Fueled by a tale!

The pool was practically deserted today, there was one angler with family in tow, in the far corner trying for another Carp like the one he had a few weeks previously but he looked to be struggling with the weed which is by far the worse I've seen it, the last time it looked this bad was four years ago when the level was down by more than a foot. 

I did my rounds and headed off to Jubilee fueled by a conversation I'd had with Barry on Wednesday night. He'd phoned just before ten with tales of a single mirror carp he'd caught that evening, a monster at just over 23lb caught on a biscuit fly. (Monster for a fly rod that is!)

It was hot and I think the fish population of the lake were all on the top, I could see Bream, Rudd and plenty of my target, Carp. I started feeding biscuits and up they came and it was long before I had the first fish of the day on the bank and I think I've seen this little fella before.

I moved around to the point and got the fish feeding fairly close in but as soon as the fly landed on the surface they became cautious, drifting up to examine every biscuit rather than snatching them off the top. They moved further out  and I had to lengthen my cast to drop the fly at the back of the biscuits I was feeding and did fool a couple of fish into taking, they were only small commons but they really do fight hard for such small fish this is also enhanced by the use of such a fine carbon stick to catch them on, I love fly fishing for them and someone else that does is Barry, he arrived at around six and fished the point swim but struggled to connect with the takes he was getting but did manage to get one good fish. 

I on the other hand, was struggling with ducks, as soon as you turn your back they were in the swim cleaning up the biscuits but I kept feeding and the fish stayed around. I struck into one take which I could tell was a better fish by the way everything went solid, I saw it's tale and dorsal a couple of times and it was good so I just had to hang on, get it under control and in the net. Bigger fish don't seem to thrash around as much as the smaller ones that twist and turn very quickly so it wasn't an epic battle, it plodded around in front of me taking line when it wanted to eventually it gave in to the constant pressure and slid over the cord. Barry did the honours with the camera and I lifted my prize, a long and lean 14lb 4oz Common.

Tench and a Personal Goal.

Fished an early session on Saturday and after a walk around the lake and a quick chat with Andy who had just banked a nineteen pound plus common, I made my way to a swim that looked promising. I was fishing the point opposite the island and I put both rods out with PVA bags on to two spots I'd caught from before. The persistent and chilly north easterly wind was still with us and the sheltered area at the front of the island seemed to draw the fish in, there were plenty of bubblers showing and I decided to change one rod over to a chod rig to try and get a quick bite. I cast this to areas where these fish had been bubbling with the hope they would return and did have a couple of sharp tugs through the session, too quick to be liners, my hook can't have been sharp enough to snag whatever was tasting the bait. All the action came on the PVA bag and bottom bait with a single Carp, which I did mistake for a Tench until it broke the surface and five good sized Tench.

One of the tench was in a rather sorry state with a badly mangled bottom lip, it's jaw bones visible poking through the skin, not nice to see.

At the end of February I opened this years carp account at Ryton and over the next few weekends I managed to pull one out here and one out there, a few weeks ago I realised that I'd caught at least one Carp from the lake every weekend since the account was opened, since then I've still managed to catch but I decided to make it a goal to achieve this and see how far I could get. Today I reached my tenth consecutive weekend with a Ryton Carp on the bank, all be it just short of seven pounds.

I'm not one to gripe about things but something I do want to have a moan about is at Morris's. I'd left a few saplings grow there last year so they could be pruned back to provide some stalking cover for this summer, these were pruned back earlier in the year and other anglers who regularly fish this peg had noticed, some liking the idea so I wasn't just doing it for myself. I was told today that someone has cut these down and now left the peg wide open to any fish that swims past in the margins making it crap for stalking, thanks!!

Crystal clear in the shadows.

I arrived for a late session just after three, my first view of the lake was greeted by several carp milling around on the top in the corner bay, I carried on down the road bank towards the car park and couldn't believe how clear the lake had become in a matter of days, I was here on Wednesday evening with a marker rod and there was still some colour in the water, today you could see how shallow this lake really is!

I had almost done a complete circuit of the lake when I saw Colin on the top of a bank watching some slightly bigger Carp through the tree's doing the same as the others, teasing the anglers into having a go, so I did. I set up in a corner I've not fished for a long time and cast towards the front of the tree line, rods were laid on the ground without alarms as I was expecting this to be a hit'n'run affair. I missed the first run, (or it was dropped) but a second and third pulled away shortly after, they were both Tench. Baits were back on their spots and at around five thirty my first Carp fizzed line off the reel in it's bid for freedom and it really did pull some line off the reel, with most of it's energy spent it came to the net without too much fuss. On inspection, the hook hold was very deep inside it's mouth so this fish wasn't coming off, it must have been having a proper feed to get hooked so deep.

The shadows of the tree's I was under make this fish look like it has bands of colour but it was an immaculate, evenly coloured common that pulled the scales round to 11lb.

After letting the fish rejoin it's friends I thought about moving as the disturbance in this corner was sure to have scared everything off to the the far side of the lake but no, there were still some dark shapes mooching about under the tree's so the rods were soon back on their spots with fresh bags attached ready for the next take. It was about half an hour later that there was a start stop run on one of the rods, I knew it was another small Tench and it was to be my third of the session. After recasting again I thought I was going to be in for an evening of Tench fishing but I noticed a few larger dark shapes moving around one of the baits, I was willing that rod to go, breathing the word "C'mon" and watching for the line to tighten, when I glanced over to where the fish were I missed the take, the line had instantly pulled tight and was leaving the reel at a rate of knots so I picked up the rod and let it go, it Paused and shook it's head around making me think it was another Tench but it was too heavy to be one of them, strangely, the fish just wallowed and thumped around as I gently pumped it back to the mesh and just before it reached the cord I backed the drag right off in case it woke up.

This fish was a bit of a hot potato on the mat but I managed a few pictures without getting a slap from that massive tail, the scales read off 16lb 14oz's.

Sunday Session - What a Cracker!

With my commitments that had been put off from Saturday out of the way by lunchtime, I was free for a late session on Sunday and started at around three. After about an hour and whilst chatting to Colin on the top of the bank one of the rods was off, the screamer I thought was a Carp ended up as a rather feisty male Tench but welcome all the same.

Another hour passed and I was just swapping my sunglasses for my specs when I had another screamer of a run. When I struck it felt proper carpy this time and I'm not sure if the fish knew what was happening as it tore about in all directions and swam over my second line dragging this around, it did eventually give up for the net, Andy was watching from the top of the bank and assisted in the photographing and weighing. (Cheers Andy)

Andy gave me 16lb for this common.

Just before seven, I was again at the top of the bank having a chat with Barry who had just packed up for the evening and the same rod was off again, why is it that fish always bite when you are furthest from your rod, just about to eat or packing up to leave?

This was another Carp but I was very confused by the fight, it was heavy but felt a bit like a Tench, Barry suggested it might be one of the big bream but when I saw it I was very surprised, the shape was like a mini Malissa but as a mirror carp, very short and a belly like a football, I'm sure Colin mentioned this fish earlier on so it was nice to catch her the same day.

14lb 8oz.

I'm not sure if Melissa's genetic make-up has anything to do with the shape of this mirror but I do know of another common of a similar size in the lake (Short Round) with the same extended belly, could they be Melissa's offspring?

Short Round, Melissa and the new member of the family.

I was very happy with the way the evening was going as I've only managed single Carp per weekend so far so to catch two in a session was great. I'd just recast one rod and left it on the rest to allow the line to sink when the bobbin on the second rod hit the front of the alarm, there was no run so I initially thought it was a Tench and struck expecting one, what I didn't expect was a Carp, it tore off at at great rate of knots away from me straight down the tree line and broke surface before heading in towards the trees, I put some pressure on and turned it but it kept twisting and turning before swimming straight back towards me, it wasn't too long before I had it plodding around under the rod tip making lots of short energetic runs, it refused the net several times but eventually submitted.

Another immaculate Common at 17lb 10oz's.

This was a cracker of a short session.

Easter Quick One!

I spent the first part of the Easter break in North Wales, a bit of a mad two days cramming in as many places as we could in between visiting family but it was worth it, we had a couple of hours on the beach at Llandudno early on Saturday morning, it was flat calm and the sun was very warm on my bald spot! the only thing missing was my beach rod and a multi hook trace baited with lugworm and peeler to catch a flounder or two from the bay.
Woke up tired on Sunday so was quite happy just to do an afternoon session at Ryton and got there at around two thirty and set up in one of my usual spots on the back of a very cold wind, there was one other angler on the point who packed up shortly after I arrived, as he walked past he said to me 'I heard you had one' my reply was 'not today, I've only just got here', he thought I was the same chap that was fishing this spot in the morning so something must have been caught from this peg earlier in the day.
The usual combination went out on two rods to the usual spots and the waiting game began, after about an hour Barry arrived for a short session so I was having a quick catch up on events with him at the top of the bank when my left hand alarm screamed as line peeled off the reel at a fairly rapid rate I immediately clambered down the bank at a rapid rate to catch up with the fish.
The buoyant curiosity teaser had got the better of this Carp and it wasn't happy, it tore off across the lake flipping on the top a few times and at one point I thought it had come off as it turned and swam straight towards me but I managed to keep in touch with it to avoid a thrown hook, when it got closer in I could see that it wasn't as big as it felt but was very welcome, Barry did an excellent job of netting it and held it in the margins while I got the mat and scales ready.

10lb 12ozs, I think it was a male as it was long and slim and was lacking the spawn filled belly that the females usually have this time of year.

(A big thanks to Barry for taking the picture)

Barry setup on the peg next door and put a deadbait out on one rod and fished maggot on the second hoping for some Perch but we both remained fishless for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

Two in the net!

Due to commitment's this morning, today's session had to start just before midday, I decided to try one of the pegs on the road bank and cast towards where I'd seen some fish show yesterday. Today's fine weather brought crowds of people to the park so after an hour I decided to find a quieter peg. I set up on the grassy bank where I caught a couple of Tench yesterday, This spot didn't produce anything allthough I could see the Carp cruising on the top towards the middle of the lake. I couldn't reach them from this peg and as luck would have it, another angler on the corner peg was packing up to leave, a good cast from this peg could reach these Carp so I made another move, the third of the day.

I tried a zigged pop-up on one rod (surface baits at Ryton are near useless because of the birds) the second rod had my usual bottom bait and PVA bag of pellets. I had nothing for an hour so I swapped the zig for a four inch hooklink and put it back out to where the Carp were cruising, within a few minutes it was away and a small Common was soon in the net, 8lb 8oz. (A big thank you to Curtis for taking the picture)

A short while later I started to get some interest in my bottom bait with a few start stop runs, these were Tench and I managed to bank two I also had a couple of good runs but the fish managed to transfer the hooks to loose branches on the bottom, stick fish don't put up much of a fight!!

The next cast was the last of the session so I really put some power into this cast to get it as close to the tree's as I could to get away from the Tench and into Carp territory, it was on the spot. I'd just started to pack away my gear and the rod I'd just cast out was away, It was a good scrap and I had to lift the second rod off it's alarm to keep the line clear as the Carp kited to the right into open water, at one point a floating log made things a little difficult, I managed to steer the carp past this and soon had it in net, I then turned only to see and hear the spool on the second rod spinning, another Carp was on!

I have had this happen twice before with both Tench and Carp, two fish at once. I guided the second smaller fish in slowly and almost lost the first fish as I pulled it over the cord and into the already full net, It's a good job 42" nets are as big as they are.



The first fish was a Common at 14lb 2oz.




The second was an almost leather mirror carp 'Larry' I've caught him before a couple of years ago at 7lb 4oz he's now 11lb.

What a great end to the day.