No Room At The Inn

A bit early for Christmas Nativity references (although Tescos appears to be gearing up...).  However, much like the famous tale Viaduct was indeed very full.  Cary was out.  Match on.  Lodge had a load of people on it.  Spring had a load of people on it and Middle had quite a few on it.  Leaving Match Lake which did have some decent space.

After a chat with some friendly Carpers fishing on Spring through to Middle I decided to trudge over to Peg 51.  It had a bit of space around it (for a time anyway).

There was no chance of any whopping Carp in here (although there are a few low doubles).  But it always gives plenty of bites and those F1 Carp are far stronger than their size would suggest.

I opted for a method feeder approach with Sonubaits dark grounds bait and sweetcorn on the hook.  However after a few casts I changed my mind.  These feeders were massive and I just didnt like them (cheap doesnt always mean cheerful).  So I swapped over to a little coil feeder.  Much better.

Meanwhile I set up the pellet waggler with bread squeezed onto the hook.  Everyone in the lake loves a bit of bread (Ive even caught a 2lbs Perch with it...)

Things were a little slow to start.  I pinged in some small pellets and a little bit of groundbait.  The float bobbed a bit but it was all a bit half arsed.  Meanwhile a chap behind on Middle hauled out a nice 8lbs fish.

Peg 51

I kept feeding small bits every minute or so and finally the float plunged under.  I struck and met with some fierce resistance.

Probably the worst photo ever.  At least its a silhouette of a fish.

I do like these F1s.  They certainly keep you on your toes and give their all.  Right little scrappers!

Suddenly things kicked off after this first one.  This time it was the bite alarm bleeping away.  A powerful run.  Surely a bigger Carp?

No... But welcome all the same.

I cast out again and almost immediately the alarm was off again!  I was liking this.

They keep fighting even in the net

After unhooking and sorting myself out I cast in with both rods.  5 minutes later it was the float again!

The biggest of the day.  Again fought like a warrior!

I thought that I would be catching all day and was feeling like a pro.  Then it stopped.

After the marvelous run of fish my optimism dimmed as an hour went by with only a few taps.  I did struggle in the afternoon and only manged two more fish.

Greedy Roach who flipped himself into my groundbait bowl...

The last F1 of the day

So overall it was a day of mixed fortunes.  If I had kept up the initial run i would have been well in.  But it wasn't to be.  Next time I'm hoping to find lodgings at Cary Lake.  Hopefully there will be room...

Small and Mighty

No I'm not sponsored by Persil.  But I did catch a surprise fish was was indeed small and mighty...

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end.  In my case the summer holidays are drawing to a close which means I'm back to work, the nights get longer and the weather gets colder.  But its not all doom and gloom.  It means that I can think about breaking out the soft lures and catch some Perch and maybe a Pike or two.  I'm very new to this but really enjoyed it last winter.

Also, plenty of migrant birds stop over on the Somerset Levels in the cooler months with spectacular flocks of ducks and starlings to look forward to.

Anyway back to now.  I decided to head over to Ash Lakes for what will probably be my last visit to a fishery for this year.  After the bumpy arrival (that track!) it was quite busy.  I was eying up Lake 1 but there were a few on it and its quite a small lake so I gave it a miss.

I trampled over to Pond 2 which had more space.

Nice view from my corner spot

I mixed up some Sonubaits dark mix and splatted into a small coli feeder.  Then I stabbed myself with a baiting needle.  Bloody hell it hurt.  Blood everywhere.  I sat it out for a bit, not wanting to get blood over everything...

Once recovered a put on a fake pellet on the hair and a grain of corn on the hook.

I also set up a shallow float rig with some bread on the end.

I put the method to my left and float straight out.  I flicked in some pellets to generate a bit of interest.  Things moved quickly and I was soon into a little Carp on the float.  Didn't even need to strike!

My lens had fogged up for some reason. 

 Looks like the world after a few Ciders.I will call him a Thatchers Haze Carp...

Like all Carp he put up a scrap and spooked everything else for quite sometime.  Soon I had a few knocks and the odd slight pull on the Carp rod.  I had a spell of catching a few silvers including this fella.  Who got the bite alarm buzzing and provided a short run!!!

What a little cracker.  Its fins were tinged orange.  Skimmer x Rudd?

Whatever it was it was small and mighty!

Again things went quiet.  It was about 2pm and looking about everyone seemed to be having a quiet spell.  As time ticked on the Carp began moving in with the odd slurp and telltale swirls at the surface. I bashed on the bread on both rods which was a good idea with a small run of small Carp.

Nice scaly Mirror

 His smaller cousin

And his mate who had a bad eye.  Poor critter.

And the biggest saved for last.  Not massive but a good fish all the same.

So it was a day of mixed fortunes with fish coming in bursts.  But for me the silver Bream/Rudd was the highlight.  Small and mighty!

Near Miss

It was a close call yesterday.  I was filming, with my phone balancing precariously on my seat box.  As the Carp was landed it toppled off and somehow didn't quite go into the water.  Phew!

Video is a bit lastminute.com but here it is.

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