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A couple more productive trips


tomhaggett

449 views

19th Feb - Shh.

 

Following last weeks success I had been back down to the little lake to bait the spots. They're only getting 50 or so baits at a time but it seems to be doing the job... keeping the fish regularly visiting the areas and expecting to find food there. I think this is being accentuated by there being no other anglers fishing at this time of the year and thus no other bait going in. It's quite a bit of effort what with taking a detour on my already 40 mile commute to or from work before wading across a partially flooded field just to put some grub in but it seems to be paying dividends.

 

This particular session was an after work jaunt that didn't see me arriving until 4 which gave me under 2 hours by the time I'd got over the field and set up. I started off in the productive spot of last weeks session and ended up hooking a fish after only 5 minutes of casting in. That one unfortunately slipped the hook just out of netting range but before I'd had a chance to put the rod down the other one was away. To add insult to injury that one also came off soon after lifting into it. That's the last time I use that particular rig, one that I first trialed last autumn during a session which saw me loose two good fish from two different waters on the same day!

 

Anyway, I'd also been baiting a different spot on the other side of the lake so I could keep two areas working. I decided to nip around there quickly and once again had a take within 5 minutes of getting the rods out. That one was on an old faithful hinged stiff and went in the net without trouble. It wasn't until I checked the pics afterwards that I realised it was a recapture of the mirror that I'd had the week before... for goodness sake, could this session get any worse.

Thankfully the answer to that was no and just as dusk fell I had another take on the same rod and after the most pathetic fight I've ever had from a carp an old looking, battle scarred leather was having it's picture taken.

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Before leaving I made sure to top up both spots with a hit of bait ready for a return as soon as possible.

 

22nd Feb - Shh.

 

That return just happened to be a few days later after I'd managed to get the weekend off work. I'd managed to squeeze in another baiting in between the last session and now so the spots should have been rocking. I'd intended to make a whole day of it but in true 'me' style I managed to oversleep and ended up arriving at around midday. The plan was to do as last week, starting in the initial swim before making a move to the "back up" after a few hours. Before I got set up I nipped around to the other side and sprinkled a little bit of bait on both the spots, one of which was a new one after only the one rod produced last trip.

Back at the main swim I got the rods out without any hassle and sat down expecting to be called into action at any minute... 45 of those minutes passed before, out of the blue, the banker rod tore off and unfortunately managed to cut me off the second I picked the rod up. Gutted. That prompted me to make a move to the other side where it was a little more comfortable and relaxed.

 

In well oiled fashion the first rod was dropped on the winning spot of a couple of days ago and the other rod was flicked to the new area that had seen a bit of bait that week. First cast landed a little short so in it came and second cast landed bang on the money. I was just sinking the line when the first rod buckled in the rests... the rod in my hand was dispatched into the bushes so I could pile on the sidestrain which soon had the fish wallowing about under the tip. Another couple of minutes and in the net went a nice golden common... another which, after checking the pics, may even be a recapture of the one from the initial session!

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Anyway, I slipped that back and picked up the rod that had just been cast, deciding to redo it because I couldn't quite remember if it had all gone smoothly before the drama entailed. As I went to reel in the rod thumped over... a snag? No, it kicked and sure enough a nice winter tench was soon making it's way to the net... probably around 5.8lb or so.

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All was quiet after that so I sat back and relaxed for an hour or so. In that time I'd seen a few tell tale bubbles appearing over the right hand area, the new one that had produced the tench. Nothing matterialised however so I decided to relocate that rod onto another spot that I'd trickled some bait onto. Within minutes another more substantial fizz of bubbles came off the original area so within no time the little white pop up was flicked back to the area. The second the lead landed a mass eruption of bubbles came off the area obviously as a fish spooked!! Cursing my impatience I flicked a few more baits around the rod and told myself to leave it alone. Only 10 minutes passed before that rod started dropping back and another common was in the net following a decent scrap. This one looked ancient with it's ragged tail and almost grey colouration... the picture doesn't do it much justice.

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Just as I slipped that one back in the other rod decided to double round again and another strong battle in the deep, gin clear water ensued. No mishaps again and another, plumper common was soon being unhooked and having it's picture taken. This one was really quite fat and proceeded to crap out a serious amount of my digested bait. He'd obviously been enjoying the regular trips... that's not a sign you often see at this time of year.

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