Please sir, can I have some more.
So leading on from that guest session I had the carp bug back, good and proper. It had been a good start to the season and I obviously wanted to try and continue that run for as long as possible.
21st April - Berkshire Water
Another day session, this time on the quietest of the "specimen" waters after a baiting up recce a couple of nights previous. I got down nice and early for once, just after first light and amazingly got the rods onto the prebaited spots with only one cast each. That left me to settle down and marvel over my latest purchase, a portable toastie maker that fitted perfectly on my stove. Aka a Diablo. If you haven't already got yourself one I have to prompt you into doing so... it's the best thing I've bought in years.
After a hearty breakfast of garlic naan breads, generously filled with beans and sausages I suddenly realised that it was 10am and I hadn't seen so much as a bubble. I actually started to get itchy feet and was just starting to organise the gear for a scout around when the banker rod signaled a take. The fight was fraught, as they always are on there, but eventually I bundled a small but prehistoric looking common into the net.
The rig had certainly done it's job...
That was the end of the action unfortunately but it was a good start after a Spring of not being able to get near the lakes as a result of the flooding.
May 2nd - Berkshire Water
First trip back to my usual target water. Over half the lake is still closed with only 7 swims, all along the same bank being open. The far bank is inaccessible and when you have two islands effectively dissecting the lake into 2 halves it was very easy for the fish to remain safe behind the islands.
I think it was a Saturday night, rare for me, but as it had been quiet I thought I'd throw the gear in the car just in case I fancied it after a walk around. There were only 2 people on when I wandered down, one of whom had had a few fish so I quickly dropped a bucket into a swim a couple down from him, allowing me to fish a spot that had produced well for me at this time of year previously. It was getting on a bit by the time I'd got my gear down there so, after a quick flick to get the rods clipped up at the foot of the island shelf, I got busy with the catapult and rained a hundred or so baits down over the top of my soon to be favourite pastel pink pop ups.
The day quickly turned to night and with the lake pretty quiet I drifted off to sleep, confident that I would be doing battle with a fish at some point over the next 10 hours. Thankfully that confidence was founded as sometime around 2am my right hand rod was in meltdown. I don't remember much of the fight, something that often happens when you've been woken from your slumber but I soon came round when I realised there was a decent mirror in the bottom of my net. Once it was unhooked and the necessaries were dealt he was quickly weighed in at 26.11 before setting about getting some night time self takes, the first time I'd attempted such a thing. I think they came out alright...
Again, that was the last of the action, apart from a lost tench after sitting on my hands as the spots fizzed intermittently for a couple of hours from first light.
The roll continues...
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