Well done, Gaz. Great result. Hope you're still buzzing.
---------- Post added at 20:20 ---------- Previous post was at 19:33 ----------
Like Jerry, I made a decision to rest the rivers until, at least, the weekend so another day at Revels Fishery.
Upon arrival, the shop customer in front of me was a holidaymaker from Norfolk who spent a fair amount of money kitting himself out having originally set out on a non fishing holiday however his wife wanted a quiet day so he was dispatched here with orders to amuse himself. On leaving, I passed over 8mm cubes and mentioned their being the best bait here and off he went, happy. I really didn't think much more about it.
As a result of much improved weather, the fishery was fairly busy and my first choice two swims on the main match lake were taken so I settled into one with an island in front of me at 14.5m and potted in some cubed 6mm meat,a few grains of sweetcorn, a few red maggots and handfuls of hemp.
Conditions were warm but slow and the far bank swim gave up nothing easily. After twenty minutes or so of said nothing, I felt like a tinny of lemonade so broke down to my top 4 with a well worn Drennan A4 meat rig, 6.9lb main line to a 6.1lb trace to a wide gape carp 14, a hook pattern I've started to feel more and more at home with as time goes on.
First customer was a nice roach around 7oz quickly followed by another around 5oz and then the amusement value of an angry 4lb common on the top four, which was fun but eventually succumbed.
With the inside line as gone as the lemonade, I pushed over to the far side and, though the swim looked gorgeous, inviting, fish filled and a zillion other positive adjectives, nothing much kicked on.
However, the first bite, when it arrived, was something of a novelty value, as it came from a barbel.....of 3oz. I made a note to ask Dean or Jason if they'd restocked recently, if not their stock must be breeding. After the smile of this little battling baby, I had two tiny carp in quick succession followed by another period of quiet.
The chap in the next swim mentioned that nobody on the fishery was catching in any numbers and that was the pattern for the rest of the day, an odd fish, two or three then a quiet period.
To keep it brief, some fish came close in, some far over and after a couple of hours, I abandoned the meat to try a single corn which brought a scattering of fish but nothing amazing.
That said, the next two hours were a most interesting experience. The odd carp (one of about a pound and a half and one about two and a half being the highlights, the rest 4 - 12oz) and a sprinkling of roach continued but then began a return of species which arrived, single handed, till the end of the day.
I had a single perch, a single skimmer, rudd, gudgeon, tench (4oz, bit big for frightening King Binka but pressure, nonetheless!!) and a roach-bream hybrid. Nine species in a day, can't be bad can it?
I reckon I just about scraped double figures but it didn't matter, a lovely day made all the better by, when packing up, the chap from Norfolk stopping off, beaming, to report a very similar 8 species haul, just the hybrid different. He'd had a great day and caught on the meat and just wanted to say thanks, vowing to come back next year and I think he will. Anyway, it put a massive smile on my face.
As Thursday sees the biggest question for our country in several generations, what am I doing? What any sensible bloke would do, I'm going fishing.....
Till then, adieu.
