On The Top Again!!

I wasn't going to go fishing today; I had been on-call for the last couple of nights and I just felt exhausted! Well, I found myself in the somewhat enviable position of being kicked out by my dear wife to go off fishing for a few hours and unwind. I grabbed some boilies from the freezer and some dog biscuits from the local shop and with a couple of outfits including my sons' 9 foot budget spinning rod. I seem to be getting a little predictable again with my choice of venues, and headed off to fish "Little Allers" again, especially as I had seen the first signs of a few dark shapes swimming around the island the last time I went.

The weather was first class today, warm, a light breeze and the sun was out, this was in complete contrast to yesterday when it was grey, wet and miserable. I had the lake to myself on arrival at about 10am which really surprised me considering what a fantastic day it was. as usual I set up a sleeper rod using a Dynamite baits peach and mango boilie. These smelt so nice I could have eaten one myself. I put out a few dog biscuits at the spot I was fishing but at that stage nothing was showing itself. I reeled in after about an hour and wandered around the lake with a bag of dog biscuits catapulting a few into likely looking spots. Well, to cut a long story short, the sleeper rod remained firmly in snooze mode despite my wonderful smelling boilies. I am beginning to think that maybe they are designed to catch anglers rather than Carp! At about 1pm I thought I caught a glimpse of a Carp roll on the surface right at the edge of the island. I put out a few dog biscuits and sure enough I heard the all to familiar slurp and I could see a couple of pairs of thick Carp lips taking a few off the top. I was cursing myself now, as although I had unpacked the little spinning rod I hadn't rigged it up. So with some haste on went a bubble float and a fluorocarbon trace that I had tied up the night before of about 6 feet long. I had tied this rig slightly differently with the hair coming off the strait shank part of a size 10 hook at right angles. I had seen this tied on the Korda volume 3 DVD and it leaves the hook hanging directly under the dog biscuit and out of site. Clever!. I tried to photograph it for this posting but alas it didn't come out to well. I will tie it on a larger hook from my sea fishing tackle and see if I can grab a picture that way.

Anyway, back to the fishing, in a window of about 90 minutes I landed six carp, five around the 5 to 6lb mark (didn't bother weighing these) and one that when weighed and adjustments made for the net came out bang on 12lbs. My sons little spinning rod and reel certainly worked overtime and the rod took on an interesting shape. I only had 6lb main line and the trace was around 5lbs so I had to be a bit careful and let the clutch do its job.

5lb Mirror Carp (approximately)

6lb Common Carp (approximately)


12lb Mirror Carp

The carp were staying within a few feet of the edge of the island so this called for some pretty accurate casting on my part, and I felt a bit rusty hitting only about 50% of casts in the zone where the fish were. The Carp turned off the feed as if someone had flicked a switch, the window of opportunity was that small. I persevered for about another hour before deciding to pack up. A very satisfying and productive session, and did I feel more relaxed.............definitely!!

Things Move Fast..........Sometimes!!

Well it has been a very fast moving few weeks for me and I am now faced with some new challenges in the form of new job!. Shortly after my last posting I received not one but two calls in the space of as many days offering me the opportunity to get back into to the managing aspect of care. I have been working at an EMI unit this last few months after having to job hunt twice in the space of last year, and this was a hands on job, returning to my roots in the business. I thoroughly enjoyed this, even though working nights is a bit of a killer, and I met some really nice career carers who despite their time in the job remained caring and conscientious. The biggest problem with the job I guess was the pay, not a problem while I can claim child tax credit (I have my own views about this keeping pay low) but this will change in a few years, and by then I will have been out of the loop for too long. Anyhow, I found an informal chat turn into a written offer of employment and started in my new job on the 8th March. Flattering.....yes, scary....definitely as I find myself struggling with new data bases. I hope I have made the best decision for me, I know it's the best decision for my family, but I can already feel the old anxieties and pressure returning. Only time will tell, and I guess that I should be grateful for such an opportunity in these difficult times.

I got out fishing yesterday, and what a beautiful day it was down here in Devon, warm and sunny in the calm wind. I didn't want to be adventurous so I went to my old favourite "Little Allers". I fished one sleeper rod for Carp, using a Dynamite fish and Robin Red boilie, and used soft-hook pellets and a feeder to have a go at the Bream and Roach in the lake. This worked well for the Roach, though I was plagued with more that my fair share of nuisance fish, I did manage a couple reaching the pound mark. The Bream were a no show, however, I did manage a couple of Roach/Bream hybrids which surprised another angler at the lake that had never seen them there. The Carp sleeper rod remained just that except for one Mirror Carp of about 5lbs which was very welcome. The good news is that I did see a few Carp, cruising in the upper water layers out by the island. My attempts to see if they would feed by catapulting out a few floating baits proved fruitless, but their presence was a good sign, and another few weeks should see me returning to stalking a few out off the top as the water temperature rises.

Forgot to say in the first paragraph that my new office is within strolling distance of two well stocked fishing tackle shops. Oh dear!!....................................