I'm In!

The twenty club that is! It would appear that once you've broken the 20lb barrier it then becomes easier to catch them. Mick however, who is yet to cross that threshold, had fish of 19lb 12oz and 19lb 0oz which came agonizingly close to crossing that magical line.

The fishing gods are certainly testing Mick's dedication to his beloved sport, but once again he passes with flying colours. Besides, who could be upset with a brace of 19lb Commons?

The afore mentioned fish were the biggest (all but one!) of a haul of 25 fish between us. I'm not going to pretend that the venue is a particularly difficult water, but others were struggling on the day and we definitely did well to catch as many as we did.

Stiff links with soft hairs did the business, baited with half pineapple pop-up and half spicy tuna and sweet chilli boilies - fished over a spread of boilies.

We had double hook ups on no less than 5 occasions and at one point a twenty (my fish!) and a nineteen were on the mat at the same time. Lovely!

One of those days when it comes all together nicely. Rigs, bait, location, tactics - all were spot on, and its not very often I can say that! An awesome days fishing.

At Last, a Twenty

A twenty-pound plus carp has finally graced my net and it feels long overdue. At 21lb exactly it is the heaviest thing I have had the privilege of lifting out of the water.

It has taken me a while to reach this milestone and, although it has taken me a little longer than I would of liked, I  am delighted to have finally achieved it.

The bite came at 6 o'clock in the morning after an uneventful night. One of those moments where your glad that nobody was watching; can't seem to find the zip on your sleeping bag, forgot how to open the bivvy, legs having trouble going one in front of the other and then, once i'd finally reached my 'screaming reel', completely forgotten how to operate it.

Somehow the fish found its way to then net and it was such a fantastic feeling to finally put a twenty on the mat. The lads in the next swim kindly did the honours with the camera before I 'slipped' her back.

What could follow that? Breakfast! Bugger...forgot to bring the bacon! Never mind, beans on toast never tasted so good!

Its Spring - NOT Summer!

You'd think that we'd be used to it by now wouldn't you? I mean, it happens every single year! No sooner has the sun poked it's head out from around the clouds to see if it's safe to come out, we've banished the winter wardrobe to the spare room and donned a pair of daft shorts and silly sunglasses. And then what happens? It goes cold again - and we all complain!

Don't even get me started about the clocks going forward...or back, or whatever it is they do that means i'm getting up to go fishing an hour out of sync with the world.

Personally, I'm guilty at times of thinking in terms of only 2 seasons - Winter and Summer. Pike in winter and carp in the summer. I'm not suggesting that that is all I fish for by any means, but they are my primary targets.

However, it is clear that by not embracing the other two seasons that i am missing out. Spring is the main one that leaves me a little bewildered. Last year I feel that I should of carried on piking through march, after I blanked miserably targeting carp while the water was still very cold. I swore i would not do the same this year. So, here's a picture of me wearing a stupid grin, a black rubber glove and a 5lb carp that i caught last week...in March!

I think you have to use your judgement a lot more in the spring time than you would any other season. The water is still going to be cold for a month or so yet, but a shallow commercial might well have warmed sufficiently for the carp to fancy a well presented 15mm Source boilie fished on a size 10 barbless choddy on a 12" mono stiff link and a 3oz lead.

Mick had the best fish of a haul of 5 in total. His best went 12lb 8oz. The weather prior to the trip had been quite mild, hence the reason we bothered! The weather on the day was cold and grey most of the time though, I think we did well to catch under the circumstances. Let the spring begin.

I'd like to welcome you all to my new blog, thanks to every body who supported us over on Pro Pike Fishing UK. Don't forget that you can follow or subscribe using the options at the top of the page.