Have you ever thought, 'I must be mad...'

[Guest Wordbender]

You know what I mean - waking up to your lines frozen in, water bottle frozen solid and two inches of ice on your...well, you know.

 

What session, act or incident finally made you concede that the condition known as carpus dementiatus had finally manifested itself?

 

Mine first came about four years ago, when I discovered myself waiting, trusty rod in hand, for a full 20 minutes for a howling gale and horizontal bullet-rain to magically abate for 30 seconds while I cast to a carpy feature 120 yards away.

 

I even had the nerve to feel cheated when the weather refused to switch itself off for ME, a carp angler of no repute. So I stood there, all noble and defiant, getting soaked to the skin, chilled to the bone and blown inside out - with not a hope in hell of chucking a bait anywhere. After retreating to my brolly for another pointless hour, I sulked off home.

 

There have been many 'I must be mad' moments since, but that was my first. Still, at least I completely failed to learn from it, ay?

 

Take it easy,

 

Terry

[Guest Chris Shaw]

I can recall sitting on a lake once fishing for carp watching a red tipped quill float sitting in a hole in the ice a few feet from the bank. Mad maybe, insane? Must be.

 

Good if you catch though.

 

I have caught carp in blizzard conditions, can hardly see the fish in the photo's because of the amount of snow falling.

 

I do not actually think it is madness or insanity that makes us do this, I put it down to keenness just to catch carp. My keenness wained as I got older

 

------------------

Chris Shaw

The reel handles spun in unison as they played on.

 

[This message has been edited by Chris Shaw (edited 29 November 2001).]

[Guest **sam**]

hello terry. hope your feeling better. tom told me *all* about it!

 

one of my stupidest sessions (apart from the weekend just gone) was in the october 1987 storms over on stanwell moor. the whole brolly and overwrap exploded and ended up in the bushes along with half my tackle and bedchair.

 

on another trip it stayed below freezing for 2 days. my mate mental mick was frozen to the floor in his waterproofs and turned blue after falling asleep watching the rods. idiot.

 

only this year i was out on the segre when an electrical storm wiped out the power to mequinenza. myself and starman had to make our way back in the darkness with lightning bolts hitting the pylons and hills around us.

 

out of all the stupid things to do in the world, winter carpng must be up there with the stupidest. that makes *every* week seem like carpus dementiatus has took hold.

 

oh well, heres to next friday to sunday then!

 

**sam**

(echo)

[Guest Wordbender]

Hello, Sam-boy!

 

I had my millionth 'must be mad' moment only last week, mate. Fishing with Single Tone at the Back Lake, left arm broken, swollen like the mega-sausage from hell, and just as useful, I caught a 7 lb. pike - with Tone's help - at half-past dark.

 

Insisting on unhooking it myself, so's to prove I wasn't TOTALLY useless, I let the pike drive a tooth most of the way through my right forefinger - nice.

 

After safely releasing the pike and thanking Tone for his supervision, I found myself bleeding like a stuck pig - a real drippy gusher, I kid you not.

 

So, as the frost decended, there was dopey me, sitting on my bedchair with one arm throbbing fit to explode, and the forefinger of the other one dripping blood into my thermal mug - well, I couldn't let it get onto the floor of the bivvy, now could I?

 

I couldn't very well get into my brand-new sleeping bag until the blood had stopped flowing, so I sat freezing for over TWO HOURS until it finally congealed - or froze, I was past caring by then.

 

Yup, that was a 'mad' one - but it was still better than not fishing!

 

Terry

[Guest davidP]

Originally posted by Wordbender:

So, as the frost decended, there was dopey me, sitting on my bedchair with one arm throbbing fit to explode, and the forefinger of the other one dripping blood into my thermal mug - well, I couldn't let it get onto the floor of the bivvy, now could I?

Terry

 

What?? You didn't let it drip into the lake as a natural attractant?? Some people know nothing of watercraft!

[Guest Wordbender]

Originally posted by davidP:

What?? You didn't let it drip into the lake as a natural attractant?? Some people know nothing of watercraft!

 

Sadly, I DID consider it, David! I just thought human blood might be a repellant, otherwise I'd have drip-dried in some promising-looking margin spot.

 

'Mad'? Oh no, not us.

 

Terry

[Guest TheDacer]

I'm not a Carp angler.. but I think some of the things you lot get up deserve as much praise as anything in angling!

 

You're all barking mad!