The Old Hall pt 15

Loading up the barrow at the car park, it was with anticipation of what could be that I trundled my way down to the lakeside. With a strong south westerly pushing up into the shallows I became unsure as to what to do, fish the heavy chop or settle into the deeper water at the opposite end of the lake. A stroll around, as is often the case, proved unfruitful, as is often the case on here, I saw nothing. Heading back to the shallows to retrieve the barrow and rods from the bushes I was still undecided where to set up.

Within seconds of being back at this end of the lake I saw a carp roll. 20 yards out and right in front of the small stream that has proved to be productive for me last year. Decision was soon made and during the process of getting the rods out I had seen another 3 fish roll at short range in front of me.

A rod quietly flicked out to the island and 2 just out into open water at 20 and 30 yards were soon in place along with 20 baits covering each rod. 
Id no sooner got the bivvy up and kettle on when the island rod whipped round. Fishing locked up gave the fish little chance of reaching sanctuary but during the first few seconds of the fight the hook pulled. This is something that rarely happens to me, the previous year i had only lost the one fish and that had been to a hook link being cut off probably damaged by the copious amounts of mussels the lake contains. This time the Fox SSBP had straightened right out on me under the pressure and the hook hold had been compromised

With a new rig in place and another handful of bait over the top the rod was soon settled back on the new Banktech stage sticks and buzz bars.They had withstood a very violent take and were still locked up tight. Evening drew in and the south westerly had started to turn as predicted, it was now working its way towards becoming a northerly. It was cold and was not long before the clouds were dropping the wet stuff on me.

Banktech Stage Sticks

6am the following morning and I'm blasted out of my bed to the sounds of the delkim screaming and again the left hand rod bucking and kicking in the rests. After a few seconds of pressure the fish started to kite away from the island and I felt in control. It wasn't long before it was netted and my prize could be seen. As it rolled in the net I could see it was a linear mirror on one side and the other was just a cluster near towards the tail end. I was sure I had heard tales of this fish and was positive it was one of the elusive ancient beasts.

After slipping the fish into a retainer sling, a quick check of the rig and again I would find the hook had straightened out slightly, not as much as the previous one but still enough to send the rig to the rubbish bag. With a new rig tied and threaded through a pva bag of crumbed bait it was soon back out on the spot I had banked the fish from, the line relaxed and allowed to settle freely on the lakebed before the bobbin was clipped onto the line. Another 20 baits flicked out loosely to the general area and it was brew and breakfast time.

 Within the hour Mart had arrived to do the shots for me, i would normally only have done a mat shot of this fish but something was eating away at me about it. I was soon to find out that I had done the right thing. The fish weighing in at a mere 15lb 8oz turned out to be one of the elusive and ancient A team.  It had been stocked around 30 yrs ago and had only been caught twice in its time as a resident of the lake ! An honour to have experienced this capture I can tell you.

3rd recorded capture in 30 yrs...

Although the wind was still pushing from the west it was due to turn 180 degrees at around mid day and then stay easterly for the rest of the session. Thoughts of moving onto the new wind crossed my mind. Just after 10 am again the left hand island rod thumped round, with an exact repeat of the loss of the first fish, this fish was only ever hooked for around 4 to 5 seconds before the hook pulled out of the fish, again for the 3rd time this session the Fox hooks that I have been using for over 5 years with untroubled use had let me down.

True to the forecast at around lunchtime the wind turned arcing its way from west to north to east in a matter of an hour or so and was soon pushing off my back. Would the fish follow the new wind, i'm sure they do during the summer, but was the wind warm enough for them today? I had received 3 takes in less than 24 hours so the decision to move was put off.  Late afternoon would see the friendly  mother goose turn up to see me, in tow were her newly born chicks, fluffy yellow balls of high pitched squeaks. I was surprised that the mom allowed the chicks to approach me and in no time they were underfoot and clamouring for me to feed them, i even managing to hand feed one of the chicks with a chunk of crust.

As evening drew in, the wind slowed and with darkness approaching the gusts pretty much dropped off and soon after dark, stopped completely giving me fine viewing of the flattened surface. The lake came alive. With bream blowing and the occasional carp showing in the deeper water, I began to think I had made the wrong decision, but only time would tell.

An undisturbed night came and went without a single indication on the rods. The sky had cleared during darkness and it wasn't long before the sun was breaking over the horizon behind me filling the world with its warmth. Hopefully this would bring the fish back up to the shallows  and out in front of me again. The wind picked up and stayed easterly, hacking down to the deeper water. I had to make a decision and soon as to whether to move down there or not. I had one night left and really wanted to put to rights the fish losses. In the end I stayed put hoping the sun would send the fish my way. Waking the following morning would make me realise with hindsight,  I had made the wrong decision, I should have moved and promised myself from now on ill put that bit of extra effort in and move on my whims as I generally do. Getting old u see !