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Myself and my mate Martin arrived at the lake shortly after 3 o’clock to find most of the swims taken, from what we could see the only available ‘good’ swim was that of a double gravel one with the wind pushing across us.Not an ideal situation but we made do with what was offered to us, although it gave us the oppurtinity to have abit of a social. After quickly setting up the Armo’s for the impending rain, I set to getting my rods out. I chose to have a Meaty Marine boilie fished with the stick method which contained crumbles of the same boilie and Dynamite Meaty Marine groundbait. For my second rod, i thought i’d try out a method feeder with a small 10ml Solar Baits Esterberry pop-up, as i knew from experience that the carp in this lake particulary like small pop-ups. Finally, for my third rod i chose a cray and shrimp Mistral Baits bottom bait with a few offerings in a PVA bag.Martin, however, had chosen slightly different tactics and fished with only two rods, choosing to fish with the same pop-up set-up as myself along with a recently new developed pineapple flavoured boilie from our local tackle shop, J&K. After our rods were safely out, we sat down to cook some munch as nightfall dawned on us and waited for the rods to run. We quickly realised however that we had chosen the wrong weekend to go as there was bound to be fireworks going off in the villages around the complex. As we sat and pondered whether the explosions would have any effect the bailiff came round and after a quick chat we found out that the majority of fish being caught lately had been on maggots. A quick phone call to my sister allowed us the chance to get some maggots as she said that she would come down and deliver some to us the next day. Result!  Around 6 o’clock the fireworks started and it wasn’t soon before they were erupted from all around us. The cold weather was setting in, so after a quick late-afternoon snack we settled into our bags and into the land of nod we went, perhaps dreaming dreams of that monster carp that could be caught. I woke the next day at sunrise to find that the wind had died down a touch and I figured this may play in our favour. I had a quick scout round the lake and chatted to my fellow fisherman, walked back to my swim and found Martin awake. This was the time we decided for a quick rebait and recast. I set about the same set-up as the evening before, tested the tip of my Korda Longshank Size 8 hooks for sharpness and cast my rods out quickly, knowing that the longer you have your rods out of the water, the less chance you have of catching. Martin did likewise and decided to change one of his rods to a different bait. Noticing the wind was pushing down into the far corner, I debated moving down a few pegs to see if i could get some fish but after a quick discussion with Martin we evaluated that nobody down that end of the lake had hooked into a fish so there was no need for an unnecessary change of peg. At about half past four, my sister arrived with our much needed maggots and without hesitation, one of each of our rods had the carefully threaded maggots on the end. I chose to fish mine as a single hookbait whereas Martin chose to fish them alongside a PVA bag with some free offerings and some Meaty Marine within a Stick. I changed my second rod to that of Martins J&K pineapple flavored boilies. As nightfall fell once more, the fireworks started up once more. As we watched them through the door of Martins Armo, we pondered why we haven’t had a carp yet on this elusive water. We talked about our tactics and came to the conclusion that nothing could be wrong with our set-up, except that the fish were simply not in this swim, or our leads weren’t in the right place.Without the use of a marker rod we had no idea if our bait was being presented on a clean gravel patch or in the threatening weed that unfortunately inhabits this lake. Once again I snuggled into my bag, waiting sleep and wondering whether i’d wake up without a run once more. This was not to be as at 20 past one, i had a screamer of a run, my reciever going crazy next to my ear. I got out of my bivvy in time with Martin and although he was the first to my middle rods, he did not strike it and waited for me to sort myself out quickly and as i lifted up the rod, i could feel a strong fish pulling away at the opposite end of my line. I played her for around 5 minutes before a hook pull arose.I re-baited my rod, so disappointed i didn’t even change the hookbait.I got inside my Armo with a small frown on my face and I couldn’t believe I missed what could be the only run of the session and it wasn’t long before i was asleep once more. Fortunately for myself, as I was coming out of my nightly slumber, I had another take on the same rod at 6:20. I quickly jumped out of my sleeping bag. Ignoring my shoes i ran out onto the wet bank with only my socks on.I struck into the fish and felt a lump on the end. I turned around to see if Martin had joined me yet but his bivvy was still zipped up.  Upon returning this fish I felt tremendously enthusiastic although I felt for my mate who hadnt seen any action on his rods. Around 9 o’clock the weather turned from bad to worse as the wind picked up to a ferocious level, we saw that there was no other option but to leave half a day early. Martins uncle, who was picking us up, arrived and we reeled our rods in, downsetted all of our tackle and loaded it all into the car. As we left the lake it was clear that it was a special weekend and although only one fish came out to the five rods we had out in that double swim, rest assured that that was one fireworks night that i won’t be forgetting in a hurry. Scuttz |
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