Wednesday, 17th.April
Paddlesworth, Burrows, ‘The Shallows’
10.30Back down at Burrows, brim full of confidence, convinced I’m going to get one.
I got some ‘inside’ information from my old friend Ted Spillet, “fish the Shallows; they come right in close”. So here I am, as instructed with two baits on the one spot.
I put out a marker float and found 4-5 feet with it getting deeper to the right further out into ‘The Bowl’, the western end of the lake.
There has been a sudden change in the weather and we are blessed with glorious sunshine and a significant rise in temperature. They just have to be in the shallow water!
I put some corn on the spot; not a huge amount, about five or six small handfuls and positioned my 12mm. Pink NS1 pop-up and Krill Wafter baits over the top.
The latter I’m fishing on a ‘Noodle Rig’ which I am trying for the very first time which Scott Lloyd its inventor, assures us the carp find the greatest difficulty dealing with. Up to now, my difficulty has been getting them to pick a bait up in the first place!
It's not quite the same as his lacking as it does the rig ring and bend at the end of the shrink tube, but I think it a fair approximation
Distance to the spot is 5+3 wraps
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11.30
It is extremely quiet here on Burrows. There is no sound of traffic, trains, kids playing, people calling out to one another, just the sound of an eternal peace and tranquility. If this is all that Life has to offer then I shall be more than happy, although I cannot ever envisage life without Christine for I love her more than I do my carp-fishing. There are just the Mallard, Coots, Geese, and the occasional rasping cluck from a nearby Pheasant. This must be what the world was like before humans set foot across it and began the inevitable trail of destruction in their wake. Humans are the most intelligent inhabitants of Planet Earth but they are not the most wise and they will surely be the cause of the destruction of much of what we know as life on earth.
12.20
As well as a ‘Noodle Rig’ I have already tied up and ready to go something very similar. This rig is demonstrated by Myles Gibson and he uses it for most of his fishing. It is very similar to the’Noodle’ in that it has a long length of shrink tube and in this a common element exists between Scott’s and Myles’ rigs. I can see that the long length of tubing is something the carp are not used to dealing with and would present them with something unusual. For me at the moment, debating the minutiae of similar rigs seems a bit of a waste of time since nothing is picking up my baits at all!
13.00
Carp-fishing is one of those pastimes that you can invest in as much or as little as you want. Of course, if you want to be a superhero then you have to give 110% of everything you’ve got - and then some. The standard of fishing by the best is so high that I am certain I could never achieve their exploits and in saying this am I accepting my own limited capabilities as a realist, or am I just being defeatist?
Take today. If I were a ‘superhero’ I’d be climbing trees, off round the lake looking in every available spot - maximising my time at the lake. But I am quite happy to sit here, safe in the knowledge that sooner or later a fish will come along and pick up my bait, could I do more to get a bite? certainly. Do I want to?… does it really matter if I say I am quite happy to sit here and wait? This makes me undoubtedly a good deal less than superhero status. The truth is I genuinely don’t care. I’m a carp-fisherman, out on the bank carp-fishing, perhaps not to superhero level but to a level that gives enjoyment and satisfaction. A golfer may relish his golf even though he doesn’t play to the standard of Tiger Woods. A footballer may love his football even though he cannot play to Lionel Messi’s standard; I may enjoy my carp-fishing even though I cannot fish to Terry Hearn’s standard.
13.20
Bit of a ripple on the water now. Looks even better for a bite than earlier. Still confident.
Carp-fishing has to be about catching carp; but it doesn’t make it a disaster if you don’t.
13.30
Just had a top-up of three pouches of corn as I’d noticed the Mallard were diving on it earlier. Greedy so-and-so’s! Leave it alone!
14.00
I’ve tied up another Myles Gibson (MG) Rig - but this time tied the knotless knot so that it comes out of the ‘wrong’ side of the hook-eye. I used a Korda size 4 Wide Gape and exited the knotless knot through the top of the eye rather than the conventional underneath the eye. This makes the shrink tube sit straighter.
Having it coming off the top of the eye gives a neater look.
14.15
More useful data… I’ve just had a walk around to the end swim (this is the last swim you are permitted to fish before the out-of-bounds). From here you can clearly see the two abandoned ‘trucks’ left here when the clay extraction works in the pit ceased. There have got to be carp near these! I shall certainly be planning to fish this peg at the first opportunity. (Can not today as the water is being covered by another angler fishing on the bank opposite).
14.30
There’s a pair of Buzzard-y things wheeling around on a thermal over the lake. Tried to get a shot of them but my camera lens is too ‘small’.
14.50
I’ve just seen a Spitfire fly over! Has WW2 restarted?!
15.10
OMG “Just one Cornetto” Man is back again. At least he’s got the weather right this time. The last session he was out trying to sell ice creams and it was positively Baltic!
Why do Pheasants sound as if they’ve got sore throats? Perhaps we should put out linctus for them?
My ramblings are all very random at the moment. Is this indicative of contentedness or the first signs of Dementia?!
15.50
Both baits re-cast onto the spot. I’ve got them out there early in case there is some activity this evening. Don’t want to be crashing leads around on top of their heads.
There is only one change - I have replaced the ‘Noodle’ rig with the Myles Gibson rig. I had to trim the 12mm. Sticky Baits Signature pop-up to get it to sit right - it wants to sit such that the point of the hook is on the bottom, the hook aligned in the vertical plane. (Watch his Youtube video; he explains it all there).
No more corn on the spot ; don’t want to over-bait. The Ducks have left it alone this afternoon so it must still be out there.
16.00
“Angels One-Five! Angles One-Five… tally ho Red Leader and beware the Hun in the sun”. (and all that).
The Spitfire has just returned, flying back from what I hope was a successful mission!
I can almost hear the strains of ‘The Battle of Britain’ theme in my ears right now. I wish my dad was here; as RAF serving in WW2 he would have loved to have seen it…
16.45
I’ve made another change. The pop-up/wafter on the MG rig has gone and I’ve replaced it with a plain bottom bait (still on the MG rig). My reasons for this are very simple. It works! Both baits are very under-used these days - it’s all pop-ups and wafters, but out in France at the Moulin where we go it’s the only thing that gets me a bite. I tried pop-ups, wafters, snowmen, and half-snowmen, but nothing works as well as a plain old bottom bait on a very simple, basic rig. I’ve gone over-complex by fishing it on an MG rig but it’s out there trying to prove/disprove a point.
Half a dozen boilies around it for the night.
17.30
Not a sign of a fish all day apart from some ‘shows’ at the very far end, tight to the bank. I’ve seen nothing to suggest there are fish in ‘The Bowl’ during the daytime; perhaps they’ll get in here tonight? I certainly hope so.
I could really do with some luck right now.
Matey over on the right-hand bank hasn’t had anything either so I conclude they haven’t been in here today.
17.45
Fish jumped right at the far end.
18.00
Just had a ‘liner’ on the bottom bait rod!
18.50
Another change. Substituted the bottom bait for a ‘Snowman’ on my favourite ‘D’ rig.
20.15
It started getting a bit chilly so I decided to pack away my day-chair and get inside the bag.
It was a lovely, quiet evening; the birds were singing at the tops of their voices and all was right with the world. I pulled the covers up to my nose, closed my eyes and day-dreamed of the monsters that dwell nearby…
Suddenly, the ‘Ronnie’ was away - the line was going and going and I couldn’t get out of bed and to the rod quick enough! The fish was well hooked however and made off for the centre of the lake. He didn’t have much of a chance however and after some boring and head-shaking and dogged persistence on his part, I had him in the net. Yippee! After all this time I’d finally got one. At 15:08 it wasn’t a monster but in view of the fact I hadn’t caught a UK carp for over a year I didn’t care how big it was!
It was such a relief to catch a carp after such a terrible run of blanks.
Let’s hope it’s the first of many!
A top-up with corn and boilies for bedding down in the now rapidly fading light. Still got the Snowman out.
22.15
Another line bite; this time to the Ronnie Rig.
22.45
In view of the success of the ‘Ronnie’, I have just cast out my own take on a minimal height pop-up rig. This rig is in fact a Stiff Hinge Rig - but ultra-short, so short in fact that there is only room for a one or two-turn blood knot securing the ‘Mouthtrap’ to a size 11 Ring Swivel. I call it the USSHR (The Ultra Short Stiff Hinge Rig).
Thursday, 18th.April
06.30Fish are all over me like a rash this morning and I am hovering over the rods, just waiting for one of them to go.
They started moving during the night despite the wind turning and blowing straight in to the bivvy. It’s freezing cold! Despite this fish are moving in The Bowl and it’s a case of when - not if.
07.10
It’s quietened down now; I assume the spell of activity is over with. I did get a couple of line bites but that was all. No signs of fish on the spot down to the left.
07.20
Another line bite, this time to the bait out in front. So there must still be some fish about.
The rod out in front also has a ‘Ronnie’ on it but because I am fishing over corn I have only a four-inch boom on. This on the assumption the fish will not move far between picking up food items. If I’m getting liners at max. Corn catapulting range, this rather suggests I should fish shorter.
08.00
Yes! We’re away again… Once again it’s the rod down to the left, and a hard fighting mirror comes over the net. Fourteen pounds two ounces.
Fish number two. Again not a monster but a carp nonetheless. It's only after a terrible run of blanks that you appreciate just how valuable carp catches are.
I have now changed the left-hand rod to a Krill pop-up and put the NS1 on the right-hand rod. Both booms once again seven inches.
08.45
There’s a chap just arrived and he’s fishing over on the right-hand bank, casting across to the trucks. He’s had two already. He’s using either a Method Feeder or a solid bag; either way it’s landing with a fair old spa-doosh!
Just had a look through the binocs. and yes, he’s definitely on the Method Feeder, one of those three-vaned jobbies. Solid bag will work just the same. Might be interesting to fish it against The Ronnie.
09.15
Method Feeder Man’s in again! He’s absolutely caning it! certainly, a bag of pellets around a bait sounds like it might be a plan.
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