Back at the lake where 'You can't blank' yesterday
I made an early start because last time it was obviously 'lads and dads' day because of school hols and I wanted to get settled into 'my' swim before the hoards decended. However, as I pulled into the car park, there was already another vehicle parked up. Now, with around 20 swims available, the owner wouldn't possibly be in 'my' swim, would he?
The swims are all well secluded from the path and as I walked round, he wasn't in the 1st, not the 2nd but as I approached the 3rd (my swim) not one, but two anglers we there alrady tackling up.
So, plan B, or would be if I had one, I trudged further round the lake. I could have taken the next swim and sneakily may have cast into some of the hotspots near the island opposite 'my' swim, but I was soon apparent that the interlopers had adopted a fan pattern to their casting which covered all of the water for some distance either side of their (my) swim.
I dropped my tackle at a swim around 50 yards further round, tree lined and looked attractive, but I tackled up without any real expectations.
Standard tactics on small cage feeder filled with method mix and pellet on one rod and cubed luncheon meat on the other.
Previously, it was a chore to try and get your bait past the 'pasties' before it hit bottom, quite often not even time to get the rod on the rests before line was peeling off the spool.
This time, both baits out, rods sat on rests and time to sit down and wait, and wait.....Several more casts, not even a pastie troubling the rods am I going to blank at the 'Unblankable' water...?
Then, some action at last! Whilst staring intently at the immovable bobbins I am aware of a movement at the edge of my vision. Something long and curved appears by my right arm, and as I slightly turn my head I catch sight of a goose's head in my bait bucket.
The sneaky avian had crept up behind me in stealth mode and was breakfasting on my method mix. It was persuaded to go away with a large amount of hissing on both sides, and I settled back to blanking, except not.
Like a light switch going off, bobbins started slapping against rod butts
About a dozen of this size and then:
A 'scraper' double.
While this is all going on, I had noticed some commotion right on the edge of the bank. A couple of small balls of mix tossed in and I had carp right under my rod top
An opportunity too good to miss, rods reeled in and moving back from the edge I now drop a bait literally over the edge.Don't have to wait long and line is fast peeling off the reel and:
In fact, it was too easy. Even if I landed a fish through this shoal, they carried on feeding, so much so, that I thought, what if I lay the landing net in the water, drop some method mix on it, could I scoop up one of these fish? The answer was:
YES!!!!. Not just one, but two fish in one scoop!!!
So, after the disappointment of not fishing where I was planning to, a day really like no other. On the tackle front, I noticed that when using Pellet 'Os' the longer you use them the more attractive they appear to fish.
You can catch up to half a dozen fish on the same Pellet and the more manky they look the better they work. Must be something to do with scent release as the pellets break down?
And finally, picked up this little chap and wondered if it might make a good bait.
So, I........put him back on a leaf, caught enough fish for one day