The Old Hall pt 14

Time was on my side, i had planned for a late arrival on Wednesday night, but managed to actually arrive with a few hours daylight available for me to have a good look round. After an hours searching had resulting in me not seeing a single carp show i decided to try to fit into a really tight swim i had been itching to fish since i started on the venue but very much doubted i could fit into. The swim has nice deep margins within a yard of the bank giving me 6ft of water over a very clean stone and gravel shelf drop off. An area I'm positive the fish will visit and patrol. Needing to know if it was possible to squeeze in i got the bivvy up prior to the rods which only generally happens if its raining on arrival.
After some twisting and bending of the frame around fence posts i managed to get things settled and pegged down sufficiently to resist the westerly breeze pushing in towards me,
On my way to the lake i had been to collect my new "StageStix" off Banktech Innovations and these were soon screwed firmly into place on the platform that fronts the swim. It had been a long day and the journey down was quite hectic, with home built it was time for a coffee while i baited up the rods and prepared some bags of crumbed Bacteria B1s. A quick run through of the marker rod revealed what i already knew of the right hand margin, gravel and stones littered the area in front of the bank side alders and willows. A simple blow back rig, baited with an 18mm and 12mm boilie was dropped onto the area of the marker float at around 7 yards to my right and feeling the lead crack down onto the hard area i was contented to put out 1/2 kg of chopped 18mm baits tight to the hook bait and the marker float was retrieved.

The left hand rod would go out onto the same area of the dam end that i usually fish from the brambles swim on the opposite side of the lake. This was soon flicked the 60 yards with a large 3 oz bag of crumbed bait. Just the middle rod to sort out but first a few recce's with the marker rod. at around 30 yards i found the area i was looking for, i wanted to fish the slight slope at the far edge of the deep trough under my feet, with the hook bait positioned a foot off the marker rod it could then be clipped and measured off for further casts to be exactly on the spot i wanted to present my bait. With the marker still in place 2 kg of 18mm boilies were soon applied to a concentrated area and the 3 traps were set.
Evening drew on and the sunset was staggering as is often the case on this lake, with darkness looming the local bat population was becoming active and soon there were hundreds of them buzzing me and cleaning the lake off midges and mosquito's. I was soon getting liners on the rods and any chance of an early night was out the question, every time i lay back one of the alarms would be triggered causing me to jump up in bed to stare at the rods. After being startled by a fish crashing out on my right hand margin I gave up thoughts of sleep, slipped my boots on and cranked the stove up. Sitting up for the night is all well and good but i had had a long day and must have slid into sleep while sitting upright on the bedchair, i was blasted off it by a single piercing scream of the delkim and the swim was lit with blue light. The right hand marginal rod was in meltdown, fully arced round and line spewing off the spool. A short but frantic battle ensued but was soon over with a decent common in the net. A quick mat shot and onto the scales revealing a weight of 16lb 9oz.  Not a monster but a welcome fish, and the first off the lake in 5 weeks i believe. After releasing it a quick check of the camera would reveal the shots out of focus, i had left the lens in manual focus last time was using it. Even though every fish from this low stock water is special at least it wasnt one of the really special fish !

With the excitement over the rod was soon re positioned back onto the spot the fish had come from and after a brew and a smoke the dawn light was soon breaking through the darkness and Thursday had arrived. With it came the sun !

By lunchtime it was hot, undoubtedly the hottest days fishing i could remember since the previous summer, It felt like a late spring day yet the trees and bushes on the lake have barely started to uncurl their leaves, the willows and hawthorn are just starting to green up and the reed mace is just starting to push this years shoots above water level. Oh the joys of fishing elevated venues ! Short springs/summers against what seem like endless autumn/winters.

Sadly the daytime passed without sightings of a carp, a jaunt to the shallows in the heat of the day and with the easterly wind pushing down the lake, viewing conditions up this end were perfect but after spending an hour or so searching i would find no fish present, The afternoon passed in good company and with an hour of light left, the rods would be re baited up and recast to the same spots.
As darkness fell and with me feeling pretty exhausted i turned in for a few hours sleep, only to be woken by line bites starting at around 10.30pm. Hauling myself up as i was turning down the sensitivity of the alarms i came to realise that the liners were coming of bats, the lake was covered with them. Undoubtedly a massive colony was migrating to the lake for the summer months. They were constantly clipping the slackened lines and even the rods themselves at times. Another night passed with less than a few hours sleep.

I woke for my last day, so high was my confidence after the fish on the first night i was surprised to have gone through the night without a fish. By mid morning the hook baits had been refreshed and the spots topped up with another kg of B1 each in readiness for the coming night. The wind was still pushing down the lake to the dam and even though this day was overcast it was still quite warm. Another spell up in the shallows looking for signs would again reveal nothing. The fish just don't seem to be heading up there just yet, so i was in the right place i just needed them to feel hungry ! Mid afternoon and my left hand rod off the dam was bouncing in the rests, resulting in slimey bait thief of around 4lbs, the rod was barely back on the rests after the recast when it was off again, another bream of around 3lbs. Thankfully that was the last i saw of them.

As evening drew on the low cloud started to break and high pressure took its place, perfect conditions for the last night, High pressure seems to get these fish moving up here so i entered my last night confident for a 2nd fish. I was out in no time and woke after an undisturbed night, late and already beyond the time i should have been packing up by. A quick coffee while i packed away and soon the gear was on the barrow and i was leaving for home.

The Old Hall pt 13

Well its certainly been some time since my last blog, so long in fact i can barely remember where i left off, suffice to say this winter saw me visiting the bank less than i have ever fished during the winter months, so much so, that i managed just 4 outings from my Christmas session till  now. I managed to end the year with a lovely common weighing in at 16lb, giving me a total of 31 fish for the year spent on the lake, with a total of 44 nights spent up there.

In the early new year the lake froze up solid for a couple of weeks, when it finally defrosted i was not really in a position to get bank side. When i finally could get out it would be under a sever gale in late January, Prior to arriving i already knew the storm was going to be pretty bad so opted to set up in one of the deeper corners with the wind coming off my back and partly being protected by an ancient Yew tree. After 2 nights of howling gales and no activity on the rods, i called it a day and came away a night early, i'd had enough of being battered about. 3 weeks later would see me getting back onto the car park and again high winds forced my hand, with the lake high up on the moorlands its quite exposed and with temperatures hovering round 3 degrees in the daytime i didn't want the easterly gale blasting at me so i opted to fish the stream. I was rewarded with a small fish off the island an hour before dark on the first night, a little spawned on fish of 8lb, but a lovely plated mirror never the less.

The rest of the session passed pretty quickly and uneventfully and would soon be at a close. a fortnight later would see a repeat of pretty much identical weather and so i opted to fish the stream swim again.
Again toward the end of the first day, half an hour before darkness and i was graced with a common, this fish when hooked felt like it was stuck, i couldn't budge it away from the island, i knew there was little to catch on out there but still all i could feel was the shaking of the fishes head when suddenly it awoke ! It blasted into life and shot away from the island towards my margin 30 yards to the left, it virtually crashed into the reed lined bank and started to power off along the margin, burying the rod tip to keep the line from passing through a nearby tree, i  applied pressure and managed to coax it away from the margin and back towards me. After a few powerful lunges under the rod tip the fish was soon nestled in the folds of the net and an 18lb 9oz common was my prize.

Again that was the end of the excitement for the session, The water temperature was still very low and the water coming in off the streams was so much colder than the lake water so I'm in 2 minds whether the fish are properly active yet.

The following session, now nearing the end of march, was forecasting 2 days of blissful sunshine and mild southerly winds, i arrived and really struggled to make a decision as to what to do, i had left home in sunshine but travelling in driving rain from Chester into Staffordshire,
Stashing the trolley full of kit under a yew tree, i spent the best part of an hour being indecisive. I had seen nothing whatsoever to go on. In the end i decided i would hope the weather men got it right and the sun would get through and therefore set up on the south facing bank in the shallow water with the southerly wind pushing towards me in  swim i call the swamp. 24 hours later and the sun finally broke through, the temperatures soared and by midday it was finally t shirt weather, i had forgotten how pleasant sitting back in the sun behind the alarms could be. The day passed without a sighting of a fish, from my position i could see pretty much all of the lake and had seen nothing.

2 nights passed quickly and quietly and soon these were followed with a 3rd and it was time to head home. The only positives i can take from the session is the fact that the water is warming and the fish will soon be on the feed. One of the things with this lake and others at elevation is that they wake up around 3 weeks behind everywhere else and shut down much sooner. On my last morning the crust was starting to be broken up by the fish and starting to appear on the surface, a sure sign spring is arriving up there and the fish are starting to move !

The Old Hall pt 12

As October drew to a close the weather had been exceptionally mild and i really expected the fish to be getting on with their autumn munch. I had managed to gain a few hours and made an early dart to the lake.  I arrived at the lake after an horrific journey taking twice the usual time due to a road traffic accident, pushing the journey to over 3 hrs for an 86 mile trip. I finally arrived at 10 pm in driving rain and howling winds. I opted for the middle of the lake, giving me a lot of water i could cover if needed. Once the home was built and the 3 rods out on stringers of 8 freebies and loaded with 18 mm Bacteria B1's topped off with the 8 mm Scuds at 60 yards, 40 yards and  a margin rod were positioned, i could finally get out of the waterproofs and into the comfort of the bivvy. With the kettle boiling in no time i was soon sat with a cuppa in hand listening to the rain beating on the bivvy. The weather was so diabolical that i had little option but to bring down the side panels of the bivvy to give me protection from the driving rain. I'm not a fan of having to use them as i like to watch the water from my bed during the dark hours. It wasn't long before i settled into the bag for a much needed sleep.

I woke to the dawn chorus and was a little gutted not to have had an early fish. The rods were re-baited and settled onto areas that i could now bait up. 2 rods were fished around 8ft apart with a tight grouping of bait surrounding them, at round 45 yards, over the course of the day i would introduce a couple of kilo to the main spot. The 3rd rod was cast up towards the floating island, with just a trickle of 10 baits applied to the surrounding area. The day passed uneventfully and with no more than a single possible sighting of carp. Even the bream seemed dis-inclined to feed.
The night came and went and i was soon waking to my last full day on the bank. The weather had barely let up and i had seen little to nothing of the lakes residents. I considered a move to the shallows so i could fish the streams, these spots have rarely let me down over the season and my confidence of fish using them in these conditions was high. I spent a good while up the shallow end watching for some signs that fish were present but i saw nothing. After a cuppa i then proceeded to head to the deeper end of the lake and again i spent the best part of an hour watching for signs, again i saw nothing to make me move swims so in the end i chose to stay put where i was and sit on the previously applied bait patches. Id not had even a line bite on the indicators so managed to refrain from adding more baits, Instead i re-baited the rods, packed away the bits of kit i wasn't likely to use and got an early night ready for a morning departure.

It would be 3 weeks before i could get bank side again. The weather had stayed mild but wet and windy for October and into November. The conditions looked good for the session with a full moon on the Thursday evening. It was -2 with clear sky's when i arrived, this time without the stress of a slow journey. I set up in the corner down the far end to give me access to the deeper water. The rods were flicked out to either margin with just one in open water, all on 8 bait stringers for the night. Come morning the wind had turned and was hacking in at me, the cloud cover that was forecast had arrived and was threatening to dump its load. If the rain came it would be pushing directly at me, and with that in mind i shifted the kit 5 yards up the slope and under the protection of an ancient  yew tree. This meant i was side on to the driving wind and much comfier for the move. I left the rods out till lunchtime on the minimal bait that had gone in with the rigs. In that time i had been getting an area going with oily B1 baits at around 60 yards out in open water. The two marginal rods were re-positioned with a couple of handful of 18mm baits and a couple of pouches of pellets. By midday the rain had started i finally moved a rod onto the baited patch. I half expected a quick pick up but it never came.  It rained and rained, i was bivvy bound, It got worse and at one point was virtually horizontal! It just didn't stop until just before dark. As darkness was now closing in at 4.30 pm i just had time to re-bait the 3 rods before total blackness enveloped the lake, the full moon yet to rise above the horizon.

Sitting back with a brew the moon broke the cover of the trees at around 7.30 pm and lit the venue up. Ive always done well on this water on a full moon so my expectancy's were high. Sadly the night passed into morning  uneventfully. I hadn't seen a fish in over 24 hrs and again thoughts turned to the shallow water where the streams entered. The rain was back with a vengeance and being lazy i stayed put, sitting it out on the spots i had already baited up.

The second night was imminent and again my confidence was super high, many of my fish have come on the 2nd night over the big bed of bait so i opted to feed another kilo into the open water area and topped the margin areas up with a couple of handful of boilies and pellet. 8 pm and the right hand margin rod started to bleep, into the boots and i was crouching next to the rod when the bobbin lifted again, i lifted into a bream. Gutted wasn't the word, Unhooked in the water and the rod re-positioned, it would be 20 minutes before a 2nd bait stealer would nail itself on my hook. Thankfully that was the end of the bream for the night, but i was still waiting for a pick up off a carp. Night turned to day and it was time to depart.

At the moment i just cant seem to find the fish in the lake, the water clarity is amazing, yet the fish are nowhere to be seen, granted they are not the showiest of fish but the lack of sightings is making location difficult. Usually at night i can locate the fish easily, as this is when they seem to be most showy and at their most confident but the last couple of sessions I've not heard them doing this. One area i have neglected recently is the stream mouths and i am becoming convinced that the fish are sitting in and around the reed beds adjacent to the these two inlets. I've done well off these areas soon after heavy rain has ceased so i think im going to concentrate my efforts on those if the weather is to be wet next session out.

The Old Hall pt 11

Arriving under the cover of darkness has seen me nail a few fish early on in my sessions on the old hall lake, its an approach I've used in my fishing for nearly 2 decades now. This session was like the previous ones this year. I arrived and loaded the barrow of kit and started trundling along the path under red light from my headlamp, on arrival at the lakeside, i stowed the barrow and switched off the light, with my eyes closed for 30 seconds i reset the light receptors in my eyes and awakened my ears, listening for sounds of these ancient fish. Its amazing how much more you can see once doing this. During daylight hours its rare to set eyes on a showing carp in this lake, with an occasional sighting of a ghostly shadow drifting around confidence can rise quite quickly.
Within a minute or so of resetting myself i was soon hearing the occasional disturbance of the lake surface. I wandered the path along the lake and before i was halfway along i heard fish crash out up in the shallows where my gear was stowed. I continued my lap and heard little till i got near the shallows again when again the sounds of a fish breaking surface caught my attentions. I opted for the east corner and proceeded to flick 3 rods out on 18mm B1's all topped with a 10mm scud pop up, all with a 5 bait stringer attached. One rod out towards the island, which i still couldn't see due to the total blackness of the late night. One rod out at 45 yards onto the silty lake bed, the 3rd rod flicked to my right in front of the stream. With the forecast to turn wet and windy from the north west, this could potentially see the fish follow the new wind and push in towards the corner i was fishing.
Daylight broke through within no time and i could re bait the rods and get them exactly where i wanted to present my baits. Out came the spodding gear to deposit 15kg of sweet sticky hemp onto the 40 yard mark, keeping the bait tight to the marker float meant i was fishing into an area of about 10 square foot in diameter, with two rods positioned on it, one on the far edge and one to the left of the patch. On top of the hemp i limited myself to just 50 hook baits to try and encourage faster selection of my hook baits. If fish were showing or giving me indications of their presence then i would up the rolled bait going into the swim. Again the right hand rod was positioned accurately onto the mouth of the stream bed adjacent to the reeds but just on a single scud pop up and no free food offerings to distract them. This spot has produced a fair few fish for me in the 3 previous times i had fished this swim so my confidence on the spot was high. I have seen fish entering the reed beds at this point, where they then use the back of the reed beds to approach the furthest stream. It was finally time for a brew and a little shut eye before the dog walkers start to appear.
Midday had arrived and i had seen a few fish drifting around in the shallow water when suddenly a fish crashed right out on the near side of the island, its an area i've refrained from fishing due to the island being a floating structure chained down, it moves a fair bit drifting on wind changes and although i've fished towards it, i've never gone close, this fish proceeded to crash again, about 3 yards off it. I pulled a rod off the hemp patch and flicked it out to the spot the fish had shown twice on and set the rod.
I filled the kettle and rolled a smoke, before either was lit the locked up rod went round violently and i pounced, knowing i had no choice but to pull the fish away from the danger, i leaned into it, burying the rod underwater to my right to encourage the fish to break surface, and drew it away under steady pressure. Once in open water i could relax and let the fish steady itself into a more normal fight, it went for the marginal lilly pads to my left on more than one occasion but was soon nestled in the folds of the net. A lovely mirror carp  over 15lb was my reward. I re baited and recast the rod back to the spot the fish had come from.
The afternoon had passed quite quickly and i was sitting having a coffee with one of the syndicate lads when this same rod went off again, a fantastic scrap ensued and after a powerful marginal battle another mid double carp, a 16lb 9oz common this time was on the mat. Paul did the shots for me and the fish was soon slid back into her watery home. Buzzing now wasn't the word, Paul had sat with me on many occasions and he'd often said he'd love to be there when i banked one, id banked my 27th fish of the season on here and he was there to experience it with me. Every fish from this lake is special, its size is totally irrelevant to me, just catching one is enough of a thrill, to have had 2 in an afternoon was amazing.

immaculate 16+ common

Darkness was soon on me, 7 pm and it was black, the moon is only just coming over the horizon at the moment and although its a half moon its not up long enough to give much light to the venue. I had re done the rods, 2 back onto the hemp and one up the stream mouth, which i still hadn't applied freebies to, just the hook bait. By 10 pm there were fish crashing on the left hand side of the island, out of reach due to the overhanging trees on my margin, but they were still close, they had dropped away from the reed beds but not far and seemed content not to disappear off to the deeper water at the far end. I was knackered after little sleep so turned in to be woken with the right hand rod doing its best to leave the rod pod, even on tight spool the fish was managing to take line off the reel in inches, i leaned into the fish for it to start to kite across the lake towards the far corner, at least id managed to move it from the reed beds, with steady pressure it was turned from its route across the lake and swinging right to left on me, always gaining it was soon time to make a 2nd attempt to control it and turn it away form impending doom in the shape of the island, the fish turned when pressured and was shortly under my feet, crashing and rolling in 3 ft of water, unhappy and unwilling to come towards the waiting net. but in it came. A big framed near leather met my eyes, "single scale" a repeat but a welcome one, especially as she was looking immense since the last time i had seen her in march. Into a retainer she went for a few minutes while i set up the camera and got sorted with mats and scales etc. At 23lb 9oz she was still the biggest fish i've banked from the venue and again once on the mat the best behaved of them all. She was returned in a short time and went out of my hands with a drenching flick of her tail. Rod sorted, kettle on the smile on my face must have been immense.

I sat up till an hour or so before dawn when sleep was dragging me into the bag, in all that time i hadn't heard another fish show anywhere around the lake. Silence had descended, the fish had disappeared.
Waking late and having had no indications on the rods since the big mirror, i re baited and recast, adding another 50 baits to the hemp swim, i pulled the left hand rod off the area and flicked it back to the more successful area id had the two doubles off near the island and locked the rod up tight.
Breakfast and some coffee was much the order of the day. I was still knackered, id had maybe 4 hours sleep since i arrived. between the "gmornings" off the dog walkers i snoozed on and off for much of the morning, waking around lunchtime feeling worse than i had for the extra sleep, it was coffee time and a double strength one got me back to normality.
The afternoon passed quietly, the weather had turned and was pushing, as forecast, directly in at me, everything looked right for more fish but i couldn't dare hope after the success id had, often up here when it looks perfect for it, it doesn't happen.
I was contemplating a curry when a passerby started to chat to me, i was stood on the high ground when the stream rod roared off, getting down was precarious and i was soon laying on the floor with the rod in my hand, covered in mud, but with a fish on the line. It was soon in the net and i had landed my fourth of the session, this time a small 8lb common, one of the few that came through the successful spawning 6 or so years earlier.

This was photographed on the mat for stock records and slipped back, none the worse for its ordeal. Minutes later the hemp rod went off with a bream over 4lb. The rods were re baited and got back out with just one change, i left a single rod on the hemp patch and chose to fish one rod to the island.
I was soon settled into the bivvy as the night was cool and windy when again the island rod went off on a slow but steady run, lifting into the fish i realised it had kited away from the island and was passing me from left to right, it was soon under control and after a strong tussle under the rod tip was in the net, another pristine common of 12lb+.

Once on the mat i could see the fish was excreting partly digested hemp everywhere, it was pouring out of the fish. Yet over the 2 days i had received little attention at all on the hemp patch, no runs with the exception of the one bream, very few line bites, even though i was fishing the line through the swim to give me indications. Maybe the fish had become preoccupied with the tiny grains, or was there just not enough b1 out there to keep their interest. I'm not sure what went on but i will fish over another big load next session on, this time with a few kg of rolled bait among it
Looking back through my sessions, i have fished this peg 4 times now for a total of 15 fish, exactly half of what i have caught this season on there from the one swim, with 2 sessions in here producing me 5 fish each. Definitely a very productive peg. But with autumn now on us and much longer spells of darkness i'm confident the fish will spend more time in the deeper water and so that is where my attentions will turn for the next session i think

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.

The Ancient Mere

Many years ago, 30 at least, a friend and i used to fish an ancient heavily wooded pool, we used to have to get the first bus out of the depot and laden down with fishing gear make the exhausting journey from the nearest bus stop to the venue, then make our way to the farthest end through dense woodland where we used to squirrel ourselves away out of sight for the weekend. The lake was private and no fishing back then.

Recently i met a chap who re awakened my memories for the mere and i finally got around to making a visit around the pool, albeit in driving torrential rain.
A local club currently has the fishing rights to the place and its generally fished by day anglers who pursue the bream in the water. Much has changed on the venue, its in serious disrepair and nature has took a hold over most of the lake again, there are plenty of spots for a day angler to fish but to spend a night on there is tricky, the areas that are accommodating are very small and you would be pushed to get a brolly set up with a bed underneath, getting across to the far side, which is vaguely fish able entails a clamber over a very rickety bridge, that reminds me of something out of raiders of the lost ark !
Once over the bridge there are about 5 areas that could be fished, this area in the first shot is shallow and very silty in the margins, conditions for landing fish is awkward but while spending time watching the area i would see a fish roll a few times, size wise i would put it at around mid double, it had good length but appeared quite lean. Next shot is from the main body of water to the left of the bridge, very narrow bank sides, but fish able. As you travel further along this bank the swims get tighter and less fish able, but the potential for stalking fish is high. Along the banks the marginal cover is high, detritus and dead fall are under every tree, snags galore and deep liquid silt abounds everywhere, this shot is possibly one of the better areas for setting up in. The shots shown are from swims that may be comfy enough to night fish, albeit awkward and uncomfortable. I'm contemplating a ticket on here for the autumn/winter as a local venue i can drop onto for quick sessions.  The damn end of the lake is completely impossible to fish, you could sit on a chair here but again , not a feasible area to spend a night.

As for the stock of the place....who knows !