So this time of year normally sees my fishing time dwindle even further down to two days a month. Although the carp are still my first love I'm not shy to admit they are more difficult to catch as the cold sets in.there are obviously exceptions to this like on busy commercial ponds but these don't float my boat to be honest.its hard to try and stick to your guns when it's quite easy to go back to an old venue and have a fish a chuck albeit a smaller one. After all everyone loves a pasty in winter.! So after much deliberating and booking some time off I managed to persuade my friend sicknote Holland to take a day off to venture up to near Hungerford to a beautiful and very special intimate water known as Barton court.i love fishing at Barton as there is so much stunning wildlife to observe including deer.hares and some very majestic red kites that glide overhead in total silence.so the day was set and on the Monday morning we set off .we arrived to an empty lake which is always nice,and from previous experience and results i knew we needed to be round the far side so off we trundled,barrow in hand........
We had already agreed that John would fish 2 rods for the stunning carp that reside there and although I would have my carp gear with me, I was after a couple of stripeys before I set up base.we arrived to an empty lake and I was keen to set up in the known perch hot spot,a spot a fellow angling friend had caught some lovely specimens from ,float fishing with a prawn as hookbait. I fished between 3 swims for about 3 hours without a bite ,John was also bite less in the far swim but I decided to have a brew then jolly off round the other side of the lake,visiting the area where the water came in on the way past.
I fished round the other side for an hour or so when I received a call from John saying someone else had taken my perch hotspot swim! Bloody poacher.to be fair it didn't matter as I hadn't caught whilst in there so good luck to him.after another half hour I came back round to see how john was doing only to get a look at my poacher,stone the crows it was only chris Yates in the flesh,one of my true angling heroes who is right up there with Jr Hartley! Lol.
I dropped in to the swim next door trying my utmost to tempt a stripey when he came over and started chatting to me.it was like we were old friends and he spoke of the fish kill at Barton last year ,which would explain the lack of action for john and he spoke of Redmire and that there wasn't any real monsters left anymore.he also expressed his love of perch fishing and how from the first of November he won't fish for anything else although he prefers to fish the rivers near his home.we spoke of unusual fishing scenarios and how deadly the prawn was for bass let alone perch and he also claimed that as the light fades it would become more productive.true almost to the hour he started to get bites from the hotspot starting with a perch of a pound followed by a couple of small carp.i on the other hand was still bite less as was john but we persevered. At this stage chris introduced himself to John and we had a photo opportunity which I was more than pleased about and handshakes were made and friendships formed.we left shortly afterwards and although I blanked I didn't care one little bit.an afternoon on the bank with Sir Yates was a red letter day in any anglers book and it would be nice to think I may bump into him again on another visit to Barton.this is a day i will never forget in a hurry.
I dropped in to the swim next door trying my utmost to tempt a stripey when he came over and started chatting to me.it was like we were old friends and he spoke of the fish kill at Barton last year ,which would explain the lack of action for john and he spoke of Redmire and that there wasn't any real monsters left anymore.he also expressed his love of perch fishing and how from the first of November he won't fish for anything else although he prefers to fish the rivers near his home.we spoke of unusual fishing scenarios and how deadly the prawn was for bass let alone perch and he also claimed that as the light fades it would become more productive.true almost to the hour he started to get bites from the hotspot starting with a perch of a pound followed by a couple of small carp.i on the other hand was still bite less as was john but we persevered. At this stage chris introduced himself to John and we had a photo opportunity which I was more than pleased about and handshakes were made and friendships formed.we left shortly afterwards and although I blanked I didn't care one little bit.an afternoon on the bank with Sir Yates was a red letter day in any anglers book and it would be nice to think I may bump into him again on another visit to Barton.this is a day i will never forget in a hurry.
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| a true gentleman and angling legend. |
