Common Occurrence

Welcome back! Since my last post I have continued to target Carp in my local area and have moved onto a lovely lake that holds some stunning fish. On my first couple of trips the fish were still spawning so it wasn’t really the best time to be fishing; as a result I put in two blanks. But eventually, once the Carp got it out of their system, I knew it would be a prime time to get a bite, as they would be out on the feed after all the commotion of spawning. The only down side was that most, if not all of the Carp, would be at their lowest weight. That doesn’t bother me though, as long as I’m catching, it’s all good.

I knew from the off how I was going to fish the lake, and when I arrived it was empty, so had my choice swims too. My chosen swim was full of above and under water features, so all I needed to do was decide which ones to fish and get some bait out.

I usually like to use boilies alone for my Carp fishing because the fish are eating the same size and shape bait that will be on the end of my rig. Also, there is no hassle to apply any amount of bait to an area and it makes little disturbance when you do.

Not long after setting up anglers started arriving, causing commotion around the lake. As I had already set up and baited, the fish started moving into my swim, but I didn’t see any signs of feeding. As the day passed by not a single fish got caught, I often thought about re-casting, but I sat on my hands and left everything how it was.

I knew Lambert was going to be joining for the night, but when he arrived the lake was full and the only option was to fish the smaller lake behind me. Within an hour of Lambert having his rods out, I heard a bite alarm screaming. I popped my head out my bivvy and, would you believe it, he had a fish on. I couldn’t believe it! Not too long after the Carp had got onto my bait and I was in as well!

After taking some pictures and safely returning the fish we just needed to get the rods back out so we could relax. There is nothing like that feeling, when you’ve had your first fish from a venue, and put an end to a string of blanks. It feels like a big weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. It wasn’t dark at this point, so I was feeling confident for another bite through the night, if not before.

As the night drew in, I could see fish feeding in my swim, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I had my next bite. Eventually, as it does, it got dark and I was left wondering if the fish were still feeding, or had they moved on to another area of lake.

Just as we had decided to call it a night and get our heads down for a snooze, Lambert’s rod screamed off, and he was in to the first fish of the night! It was a lovely little Ghostie, which put up a good fight, but definitely didn’t help Lambert get to sleep!

At around 2am, while I was fast asleep my left hand rod shot off; in an instant I was up and into a fish. With a good bend in my rod, I had a gruelling battle on my hands, in the pitch black, for twenty minutes. I eventually managed to get my head torch on, just in time to net the fish. A lovely Common weighing 19lb 04oz was the prize. After admiring the Carp and taking some pictures, it was safely returned to fight another day.

After a couple of hours’ kip, I had another screaming take that shocked me into action! This time I managed to put my head torch on and could see the fish was heading towards an overhanging tree. It was a good thing I had my head torch on, as I don’t think I would have landed it in the dark, not knowing how close it was to the snag.

As we took some pictures, the sun started to rise behind us and it was a lovely, picturesque morning. What a lovely way to start the day!

Until next time