More Bubbler's

Morris's was free for today's session and Barry fancied free-lining bread in this area so we headed for this corner of the pool. I had my eye on the tree line along the no fishing bank after seeing a fish crash whilst looking around the pool earlier on, I could see a few dark shapes milling around on the top in this area and several patches of bubbling fish.

First fish to take my donkey choker hook bait was a small bream which I seem to be catching a lot of lately, must be something in the new boilie mix, how it managed to pick up the bait I don’t know but it was well hooked. I use a long hair so it was probably nosing around the bag contents and picked up the hook that way.

 

Donkey!

It was late afternoon before I caught my first Carp. I’d been watching some fish bubbling in one area and one spot seemed to be very popular, there would be a few fish in the area, then it would go quiet, then they’d be back on the spot again. During a quiet period between bubbling I introduced a well placed cork ball pop up and laid the rod on the ground ready for the take, it took ages, bubbles started to appear in the area so I got up and went to the back of the peg to stand on a large tree trunk section to get a better view of the area but when I looked all I saw was a huge swirl in the vicinity of my hook bait and heard the fizz of my clutch as the Carp tore off, I’d missed the take and ran round to the rod to catch up with the fish, it kited over to the right catching up in my second line and it was all a bit of a mess but we got it in the net.

 

Nice mid double.

It was another long cast over towards the back of the trees with a cork ball pop up (my buoyant balls are working well!) that saw another take from what I thought was a good Tench or a stockie as there was no run and it was a bit of a lame fight, it turned out to be another mid double common.

 

Another mid double.

With regards to the Duck, I don't have it.

 

First Fish!

My pond has matured enough now to have it's first fish introduced. When I first built the pond Barry said I could have some fish from his as he had loads of all sorts. The date was set and we took Cerys for her first fishing trip, I fashioned an unused pole top section into a toddler sized fishing pole with a small barbless 16 hook on the end, It's barbless only on Barry's lake.

Fishing in the edge.

A nice Rudd.

Maggots were used to tempt the fish in and it wasn't long before we had a bucket full of all sorts and all sizes. A few of the fish that came out Barry had never seen before but he did say that they breed every year so there could be anything in there. Some of the buckets contents had to be returned as they were Barry's prized fish be we ended up with a lovely selection of Goldfish, brown Goldfish, a lovely Crucian (I think?) and some Rudd.

 

Crucian or not?

 

Cerys enjoyed it but I think I enjoyed fishing with my little girl more!

The First and Last.

Back on the pool again, the lake has been very busy with some good catches, both in quantities and size, with most from one particular area of the lake. There has been one fish out which I can't 100% guarantee it was Roxy but from the pictures I've seen and comparing side by side with mine, I'm calling it, it's good to know she's still with us but at a very out of shape weight, however, last winter did drag on for ages which I think has dented some of the bigger fish weights, I was told she still felt a little hollow after spawning so she probably wasn't at her best and could do with getting her head down, roll on spring.

 

I opted to fish the far corner of the pool due to the pressure the other end had been seeing and when I arrived at my peg I knew I'd made the right decision. In front of my swim the surface bubbled away and plumes of mud rose up from the lake bed, I was shaking as I got the first rod out of the bag and I couldn't get it out quick enough, I was all fingers and thumbs selecting which cork pop up to use but the cast was spot on, it went out beyond the fish and I wound down straight away to bring it over the cloudy area and dropped it right onto their dinner plate, there were loads of smaller effervescent bubbling in the area which were probably Tench but the spot I was on had clusters of much bigger bubbles, it was just a matter of sitting back and waiting for the take. I set about getting my PVA bags tied and second rod ready but before I could get this rod out I heard the clutch of my reel fizz as line tore off the spool, I was in and less than ten minutes from arriving at my swim I had my first fish in the bag.

 

First chuck mid double.

The rest of the session was rather non eventful, I chased a few more bubbler's even moving across the bay to get a better angle but nothing developed. I'd baited one spot off the island through the day and did cast to it a couple of times but I mostly left this area alone, it was approaching the end of the session so I put a rig 'bang on' this spot for the last hour and a bit, it was one of those casts that was so good you know it's going to go.

 

This cast sat there for a good hour and I was contemplating moving it as nothing had happened then I heard my alarm give a series of short bleeps, I was having a chat with Barry at the time and ran straight round to the rod to see the bobbin at the top and the line pulled up tight, I immediately though 'Tench', as there hadn’t been a blistering run off the spot, I lifted into the fish and felt a grating on the line, whatever it was had gone through the roots of the island tree I was fishing too, it was still there so I just kept the tension on and it pulled itself free of the roots, then it ran, it was a Carp. This fish fought like stink and just didn't want to give up, I thought it was going to be a good twenty the way it was going and when it did eventually come to the net I was a bit disappointed as it wasn't quite the size it was making out to be, still a good upper double common though.

 

Last cast upper double.

Back on!

The past few weeks has seen me back on the bank at Ryton, I haven't put the effort in for ages but the time seems right to try a small Autumn campaign and it's nice to to be back.
 

A reason to be on the bank.

I've winkled out at least one Carp a session, except for a couple of Sundays ago which meant I went home with the duck, I've also had a shed load of Tench and several small Bream, how a small Bream can get a donkey choker of a boilie in it's gob I don't know.

 

Sucker stockie

Up until this weekend all the Carp have been of the 'stockie' size, probably the recent immigrants from Kenilworth that have yet to learn the ways of the Ryton Carp. Even though they are small I know that my 'Ryton 3.4' boilie recipe is still working despite having an overhaul due to a discontinued flavour, I tried the same flavour from a different supplier and it didn't even smell the same but that's another story.

 

Not big but in mint condition.

The most recent incarnation of my smelly balls has seen my biggest Carp on the bank for a long time, certainly my biggest Ryton fish since last year and It was a popped up boilie made with cork dust kneaded into the dough that tricked this fish. The trap had been surrounded with a couple of dozen free offerings to entice the fish in and it worked as it was my first cast to one particular spot that saw this fish on the bank. It took an hour but a single bleep signaled the pick up, there was then a pause before the fish tore off across the pool on a one toner. It's a long time since I had a good fish from this place and I didn't want to loose it so I just took my time and let the fish do what it wanted to do whilst gaining line, it was a lovely common and Barry did a grand job of netting it for me and taking the pictures.

 

18lb and in good condition

Barry rolled up late for this session so todays fishing was not for the duck, should have kept my mouth shut, I still have it.