Thursday 3 May 2012

Stalking fish, nothing better!

 After being down the river clearing up and trying to make it a better place for fish and fishermen alike I decided to do a bit of fishing for the first in over a month so I really couldn't turn down an invite from my mate Matt to have a go at water down in Kent near to where he lives, so a night session was in order to have a go at some Carp mainly but also is home to some big Tench and Bream aswell.

 So after 2 hours of travelling we finally got to the lake about 9pm and was fishing by 9.30 but both Matt and myself drew a blank all night with only one knock all night for Matt, so we just entertained ourselves by watching silly videos on our iphones (the joys of technology), I don't like fishing with modern tackle even at night, I'll try to avoid buzzers and so on as much as I can so I thought for a while about just folding the rod away until dawn as the clearing up down the Wandle had taken its toll on me and I really needed some kipp, but we soldiered on through the night and as time went on dawn started to approach and the horizon was starting to brighten up.

So with the impending sunlight I took off my nightlight and left our patch and went searching for some bubblers in an attempt to wiggle one out, after a fair old walk down the bank I noticed some tail patterns and bubbles in the water and placed my float right in the middle of the feeder and within a couple of minutes my float started to lift and then slid away, I was in and it wasn't shy on charging around so I immediately thought Carp but no sooner I thought that a Bream rolled over and I took a step back, absolutely stunned by the size of it I reached straight for my net and she was mine, I knew it was a double and had a feeling she would beat my pb Bream of 10lb 10oz set on the River Thames, she most certainly did beat it at 10lb 14oz, what a result! Matt wasn't answering his phone ,who turned out to be fast asleep in his bivvy, so its a good thing that I always travel with my trusty little tripod and camera which never leaves my tackle bag.


A very tired but excited me. :) new personal best Bream.

 I couldn't believe that had just happened but it did, so after admiring the fish in water at it sheer size I prepared myself to carry on fishing and maybe have another fish and when I walked back into the swim I had the bin-lid from there was a couple of Common Carp feeding in exactly the same spot, with a lobworm as the lure my float buried itself without any hesitation, after a good strong fight for about 5 minutes in came the culprit, a good looking Carp that went 16lb 1oz.


 Quality 15minutes definitely but I was seriously thinking about calling it quits due to my non-existent sleep, but within another 5 minutes I was very happy I didn't as an even bigger Carp decided to swim right in front of me and I was in no mood to say no considering what I've just caught, off to work again and this Carp was a definite 20+ fish, so again I put a worm on the business end same as before and like clock-work I was in, with a very dogged fight and hugging the bottom it took a while to get it up but a good fight all the same and just as she was approaching the net the line flicked off her dorsal fin and hoped she was well hooked which turned out to be the case as I then slid the net under her and it was mine, my first 20+ Carp for a while, what a 30 minutes I had aswell very exciting to say the least and all this action while my mate was asleep. He will be pleased.


A very chunky 21lb 7oz Common Carp.

 A very fit and fat Common, after a very dead night the morning came up trumps, but what was very funny about this trip is that my host drew a blank in the end but also the conversation we had on the way up in the car was £10 to the capture of the most fish and that the venue was normally very difficult to fish and when I got back to the bivvy and rattled him back into consciousness to say I thought it was time we got a move on, he noticed the wet net and said 'go on how many then?', with which I handed him the camera and his choice words after a brief look was, I'm not taking you out again! Love it when a plan comes together.

 A brilliant mornings fishing and the Bream was the highlight 10lb 14oz, WHAT AN ANIMAL!



6 comments:

  1. Well done James,
    cracking fish. Lovely carp but have to agree what a nice bream! Well done, and bet your mate was feeling sick handing over the winnings.

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    1. I know the look said it all, the winnings paid for travel to and from his gaff, a brilliant mornings fishing and so peaceful no noise of planes, traffic and just owls and foxes making noise, was a very nice trip and it makes a change to going somewhere fishing rather than pulling out debris from the water. Plus traditional tactics are always worth doing over modern tactics. £10 richer! That Bream was immense never seen one that big before.

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  2. 3 bloody good fish there James. On proper tactics and real bait too. Even though I do use pellets, it all seems a bit artificial sometimes. What a slab! And two very different carp too. Well done mate.

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    Replies
    1. Cheers russell, that Bream was astounding to say the least in the net it looked bigger than nearly 11 lbs compared to the other 10lb+ fish i'd caught on the Thames, the Carp were a pukka addition to the session, a shame the night was so quite, traditional methods and tactics all the way, I would love to come fishing up your neck of the woods it does look so picturesque for sure and some amazing bags of silver fish aswell, unfortunately the black death has plundered our waters to near extinction of any fish below a pound.

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  3. Fantastic fishing! I'd love to catch a big bream, it's going on this season's list!

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    Replies
    1. Alright Brian, some good quality kippers, if you want to get some big Bream Penton hook does have some monsters well over 10lb and alot of them aswell if you get through the 3-7lb fish first, your in the right place whilst Pike fishing. I cant wait for the river season to start have you been scouting around over the closed season

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