Into August and the promised hot summer weather had arrived.

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Into August and the promised hot summer weather had arrived.
I made my way on the long walk round the lake. I was worried that there might be a massive increase of weed but this seemed unfounded as a huge part of the estate lake that had been weedy seemed to have cleared. It was still hot but there was a gentle easterly wind, which took the edge off things. I saw no real evidence of carp or anglers so when I came to an area that looked good I put my gear down, being fairly sure no one had fished there for a long time. The spots to cast to seemed obvious, dictated by the weed beds. I wasted no time on getting the baits out. I had decided to cut down considerably on the loose feed hoping that the nuisance fish, bream, tench and eels would keep away; events were to prove this made no difference. I also cut down the size of stringers to just three small fishmeal boilies. All set-up I sat on the unhooking mat on the grass as a stream of general public passed by behind me making typical comments such as enquiring if the fish were good to eat. If the general non-fishing public started fishing and treated the fish the way they talk about them then angling would be banned. If that’s what they think angling is all about then no wonder we are up against it. As dusk fell the wind got stronger and rafts of floating weed began to foul the lines, so I put the rod tips up high. I was holding one rod waiting for a raft of weed to drift past when the line tightened in my hand, I struck and connected with a good resistance. It soon turned into a usual short tussle though as a 6lb 7oz tench came in easily. I quickly returned it and cast out again just with a stringer. About midnight the same rod was off again and another tench 3oz bigger was soon returned. I was disappointed with this tench action as if they were there then the carp usually kept away. No problem though this time as an hour later I had a short take and struck. A raft of weed had drifted against the line and all I had connected with was surface weed, the line going from the rod tip straight down to the weed and out to the fish. All I could do was pump and pump, the line grating as I gained line. Finally a fish swirled a few yards out, a few more pumps and the weed was round the lead and the fight began. The now obvious carp fought well in the margins and escaped the net twice before I netted it. It did not look too big but it had a deep flank. On the net it grew and was in fact a nice common of 16lb 3oz. In the torchlight I found it had a white and brown tail like a ghost carp. I recognised it as a carp I had caught before many years ago at 10lb odd, it had certainly been eating well. After a few quick photos it charged off. All was then quiet again until just before dawn when the other rod produced a small bream. An hour later I packed up. It was still hot a when I returned later the same day but there was still a nice cooling breeze. I chose a different area this time, as I do not like fishing the same area two nights running. There were several carp evident as I passed so I dropped the gear for a rest and had a think. As I looked the possibilities grew and soon I had stringers in position, one close in beyond a small weed bank and the other half way across the lake up against a huge weed bed. Again the evening was quiet apart from the public and soon a full moon was rising in front of me. I was woken before midnight by the rod half way out charging off. The fish pulled back hard so I guessed it was a good carp; it was not until the fish had fouled the other line and made a right mess I realised it was an eel. In desperation I dragged everything ashore the eel twisting and turning covering both lines in thick slime. It was actually quite a big eel so after getting the hook out I weighed it quickly at 4lb 8oz – a personal best in fact. However I just dumped it unceremoniously back in the margins before spending the next hour sorting things out. I thought the commotion would have put the end to my chances and so it seemed as it was well past 3am before the same rod was off again. Half way in I thought I had another eel but I was pleased this time to find it was a plump tench of 5lb 4oz. Again I managed to get the stringer back out against the weed bed okay and tried to make the best of the last two hours of the session. Dawn was just breaking when I awoke to a one toner on the same rod again. This was certainly a carp and after a really good fight I netted a long, fit-looking linear mirror. I had caught the only biggish linear in the lake a couple of weeks before at nearly 18lb, this was not that fish. A lot of the stockie mirrors were linears of half linears but they had generally only reached 11lb or so. This one also looked different, the scales very uniform, on the scales it was 14lb 3oz. I then remembered putting a linear in from the old stock pond, now not used as such, in the early 90s at around 2lb. I think that fish was probably this one. It certainly looked good and fit. I quickly returned it and recast again, there was still an hour left. Half hour later it was the other rod in the edge that shot off and another carp was hooked. Again, close in it fought well charging up and down. I could see this one though and knew it was a stockie common, sure enough on the scales it was 8lb odd. A great end to the session though and to the start of August.Have fun!

John Young

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