2nd.October 2019
Paddlesworth Pollard, Peg 29
11.45Set up at last after many machinations…
Peg 29?… Hmmmmm. Alan has just been along and described the ‘bowl-like’ characteristics of the bottom between P27 and P30 (where the bottom shelves up). It’s October and the fish should be moving into their winter ‘quarters’ soon and usually this is into the deeper parts of the lake; P29 seems to fit the bill.
All baits out at seventeen wraps.
There's weed all the way out as far as I can cast with the 10 ft. rods I've got. Problem
This is a bit of an issue because I was hoping to fish at eighteen but the ‘Wychwood Extricators’ can’t make the distance with the three-ounce weights I’ve got on and I haven’t got anything heavier with me. It’s not surprising as they definitely aren’t distance-casting rods; I did give a couple of casts some extra ‘welly’ but got terrible ‘frapping’ through the rod-rings which cut the distance down considerably. A more measured, steady cast seemed to cure it so seventeen it is.
Because of the problems with making the distance, I’ve had to cut down on the stringers I was hoping to accompany my hook-baits, and I’m now down to two instead of three, my plan being the same as that which evolved at Moulin du Gassas in France (described in my previous Blog).
Free baits have been introduced via a rig-less cast which is just a two inch boom and hook onto which three-bait stringers are fixed with slow-melt PVA, one over each rod. These, plus the stringers accompanying the baited rigs, make up the feed which is topped-up with a kilo of Ryan’s ‘Maxinut’ boilies over the top of which I am fishing my 20mm. ‘Manilla’.
12.00
So a few weeks ago I’m sitting opposite my Urology Consultant at Medway Hospital and he says to me,
“We’ve had the results of the biopsies back and one of the twelve shows traces of abnormal cells”.
“Does this mean I have Prostate Cancer then doctor?”
“Yes, technically; I have to say though that these are designated as the lowest grade so there is every chance you’ll die with the disease, rather than of it.”
I was rather hoping not to die at all - well, at least not in the immediate future, but if truth be told it did kind of knock me back a bit because it wasn’t the first time I’d been told by a doctor in recent weeks I’ve got Cancer. My Dermatologist informed me I’d got Skin Cancer on my face and it would have to be surgically removed! - I’d had this small lesion on my cheek for months but persistently ignored it, hoping it would go away. It didn’t. Hence, I found myself lying on a couch with a doctor standing over me clutching a scalpel in one hand and a hypodermic needle in the other! You know the routine…
“Now this will feel just like a little bee-sting… Tell me if you can feel anything”.
“Argh!!…argh!!… Yes I bloody can!!”
“Hmmmm. Local anaesthetic appears not to have ‘taken. I need to give you some more’ ”.
Says the doctor impatiently, obviously running late and wanting to catch up. So straight in she goes with the needle again and starts cutting straight away…
“Argh!!…Argh!!…Christ Almighty!”
It felt as if my skin was being ripped apart with a razor-blade (which I suppose it was).
If a doctor ever tells you that local anaesthetics work more or less instantly - don’t believe them. I can tell you for a fact that you need to wait at least a few minutes before they start slicing bits off you!
The upshot of all this trauma is some advice I wish to impart to you. Do not ignore the smallest itching ‘place’ on your skin - especially if it is on the hands or face. As anglers we are exposed to the harmful rays of the sun more than the general population and in these days of Climate Change we are getting more exposure than we used to years ago. Also, if you suspect anything may be wrong with the old ‘Waterworks’ or the ‘Waste Disposal Pipe’ - get yourself checked out.
Five minutes of embarrassment and discomfort with a doctor’s finger up your ‘jacksy’ is better than years of worry… or worse.
But enough of that. The fishing…
Watch out though Rocky, there're Foxes about - and they love chickens!
13.00
The chap next door in P30 has just had one; looks to be an upper twenty. [Actually, it was thirty-five pounds!]
13.45
A recast on all three rods.
The rh rod is just a single bait. I can not get the distance with a stringer so I am fishing the single on its own - but I have managed to get some baits out with the throwing-stick.
14.00
After only a few hours of fishing, the urge to try something different is already nibbling away at me. I have said it so many times in these Blogs that the biggest enemy to success is ourselves - the need to constantly keep chopping and changing until something works.
At the end of my recent week in France I promised myself faithfully that I would stick to my winning tactic and I absolutely would not keep fannying around with other speculative methods. The rig and bait work just fine - fish them with confidence.
But there is a problem and it’s nagging at me. In a word (or two) - Bottom Weed. Thick, ‘orrible, claggy stuff that sticks like glue to the line, leader, rig, hook, and bait. Is my rig suitable in these circumstances? Shouldn’t I use a Spinner or 360 Rig (say)?
The received wisdom would undoubtedly say ‘yes’ but since I have for a long time fished according to the Received Wisdom, and failed, I’m inclined to stick with what I have done well with recently. Regardless.
It seems I am in the throes of a test which is not Man against Fish - but Man against Himself.
14.55
There are fish moving out in front! Not within my range unfortunately but they are there. All I need is just a little bit of luck.
15.30
Session Restart
Peg 30 became vacant so I wasted no time in getting myself in there.
Probably the most popular swim on the lake - it's always occupied when I'm down and it's a real job to get in there. Take the opportunity while you can.
Because it's so popular though it means it's well baited and this in itself may well draw the fish in.
No need to bait up, the previous occupant did it for me so the only criterion I’ve got to meet is to get my baits far enough out to where the fish are. The previous guy was fishing at 18 wraps which is where Ryan-the-Bait-Man told him to drop his baits and I have attempted to do the same. I’ve definitely made seventeen plus (although I haven’t measured it) but is this enough? Definitely a smoother bottom with not so much weed. Glad I made the move.
16.15
Yikes!… I’m away on the centre rod!!… a really fast take and I’m into what feels like a big, heavy fish. My heart is in my mouth as I slowly coax it towards the bank and into the waiting net… and then finally I have him! Yes!!… not a monster by Pollard standards, but my very first carp out of the place. Sixteen pounds on the nose. I’ll take that with brass knobs on!
The Simple Fluorocarbon Rig and 20mm Manilla doing the business. Joy upon joy! I’m rockin’ like a dancer on ‘Strictly’!
Not a monster but it's my first carp out of the lake after what seems an overly-long wait!
17.45
Just looking at the swim opposite; if P30 is occupied that one seems to be a good bet.
Thursday, 3rd.October 2019
Nothing transpired for the rest of the evening although the carp continued to move for most of the night. There were one or two line bites during the hours of darkness - though thankfully no Bream. Very cold during the night and I was grateful for the ‘winter bag’ I had brought with me, the first occasion I have used it this Autumn.
Getting the required distance played on my mind the whole night. Ryan’s advice to the guy who fished P30 before me was that the extra three wraps on top of the fifteen he was fishing would make all the difference; so it proved. He had a thirty-five! I do wonder whether the issue is the bottom weed - and dropping the bait over and past it which is the determining factor.
Ah. Alan has appeared,,,
08.30
O.k. Alan has returned to his swim and there are one or two points to note.
Firstly, I’m now getting the full 18 wraps. I had a rake around in the bottom of my kit and managed to find a couple of 3.5 ozs leads. Clipped up at 18 I’m getting there so for the last few hours of the session I’m fishing ‘properly’. I’m hoping there’s still some spodded bait out there left over from the previous occupant. I wasn’t troubled by Bream last night so I don’t think they’ve eaten it.
All the rigs were covered in weed when I brought them in; further evidence 18 wraps gets you beyond it. I shall confirm this when I reel in. [At the end of the session I teased the rods back to feel for weed and for at least a wrap all felt smooth - and then the unmistakeable resistance of The Clag...]
Alan fishes pop-ups on ‘Spinner rigs’. This makes far more sense than bottom baits when fishing on top of weed so a trip to the tackle shop to get some Manilla flavour seems in order - and some 3.5 ozs leads while I’m at it.
He also prefers P27 to where I was in P29 although I think he fishes it somewhat out to the right aiming at one of the two swims opposite. He had a 22 pounder this morning doing just this.
We’re progressing. My Knowledge Base continues to expand as my hopes and expectations of a new PB and ultimately a forty grow more realistic.
09.30
I’ve been thinking about the Simple Fluorocarbon Rig and how it compares with rigs of greater complexity such as (say) The German Rig.
The ‘German’ incorporates a shank-mounted mini-swivel which is pushed into the bait, a short length of Floss being used to secure it in place.
Current fashion dictates the employment of a ‘Wafter’ - a semi-buoyant boily that floats such that its buoyancy is counter-balanced by the weight of the hook. So when viewed sitting on the bottom of the lake, the hook lays flat (or semi-upright depending on the size and buoyancy of the Wafter) with the bait up off the bottom nicely. It looks good I have to say. In terms of functionality it takes less of a suck on the part of the carp to inhale it than the heavier plain bottom bait; it would certainly fool carp used to the weight of a bottom bait on which they had been captured before. But does the very movement conferred by the mini-swivel work against effective hooking?
One reason I think the Simple Fluorocarbon Rig works is because the hook stands off the bait creating a virtual ‘side-hooked’ effect. The relative positions of the hook and bait are fixed by virtue of the stiffness of the fluorocarbon ‘hair’. In the case of The German Rig this is not the case and the bait can move relative to the hook - round to the ‘side’ presenting an aspect where the bait might partially mask the hook-point, preventing effective hooking.
From this, it would seem that what gives an advantage in presentation - acts as a positive disadvantage in hooking. Rather suggests Wafters might be better presented on the Simple Fluorocarbon Rig (SFR).
The same arguments apply similarly to all rigs having a shank-mounted mini-swivel such as The Spinner or Ronnie, The 360, and so on. Come to think of it, any flexible hair that permits the movement of the boily to ‘mask’ the point of the hook would seem to be inappropriate.
09.55
A fish has just jumped to the right of my baits at exactly the distance I’ve been aiming for. This fish would be reachable from the far bank swims.
10.10
My UK PB has stood at 34:12 for the past 42 years! That is shameful! Polly is the place to break it…
"I told you to move into Peg 30!"
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