I arrived at around 7.10 am (I'd told Vic I'd be there 6.30 -7.0 am but I had a spot of bother getting my arse in gear). Vic was already there and had set up in the LH Point swim. He'd generously saved me the swim in the middle and he was setting up his second rod by the time I arrived!
There was one other person there while we were setting up and he was in a spot of bother himself. He'd had a run but had lost the fish when it snagged him in the bushes to the right of Top Bay swim. Ashley was giving him an hand so it wasn't a complete disaster.
I spoke to him a little while later and he was saying that he'd been there a week and put loads of boilies out in all the point swims, around 10k, but had lost 3, been snagged twice and caught bream and tench. As he said that, one of his rods rips off and for a second it seems that he may have a decent fish on. Then it got knackered. Only one fish has so little stamina and that's the dreaded snotty bream. He was not a happy chappy! Not long after that he moved onto Coot Island, as Ashley had caught a 29lb+, 27lb+ and a 26lb+ carp from there over the past few days.
I set up my rods and cast them out. My left hand rod was around 50-60 yds out, slightly left of centre and my RH rod was 60-70 yds out, slightly right of centre. Bait was Dynamites Red Fish and Spice, with freebies coming from bits and bobs I had left over in my boilie bag. I wasn't going to be putting loads of bait out just 4-5 boilies on a stringer and a small handful of freebies around the area.
Putting the boilies out was a nightmare. There was a pack of around 20-30 seagulls giving everyone a headache. As soon as a boilie went out, one seagull would screech and then the whole lot would descend on your swim. I tried spodding out the boilies and although the seagulls ignored it, it didn't spread the boilies in a big enough area for my liking.I added in some mixed pellets and cast out around 4-5 spods containing around 7-8 boilies, but in the end I settled for catapulting 1 load of boilies and then waiting for the excitement to die down before putting out another pouchful. Trouble is it could take up to 10-15 minutes for the gulls to go away or settle down enough for the boilies to have a chance of landing in the water! I'd go away and make a cup of tea!
Around 12.00pm I had a couple of bleeps on my LH rod. I was considering changing it to a chod rig. I'd just tied on the hook when my alarm went screaming into overdrive. Carp on!
It fought hard but I knew it wasn't a big one. It kept coming to the surface and splashing around. After about 5-10 minutes I'd reeled the fish in ready to be netted. My able assistant, Vic, landed it on the second attempt. I was over the moon. This was the first carp that Vic had seen landed at Newlands so he was quite pleased to be involved. We weighed it and it came to 18lb 1oz. I had forgotten my camera so Vic was the photographer for this occasion.
We released the carp once the pictures had been taken and had a nerve calming cup of tea. I rebaited the hook and cast back out.
There wasn't a lot of fish activity that we could see. I saw a fish leap right across the other end of the lake but that was it. We settled in for the waiting game.
Vic was baiting up his swim on a regular basis, still using his trusted method feeders. His mix had everything in it - pigeon conditioner, wheat, millet, etc. I'm amazed that he didn't have take. as it was, he had the odd bleep but nothing substantial
By the time it was dark, Vic was reluctantly getting ready to pack up. Suddenly, my LH rod screamed off again taking yards off the reel. I maanged to halt its maniacal run and then we had a lively fight. Finally it was ready to be netted.
Then Vic said, "John, how do you put your landing net together. The arms have come out."
B***ks!
I have a collapsible landing net and when I'd finished using it earlier in the day, I had put it next to the rods but it had got caught on some sticks. I gave it a flick and it seemed to cure the problem. In hindsight, it had collapsed the net! Anyway, I managed to show Vic what to do and together we managed to sort it out.
Phew! That was close.
It was a 14lb10oz simmo. Vic had never seen a simmo so I explained the reason behind this type of carp. Quick growing and almost scale less. He said they looked ugly. I agreed with him! Vic took the photos and back in it went.
Soon after, Vic packed up and made his merry way home. He's only got a day permit so he couldn't stay the night. I enjoyed a glass of red wine and listened to the radio for a bit. I started to nod off in the chair so I checked everything and then got my head down for the night. I was woken several times during the night with half takes, single beeps and rats knocking the indicators. Unfortunately, I didn't catch anything more
Morning arrived, cloudier than the day before. I was confident that I may get another carp before I packed up. Around 10am my LH rod stutters away. After a brief struggle I land a small tench of around 4-5 lbs. Its in quite good condition. I rebaited the rod and the swim but nothing further graced my net.
I eventually packed up and left for home about 12.30pm
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