On 13 July 2009, I caught my first new PB and "Weekender" target since setting up the blog/website, a 21lb Mirror Carp from Belmont Pool on the Lymm Anglers card. It was my second attempt on the venue, after a puny evening blank trying to float fish bread flake without success. A switch to boilies over mashed bread/hemp and pellet produced five runs and three fish towards the end of a 9 hour session. The pool had been suffering from low oxygen levels and was closed for approximately a week before my arrival. The club had placed aerators in the pool to maintain oxygen levels which made swim selection and choosing a line of attack more difficult but was more than compensated by a lack of recent angling pressure on the venue.
A quick scan around the pool showed plenty of fish activity, including numerous fish ripping up the bottom in the shallows. One angler had already had a red letter day with 5 fish to 27lb. I picked a longer range spot next to some bushes as the main line of attack and put the first rod on the spot. I had an idea that the fish may be high in the water on a sunny day and so put a pop-up boile on a zig rig on the second rod allowed. No activity on the zig at all for first three hours so switched to a bottom bait with a bag of pellets cast at any fish showing, particularly off the island. The island seems to get quite a bit of hammer at Belmont but I thought it was worth a try for a couple of hours. No joy on the roving rod but fish had now started to show (rolling/blows etc.) over the baited area and so the roving rod was switched to give two bait presentations and sizes.
The action started at about 6.30pm with a strong run on the left rod. I had to play the fish reasonably hard to keep it away from the ropes securing the aerator and after finally getting on top of what looked a low double, the hook pulled - gutted as it was my first carp fishing run for literally years. Fortunately the fish continued to show over the bait and half an hour later the same rod was off again, this time the fish kited straight in to the aerator and it's positional ropes. It seemed it really wasn't going to be my day, despite steady pressure, the line was totally locked up. So, ignoring the cold water and a very sceptical wife (just dropped off tea), it was down to the undies and in to the murky water to try and free the fish. I bottled wading further once the water reached the wedding tackle but somehow managed to unwrap the line from the aerator and cable. Surprise, surprise the fish fish had either shed the hook or ploughed into the snags and wrapped the hooklength around branches etc. Again steady pressure was applied and thankfully the hook pulled free. After staggering back to the bank it seemed the session was over with nil points.
I spent the next half hour trying to dry myself off with a tiny beer towel and thought about packing up. I couldn't believe my eyes though, when a big fish rolled over the baited area, despite me effectively having a swim around it five minutes earlier. It must have been my Kouros aftershave!
Baits out again and half an hour later I'm in an playing the fish hard away from the aerators. A really good scrap and my first carp (a lean mirror) for 15 years is in the net and looks to be a new PB, the old PB being 11lbs 4 oz. The scales go 11lbs, so a near miss. The fish goes back great and before I can get the rod back in, the other rod's off. A shorter, slower fight produces a very chubby carp in the net and as I pick up the mesh it's obvious that this time it's way over the old PB.
A quick scan around the pool showed plenty of fish activity, including numerous fish ripping up the bottom in the shallows. One angler had already had a red letter day with 5 fish to 27lb. I picked a longer range spot next to some bushes as the main line of attack and put the first rod on the spot. I had an idea that the fish may be high in the water on a sunny day and so put a pop-up boile on a zig rig on the second rod allowed. No activity on the zig at all for first three hours so switched to a bottom bait with a bag of pellets cast at any fish showing, particularly off the island. The island seems to get quite a bit of hammer at Belmont but I thought it was worth a try for a couple of hours. No joy on the roving rod but fish had now started to show (rolling/blows etc.) over the baited area and so the roving rod was switched to give two bait presentations and sizes.
The action started at about 6.30pm with a strong run on the left rod. I had to play the fish reasonably hard to keep it away from the ropes securing the aerator and after finally getting on top of what looked a low double, the hook pulled - gutted as it was my first carp fishing run for literally years. Fortunately the fish continued to show over the bait and half an hour later the same rod was off again, this time the fish kited straight in to the aerator and it's positional ropes. It seemed it really wasn't going to be my day, despite steady pressure, the line was totally locked up. So, ignoring the cold water and a very sceptical wife (just dropped off tea), it was down to the undies and in to the murky water to try and free the fish. I bottled wading further once the water reached the wedding tackle but somehow managed to unwrap the line from the aerator and cable. Surprise, surprise the fish fish had either shed the hook or ploughed into the snags and wrapped the hooklength around branches etc. Again steady pressure was applied and thankfully the hook pulled free. After staggering back to the bank it seemed the session was over with nil points.
I spent the next half hour trying to dry myself off with a tiny beer towel and thought about packing up. I couldn't believe my eyes though, when a big fish rolled over the baited area, despite me effectively having a swim around it five minutes earlier. It must have been my Kouros aftershave!
Baits out again and half an hour later I'm in an playing the fish hard away from the aerators. A really good scrap and my first carp (a lean mirror) for 15 years is in the net and looks to be a new PB, the old PB being 11lbs 4 oz. The scales go 11lbs, so a near miss. The fish goes back great and before I can get the rod back in, the other rod's off. A shorter, slower fight produces a very chubby carp in the net and as I pick up the mesh it's obvious that this time it's way over the old PB.
The fish, a very fat mirror, goes 21 lbs and a new PB by almost 10 lbs bringing some kind of respectability to my carp fishing. An absolutely screaming run as the moon started to take over from the sun, produces a 6lb mirror, showing that the run is no indicator of size and it's time to wrap up on the first successful session. Three fish to 21lb - job done on Carp for now and on to the next species!
Mr Fish
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