Smashing the Pleasure Lake at White Springs.

Not the session we had planned but we'll take it. Our initial plans for today were to fish for Perch on the Old Canal at White Springs but when we arrive we were told there was a match on the Old Canal and that we couldn't fish it until after the weigh in, so we kept our options open and paid for a pleasure fishing session and took a walk around and ended up setting up on the Pleasure Lake.

The weather was a total mix of overcast skies with burst of summer sunshine in between with high winds blowing for most of the day, with the high winds I wasn't really expecting to catch much but the day went very well.

Steve managed to hook into his first fish of the day almost seconds after casting out, and landed a small Carp officially starting our session on the Pleasure Lake.

Netting the first fish of the day.
Steve showing off the fish and his silly hair cut.

It took me a while to get set up but it was worth the wait as within a few minutes of the bait being out I had my first run of the day resulting in my first double figure Carp from the Pleasure lake this year, a nice Mirror Carp weighing just over 10lb.

My first fish of the day and the biggest at 10lb 2oz

The action continued with another couple of smaller Carp who couldn't resist the boilies on the Carp Rod and a few small Carp and a lot of small Bream on the freelined prawn on the Match rod, then just as this seemed to dying down the line on the match rod jerked tight and I struck, the fight was like one of a small energetic Carp which stay deep and darting off just as you start to gain any line on them, which didn't really excite me that much as I'd already landed a few of them today, but when Steve shouted out 'It a bloody big Perch' I got excited and concentrate on bringing it to the surface and netting it at the first opportunity and he was right it was a bloody big perch weighing 3lb 1oz, and to my knowledge is one of the biggest Perch to come out of the Pleasure Lake and a new personal best for me.

My new PB Perch in the net, 3lb 1oz.
Check out my grin I'm not chuffed at all.

As the day went on the bites became less frequent and we contemplated a move to the the Old Canal but after a quick walk we discovered that the match hadn't finished so we went back to the pleasure lake, this time to a different swim and again back into the action.

Steve and I manage to bank loads of Carp, Small Bream and a Golden Orfe. I genuinely lost count of how many fish I'd actually caught. Most of the Carp were a around the the 3 to 5lb mark with two bigger Mirror Carp one weighing just around 9 and a half pound and the other just under 10lb. We were hoping to catch a few Tench from the spot we had move to and even though I only managed one small one Steve managed to land two nice Tench one beating his PB with a weight of 3lb 4oz.

A nice Mirror Carp around 9 and half Pound
Not quite a double but still welcome.
My first Golden Orfe of the year and surprisingly caught on boilies!

Steve's new Pb tench 3lb 4oz a bit like the one a I caught last year with a mini tail but who knows.

During the late afternoon most of the anglers who were fishing the match on the Canal started making their way and we finally made a move onto the Old canal which also paid off to some degree with Steve hooking a much bigger Perch than I had landed earlier but it came off before he had a chance to net it, but as a consolation he then manage to catch and actually land a Perch weighing exactly 3lb 1oz leveling the Perch I caught earlier from the Pleasure Lake and setting a second PB for the day.

Another beauty from the Old Canal 3lb 1oz.
Steve with his last fish of the day.

A compilation of the smaller fish of the day.

We finished off the day on the Canal with a few more Carp being caught and I ended my session with a modest sized eel which I tried to photo but it wouldn't keep still long enough.

Well, seeing as our initial plans for the day weren't strictly followed, I think we had one of the best sessions this year with three Personal bests beaten, me with my Perch and Steve with his Tench and Perch and as an added bonus I achieved one of my three goals which I had set myself at the beginning of the year by catching a Perch over 3lb, I hope to fulfill the other two goals as the summer progresses, so until next time.

By the way if anyone is actually interested the goals that I set myself at the beginning of the year were;
1. To catch a Carp over 20lb (which still may happen).
2. To catch a Pike (any size, but after our sessions during the winter maybe the hardest one).
3.To Catch a Perch over 3lb (achieved with a 3lb 1oz. 22nd June 2008).