The days are just about getting long enough now to make it worth the effort to get out on the bank after work on a Friday (I finish early on Fridays), so Steve and myself decided to head to Gardners Pool for a few hours.
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| The rods are in and the traps are set... |
As the weather was pretty good for the time of year, the lake was pretty busy so we were limited as to where we could fish. We had wanted to fish the deeper north west corner, but both pegs were already taken, but the north "grass" bank was free. Normally I don't like this peg as it's normally shallow enough for the various bird life to reach the bottom, can be quite weedy and is quite snaggy. But at this time of the year the water level is up, the weed is minimal, and without the vast sets of lily pads, the snags offer some of the best cover on the lake, and to top it off a mild breeze was blowing straight into the NE corner where the snags are, so it was pretty much the ideal location for the day.
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| Partially submerged trees offering some cover during winter |
I baited the snaggy area to my left with about a quarter of a small tin of corn spread along about 10ft of the tree line, and baited a second area about 20 yards out in front of me (that would be on the edge of the pads in the summer) with 10 boilies. On my left rod I was using a 2 pieces of enterprise fake corn on a size 10 korum hook, popped up just a little off the bottom on a fairly short rig, and on the right rod I was using a single 15mm CCMoore live system boilie, with a tiny bag of Sonubaits tigerfish pellets. Both rods were cast to the baited areas and the waiting game began...
About 20 minutes had gone by and neither of us had seen any action. I was confident that the fish would be in the area, but the water was still freezing cold so were probably still feeling pretty lethargic, so I made a decision to recast my baits to slightly different positions in the hope of landing on a fish. The left rod I cast a few feet further down the tree line, and slightly closer to the trees. The right rod I was going to cast a little more to the right to an area that would be in the pads during summer, but as I was about to cast, the left rod banged round followed by a flurry of beeps on the alarm, probably no more than a minute of casting it out! I lifted into the fish and guided it surprisingly easily away from the snaggy branches in the margins. It didn't put up much of a fight (they usually go off like a rocket as the lake is pretty shallow) which further confirmed my theory that the fish hadn't really woken up yet from their winter nap. Without too much drama it was in the net, a proper mint common of 14lb.
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| First GP carp of the year at 14lb |
I got the left rod back out on the same spot, and finally got the right rod back in the water. Another half an hour or so went by without so much as a beep, so I decided to have a little muck about with the camera for 10 minutes, during which time a pheasant had snuck up behind me on the bank. I decided to try end get close enough to get a decent photo, but it wasn't having any of it and immediately took to the air and flew off over the lake, but as luck would have it I had the camera on a continuous shooting mode, so I did my best to track it's flight path while holding the shutter release button, and managed to get one of the many shots in focus, sadly against a backdrop of the sun so its a silhouette rather than the colourful image I'd hoped for, but not bad for a split second bit of thinking!
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| We named him Phil as it's tradition to name all animals at GP! |
I decided to reposition the rods again, and put another catapult pouch of corn down the tree line. It took all of about 5 minutes before the left rod was off again, this time with a bit more conviction than before. Again I guided the fish away from the snags, and after a couple of minutes fighting it under the rod tip it was ready for the net... At which point the hook pulled. I wasn't too bothered as it was only a little one, and it meant that I wouldn't have to get my hands wet in the icy cold water. I checked the rig and all was good, so I put it back out on the spot, followed by another pouch of corn. Ten to fifteen minutes later it was off again and it felt like a better fish this time and proved more troublesome to guide away from the snaggy tree branches. I did eventually get it clear of the trees, and shortly after it was in the net, somewhat smaller than I had expected, another common.
I didn't bother to weigh it but guessed at around 8lb as it was quite the little porker! The rod went back out on the spot, with another pouch of corn over the top. A little while later it rattled off again and a battle ensued with another fish. It didn't last long however, as it dropped off the end about 30 seconds into the fight, a problem I seem to consistently suffer with when using shorter rigs, why I keep trying them just because short rigs are "the in thing" is beyond me as they clearly don't work well for me! By now the sun was setting and it was getting that time of day to call it quits. Steve hadn't had so much as a sniff for the whole session, so despite losing 2 fish, it meant I was the clear victor and had won the coveted kinder surprise egg, which I kindly shared with my fishing friend while gleefully gloating about how well I'd done and repeatedly asking him how many he had caught, as only a true friend would!
The score so far: Jake 2, Steve 0
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