Old catch reports

[snowmanstevo]

2 hours ago, crusian said:

Except that before The Lockdown Spurs weren't doing anything , we can't end up below Arsenal , can we ? 😱.  

I can guarantee you one thing ....... you’ll definitely end up below Liverpool 🔥YNWA🔥

[yonny]

Right, so with the horrible run of losses now behind me it was time to get on with the season ahead. The short sessions I'd been doing were not satisfying me so on this occasion I booked some time off work. Enjoy:

So I had a decent sesh the weekend just gone. I'd booked Friday and Monday off as I was so sick of these work overnighters I'd been doing... I just wanted a proper sesh. I turned up Thursday afternoon and had a good look about. I kind of knew the area I fancied and while watching said area I saw a carp jump out.... job done, I'd start here. Went back to the car, grabbed me gear, back to the swim, started setting up, disaster strikes!!! I'd forgotten one of my bags which holds my alarms, rod support, distance sticks, all sorts....

I checked the car and the kit wasn't there which meant I had a 3 hour round trip to go and get it... IDIOT! I took the opportunity to borrow some distance sticks from another member and found my spots/baited up before leaving. The area was exactly how it was last time I was in here, a longer chuck for this water, tight to an absolutely MAHOOSIVE weed bed. I spodded a couple of kilos around the spots and somehow managed to lose a spod as it came off the quick change swivel I use to fix it. I was starting to wonder if this sesh was doomed from the off.... but at least I had a spare spod at home.

On the drive home it became obvious that every single road user was for some reason intent on preventing me getting back before darkness. There where also 3 sets of temporary traffic lights that had appeared on the journey. All this during rush hour, I was in bits..... This was not how the sesh was supposed to pan out. Got home, grabbed gear, back to the lake...

I arrived in the dark, it must have been about 21:30. Got the rods out OK (although I'm never 100% happy with hitting tight spots in the dark) and decided I'd earned a beer so I drank a couple and had an early night. No more sightings at this point which proved to be a recurring theme, no shows at all after about midday for the duration of my trip. My alarm clock goes off at 04:00 and I'm up and about watching the lake for signs of life. I see nothing until 05:15 when I see 2 carp smash out over the top of the weed bed beyond my spots. The next few hours sees the odd sighting here, there and everywhere but the majority are over this weed bed. It's frustrating I can tell you.... there they are, smashing out between 10 and 20 yards behind my spot. They don't seem willing to come any closer for some reason, clearly enjoying the sanctuary of the weed. There's no way I can fish into this weed, it's savage, no chod or long link would present and even if it did it'd be loss-city.

The day goes on and nothing happens but I've seen enough to persevere, they are right there, I just need to think about my approach. I start by changing the position of one rod. I'd had all three over there but it was a little busy tbh so i reduced that to two. Just a couple of spods tight over each rod this time, I'm sure there's loads of bait still there. However, this time I get the throwing stick out and peppered a kg of boilies right into the weed in an attempt to get them on it and draw them out. The third rod goes over to my left where I'd seen a couple of carp top, I find a small but solid spot within catapult distance so whack a bait on there with a couple of pouches of freebies. Again, no sightings in the evening so I assume they're still in the weed.

This time I set the alarm for 05:00 and I wake up and watch the weed bed from my sleeping bag. It's still pretty dark but I'm sure I can see activity. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can see a few signs directly over my spot. My thoughts are confirmed when my right hand rod absolutely rips off (which surprised me as I thought the clutches were set pretty tight but this fish disagreed). Into the waders and I hit it. It is absolutely solid in the weed. 10 minutes it takes my to extract it and all that while I'm cursing myself for not fishing completely locked up. When it finally moves I take a couple of steps back to grab the net and that's all it takes for the fish to find another weed bed. You literally cannot take your eye off the ball for second here! Another 5 minutes and I manage to get it moving again and the fight plays out in a more enjoyable manner. A few minutes later it's in the net and I'm staring down at a lovely common carp, a decent fish, over 30 I reckon.

I secure the net and get the rod back out. As the sky gets lighter and lighter this common gets darker and darker in colour and I realise which fish it is, one of my targets, and I'm buzzing. I call a mate round and we take some snaps, it's an amazing fish, 100% scale perfect in every way, dark and richly coloured, a truly special carp. It turns a rich gold in the sun and turns black when in the shade, a strange but beautiful hue that I've not seen on any carp before or since. It's weighed at 31+ and we return it to fight another day.

Not much happens for the rest of the morning although I can see plenty of fish on the edge of the weed which continues to frustrate me. The sightings slow down as we approach midday. At 11:00 I'm on the phone to a mate who's also fishing, just discussing what we've seen. There I am chatting away when I see the tip of the rod to the left twitch. As I watch the tip slowly pulls round before the alarms goes mental as a fish rips off with my hook bait! Into the waders, I hit it. Now this fight is a bit spesh, I know there's a huge weed bed to my left so march down into it sending the fish the other way into open water. Only one insignificant issue with a small weed bed I didn't realise was there, the fish spends the bulk of the fight charging up and down, left and right, it is not happy... awesome fun and for once I don't feel like I'm a second away from losing it in the weed. As it get's nearer I can see it's a mirror, a grey one, but when I net it I don't recognise it.

I secure the net and have a closer look, it's a big fish, slate grey down it's flanks and pure black along it's dorsal, classically shaped, a proper brute of a carp. No wonder it fought so well. A mate walks into the swim, great timing, and we start to do the honours. He doesn't recognise it either and at 35+ we cannot believe we don't know it. The gaffa then shows up (more great timing) and he knows exactly which fish it is; as soon as he mentions its name we click. It's one of the old ones, a proper original, hardly ever mentioned as it's hardly ever caught, a very rare fish, not the kind you can really target, and as you can imagine I'm well happy. It's a stunner for sure and completes a brace of 30s!!! Pics done we send her back..... two special ones on the trot.... buzzing!

Nothing happens for the rest of the day so I have an early night. Alarm clock goes off at 5 am again but this time it's not feeling so good, the sky is clear, the sun is bright, the wind has died.... I see a couple of fish but activity is at a minimum. It get's hot so I wander about looking for something to fish for. I find a few carp in a bay and get them taking floaters but the birds come and wipe me out and the fish disappear. I know the conditions are set to improve big time, rain on the evening and night, so I decide to stay that last night and hopefully capitalise with another fish. The rain arrives and it's off to bed after a long and uneventful day.

It's now the morning and even though I told myself I'm having a lie in by 05:00 I'm perched next to the rods watching the water, bite time approaching. It is looking perfect, overcast, drizzly, moody.... and I'm watching carp over the weed bed getting closer and closer to my spots. By 06:00 I'm convinced it's gonna happen and I've got the waders on in preparation. By 07:00 I'm at my wits end, literally sitting next to the rods in my waders, staring at them, willing one to go off, when the middle rod lets out a single beep. The bobbin twitches a fraction of an inch, I look at the tip and it's just pulled down slightly. That'll do me I think to myself as I hit it.

It's a carp and it rucks like hell. Into the weed bed it goes, everything is solid. I'm used to that now though and I'm happy to to extract it over the course of 5 or so minutes. Once it's free it kites over to my right and I have to go on a wander down the margin to keep up with it. Another great fight and I'm praying I land this to make the extra night worth it. Eventually it goes in the net and I can see it's another grey mirror but with a few scales dotted here and there, it looks familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's another good fish and for a second I think it's a hat-trick of 30s but then have second thoughts.

I'm on my own now so self-takes it is. When I get it on the bank I take one look at it's tail and recognise it; it's the big tailed mirror I caught last year (in my September '16 catch report). It's a little down in weight at 28 lb 8 oz but it's looking pukka, and another original to boot. I take some snaps and put it back a happy man.

It starts to warm up and the activity slows so I pack up ready for home. It's been a long and tricky session but ultimately a successful one. Two special fish and a high 20 to cap it off. It's the first time I've spent that long in a single swim for years, in fact last year I did 30 nights and didn't stay in the same swim for more than one night in that whole time. My horrible run of 4 losses on the trot are now behind me and this weekends fish were nailed so confidence is back. Can't wait to get back down in a couple of weeks.

[emmcee]

That common is insane. The top pic, my god the colours are amazing.  Like someone has just varnished it. Then as black as anything when in the shade.

The other 2 mirrors aren't bad either 😉. Top angling mate. 

[yonny]

10 minutes ago, emmcee said:

That common is insane. The top pic, my god the colours are amazing.  Like someone has just varnished it. Then as black as anything when in the shade.

Mental innit.... it's know as the Black Common for obvious reasons. Very special fish imo👍

[commonly]

Nice one yonny! Lovely common mate, I bet you were buzzing all week. 👍 

[B B]

12 hours ago, yonny said:

Right, so with the horrible run of losses now behind me it was time to get on with the season ahead. The short sessions I'd been doing were not satisfying me so on this occasion I booked some time off work. Enjoy:

So I had a decent sesh the weekend just gone. I'd booked Friday and Monday off as I was so sick of these work overnighters I'd been doing... I just wanted a proper sesh. I turned up Thursday afternoon and had a good look about. I kind of knew the area I fancied and while watching said area I saw a carp jump out.... job done, I'd start here. Went back to the car, grabbed me gear, back to the swim, started setting up, disaster strikes!!! I'd forgotten one of my bags which holds my alarms, rod support, distance sticks, all sorts....

I checked the car and the kit wasn't there which meant I had a 3 hour round trip to go and get it... IDIOT! I took the opportunity to borrow some distance sticks from another member and found my spots/baited up before leaving. The area was exactly how it was last time I was in here, a longer chuck for this water, tight to an absolutely MAHOOSIVE weed bed. I spodded a couple of kilos around the spots and somehow managed to lose a spod as it came off the quick change swivel I use to fix it. I was starting to wonder if this sesh was doomed from the off.... but at least I had a spare spod at home.

On the drive home it became obvious that every single road user was for some reason intent on preventing me getting back before darkness. There where also 3 sets of temporary traffic lights that had appeared on the journey. All this during rush hour, I was in bits..... This was not how the sesh was supposed to pan out. Got home, grabbed gear, back to the lake...

I arrived in the dark, it must have been about 21:30. Got the rods out OK (although I'm never 100% happy with hitting tight spots in the dark) and decided I'd earned a beer so I drank a couple and had an early night. No more sightings at this point which proved to be a recurring theme, no shows at all after about midday for the duration of my trip. My alarm clock goes off at 04:00 and I'm up and about watching the lake for signs of life. I see nothing until 05:15 when I see 2 carp smash out over the top of the weed bed beyond my spots. The next few hours sees the odd sighting here, there and everywhere but the majority are over this weed bed. It's frustrating I can tell you.... there they are, smashing out between 10 and 20 yards behind my spot. They don't seem willing to come any closer for some reason, clearly enjoying the sanctuary of the weed. There's no way I can fish into this weed, it's savage, no chod or long link would present and even if it did it'd be loss-city.

The day goes on and nothing happens but I've seen enough to persevere, they are right there, I just need to think about my approach. I start by changing the position of one rod. I'd had all three over there but it was a little busy tbh so i reduced that to two. Just a couple of spods tight over each rod this time, I'm sure there's loads of bait still there. However, this time I get the throwing stick out and peppered a kg of boilies right into the weed in an attempt to get them on it and draw them out. The third rod goes over to my left where I'd seen a couple of carp top, I find a small but solid spot within catapult distance so whack a bait on there with a couple of pouches of freebies. Again, no sightings in the evening so I assume they're still in the weed.

This time I set the alarm for 05:00 and I wake up and watch the weed bed from my sleeping bag. It's still pretty dark but I'm sure I can see activity. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can see a few signs directly over my spot. My thoughts are confirmed when my right hand rod absolutely rips off (which surprised me as I thought the clutches were set pretty tight but this fish disagreed). Into the waders and I hit it. It is absolutely solid in the weed. 10 minutes it takes my to extract it and all that while I'm cursing myself for not fishing completely locked up. When it finally moves I take a couple of steps back to grab the net and that's all it takes for the fish to find another weed bed. You literally cannot take your eye off the ball for second here! Another 5 minutes and I manage to get it moving again and the fight plays out in a more enjoyable manner. A few minutes later it's in the net and I'm staring down at a lovely common carp, a decent fish, over 30 I reckon.

I secure the net and get the rod back out. As the sky gets lighter and lighter this common gets darker and darker in colour and I realise which fish it is, one of my targets, and I'm buzzing. I call a mate round and we take some snaps, it's an amazing fish, 100% scale perfect in every way, dark and richly coloured, a truly special carp. It turns a rich gold in the sun and turns black when in the shade, a strange but beautiful hue that I've not seen on any carp before or since. It's weighed at 31+ and we return it to fight another day.

Not much happens for the rest of the morning although I can see plenty of fish on the edge of the weed which continues to frustrate me. The sightings slow down as we approach midday. At 11:00 I'm on the phone to a mate who's also fishing, just discussing what we've seen. There I am chatting away when I see the tip of the rod to the left twitch. As I watch the tip slowly pulls round before the alarms goes mental as a fish rips off with my hook bait! Into the waders, I hit it. Now this fight is a bit spesh, I know there's a huge weed bed to my left so march down into it sending the fish the other way into open water. Only one insignificant issue with a small weed bed I didn't realise was there, the fish spends the bulk of the fight charging up and down, left and right, it is not happy... awesome fun and for once I don't feel like I'm a second away from losing it in the weed. As it get's nearer I can see it's a mirror, a grey one, but when I net it I don't recognise it.

I secure the net and have a closer look, it's a big fish, slate grey down it's flanks and pure black along it's dorsal, classically shaped, a proper brute of a carp. No wonder it fought so well. A mate walks into the swim, great timing, and we start to do the honours. He doesn't recognise it either and at 35+ we cannot believe we don't know it. The gaffa then shows up (more great timing) and he knows exactly which fish it is; as soon as he mentions its name we click. It's one of the old ones, a proper original, hardly ever mentioned as it's hardly ever caught, a very rare fish, not the kind you can really target, and as you can imagine I'm well happy. It's a stunner for sure and completes a brace of 30s!!! Pics done we send her back..... two special ones on the trot.... buzzing!

Nothing happens for the rest of the day so I have an early night. Alarm clock goes off at 5 am again but this time it's not feeling so good, the sky is clear, the sun is bright, the wind has died.... I see a couple of fish but activity is at a minimum. It get's hot so I wander about looking for something to fish for. I find a few carp in a bay and get them taking floaters but the birds come and wipe me out and the fish disappear. I know the conditions are set to improve big time, rain on the evening and night, so I decide to stay that last night and hopefully capitalise with another fish. The rain arrives and it's off to bed after a long and uneventful day.

It's now the morning and even though I told myself I'm having a lie in by 05:00 I'm perched next to the rods watching the water, bite time approaching. It is looking perfect, overcast, drizzly, moody.... and I'm watching carp over the weed bed getting closer and closer to my spots. By 06:00 I'm convinced it's gonna happen and I've got the waders on in preparation. By 07:00 I'm at my wits end, literally sitting next to the rods in my waders, staring at them, willing one to go off, when the middle rod lets out a single beep. The bobbin twitches a fraction of an inch, I look at the tip and it's just pulled down slightly. That'll do me I think to myself as I hit it.

It's a carp and it rucks like hell. Into the weed bed it goes, everything is solid. I'm used to that now though and I'm happy to to extract it over the course of 5 or so minutes. Once it's free it kites over to my right and I have to go on a wander down the margin to keep up with it. Another great fight and I'm praying I land this to make the extra night worth it. Eventually it goes in the net and I can see it's another grey mirror but with a few scales dotted here and there, it looks familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's another good fish and for a second I think it's a hat-trick of 30s but then have second thoughts.

I'm on my own now so self-takes it is. When I get it on the bank I take one look at it's tail and recognise it; it's the big tailed mirror I caught last year (in my September '16 catch report). It's a little down in weight at 28 lb 8 oz but it's looking pukka, and another original to boot. I take some snaps and put it back a happy man.

It starts to warm up and the activity slows so I pack up ready for home. It's been a long and tricky session but ultimately a successful one. Two special fish and a high 20 to cap it off. It's the first time I've spent that long in a single swim for years, in fact last year I did 30 nights and didn't stay in the same swim for more than one night in that whole time. My horrible run of 4 losses on the trot are now behind me and this weekends fish were nailed so confidence is back. Can't wait to get back down in a couple of weeks.

I do like the long shape of the fish you catch .... but that dark one looks special mate 👍

[chillfactor]

Fairplay some purlers there mate 😎

[elmoputney]

Mega fish and Great write up again, can't wait for the next Installment 👍

[yonny]

So we're now at the start of September and after the results on the last session I head straight back to the same spot. Enjoy:

Another decent weekend for me down on the syndicate water. I basically headed for the same area that I fished last time, fished the same spots and used the same tactics. I actually set up without seeing any signs which is often a huge mistake (in fact it' something I advocate against) but luckily it paid off for once.

The action started with a take just before first light on Saturday morning. The fish weeded me up briefly but I got it moving and thought it was a tench; the fight was almost non-existent. I netted it without using the head torch and only put the torch on to release this 'tench' from the net. I was a little surprised to see an ugly little mid 20 common staring back at me. I recognised it as a fish my mate had last year, a deep fish with a small kinky tail (it's spine is deformed which probs has something to do with the tenchy fight) but almost no width to it. It looks like a bent bream but I quite like catching the characters so I'm pleased with it. Daylight comes, self takes done, it weighs 26.02 lb. Back she goes.

Bite time over I spend the day wandering about and witness my mate have a mint common off the top. Good angling. Another mate's had a good'n too and between us we celebrate with a couple of beers.

Rods out for the night and I'm supremely confident; I'm convinced I have the spots rocking now and I'd have bet money that I was having a fish or two. Up at 5 am and I can see the fish are spread out but see enough near my spots to keep me happy. I have to wait a little longer this morning but at 07:30 the left hand rod goes into melt down and I'm into the waders and enjoying a great fight from a fish that clearly has some weight to it. I end up way down the margin up to my chest in the drink attempting to keep it out of a weedbed. It works and I net a very dark looking mirror. I secure the net and have a closer look; it's mint, huge set of shoulders on it, jet black. The colour of these fish this year is mental, they've darkened up no end due to all this weed yielding exceptional water quality; gin clear all year with zero algae blooming of any kind. On the scales the mirror goes 31.15 lb and the photos turn out beautiful in the morning sun, it really brings the colours out. Back she goes, happy days.

I reckon I might be in with a chance of another and it proves so when the right hand rod absolutely screams off at around 10 am. The fight that follows is the best fight I've had this year; it starts off in the weed (they all do lol), then kites maybe 150 yards to the left into a shallow bay, it's like playing a rotweiler, proper rucking. Again the waders come in very handy and I'm miles away from my swim when I finally net it. It's clear the fish aint massive but my God is it a looker; a linear with the biggest golden scales you could hope to see. Absolutely beautiful.

It just so happens that my Mrs is coming to visit (she was nearby anyway so thought she'd pop in) so I rest the fish in the net for 15 mins until she arrives. She hardly ever comes to see me fishing and she's never witnessed a proper carp on the bank so she's absolutely mid blown to see this wicked looking linear. Those bright golden scales mesmerise her and for just one second she almost understands why we do this..... almost. She helps out with the weighing and she does the photos for me which is an experience I really enjoy, I'm mega happy that she got to see one of these creatures I'm so obsessed with. The fish goes 25.02, it's a stocked fish that was put in some years ago now, a slow grower which given the size of those scales is understandable. Proper minter.

In all a great weekend with plenty of action. I'm a little gutted I have maybe 3 weeks off fishing now which is a shame as it seems to be coming together for me recently. I just hope I can pick up where I left off at the end of the month.

[emmcee]

They certainly are stunning colours on those fish. Quality angling as always and nice to see what I guess are different strains of carp. Top result. 👍

[elmoputney]

I do love an oddun that one looked like it could've gone huge if it wasn't for the deformaties it was still big, another great weekend and some more stunners to make me miss fishing even more 😁

Great stuff, it will be more special that next capture after lockdown, but wait we must 👍

 

 

[yonny]

30 minutes ago, emmcee said:

nice to see what I guess are different strains of carp.

Indeed. I believe that lin is one of Simon's fish.

1 minute ago, elmoputney said:

I do love an oddun that one looked like it could've gone huge if it wasn't for the deformaties

I like an odd one too lol. Believe it or not that fish is 35+ nowadays.

[elmoputney]

7 minutes ago, yonny said:

Indeed. I believe that lin is one of Simon's fish.

I like an odd one too lol. Believe it or not that fish is 35+ nowadays.

I can well believe that the front end looks like it has a huge desire for food, the back end just doesn't want to keep up 😁 

[snowmanstevo]

As always,mega fish and write up ! 
😬😎🎣

[B B]

The dark Mirror defo looks mean..... great pics 👍

[yonny]

14 hours ago, Big Bass said:

The dark Mirror

If you take a look back at the last fish in the first post on this thread you'll see it's actually a recapture. In 2016 there was no weed and the fish were looking a bit rubbish, very pale. Just a year later with loads of weed keeping the water quality tip top, the fish were looking amazing. Just goes to show what a difference weed can make to a healthy stock.

Edited May 1, 2020 by yonny

[yonny]

So having had 3 weeks off I was gagging too get back down to the lake. I managed to find time for an overnighter but was gutted to find the lake was rammed. So, a quick change of plan....... enjoy.

So I managed to get an overnighter in last Thursday. The lake I've been targeting was absolutely rammed, had a wander round but found nothing of interest so decided to take a quick look at the other waters on the complex. It was quiet over there and I managed to find a bunch of carp in a shallow bay. The swim that controls the water there is probably my fave on the lake so I plotted up there for the night. The weed in there is savage and I could only find enough room for 2 rods on the deck. The other was chucked out on a zig. Baited up with a couple of kilos, job done.

Plenty of fish kicking about as it got dark and I saw lots of activity over my areas before I went to bed. I get a take on the zig rod at 3 am but it's straight into the weed and tbh I didn't actually realise I'd lost it until I netted a massive ball of weed with no fish in it. The rod is left out of the water and back to bed. As it was getting light the middle rod buzzed off and I had great fight with a very pretty common. As I'm resting it in the net the last rod rips off and I land a veiny, leathery mirror. I didn't weigh either of them but they're both around the high double/low 20 mark.

I take some snaps, send them back, and since I can stay until 8 or 9 am I decide to chuck the rods back out while the mat and nets dry out a bit.

Just before it's time to bring the rods in the middle one screams off as I'm chatting to another member who's popped in for a cuppa. Another great fight and I have a running commentary from my mate who can see the fish from an elevated position. Great fun! When it rolls over the cord I recognise it straight away, it's an absolutely mint half linear that normally goes scraper 30's. So it proves when we hoist her up at 30.04. We take some pics with the sun, get her back, and I pack up.

What an absolutely class overnighter! Four takes, three fish, and a thirty! If only they all went so well eh.......

[emmcee]

3 minutes ago, yonny said:

So having had 3 weeks off I was gagging too get back down to the lake. I managed to find time for an overnighter but was gutted to find the lake was rammed. So, a quick change of plan....... enjoy.

So I managed to get an overnighter in last Thursday. The lake I've been targeting was absolutely rammed, had a wander round but found nothing of interest so decided to take a quick look at the other waters on the complex. It was quiet over there and I managed to find a bunch of carp in a shallow bay. The swim that controls the water there is probably my fave on the lake so I plotted up there for the night. The weed in there is savage and I could only find enough room for 2 rods on the deck. The other was chucked out on a zig. Baited up with a couple of kilos, job done.

Plenty of fish kicking about as it got dark and I saw lots of activity over my areas before I went to bed. I get a take on the zig rod at 3 am but it's straight into the weed and tbh I didn't actually realise I'd lost it until I netted a massive ball of weed with no fish in it. The rod is left out of the water and back to bed. As it was getting light the middle rod buzzed off and I had great fight with a very pretty common. As I'm resting it in the net the last rod rips off and I land a veiny, leathery mirror. I didn't weigh either of them but they're both around the high double/low 20 mark.

I take some snaps, send them back, and since I can stay until 8 or 9 am I decide to chuck the rods back out while the mat and nets dry out a bit.

Just before it's time to bring the rods in the middle one screams off as I'm chatting to another member who's popped in for a cuppa. Another great fight and I have a running commentary from my mate who can see the fish from an elevated position. Great fun! When it rolls over the cord I recognise it straight away, it's an absolutely mint half linear that normally goes scraper 30's. So it proves when we hoist her up at 30.04. We take some pics with the sun, get her back, and I pack up.

What an absolutely class overnighter! Four takes, three fish, and a thirty! If only they all went so well eh.......

That is a class over nighter indeed.  The sun certainly brings out the stunning colours on that mirror. Top angling as always.  👍

[yonny]

So now we're into October and after horrible, windy, wet, blank overnighter (to make up for the brilliant overnighter last time) I got a weekend back on the proper lake. I have a trip planned to the States this month so fishing time is running out as we head slowly towards winter.

Sitting here waiting for a taxi to the airport so thought I'd pop this up quickly.

Good sesh this week. Turned up Friday and spent eons looking for them. About 4 hours it took but it turned out they were stacked up in a little swim I had a bite or 2 from earlier in the year. I knew that spodding would push them out so I did so from left to right, Hoping it would push them into shallower water rather than out into the main body of water to my left. It worked, and they drifted off to the right. I knew they'd be back.

04:30 I had a brutal take, a real violent one. It took my 5 seconds to get to the rod, too late, solid in weed. I tried everything to extract it, everything, but nothing worked. It was solid. Five hours later (!) we took to the boat. Lost it, GUTTED! So I'm sulking, dreaming of what could have been, when the other rod rips off. Hit it, feels like a good'n. Play it out for 5 mins and it surfaces some way out, i recognise it straight away, one on my list, a very special one, a torpedo shaped male with a pointy head, the colour of coal, and I'm buzzing when it goes in the net. 31 lb 6 oz and I forget about the lost fish.

I get some kip after my busy morning and redo the rods early afternoon. Looks good and by darkness I'm seeing loads of carp. They're all over my right hand rod and I'm thinking I'll not have to wait for the normal early morning bite time. I'm right and at 9pm I get a screamer and land an awesome chunky common of 29 lb 6 oz. Very nice.

Next morning I swear I'm at a loss to explain why I didn't have another. They were smashing out over the right hand rod and then later there was fizzing over my left hand spot for 4 hours. No more bites, weird.

Packed up and home, happy with the sesh.

Sorted.

Now as you guys have seen I've had pretty good year by this point, blanks have been rare, I've caught the big common, and a bunch of the low to mid 30's including many of the real lookers and rare ones. The one I really want is especially unfriendly, a massive fully scaled mirror (one of the biggest fully's in the country), and it's still not been out. My confidence is sky high, everything is working, and I'm starting to think the fully has my name on it.

At this point I'm off to the States with work for a week or 2 leaving me just one more session at the end of the month to make the impossible happen. Couldn't possibly happen though, could it?

[elmoputney]

Another excellent catch report and wow what a cliffhanger ending can't wait to find out 👍

[emmcee]

 

1 hour ago, yonny said:

So now we're into October and after horrible, windy, wet, blank overnighter (to make up for the brilliant overnighter last time) I got a weekend back on the proper lake. I have a trip planned to the States this month so fishing time is running out as we head slowly towards winter.

Sitting here waiting for a taxi to the airport so thought I'd pop this up quickly.

Good sesh this week. Turned up Friday and spent eons looking for them. About 4 hours it took but it turned out they were stacked up in a little swim I had a bite or 2 from earlier in the year. I knew that spodding would push them out so I did so from left to right, Hoping it would push them into shallower water rather than out into the main body of water to my left. It worked, and they drifted off to the right. I knew they'd be back.

04:30 I had a brutal take, a real violent one. It took my 5 seconds to get to the rod, too late, solid in weed. I tried everything to extract it, everything, but nothing worked. It was solid. Five hours later (!) we took to the boat. Lost it, GUTTED! So I'm sulking, dreaming of what could have been, when the other rod rips off. Hit it, feels like a good'n. Play it out for 5 mins and it surfaces some way out, i recognise it straight away, one on my list, a very special one, a torpedo shaped male with a pointy head, the colour of coal, and I'm buzzing when it goes in the net. 31 lb 6 oz and I forget about the lost fish.

I get some kip after my busy morning and redo the rods early afternoon. Looks good and by darkness I'm seeing loads of carp. They're all over my right hand rod and I'm thinking I'll not have to wait for the normal early morning bite time. I'm right and at 9pm I get a screamer and land an awesome chunky common of 29 lb 6 oz. Very nice.

Next morning I swear I'm at a loss to explain why I didn't have another. They were smashing out over the right hand rod and then later there was fizzing over my left hand spot for 4 hours. No more bites, weird.

Packed up and home, happy with the sesh.

Sorted.

Now as you guys have seen I've had pretty good year by this point, blanks have been rare, I've caught the big common, and a bunch of the low to mid 30's including many of the real lookers and rare ones. The one I really want is especially unfriendly, a massive fully scaled mirror (one of the biggest fully's in the country), and it's still not been out. My confidence is sky high, everything is working, and I'm starting to think the fully has my name on it.

At this point I'm off to the States with work for a week or 2 leaving me just one more session at the end of the month to make the impossible happen. Couldn't possibly happen though, could it?

Top angling as always mate. That mirror is full on black. Is it a deep silt/ silt feeder? Or is that its normal colours? 

[yonny]

10 minutes ago, emmcee said:

That mirror is full on black. Is it a deep silt/ silt feeder? Or is that its normal colours? 

It's known as Blacky. That's its normal colour. Insane isn't it mate.

[emmcee]

17 minutes ago, yonny said:

It's known as Blacky. That's its normal colour. Insane isn't it mate.

A very apt name and insane indeed. 

[yonny]

Right, so this weekend signals the end of October and the start of November and signals the end of my season on this lake before I head for the winter water. It was a very tough and frustrating session but as you will see, it all came good in the end with something very, very special. I hope you enjoy it:

So here I sit writing the catch report I have been hoping to write for a long time. If my page-long catch reports bore you then you're in trouble today boys.

So...... as many of you know I've had a great year on my water, I started with the big common (albeit down in weight) and followed that up with a string of other decent fish. What has eluded me however is one of the real monsters. The pick of the bunch is this UTTERLY RIDICULOUS fully scaled mirror carp that I set my sights on some time ago.

I showed up on Thursday with 3 nights ahead of me, ready for one last big push for something truly special. As soon as I arrived it was crystal clear where the carp were, they were showing like dolphins, and unusually the lake was quiet so I slotted in right on top of them. Result. I did not hold back on the bait, I picked an area and basically filled it in with the full intention of sitting on it for 3 days (unusual for me, I usually take the mobile approach). Would you believe it, as soon as I put the spod down after maybe 30 minutes of spodding, two carp smashed out directly on the spot. I was surprised at this as I normally find spodding pushes them out for 24 hrs.

If I'm honest the baiting hadn't gone as well as I'd hoped.... have you ever been in that frame of mind where none of the spods go exactly where you want them too? When they all land just a few ft off the target? Well... that's what was happening. The hook baits went out great so I was hoping while not being perfect that I'd done enough. I vowed that the next day I'd get my game face on and do it better. Anyway..... those carp were out there on or near my spot all day, and as the sun went down they continued to show into the night, and I went to bed a very confident angler. You can imagine my disappointment when I woke up to my alarm clock at 06:00 without having had a beep. This was made worse when I popped my head out and saw they were still there... showing just off my baited area..... head scratching time......

The carp continued to show until about 11 am and then it slowed down. I figured that they must have been on the bait, they were everywhere.... so I decided to fill in it again. This time it went miles better, on a six-pence every time, perfect! I knew that the wind was due to pick up big time the following morning so planned to leave the rods where they were from today until home-time if I had no bites..... so I positioned them very carefully and sat back knowing there was little more I could do. Come the afternoon it became clear the carp had pushed off over to shallower water in the bright sunshine, chasing the temperatures, but I was hoping they'd be back that night, and they were....

2nd night and I'm seeing them top near my baited spot, not quite on it, but close enough for me to go to bed a confident man. I get up at midnight and at 03:30 and continue to see the odd fish but guess what.... the alarms clock goes off at 06:00, not a beep. More head scratching. I watch the carp topping in the area knowing full well they're mugging me off. I contemplate all kinds of changes in this time until 08:30 when I get a twitchy take. It's a tench, and I curse it for springing my carefully laid trap. I unhook it in the water and let it go (I now regret this as it was massive, clearly a pb tench, but I was just too focused on these carp to appreciate it at the time, unforgivable really). I get the rod out perfectly before the big winds arrive and once more I'm happy to sit it out.

The winds finally arrive and they're every bit as big as forecast. This makes it incredibly difficult to spot the fish. I do see a couple on the end of the wind you'd expect but once more I fully expected them to come back overnight. On my third evening the blanking is starting to get to me, I see hardly anything, I've not caught anything, it's too windy to set up in a new swim effectively and I'd not seen enough to move anyway. I won't lie, it was starting to do my head in and this time I went to bed with confidence lacking. It was a rough old night, 30 mph wind smashing down the pit, I had to get a storm pole out to give the brolly a helping hand, but eventually I drifted off. This time it wasn't the alarm clock that woke me up though, it was an almighty BOSH as an absolute brute smashed out near my baited area.

Two more massive boshes had me out of the bivvy and looking. I was back in carp mode and confidence was back. It was just getting light and I was confused about the alarm clock not going off until I remembered about the clocks going back. I sat up for the rest of the morning. These carp were showing just to the right of my spot which was great but sometimes 20 yards can feel like 10 miles in this situation. Worryingly all I saw directly on my spot were 3 tench pop their heads out. I was wandering up and down the bank and found myself in the next swim staring at these carp. I called my mate across the way and we were discussing a possible move foe the last couple fo hours when my receiver lets out a single bleep.... then another. "I'll call you back mate" I said as I casually walked towards my swim to land what was obviously another tench. However, I didn't have time to hang up, in fact all I had time to do was launch my phone in the bushes as the left hand rod went into complete meltdown. It's a 10 seconds sprint back to the swim but it seemed to go on forever with that alarm absolutely screaming all the way......

After what seemed like an age I'm into the waders and I hit it. WHALLOP..... it's no tench. I know that it's a good'n straight away, a plodder, using its weight, kiting slowly over my other two rods and away from the spot, so far so good. It kites maybe 60 yards to the right heading towards shallower water, it's because that's where the weed is. I try to turn it but my efforts are fruitless and it just carries on taking line until the inevitable happens. Everything draws to a stand-still, the rod goes solid, it's weeded me up. Sigh......

I try for 5 minutes to free it but nothing is really happening. I lost a fish in very similar circumstances over the other side of the lake earlier this year and at the time I thought I'd lost a very special carp (in fact I suspected it was the big fully scaled mirror). I was now contemplating the same thing happening again and after 3 nights of blanking I just couldn't believe it. In one last effort I walked to my left along the margin in an attempt to bring it out the same way it went in and...... BANG, the rod tip slams down, I manage to pull it back, gain a yards of line, and boom, we're back in business. I give it the beans now, it's not getting in the weed again, and I walk out as far as I can to meet it. About 30 yards out the fish rolls and I see it for the first time. It's a big scaly one, so scaly that it can be one of only 3 fish. It's the wrong colour to be one of them so that narrows it down to 2... neither of which I've caught, so the legs start to go a little even though I'm assuming it's the smaller of the 2 carp I think it could be (which is still 37 odd).

I gain some line and it rolls again about 20 yards out. This time there is no doubting which fish it is. It's absolutely MASSIVE, covered in scales the size of saucers, and my legs go to jelly. The rod tip is knocking as I'm shaking so much and I begin to wonder if it's possible to shake a carp off the hook? The fish dives deep and huge plumes of bubbles erupt across the surface as it plows through the silt looking for weed beds. I just do the only thing I can do... pump it slowly, trying to keep its head up, gaining line inch by inch. The fish eventually tires and before you know it it's on the top taking a gulp of air. The sight of this will stay with me for the rest of my life..... I don't know how big it is but it has to be the most impressive carp I've seen in my life.... it gets closer.... closer.... out goes the net.... over the cord.... jiggle it a bit as it doesn't fit...... and it's in!

Out goes the shout and every angler on the pit knows exactly what the score is now! I get a cheer from the lads and I stand for a few seconds just staring down at this fish. It's big, real big, and stunningly beautiful to go with it. I secure the net, detach the hook-link and turn round to see the ABSOLUTE LEGEND that is Mr. @kevtaylor who'd wound in and came round to help. I was in bits at this point, a gibbering wreck, shaking, spouting rubbish, just all over the place, so I was glad I had someone with their head screwed on to help out. Only problem was Kev was just as bad as me lol.... he knows how special this fish is and he too was gibbering away.... he even had the shakes lol.... so now we have 2 gibbering wrecks to try and sort this carp out....

The next 5 minutes is spent giggling like kids, checking out this absolutely amazing carp, having a Fag to settle the nerves. We set the mat up in a little spot down the bank where the light is good, sling/scales zeroed, cameras at the ready... and fetched the star of the show; Mr carp. We lift it out together and give each other a bit of a look as we feel the weight. Looking down at it we're saying that it has to be a foot wide...... we cart it over to the mat and grab the scales. We hoist it up with the scales facing Kev and straight away I can tell from his face that it's every bit as big as we thought it might be. He doesn't want to call it as the needle is bouncing.... around the 50 lb mark!

We swap sides and I check it out, he's right, it's bouncing between 49.10 and 50 lb. Now I might be greedy when it comes to catching fish but I'm not greedy when it comes to weighing them so I go with the lower option 49 lb 10 oz and the biggest smile I've ever smiled graces my boat race. We do some pics, which I have to say Kev does an absolutely FANTASTIC job of (THANK YOU MATE!!!). We take her back to the water, a couple of returner shots, and then we stand there watching a true British near-50 fully scaled mirror swim silently back out into the depths, absolutely blown away. An hour later I'm packed up and on my way home, mission accomplished.

So basically, on the last morning of what will be my last session before winter hits, my dreams came true. I really cannot thank Kev enough for his help and I couldn't have asked for anyone more fitting to join me on that special morning, someone who really does know what that fish means..... cheers mate!

Booya.

That takes us to the end of 2017 so I'll bring an end to these catch reports. I did actually fish the water again in 2018, trying to catch the last remaining biggun I'd not had. I never caught it (in fact it was never caught again) but I did have a string of other good fish to 43 odd, and a crazy month is September where I had 9 x 30+ fish! Maybe at some point in the future I'll come back to those reports and show you the pics. Until then, have fun lads.

[emmcee]

Fish of a life time mate and a couple of cracking pics. Top angling.