We set off for Brookside fishery, near Crewe, Cheshire at 6.30am. There were five of us, and this time my husband had brought some of his work’s fishing team with us who wanted to try out Brookside.
We arrived an hour later and it was really freezing. I wasn’t too bothered because it was going to be my last day of fishing for a while as I go into hospital next week for a hip operation.
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I set up, got my bait out, which was chick peas, put one on my hook and cast in. Then I got comfy and poured a brew. I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes they had gone so numb. I kept thinking my bite alarm was broken so I kept testing it and every time I made it bleep everyone’s head lifted!
Anyway, after four hours without a bite I thought I’d try for roach instead of carp (I needed to catch a fish as I’d had three blank sessions lately and remember someone saying that catching my first carp not long ago could have been beginner’s luck – HUH!).
Someone had told me that fishing on-the-drop was good for roach and I remembered how to set it up. I put two red maggots on my hook and dipped them in curry powder (something else I’d heard it was very good ) and cast in.
First cast I was in! A lovely size roach and I was a happy person again – beginners luck indeed! So for the next three hours I enjoyed catching quite a few roach, 13 I think in total. And I could see that no-one else was catching. They were all fishing for carp but it seemed they didn’t want to feed, so I was sticking to the roach.
At about 3pm I noticed the carp were coming to the top in the middle of the lake. I told my hubby I thought it was time to try for a carp again, so I changed my rig to a large waggler, and shotted it so I could get over to the middle. Then I realized I didn’t have any Chum Mixer, which I normally use for surface fishing, so decided to put bread on instead and fished it just a foot below the surface.
My first cast was just right and landed in the spot intended. I sunk my line and watched my waggler intently. It started to bob straight away and I thought it was the roach again. Then all of a sudden it shot off and I struck, and yessssss, I had it, but it was no roach!
I was doing fine bringing him in until I got him close to the bank when he screamed off again. Oh god, I thought, my arm was killing me, and everyone on the lake knew I had a good one on and all came to watch me. When I eventually got him to the bank and his head came out of the water I screamed so loud – “wowwww, it’s a corker!” I was hoping and praying I would net him okay, and when I did I shouted, “eat your heart out, Matt Hayes!” God, I was shaking, and my arm was killing me, and I couldn’t believe that the fish I had in my net was the one I had caught. I told my lad to get the camera out, that I wanted some photos of me with it to send in to Graham and the gang on FISHINGmagic.
It was a lovely common of 16lb, my personal best fish, and I gave it a great big kiss and said thank you to it. Then I put it back (if I could have given that fish a full slice of bread I would have done). I know that this may be like an everyday fishing trip to you lot who have been fishing for years, but to me it was a magical day and I beat my personal best.
I was so, so proud of myself, especially with it being my last day of fishing for about 12 weeks because of my looming operation. I was so pleased I went out with a bang!
On the way back to the car I had the biggest smile I’ve ever had and kept it all the way home!
