Short Session Success

5 mins read

April 6, 2019

Another Saturday had rolled up where I was able to steal a few hours and get out on the bank. The weather was looking good and the Carp had started to switch on with the water slowly starting to warm up.
I decided to head to an old haunt of mine – Mere Moor Fisheries. I had bumped into Phyllis (one of the bailiffs) in my village and she told me there was a few pegs free on the specimen pool, this was all the information I needed, I had been wanting to do another session on there after spending the best part of 12 months on the lake a couple of years ago. The fire was lit and I couldn’t wait to make the massive 2 mile drive to get there!

I arrived at the complex silently pleading for a couple of select swims to be available but as I crossed over the small bridge to the specimen pool my wishes were clearly no heard by the carp gods above as the main swims on the wider side of the lake were all taken. All was not lost though as the fish in this lake can move around a fair bit and don’t like pressure very much. If there are a few anglers on the right hand side of the lake the fish can move to the left, behind the islands to seek safety as long as there is no pressure there either.

I pulled up on the left hand side of the lake and luckily for me there were just 2 anglers sharing the first peg, leaving all of the remaining left hand side completely free of anglers, but more importantly, free from lines and leads. I knew the carp were going to be here, it seems glaringly obvious to me! Much like the session previously when all of the anglers were in the end of a strong cold wind and no one was on the back of it…

I was fishing off my barrow today, nice and light so I can move if needed. If this short session angling has taught me anything so far this year it is that you have to work for your fish, you don’t have 24 hours for you bed of bait to be found, you HAVE to find the fish yourself and carefully try to trap one. I had my Scope Ops rod bag and my Ruckall on top of my barrow along with a chair, unhooking mat and bait. I didn’t actually need the barrow, but I’m lazy as hell so I will use any excuse not to carry my gear!

The barrow was already loaded in the back of van so out it came and off I went. My first stop was a tight little peg, peg 4. You only really have half of a corner of an island and an overhanging tree to fish to but I thought it was worth a shot to see if any of the pressure from the other side had just pushed them round a little. One rod went on the corner, another rod went on the overhanging tree, and my third went a little further down the bank (as there was no one in the peg to my left). Two of them had pop ups on; A pink Citruz and a Mulb, the rod to my left had a Scopex Squid bottom bait out of the bag on with a three bait stringer. Ten or so boilies were then thrown around each hook bait, a mix of Scopex Squid and Citruz. I left the rods out for about an hour or so and all I had was a savage liner on the right hander which stopped me from moving after the first thirty minutes.

I reeled in and went for a quiet walk up to the top end. The fish HAD to be here, I hadn’t seen any signs anywhere else. As I approached there was a huge amount of frogs getting ready to spawn, they were everywhere, and I must have counted over 50 individual frogs. But in among the frogs scattering there were telltale signs that more was going on. A quick skip back to get my gear and I was on the move.

Peg 6 was my destination, a very narrow section of the lake that joins to the top of the lake via a small channel. This area of the lake is known to hold fish under pressure so they can be very shy and spook easily. I was reminded of this when I placed my right hand rod; a pink Citrus pop up on a combi rig with a light lead just off the island behind an overhanging tree. As it hit the water it spooked a fish… I pulled that face you make when you get in at 3am and knock something over downstairs, you know the one!

My second rod went out very gingerly to a little spot I know about that’s slightly deeper in a little cut out. A light lead again to a Mulb pop-up on a combi rig with some Scopex Squid split open and thrown around it was the perfect trap. Both of these rods could be placed easily enough and then walked back down the bank to the peg to keep any disturbance to a minimum. My third rod went to the far left of the island on a single stick away from the other two just on the off chance there was a carp moving round that end of the island, this had a bait on it out of the bag with a few scattered around the area.

All stayed quiet for the next hour but I was enjoying sitting on my chair watching spring materialize. It wasn’t until I decided it was time to pack up and face a blank that my second rod went into meltdown. I wish I had recorded the take; Fishing locked up, with no rear butt grip and just a six inch drop on the bobbin. Before I had even stood up the reel was up against the R3 and the tip of my rod was bending round under the rod next to it, the two rod buzz bar on the single stick didn’t have a clue what was happening and duly followed the rod. I managed to grab the rod before it vanished forever and managed to steer the fish back to the left had side of the swim and eventually into my net.

The area was well and truly ruined now! I’m sure all the carp had vanished. It didn’t matter though as I had a stunning Common of around 16lb on my mat and I couldn’t have been any happier….. Another short session victim.