This'll make you feel better

[Anderoo]

I remember reading about Rob Ward's session from hell at Wingham, and Richard told me about his last season - this was my turn

 

I got there after a busy drive about lunchtime on Thursday, the idea being to make the most of the spell of low pressure and get home early on Saturday so I could spend the weekend with my girlfriend. Two nights for the bream should be enough if my luck was in...

 

There was a huge westerly and it was warm, conditions were great. The wind was piling into the near bank so I chose one of the closest swims. What a treat, no need to push a heavy barrow for miles, just drop the gear off and go back to park.

 

After mixing all the groundbait, spodding it out, setting up the rods and setting up camp I was exhausted (I wasn't feeling too good anyway) and fell asleep for a couple of hours. I caught a tench at about 8.45 and decided to recast all the rods for the night so I could be sure everything was spot on. The first 3 went out fine (I was fishing 2 rods each on 2 spots, one close in and one at about 60 yards) but the last one hit the clip too hard, pinged back and it the water with a great big 'ka-sloosh!' At the same time, 20 yards away, an area of water about the size of a car bonnet, sort of quivered, and an unseen monster moved slowed and nervously towards the other end of the lake.

 

I think it was a bream. I think I actually got location right, and ruined everything by one crap cast. There was only one fish as well - so it could have been really big.

 

10 minutes later I had a slow, steady rise on a close in rod, and struck when the bobbin got to the rod - nothing!

 

Write it out 100 times, Anderoo: DON'T STRIKE AT LINE BITES Idiot!

 

So far it hasn't gone well.

 

A few tench in the night but, naturally, no bream.

 

The next day started off wet and got worse. Throughout the day a succession of huge thunderstorm rolled overhead, lightning, huge claps of thunder, and torrential rain. This is when I discovered that my old bivvy is no longer waterproof, and before long my bedchair and pillow were drenched, and little puddles were forming everywhere. I still wasn't feeling very well, and got worse when the tench woke up and went nuts in the storms. Several times I had to go out in the deluge to land a tench. But I was hoping that the bream may have become unspooked and fed in the dark daylight and coloured water, so I kept recasting just in case. More tench! More soakings!

 

In the afternoon there was a brief sunny spell so I managed to get most stuff fairly dry, and moved the bivvy to a more sheltered spot for the final night.

 

At dusk, a final huge storm passed directly overhead, but this one was from the north-east and freezing cold. After a hour of cold water hammering into the lake, it passed away, but that was it - the lake was dead. Thankfully no more rain in the night, but no fish either...

 

So I was happy enough to pack away early yesterday and get home for the weekend. At least there was no barrow to push!

 

Catch report filled in I get in the car and thought to myself, wouldn't it be typical if it didn't start. I almost laughed when it didn't. It tuned over fine but wouldn't catch. Oh bother, I thought (well, something like that). Now, I know nothing about cars except that when they don't start I should pop the bonnet, look at the engine for a couple of minutes, and then call the AA. I was a bit embarrassed to do that because I thought that the rain had probably got in somewhere and the bloke would come, dry a connection and get it started first time, and I'd feel stupid - but I didn't really have a choice. 'He'll be there in 45 mintues,' said the chap on the phone.

 

Still able to appreciate a little irony, I put the barrow together, and went and collected my gear

 

After 50 minutes (weekend dripping away...) the AA bloke phoned and asked for directions. He was doing circles around the lanes of Kent. After another half an hour he finally made it and started on the car. 'It's sparking and there's fuel, so there's no reason this car shouldn't start,' he said, which I presumed, correctly, was a Bad Thing. After half an hour of tinkering he concluded that the car wouldn't start, and said I'd have to be towed home

 

He towed me to the end of the lane (far too fast, bumping through the pot-holes) and said 'I'll have to leave you here - a flat-bed truck will be along shortly'. How long? '90 minutes'. So, still not feeling very well I sat in the hot car in the middle of nowhere, with no food, and read Chris Yates' Falling in Again for an hour and 45 minutes until another AA man phoned me to check directions, also lost. When he did turn up, he was in the same little van as the first bloke.

 

Because the lanes are narrow, he had to tow me on a tow bar until we were alomst at the A2. Being towed is not fun, especially if you're feeling a bit light-headed. But we eventually got to somewhere where he could get the proper towing contraption out and I could sit in the front of the van thinking about bad casting and striking at liners...

 

Now, I can't take you all the way, he said. Health & Safety. I can only take you as far as Clacket Lane servies on the M25. Another van will take you from there.

 

It was turning into quite an epic journey.

 

Thankfully at Clacket another van was waiting, and I was able to get a sandwich. It was now about 5pm and I hadn't eaten all day. Off we go again, trundling along the slow lane, all the way to Oxfordshire.

 

I'd phoned a local garage and told them to expect me, so when we finally got there at about 7pm I dumped the car, posted the key and a note through the door and loaded the AA van up with a mountain of fishing gear, and made the last leg home.

 

A bad session - or have you had worse?

[Tony U]

Anderoo

At least you caught something; imagine what you would have felt like going through all of that and blanking.

[KAYC]

Nope! never had worse.

[BoldBear]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the car, bad weather, departing monster fish and leaking bivvie Anderoo, I haven't had as much bad luck as that all in one session but at least you caught some Tench.

 

However; I did have a night once during a swelteringly hot summer on a small pond in the middle of a wood where thunder and lightning was immediately above me, (luckily before carbon fibre rods) when I was getting constant Carp runs in torrential rain in the middle of the night and ended up with 15 small Carp between 5lb and 12lb. The Carp started feeding about half an hour before the storm arrived till an hour afterwards when everything went quiet again. I got thoroughly soaked but It was really enjoyable except for my fear of the lightning.

You wouldn't have seen me for dust in these days of Carbon fibre rods though.

Edited July 26, 2009 by BoldBear

[Anderoo]

True, at least I caught a few fish, but I'm very worried what the garage will say tomorrow. The AA mechanics seem to think that it's terminal, and I really can't afford a 'new' car right now...

 

I took a few pictures of the storms passing over on Friday, it was really very dramatic.

 

Nearly gone!

 

Oh dear, another one looming:

 

...and another...!

 

One of them was so close I felt my bones shake with the thunder, and the lightning flash looked very, very close to all that carbon!

Edited July 26, 2009 by Anderoo

[Kappa]

A bad session - or have you had worse?

 

Er not sure who 'wins' my car wasn't terminal but it took weeks to dry out and the garage tried to rip me off when they fixed it. I did break a rod on my session tho....

 

Rich

[Rusty]

Bloody hell Anderoo, I would have been out of there sharpish. Hope the car’s ok, if there were no nasty mechanical noises before it stopped working it might be something simple.

 

If there is a bright side to this at least you get to shop for a new bivvy, best to go for something without carbon poles if that’s an example of Wingham weather.

[Dick Dastardly]

Sounds cruel of me I know but your report has kind of cheered me up a bit! I was well envious that you were getting down there last week with the conditions but somewhat relieved now that I couldnt get out!

 

 

No Im trying to kid myself Im still jealous that you were there and Im still house bound!

[Dales]

I hope the garage bill is not the icing on the cake to a troubled weekend

[Anderoo]

I knew it would cheer some of you up!

 

I just spoke to the garage. When I phoned ahead I said, don't do anything to the car until I've spoken to you. I wrote the same thing on the note when I posted the key through the door. When I just phoned, the bloke said - oh yes, we're just finishing up now! Whaaat, I said, I told you not to do anything yet, if it's going to be expensive it'll be cheaper for me to scrap the car and get a new one.

 

Oh, he said. I'll call you back in 2 minutes.

 

That was half an hour ago.

 

I have definitely angered the karma gods somehow...!

 

Back to the fishing, and (although obvious) it's really reinforced to me just how perfect you need to get everything. I really think that if all my casts that first evening had landed with a plop rather than a splosh, I'd have had a really good chance for a bream.

 

I'm sure that was a bream. It didn't do that carpy swirl. It just sort of shivered and melted away.