-

 Paddlesworth, Pollard, P36 - The 'W'

Thursday, 29 July 2021
Using the bivvy as a hide. I was fishing at very short range and of course didn't want the carp to detect my presence, hence, shielding myself from the water. Didn't make any difference though.

I had a quick lead around before deciding where to put the baits. There was no one fishing at this end which I deemed to be a good thing. No lines going through the water.

I once again failed to find the mythical plateau alleged to be out in front and found only 17 - 19 feet. Far too deep. Fifteen is an absolute maximum.

Close in however, off the marginal trees I found ten. Since my good friend Steve regularly catches close in, this is where the baits will be fished, all in solid bags. I have a bucket of hemp over which I intend to introduce to draw fish down through the Eel Grass.
Double-bagged to get down through the Eel Grass. It was still ten feet close in and I didn't want to risk the bag melting before it had got to the bottom.

9.43 All baits in position with hemp over the top. Nothing more to do than sit back and wait - oh, and make a cup of tea to take the taste of PVA away!

10.35 a line bite on the LH rod. Went right up to the butt and back down again. Am I fishing too far out?

There's a very big fish right over the top of my centre rod, it's on the surface, looks like it might be in distress. It's definitely a very big fish.
3.5 ozs. Korda Flat In-line leads with Gemini Solid Bag stems. A short length of Korda Supernatural and size 4 Wide Gapes, the hair mounted blow-back style by making a couple of half-hitches around the shank.
I had another line bite on the LH rod so withdrew both left and right hand rods in and dropped them closer to the trees. In fact the LH rod was only marginally shorter so I think I'll do it again.

16.30 Slight tactical change. Withdrew both the RH and Centre rods and are now fishing them on the same spot in front at short range. Where I saw the fish earlier on. Hemp over the top. LH rod is still just off the tree.

I know there are huge carp in here, indeed, I may well have seen one of them earlier on today. It's knowing they're in here and so close which adds to the frustration of not being able to catch them 🐟😡
Hookbaits were Mainline Cell dumbbells with the end cut off and a Mainline 'Topper' in one of three colours to counter-balance.
I guess that's the thrill of trying to get them that brings me back time after time. It just feels though as if I'm running out of time...

Weather looks grim for tomorrow. Looks like a wet packup.

Friday, 30 July 2021

Blank night apart from a line bite some time during the hours of darkness. Weather turned nasty with heavy rain prior to dawn and I'm just working out when will be a good time to get off the lake.

Yet another disappointing session in pursuit of a monster, but hey ho, that's fishing 🎣



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
Thursday, 30th.May 2019 Paddlesworth, Pollard, Peg 55 11.30 And so The Quest Begins… So what exactly is The Quest? The whole reason for getting a Paddlesworth ticket was to a) break my personal best, and b) catch a forty pounder - both of which the water I’m now fishing (Pollard) is more than capable of doing. I have to be up to the task of course and that is the issue; you can not expect these aims to be achieved by merely turning up! Recce walks have been more than useful - I’ve been fortunate enough to meet with many old friends and acquaintances from way back and this in itself has yielded lots of information. I am genuinely privileged to have this ‘network’ and I feel they are sincere in their hopes I shall be successful. All have shared what they know of the lake and have not hesitated in giving me their insight into how they fish it and how they have caught. There is universal agreement on what the major problem is - that of Location. Location is always t...
Read more
-
Image
April 10th.2019 Burrows, Paddlesworth, Peg 11 11.20 So finally, after all the house renovations have been done - the knocking down of walls, the plastering, bricky-ing, painting and decorating, I can at last bend my mind in serious fashion to my carp-fishing. The past six months have been stressful to say the least but at last Christine and I can look forward to a more settled future. The finishing of the house has coincided with the arrival of a new ticket for which I have been waiting three years. It’s for the Paddlesworth Complex at Snodland in Kent run by the Kingfisher Angling and Preservation Society (KAPS). There are four lakes on the complex - Burrows (which I am fishing now), The Pads, Rugby, and the big fish water which I ultimately have my eye on - Pollard within which fish go to forty pounds! Well above my PB which still stands at 34:12 caught in 1977; 42 years ago! The Paddlesworth Complex, Snodland, Kent. Kingfisher Angling and Preservation Society...
Read more
-
Friday, 16th.March The Ultimate Challenge One of the exciting things about this time of year is the renewal or acquisition of new club or syndicate tickets. In one particular case, I have been waiting for the past three years to be offered a place - Kingfisher Angling and Preservation Society at Snodland (KAPS for short). So popular is KAPS and the waiting list so long, and the drop-out rate so low, many years can pass before a place comes up. Recently, I reached a bit of a crisis with my carp-fishing. For more years than I care to remember I have scoured the South East of England in an endless search for my ‘ideal’ carp water - a ‘Spiritual Home’ if you will, where I can go and fish and immerse myself in total carpiness and this quote says it all as far as I’m concerned - “Carp-Fishing is who I am. It’s not what I do”. This search has taken me as far north as Linear Fisheries near Oxford and as far south as Swanborough near Lewes near the south coast. Although I ha...
Read more