Thursday 17 June 2010

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.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

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!