Hi Ian, this may be off interest to you,
Kevin.
This one also goes back to the 80's, March 86 to be precise and the Nurd and myself ventured forth to the fabled Tip lake, the home of big Carp and where the anglers knew their stuff!
These included Terry Denpsey, Ted Hadaway and Geoff Bowers amongst others, Oh and the pair of Crazy Bikers with all the hair and leather jackets (who turned out to be pure Gents!) Then there was old Bernie, who had been angling for Carp for a Millennium!
So as you can see I was surrounded by class anglers, did I feel intimidated?…………………No not really but as this was my second ever session on the Tip, I was just a little nervous……. perhaps this is always a good thing in my experience as it keeps you sharp and totally aware of the job in hand, which ultimately was to catch one of the Tip's very prized but leery Carp!
Enough waffle and down to business!
On arrival we were greeted to the sight of a few bivvys, which is never good as the Tip is not a big water and the Carp were very pressured indeed, but as this was so near to the end of the old close season it was inevitable!
We had a quick look around anyway and opted to fish two swims which were next to each other along the fence bank, Nurd on the right, myself on his left.
I must say that I was happy with my choice of swin: To the left of front was a small chain of islands, and to the right at longer range was the main island that split the lake in two with the back channel behind, this is where Steve Briggs scored well with some excellent catches! Between these islands I also had a major gravel bar that run the lenght of the lake and ended in front of my swim at around 30yrds out!
Tackle, baits and rigs:
Rods: These were my favourite rods, 12' 2lbs tc Fibretube through action Carp rods. Reels were the ever faithful Cardinal 55's, Delkim conversions completed the set-up.
Baits: Our own HNV high protein mix using Premier baits ingredients ( Silly not to seeing as old Bowers was fishing along the bank at the time, and if you know Geoff, he can sure rattle on!) And he would Red Card you in a second for any slight error in judgement, You will have to use your imagination as to what was written on the reverse of the said card due to me not wanting to be banned from FM! Two words containing four and three letters finished by an !
I must add that at that time I was really into neutral buoyancy balanced hook baits that would just very slowly sink, infact you had to look away as they were so slow! These baits were again microwaved and then when cooled glugged in Sesame Seed oil with no flavour added!
Rigs: These were a camo Braid / Dacron that we had found and looked good, size 6 Carbon specimen hooks, a 3oz led fished semi fixed by my own design.
So on to setting up house, rods in position and a curry on the go and watch the water………………….heaven!
That evening and night were totally uneventful, not even a beep from the Delkim or a twitch of the Monkey!
The morning started as a bright and sunny day, really looked perfect and also the Tip looked stunning!
Mid morning Terry came into my swim for a chat, and said "Kev I Just seen a couple of Carp moving along the bar towards your swim, may'be worth a go Kev?) Now I'm not slow to listen to one of the best Carp anglers in the land when he gives me a tip off!
So the right hand long island rod is wound in, a fresh bait mounted and balanced, then cast 30 yrds to where the end of the bar broke down to a large gravel patch…………Single hook bait and no freebies!
A short while latter Geoff came wandering along mug in hand so on goes the kettle for a mid morning coffee and a chat………………….A short while latter whilst enjoying the warm spring sunshine something really strange and alien happened…………………….The tip of my right hand rod slowly pulled right, then back and right again………….Geoff said " did you see that?" I said "Yep" and picked up the rod………………finger on the spool and bent into a powerful Tip Lake Carp………………….Clutch tight and into the backwind mode!
As I stated above, there was to my left is a chain of islands, well Mr Carp tried his hardest to get behind the said island ASAP! But with the superb fighting curve of the FibreTube rod and the positive action and gearing of the 55, I coaxed the Carp back in front of me again and the fight continued in the clear deep margin……………….by this time there were around six other anglers now in attendance! That helped! As me Ol knees were a knockin! And the mention of the lakes 30's did not help matters.
I had played the Carp out on steady pressure with the tackle doing a fine job, the Carp came to the surface and spat water as it was engulfed in my net! There was a cheer and a few slaps on the back for my first Tip Lake Carp!!!
Swim sorted out, Mat, sling ect, but not until I unhooked the Carp did I realize how special this Carp was!…………………………..Not the weight @ around 21lbs, dark and scaly with no Pelvic's, but the fact that none of the Guys had ever seen this Carp on the bank before and only one Guy said he thought he had seen a print of it!
I was totally made up, I had caught one on my second ever session on the Tip, It went 20+ and virtually unknown for such a pressured water!
God I love this game, and I will be back soon…………………………very soon in fact!
Slack lines!
Epilogue: Funny old world as 20+years on I am planning my first session in the UK after my return earlier this year and I will fishing with my old friend Ted!
