The session arrived ...
Driving to the lake I had to make a detour thinking what would be the best approach and rigs to use for this session and how quick I could get the old man into a fish or two. Not that that's up to me since carp have their own ideas as to how they intend reacting on the day - I guess not so dissimilar to a woman in menopause .. Indeed since it was the Valentine's weekend and the premier of the long anticipated movie 50 Shades of Grey - or shall I say ...... nevermind, this is a respectful carp forum.
Anyway where was I ? Oh yes Carp Fishing. The lake was fairly devoid of anglers upon my arrival accept for two occupied swims. the first thing i noticed was the lack of carp activity on the surface & very few fish were showing themselves and their whereabouts. True i could have choosed to follow them or use another swim I deemed would give us an edge but the old man is at an age where he cannot be subjected to hot sun & constant moving around swim to swim - So I set up camp. Gazebo went up in a jiffy, rods at the ready accept rigs and I proceeded to bait up the swim: I used a combination of whole and chopped boilies, peach and fishmeal and a kilo of pellets mixed in a groundbait spread close and long range. Speak of prepping a weekend for the old man nevermind my arm baiting up. All the same I was confident we'll get into a good fish or two. While waiting for the old man I did some bass fishing to kill time hooking into a small beast of about 800 grams. The old man arrived of course driving himself as her so preferred to a fully set-up campsite kitchen and all and his swim baited up. After some greeting, banter and a few laughs he was ready to get cracking and his excitement was evident, naturally he opened his first beer as he prepped his rods, I watched & thought..leave him be and gave pointed out the bag of hookbaits and freebies at his disposal. He made his choice and after an hour his rods were out, both on a safety set-up & a Fox ready made bottom bait hook link on a line aligner system. I used a bottom bait rig similar accept the line aligner, a Gardner Hooklink and a size 4/0 Gardner Talon Tip hook & pva mesh filled with half boilies cast out.
We went on to sit back under the gazebo's shade bringing back some fond memories of carp caught years ago, sessions with friends and the people we met along the way deciding at the same time to sleep under the gazebo instead of seperate bivvies. Some time later I went on the hunt for some more bass a few swims down leaving the old man in a relaxed state. Late afternoon the old man's rod takes off witha screaming run landing an upper double mirror. This got him off to a what would be a great session leaving me a little more confident the bait is working. And so the session carried on in between meals fit for a King, more good conversation and a constant trickling of bait into the swims the fish kept coming. by the first morning we had landed a few carp up to 19lb almost equally between ourselves. Saturday morning I changed rigs - one rod a shorter hooklink, same bottom bait and the other a multi-rig with a 16mm bright green pop-up. Well my one friend hassled me to use this rig since he swore by it's effectiveness, to keep him moaning like an old woman I used it, after a margin test and some tweaking I sent it out into the expanse of water. It wasn't long & the old man was on again. This time the fish gave him a piece of it's mind & made him work for it..the fight carried on seeing the old man being cautious all the way since he was using barbless hooks the 20lb common was safely landed. That afternoon the fish turned on after a previous nights quick storm..the pop-up rig saw action with an 18lb mirror and the old man went on to land another two fine specimens. My left hand rod lay quiet I thought & just as I was about to go bass fishing the alarm beeped, swinger lifted and I was on..what a scrap and a fish definitley on roids this time. It got me under pressure trying to seer it clear of the snags ..at one point it wrapped the braid around a visible stump forcing me to stand on a bucket and lift the rod up..clearing the snag and a fine common of 24lb landed, not a sign of mouth damage or any other hook mark, sent back safely.
Sunday morning was evident perhaps of keeping the bait going in since I'd gone all out the late Saturday night feeding the rest of our bait - we reeled in all the rods until much later and after a grand dinner. Around 11pm the old man out cold from some good wine said to me - 'hey boet u on rod duty, go catch 'em'...I knew what that meant.....He ain't getting up and lo and behold he heard not an alarm scream off. When he finally awoke from his slumber he confirmed he heard nothing. You old sod I thought. That morning awake from a few beeps at 3am saw me battle one of the most good looking mirrors I've caught, the wine banging my head I had to keep it together - The mirror going back all 20lb of it and bnot 2 minutes later the left hand rod delivered an upper double common....Can it stop now I thought, as if they heard me the old man's rods both went off minutes after each other with a 21lb common and an upper double. I reeled all the rods in and slept for an hour or so..........
In closing by the time he awoke I was having a coffee & got the carp report I had already cast his rods out as well as mine. That final morning he went on to land another two upper doubles at 18lb. My rods lay still........Thankfully since I had had enough.
With all the gear packed away, Jack Russell thrown into the back and our goodbyes said and done we headed home...Nothing this weekend could spoil our mood. This beat watching television, the World Cup Cricket or going to a mall all of which I dispise deeply.
The session was amazing, the work involved excruciating physically getting the old man into fish and ensuring the strategy worked, suffering 3 hook pulls and 13 landed carp. It wasn't about the fish - that yes was a bonus getting a few good 20's but getting him out and fishing, enjoying himself made all the difference. Was good having him there.
The things that add value to one's life are the things you forever be grateful for.
Taken from The Carp Diaries
Get out there - Fish Hard, Fish Smart - Stay Safe
John'O
Driving to the lake I had to make a detour thinking what would be the best approach and rigs to use for this session and how quick I could get the old man into a fish or two. Not that that's up to me since carp have their own ideas as to how they intend reacting on the day - I guess not so dissimilar to a woman in menopause .. Indeed since it was the Valentine's weekend and the premier of the long anticipated movie 50 Shades of Grey - or shall I say ...... nevermind, this is a respectful carp forum.
Anyway where was I ? Oh yes Carp Fishing. The lake was fairly devoid of anglers upon my arrival accept for two occupied swims. the first thing i noticed was the lack of carp activity on the surface & very few fish were showing themselves and their whereabouts. True i could have choosed to follow them or use another swim I deemed would give us an edge but the old man is at an age where he cannot be subjected to hot sun & constant moving around swim to swim - So I set up camp. Gazebo went up in a jiffy, rods at the ready accept rigs and I proceeded to bait up the swim: I used a combination of whole and chopped boilies, peach and fishmeal and a kilo of pellets mixed in a groundbait spread close and long range. Speak of prepping a weekend for the old man nevermind my arm baiting up. All the same I was confident we'll get into a good fish or two. While waiting for the old man I did some bass fishing to kill time hooking into a small beast of about 800 grams. The old man arrived of course driving himself as her so preferred to a fully set-up campsite kitchen and all and his swim baited up. After some greeting, banter and a few laughs he was ready to get cracking and his excitement was evident, naturally he opened his first beer as he prepped his rods, I watched & thought..leave him be and gave pointed out the bag of hookbaits and freebies at his disposal. He made his choice and after an hour his rods were out, both on a safety set-up & a Fox ready made bottom bait hook link on a line aligner system. I used a bottom bait rig similar accept the line aligner, a Gardner Hooklink and a size 4/0 Gardner Talon Tip hook & pva mesh filled with half boilies cast out.
We went on to sit back under the gazebo's shade bringing back some fond memories of carp caught years ago, sessions with friends and the people we met along the way deciding at the same time to sleep under the gazebo instead of seperate bivvies. Some time later I went on the hunt for some more bass a few swims down leaving the old man in a relaxed state. Late afternoon the old man's rod takes off witha screaming run landing an upper double mirror. This got him off to a what would be a great session leaving me a little more confident the bait is working. And so the session carried on in between meals fit for a King, more good conversation and a constant trickling of bait into the swims the fish kept coming. by the first morning we had landed a few carp up to 19lb almost equally between ourselves. Saturday morning I changed rigs - one rod a shorter hooklink, same bottom bait and the other a multi-rig with a 16mm bright green pop-up. Well my one friend hassled me to use this rig since he swore by it's effectiveness, to keep him moaning like an old woman I used it, after a margin test and some tweaking I sent it out into the expanse of water. It wasn't long & the old man was on again. This time the fish gave him a piece of it's mind & made him work for it..the fight carried on seeing the old man being cautious all the way since he was using barbless hooks the 20lb common was safely landed. That afternoon the fish turned on after a previous nights quick storm..the pop-up rig saw action with an 18lb mirror and the old man went on to land another two fine specimens. My left hand rod lay quiet I thought & just as I was about to go bass fishing the alarm beeped, swinger lifted and I was on..what a scrap and a fish definitley on roids this time. It got me under pressure trying to seer it clear of the snags ..at one point it wrapped the braid around a visible stump forcing me to stand on a bucket and lift the rod up..clearing the snag and a fine common of 24lb landed, not a sign of mouth damage or any other hook mark, sent back safely.
Sunday morning was evident perhaps of keeping the bait going in since I'd gone all out the late Saturday night feeding the rest of our bait - we reeled in all the rods until much later and after a grand dinner. Around 11pm the old man out cold from some good wine said to me - 'hey boet u on rod duty, go catch 'em'...I knew what that meant.....He ain't getting up and lo and behold he heard not an alarm scream off. When he finally awoke from his slumber he confirmed he heard nothing. You old sod I thought. That morning awake from a few beeps at 3am saw me battle one of the most good looking mirrors I've caught, the wine banging my head I had to keep it together - The mirror going back all 20lb of it and bnot 2 minutes later the left hand rod delivered an upper double common....Can it stop now I thought, as if they heard me the old man's rods both went off minutes after each other with a 21lb common and an upper double. I reeled all the rods in and slept for an hour or so..........
In closing by the time he awoke I was having a coffee & got the carp report I had already cast his rods out as well as mine. That final morning he went on to land another two upper doubles at 18lb. My rods lay still........Thankfully since I had had enough.
With all the gear packed away, Jack Russell thrown into the back and our goodbyes said and done we headed home...Nothing this weekend could spoil our mood. This beat watching television, the World Cup Cricket or going to a mall all of which I dispise deeply.
The session was amazing, the work involved excruciating physically getting the old man into fish and ensuring the strategy worked, suffering 3 hook pulls and 13 landed carp. It wasn't about the fish - that yes was a bonus getting a few good 20's but getting him out and fishing, enjoying himself made all the difference. Was good having him there.
The things that add value to one's life are the things you forever be grateful for.
Taken from The Carp Diaries
Get out there - Fish Hard, Fish Smart - Stay Safe
John'O