Earith (8)
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Arrival time: 09.45
Weather: Sunny with light clouds. Quite mild but with a troublesome wind.
Tackle: Hardy 11' 6" Marksman Specimen Avon, Allcocks 4" centrepin, preloaded waggler, 6lb line direct to 10 eyed hook (changed to 8 later).
Baits: Seedy bread with 'insect feast' bird food as groundbait.
Fish: A crucian hybrid, 2 bream, a tench and a carp.
My first trip since November last year, and after my left hip replacement in February. High water level at the lake prevented me from fishing my usual spot at the back, the only available swims being nearer the entrance. This wasn't an issue although whereas the back of the lake is very sheltered, in today's location I was exposed to a troublesome wind.
There were three other anglers when I arrived, all legering for carp. I'm usually all alone at the back of the lake but today I was grateful for some help at one point. I took a Hovis 'seed sensations' small loaf as bait. I find this bread very soft and the seeds don't seem to make it any less useable. I also took some sweetcorn but didn't open it, and I experimented with mealworm bird food, but they proved to be a bit too brittle on the hook. I also took some 'insect feast' bird food for use as groundbait.
I started with the waggler but the wind made it very difficult to keep the bait static. I added a small bomb leger weight and continued with the float-leger rig. This was an improvement but the wind still affected the float quite badly. My first fish was what I believe was a crucian hybrid and came after a lift bite on the float. It was a nice fish and as a true crucian would have been a notable catch.
My next fish was a small bream, which was encouraging as bream usually shoal. And sure enough a better bream followed soon after. I then hooked into something that felt more powerful and which proved to be a tench. I was fishing up against lily pads and had weed growth by the margin in front of me, so playing the fish was a matter of keeping it out of both. I had hoped for a tench or two and was thrilled to land it.
I don't target carp at this lake, or anywhere to be honest, but you can't of course stop one taking your bait, and this is what happened. It was immediately clear that it was a powerful fish and I had to hold it to prevent it burying itself in the lily pads. Fortunately the lily stalks were quite soft and I managed to extract the fish, which I then had to keep out of the margin weed. One of the other anglers helped me land it, and unhook/weigh it, for which I was very grateful. At 10¼ lbs it was a lovely conditioned fully scaled fish.
I was missing bites and pulled out of a number of fish during the session. In fact I had what was probably another tench on for a few minutes before the hook pulled, and at least one other pulled almost immediately after I hooked it. So, the carp was in fact my last fish, but it ended what was a very enjoyable session, more than I could have expected on my first trip out.
It was great to be back at the water's edge, watching a float on a fine spring day. A classic angling scene.