no idea how close it was to it, i decided to lean against it to turn it back into the open water, it kited around and headed towards the reed lined margin to my right, came along it towards me, all the time thumping and shaking its head, trying to lose the hook, it passed over my other rods and suddenly the calm fight erupted and it decided to try for its freedom, out into the lake it steamed, the spool was a blur but it was starting to slow when it turned again to head to the island. I turned it again and this time the fish bolted towards me into the margins, it was tiring but it still powered up and down the deeper water in front of me, it just wouldn't come up over the margin shelf to the waiting net. In time it tired out and was soon gasping air and it slid across the net string and was captured.
A quick glimpse revealed a lovely common. quickly sacking it up in a retainer sling  while i prepared the camera kit and made a couple of calls. It wasn't long before he was weighed, photographed and slid back to his home. The rest of the evening passed and i was soon awakened to yet another bream of no great size. With a few more of these slimey bait stealers throughout the night i was soon waking to the dawn chorus and it was time to depart for home, i wasn't ready to leave, always wanting more than i can have but that's carp fishing for you !

20lb and ounces of ancient common carp

The Old Hall pt 9

As we entered into august i had to pull off the lake for a social session that i had arranged earlier in the year, a fun time was had but fish were thin on the ground. My thoughts at all times during this session were on the hall, i couldn't find any drive to my fishing that session, i just felt like i was wasting a weekend by not being on the right venue.
The following session came around quite quickly and i would find myself at the gate to the nature reserve. As i pushed the barrow up the pathway i instantly heard fish crash out, still under the cover of darkness. I left the kit and wandered the bank trying to locate the cause of the disturbance, 50 yards up the path and i heard the fish rock out again, far up in the shallows, i turned back to get the kit. As i arrived back at the other end i then proceeded to hear 3 distinct crashes out in open water at the end of the lake i was stood. Dilemma time, i opted for the brambles and proceeded to get 3 rods out into open water on 5 bait stringers.

This done home was built and i spent till daybreak listening to a few more rolls and crashes out in front of me. Soon after first light this stopped completely. In no time at all the lake started to become busy with passersby heading to work and walking there dogs the carp were decisive in their absence for the day, a stroll up to the shallows would reveal a few fish present but nothing of any major size so not worth the move, i much prefer to sit on the baited area and be patient letting the fish come to me as and when they feel like it. As late afternoon came on i decided  to get a good quantity of bait out, and soon had 2 rods clipped up and marked out to an area with a few kg of bait deposited loosely around the area, one cutting through the middle to the far edge of the area, to give me indications that fish are present in the swim, this helps me decide whether to re bait and to what extent the following day. The 2nd rod off to one side of the spot and again the 3rd rod was down to the right hand end of the lake that had produce me a fair few fish of late.
The night passed uneventfully till just as daylight was creeping in the rod to the side of the swim went off, line was pouring under sufferance off a tight spool and an angry fish greeted me as i lifted the rod, once in the margins the fight really woke up and the fish was launching out and tail walking, doing its damnedest to shed the hook, it held.

In the bottom of my net was a mirror carp, once on the mat, i soon started to believe that this fish was the infamous"twinscales", named after a pair of closely set scales the size of small fingernails on one flank. A small stunted male from one of the earliest stockings of carp into the lake, a fish approaching the 50yrs old mark. Stocked at the same time as Single scale and at a similar size, single scale being a female has grown much bigger during her lifetime in the lake. A small fish but a very special fish to have banked and ticked off the wish list !

The next 2 weeks dragged, it felt like i had missed a session but a check of the calender showed that i was wrong it had only been 11 days since i left the lake, the place is now fully under my skin, thoughts rarely stray far from it in my head, i often find myself up there mooching around then realise I'm sat in the living room or in the garden. So yep id say its under my skin in a big way now. The urge to bank these fish, many of which haven't seen the bank for 10 yrs or more is driving me insane in  a good way.

This session started like most of them do, i arrived with an bit of darkness to spare, i fancied giving the middle area of the lake a go, i seem to have spent all of my sessions at either end of the place, in fact it was my first time on in January that i last fished in the middle of the lake. I opted for what i thought was the double pads swim but come daylight i had set up in the adjacent swim in error. As i arrived on the lake i could hear the occasional crash and roll of fish but it was so dark i couldn't set eyes on any ripples or variance in the lake surface. I flicked the rods out with 10 bait stringers attached into open water at varying ranges, 30, 50 and 70yrds, this last one would be in the deeper channel on the opposite bank. An area Ive neglected if I'm honest and somewhere i plan to put some time into fishing very soon. After the long drive up i was tired and opted for a couple of hours in the bag and try to ignore the early rising dog walkers. It felt like my head had barely touched the pillow when the middle rod went ballistic, I fumbled my way to the rods and picked up a bucking rod, the fish was going away from me then started to kite left, gradually i let it swing around and turned it to me, at no time during the fight did it stop banging around frantically and once finally i the net i popped out a very distorted Gardner talon tip.
A 14lb common greeted me and although no big fish, this carp punched so far above its weight, once on the mat i realised the fish wasn't going to calm down so lowered it into a retainer and slid it out into the margins to calm down, daylight was very close and i could deal with it then. The rod went back out and i settled back with a coffee and a big smile. When i came to do the shots, the fish was still being angry and appeared right peed off with being banked.

Throughout the morning i would see the occasional swirl to my right margin so opted for a rod down the edge in 2 and a half foot of water adjacent to some reeds, although fish passed over this a few times nothing other than a couple of bream settled onto the bait. Late afternoon and i decided to fill the main area in, clipping the rods to a marker it didn't take long to get a large area peppered with clusters of bait leading to a heavily baited central zone. Again one rod in the main area and one off towards an edge of the bait. During the darkness that night i would pick up a couple of small skimmer bream. Using 18mm usually deters these pests picking up the baits but occasionally one will hook themselves. The night came and went and i was up at dawn watching and waiting and hoping for a take. It never came. Mid morning and it was time to top up again in readiness for the coming night time, and out went another kg of rolled bait, this time i made the fatal mistake of spodding out 2 1/2 kg of oily soaked pellets, the bobbins didn't stop all night, the 2 rods on the bait patch were permanently beeping, no sleep was had. Having had a dozen or more slimy bait thieves i was covered in filth and there was no way i was transferring that to my sleeping bag ! Daylight came and the session ended too quickly, i wanted more but that was all i could do.