Carp at last

Went to the club water for 24hours in search of a chunk or two, fair few people on the lake even being mid week. Wanted to go in a certain swim after looking around and seeing a few fish but someone was already in it. Settled for a swim that allowed me to cover a expanse of water on a floating platform. With the rods out on the spot i was confident of picking a fish or two up. Early part of the night saw my bobbin pull tight to the alarm thought it was a bream take hit into it, the rod arched over with a fish on.. few solid thumps later and the fish come off. Not a good start.
Morning come around with still no fish in the net.. Noticed one or two patrolling around a nearby snag, but the fsh seemed to be spooking when they got near my bait, a little adjustment later and it saw the rod ripping around with a fish on. A pretty savage battle from making sure the fish didnt go in the snag and pulled a carp into the net. She weighed 23lb 15oz.. At last a carp on the bank! Only problem is my camera had run out of battery so only had enough juice to get 1 quick photo in.

Here she is

Hope that luck continues next time i get out carping!

Beating the blank

So went with Paul to emperor lakes for 24hours, first time fishing it and we blanked. But with it being a sunny sunday we decided to use the afternoon up Pike fishing at the local. First swim casting the lures out didnt produce anything, so we walked along the bank abit, waded out and continued fanning the lures out in the swim, next thing a small tap on the rod tip and fish on. A short fight later and a 14lb Pike on the bank.. except.. in the process of putting the fish on the bank i trod onto a short sharp reed and it put a hole right through the sole of my waders.. Not happy at all! as if a reed stem can poke its way through the sole of a boot!!



After continueing fishing I ended up having another Pike around the 5-6lb mark, Then bumped into other friends Rich and Chris who were also Lure fishing. Rich was off the Mark and already had 1 roughly the same size as my latter fish, but while fishing with them Rich managed to get himself a few more fish toped with a 8lb 13oz?? pike, well done mate! To cut a long story short it was a beauty of an evening with not a breath of wind on the lake and the sunset creating an image itself and I ended up loosing a fish not far from the end of the session.

On the fly..

Day off work, decided to try something different, hadnt been fly fishing for a while so dug out the fly rod and set off to newhouse with friend Pip. Had a take on the first cast but fish got off. It took a while to get the next fish, after changing flys several times I had my 3 fish on a orange wetfly. dont know enough about fly fishing to name the flys. Pretty decent way to spend the afternoon even though it did rain but i think it all adds upto why we go fishing.


My 3 Fish

And
Pips 3 fish

Back for more

As if catching those 4 pike last session wasnt enough i set off again to find more. Travelling light is the best way to fish as it allows me to constantly keep on the move after casting in all directions from each swim.

 After arriving at the lake i spend approximatly 15minutes in each area without catching before i moved so i could find fish. An hour and a half later the fish wernt obviously having it so another lure change saw me switch to a Rapala J-11 second cast a big spash as the lure rose to the surface and fish on. Short lively fight saw the fish on the bank at just short of 10lb was a welcome fish to avoid a blank.

This turned out to be my only fish despite spooking one or two in the margins, changing lure and moving a few more times. Aim this year is to catch a pike on lures over 20lb. So fingers crossed for next time!

One of those Pike days

So there i was, monday morning day off work wondering how i can fill best part of the day. I few phone calls, umming and arring and the desision was made to venture off to a free local lake to fish for the resident pike.
Abit of a late arrival and around just after one Paul and I were pulling the kit out the car ready to wade around with a rucksack and box of lures to hand. It wasnt long before the first pike hit my Rapala Maxrap, after a nice fight a pike around severel pounds was in the net.

A few more casts and the desision was made to move, 15minutes later and the pures were back in action, Paul was the next one to hook into a fish but unfortunatly it came off after a short but intense fight. With No more signs or follow ins we moved again. Off to the opposite bank and on the second cast I had a pike take the lure at the last second just as i was about to pull it out the water, the fight lasted a few seconds and it was off. The fish followed the lure again and on the 3rd cast it nailed it. 2 pike caught and 1 lost.. not bad at all.



After a rain shower we moved again, and instantly had a few takes and just as i was walking up the bank abit a decent fish whacked the lure, solid weight and a much better fish. After a decent fight a chunk was in the net. on the scales she pulled 17lb 14oz minus the net. So a new pb on the lures for me. Cant get much better than that! I had another fish after that one too around 9lb.
I'll leave you with the picture of my new lure caught pb pike of 17lb 14oz.



From Past to Present

2012 Kicks off, without knowing that i was going to start a blog. So just a little recap on the fishing I've done before this current date.
The year kicked off with a Pike fishing session on Exeter canal. With simple ledgered mackerel. Between myself and my friend Paul we took 5 pike. Below are some pikey looking pictures.

 My 8lb Pike

11lb 13oz Pike

 One of Pauls Pike

My next time out on the banks was again on the canal trying for a carp. 48 hours and 2 moves but no carp caught.

Bivvied up down the bottom end

The fix to catch a carp is high on the cards so a trip upto Squabmoor for 40ish hours yup another blank and no fish seen. The weather has been massivly against my fishing recently with freezing temperatures, followed by sunny days with high pressure.

Brew on on a -4 morning

My most recent and last session I went down to a club water which i fished for a night trying to get rid of the addiction to bag a carp. Got to the lake and it looked good for a bite, but i knew the night was going to be a cold one. So i set up in a favoured swim, got the rods out and throughout the night i didnt get so much as 1 beep. Woke up first thing in the morning to a heavy frost and a almost frozen lake, the next 2 hours were spent smashing the ice every 5minutes to prevent my lines from being froze amongst the ice. Needless to say i blanked.. again.