5.30 am on Monday the 11th saw me back at crf,after a sleepless night i decided to have a short dangle before work,and all i got for my efforts for my early start was two tench both off the top!! i went to work about 7.15 knowing i would be returning that evening.
well i dont know about you guys but the thought of wetting a line keeps me awake at night and even affects my concentration at work at times when i find myself daydreaming about being on the bank,keeping busy helps but not always!
When i returned after work i found lake 2 empty so i set about putting a few mixers in to see if i could interest anything.Whilst waiting for any signs and watching all the time,i phoned Claire to say hi and whilst i was on the phone i saw a fish come out from under the bank and suck a few mixers in.
We said our goodbyes quickly and i set about getting a lump of bread and casting into the ever decreasing circles.not much happened and i kept a few mixers trickling in .shortly after i had a small common,then all was quiet.i sat on my chair looking along the margin watching the branches twitching when a good size fish showed itself big time,i needed no hesitation and i cast a crust once more in the direction of the show.i didn't need to wait long and shortly afterwards i saw a pair of lips slurp in my crust and turn away,bingo,fish on!!
this fish was proper strong,probably due to the 1.5tc rod i was using and it took a while to gain any sort of control,after what seemed like ages i slipped the net under my prize,without doubt one of the nicest looking fish I've ever caught from crf.stunning.
Decided to pack up shortly after this as the light was fading but not before trying to bag another as they seem to have arrived mob handed ,and were now mopping up the mixers 2 or 3 at a time! after a while when i couldnt see my bread hookbait any more i headed home,knowing i would be back tuesday evening.
i returned after work tuesday to an almost identical scenario,put a few freebies in first and waited for that magical slurp!didnt have to wait long and before long i was into another hard fighting common! this gave me the proper run around and was quite pleased with this one.
I also had a small common around 6lbs but picture wasn't great!.i stayed for a while but there was no sign of any thing moving so i had an early night for a change and headed home for a brew and freshen up my bread and mixer supplies!
me and my lovely lady returned on the Saturday morning at first light at set up in the same swim as i had fished on weds night.this water gets very busy at the weekend so we wanted a feature to fish too and as the tree had been productive all week it seemed like a no brainer!
Wednesday evening i returned and found someone in the swim i had been fishing so i decided to have a walk round lake 3 ,didn't stay there long as i couldn't find any fish so back down to lake 2. i went into the next nearest swim to the one i had been fishing in,this turned out to be a massive result because as i sat my loaf down i saw a good fish just staring out at me from under the bush.i took a couple of steps back and baited the hook with some ever faithful bread and lowered it down almost touching his top lip with it!.within seconds it was trying its best to get back under the bush from which it came but my korum all rounder which should of been called half rounder was at full curve !! did have my doubts if it was gonna snap at one point but gladly it didn't,although my little 4000 reel was screaming,literally,and after a few long minutes i managed to slip the net under it and i need to have a stretch after wards!proper arm ache!
i went on to have a further 2 carp and a good tinca from the same spot!! and i left around 9pm,shattered and looking forward to the weekend.
we only use one rod at crf as it can get a bit hectic at times but things were very hard going all morning until Claire said it was my time to brew up.i laid my trusty rod on the floor and reached for the milk when it suddenly leapt forward from between my legs! and as i grabbed for it, it moved again,!! wtf! i finally managed to just grab the end of the butt section as it went waterside i then realised i had hooked a strong fish which proceeded to try and pull my arm from its socket! after an epic struggle i got it out from under the tree by just letting the rod do all the work, and as it rolled i could see it was one of the older residents.very pleased with this capture especially after the fight it put up.we took a pic and returned her to swim with her own once more.well happy. we sat for a while after that and i finished the brew duty before continuing with my job in hand.
I sat there for some time slouched in the chair,as you do! when a shape swam across my field of vision from left to right,i literally leapt up ,baited and cast a crust directly into its path of travel only for it to suck it in at first attempt,get in,another very spirited fight and another common graced the bank once more.result.two fish when no one else catching!
we packed up shortly after this as the mallet brigade had arrived by the coach load and headed home,looking forward to the next trip when we are taking my son Aaron along,cant wait.....stay safe.
