Having just had 2 weeks rest the fish should have been raring to go for a group of 4 of our regular guests, but as usual the headline figure only tells half a story :
36 Big Carp to 67lb 04oz
No body had a head start this week as the fish were spread out everywhere enjoying the tranquillity and there had been no bait or feed of any sort in the lake for 2 weeks, how was it going to fish ??
The Boys decided to spread themselves around the whole lake and hope that the fish didn’t notice them, but, as is always the case, the fish were going to react to their presence and shoal up somewhere.
After the walk around the lake the Boys decided on swims, which was really based on their previous experiences, Mark was in swim 6, Reece was in swim 5, Carl was in swim 4, and Tom wanted to fish swim 3 but he was being put off because the blanket weed had gathered in front of the swim.
We quickly solved the weed problem by spending 10 minutes dragging it out with garden rakes, so Tom was happy, he didn’t know it at the time but it was going to prove to be a very wise choice.
From left to right we have ……… hang around, the posh T-shirts say it all!
The Boys were all on their swim of choice by tea time on Saturday but there was little enthusiasm to get fishing as they needed some sleep after their long trip. Kit sorted, spots baited, and a good kip, they were ready for an early start on Sunday.
And what a start, first fish of the session fell to Tom on swim 3, a stonking Mirror at spot-on 67lb.
Good job he decided to put up with the weed!!
Unfortunately the fish reacted quite quickly to the arrival of 4 anglers on the bank, half of them shoaled up in swim 6 and the other half shoaled up in swims 1 and 2. That was very evident as by close of play on Sunday Tom and Mark were on 2 a piece and Carl and Reece were still on the hunt.
The fish were moving around though and venturing in to the other swims so everyone eventually got a bite of the cherry it was just that some had to wait longer than others. Tom and Mark picked up fish at a steady rate throughout the session but Reece had to wait until 4.30pm on Tuesday for his first taste of the action and poor old Carl had to wait until 7am on Thursday morning for his.
The weather has been glorious with afternoon temperatures in to the 30s but those clear skies resulted in some of the first frosts of the autumn, only very light but enough to let you know that Winter is fast approaching.
The light levels are also reducing as we approach the Equinox, at the moment we are seeing first light around 7.30 am and last light around 8pm, it won’t be long before we have 12 hours of each.
The Boys stuck with their game-plan for the whole session and they all had some cracking fish, Reece brought up the rear with 5 fish and his best pushed the scales to 44lb:
Carl slipped in to 3rd place with 5 big carp to 49lb 4oz:
Mark settled for 11 big carp to 42lb 8oz:
But Tom took all of the awards, the Big Fish and the Top Rod with 16 big carp. After landing his new PB as a 67lb Mirror he said all he wanted for the rest of the week was a big common, well I reckon 67lb 4oz qualifies as that :
Interestingly the Boys picked up 19 good 40s and a couple of 60s but not a single 50. Where have all my 50s gone!!
A great session and their final tally was:
Zero Babies, Zero Doubles, 1 @ 22lb, 1 @ 24lb, 1 @ 25lb, 1 @ 28lb, 1 @ 29lb, 2 @ 31lb, 1 @ 32lb, 1 @ 33lb, 1 @ 34lb, 2 @ 36lb, 2 @ 37lb, 1 @ 38lb, 2 @ 40lb, 4 @ 41lb, 5 @ 42lb, 1 @ 43lb, 1 @ 44lb, 3 @ 46lb, 2 @ 47lb, 1 @ 49lb, and 2 at 67lb.
The Boys had a great time and they are already planning their next trip in June next year.
Mark, Tom and Reece set off for home at 9.30am Saturday leaving Carl to enjoy a second session, he was joined by friends Paul and Andy on Saturday afternoon, I will let you know how they get on next weekend.
Till then, take care.
Le Moulin de Graffeuil 