Wednesday, 14 July 2021

The Royal Box

I'm not where I want to be. The Brambles was free on my initial look and I pushed the barrow straight there on parking up. When I got there however, someone had put a bucket in and pre-empted me by literally seconds. I was gutted at this as it was the last available peg on my 'approved' list. The only other peg I was prepared to fish was this one although I have never had a fish from it. Yet. I'm hoping that will now change.

View from 'The Royal Box'

I've had no previous advice on marks etc so set about it with a thorough survey. Clipped at 15 wraps, I found 21 foot. Hmmm, that's deep, but at 9.75 wraps it went down to 26 feet. Now that is deep! It felt clean and silty on the bottom and I decided this is where to put baits. All on the spot. 15 Spombs of spod over the top. I put in a little extra because of dispersion in the deep water.

Now we just wait...

Nothing showing on my spot at the moment. Not surprisingly. Location is desperately difficult to get right on here as the fish are so nomadic. You can set up on them and they can be gone before you've got the first rod out. I have never fished anywhere where the fish are so itinerant.

Having just said that, a fish showed between me and the spot. That's encouraging. Come on!

I've had a couple of liners on the centre rod. Carp?... It's exciting stuff. There are forty pounders in here along with many PB's. It's going to happen one day, I just don't know when.

Re-charged the peg with 5 Spombs of feed. This is more than I'd use on Burrows but because the water is several times the size, increasing the amount seems justified. There is also the depth of the water to consider and the dispersion affecting.

Something moved in front of me. Was probably a Bream.

Haven't heard fish jumping today. Does it mean they'll move tonight?🌛

Cast towards P27 and picked up weed at 5 wraps. Fishing at 6, spodding at 5.25. Water depth is 20 feet.

Change of tactics after a talk with a fellow member. And it made sense:

Fish fifteen feet or less in the summer and deeper in the winter. That means I am in the wrong swim completely. The closest I could find was 20 feet at 5.5 wraps. Any closer than this and you are in Eel Grass. The RH rod has been moved to this spot, aimed at peg 27. Spod at 4.75 wraps.

This has rather taken the wind out of my sails. I'm fishing it all wrong! Too deep!

I feel it's all back to square one...

If I can't get a shallow water peg, I may as well go home.

The sun's out; can't stay inside the bivvy; I'm roasting!

A drop-back on the LH rod and it's a Bream. Is this a good sign or a bad sign? If Bream can find it then so can carp.

Thursday 15 July 2021

A crescent moon out tonight

Blank night, no action, not even a Bream. Awoke to fish jumping in front of me although on here that is far from a guarantee of a take.

Didn't sleep well at all. Baby Coots in a nearby nest keeping me awake with their squeaking for most of the night 🐤

It seems to me that there is only one solution to the problems of the Eel Grass and that is to fish a zig over the top of it. Not a solution I have any confidence in seeing as I've never had any success with zigs. There's only one other decision to make and that is to use either a fixed zig or an adjustable. Either way, I have no confidence in either.

So zigs are out in a broad fan across the peg. All tied at 12 feet which puts them at half depth or shallower. As it happens, there is no Eel Grass where I am casting but this makes no odds. I am fishing the depth of water I want. Zig fishing for me is an extremely challenging activity. I have zero confidence in it and fishing multiple sessions on pure faith alone is something I'd rather not do. But what is the alternative?

My difficulties on Pollard bring into sharp focus my desire to want to catch a forty-pounder. Catching monsters is not easy, after all, every carp angler aspires to it. But at the age of 70 do I have enough time left to achieve it? The answer is probably no...

But is it not the attempting rather than the achieving that matters? 

---------------------------------------------

I loaded up the barrow and prepared for the long push back to the car park. Just then, a member appeared from out of the trees enquiring how I'd got on. He'd been fishing opposite me in P30 and although had blanked last night said he was a new member and had caught several fish since joining. He was kind enough to tell me how - solid bags in the weed.

'You have to fish right amongst the Eel Grass - that's where the fish are. Spod Hemp over the top. The oils drift up bringing the fish down onto your bag. Don't bother fishing more than fifteen feet deep, the fish are in the undergrowth.'

Yes of course they are. Why did I not realise that? Extensive experience counts for nothing when you can not see what is in front of you. I seem to fish worse as I get even older rather than better. Just like on Burrows a couple of weeks ago, getting help from others is better than failing under your own steam.

So solid bags it is then...