After the frustration last week of not being able to hit many of the bites, today I scaled down my tackle. I bought a match rod a few years ago for use on canals and drains but it hasn’t had many outings. It’s light and fast, and, as I found out today, not lacking where bigger fish are concerned.

As previously, I fed micro pellets and hempseed, and this time I also included some sweet corn. Baiting with a single grain of corn I had a few touches and then, at 07.55, a firm bite resulted in a big fish tearing off, with the match rod adopting an impressive curve. I was using a centre pin, which gave me precise control of line tension and this, combined with the light rod, took the pressure off the 4lb line. It probably took about 5-10 minutes to tire the fish to the point where I could safely net it; a 8lb 13oz leather.

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Not quite the roach and crucian carp I had been expecting, but a nice start. However, this was to set the pattern for the day, with only one crucian landed among a further six carp. Unfortunately three of the carp were foul-hooked, which tends to indicate that they were grazing the pellets, etc. that I was feeding but just swimming over my bait. The catch order was as follows:

07.55 - Leather 8lb 13oz - sweet corn (photo)
08.40 - Leather 8lb - flake - (foul-hooked anal fin)
10.00 - Leather 6lb - sweet corn (foul-hooked pectoral fin)
13.20 - Crucian 2lb 1oz - flake (photo)
14.00 - Common 3lb 14oz - flake
14.30 - Leather 8lb - flake
15.55 - Common 4lb 3oz - flake
16.10 - Leather 7lb 13oz - flake (foul-hooked between pectoral fins)

So the day didn’t actually turn out as planned but the sport of landing these carp on light tackle was fairly exhilarating, the three foul-hooked fish being particularly difficult to deal with. I must admit that I was surprised how much pressure I could exert on the light tackle. The tip section of the rod is so thin you wouldn’t think it was capable of such duty. Carbon fibre is certainly a miracle material.