Carp Out Before Spawning - Strike Three -

The Fendrod has not been particularly forthcoming for me in the past year and a half with only one Carp gracing the bank in 2010 and even though 2011 started off a lot better with a mid double ghost Carp it is still my only Fendrod Carp since the beginning of the year and things have stayed bleak with nothing to show for my first few sessions since the start of the new membership.

I have tried every method that has caught me fish in the past and I've baited to the point where there was nothing left in the freezer which has now left me free to try different things. I didn't have anything to lose. I decided to re-visit Mainline cell boilies as the first time I tried it I left them out of the freezer in the bag for a few days resulting in bag of mouldy boilies. I'd usually steer away from as something that is surrounded by loads of hype as more often than not it doesn't live up to expectations but the reports from around the lake made me think I should at least give it a try.

I set off from the house as the sun was starting to set and I arrived at the lake with just enough light to slap the bivvy up and get the rods out before darkness fell. I pottered about for a bit getting everything ready just in case I got a fish on the bank then set about tying a few rigs followed by a small pile of PVA bags containing a mix of pellets and cell boilies ground to crumb.

After putting new rigs on both the rods I put them back out on to the spots I'd previously scattered a few boilies and once everything was where I wanted it I retired to my sleeping bag for the night.

Its was 3am when I was awoken by a few beeps from my left hand alarm. I threw myself out of the bivvy and knelt down next to the rod as the alarm let out another beep. My instant thought was Bream. I picked the rod off the pod and held the line until I felt a slight tug. I struck lightly expecting the standard Bream tug and give up fight and for a while it did seem to be going that way until the fish was about three rod lengths out it decided to slam on the brakes and start fighting back. I knew now I had a Carp on and I became nervous trying to do everything right making sure my first Fendrod fish in months ended up in the net.

Once it was in the net I settled it down in the margins and got the camera ready for a bit of proper night blogging something I hadn't done in a long while.

It weighed in at 14lb 12oz a perfect condition common Carp holding a belly full of spawn. I know that any size fish would have felt like a result but I was even more pleased by the fact that it was a mid double.  

Happy with my first fish of the new season.

Cracker!, 14lb 12oz Common Carp in totally immaculate condition.

After the fish had gone back and I'd done my bit of video blogging I climbed back into my sleeping bag in the hope that I'd be awoken again.

Sadly, I awoke naturally but it was nice and early giving me the opportunity to watch the sun come up and witness the first few fish start to crash about around the island. The warm weather had kick started spawning almost a month earlier than last year.   

A morning that makes you glad you were up to see it.

Elvis and his wife, the resident Muscovy Ducks.

I sat there enjoying my third coffee of the morning and was joined by two of the well known lake residents a pair Muscovy Ducks.

The morning sun was lovely and warm giving me a chance to get everything out of the bivvy and air it out, it was nice to know that the bivvy was going to be dry and free from condensation when I'd be packing up.

It was round 9am when I decided to pack things up as I had a few single beeps on the alarms followed by a savage liner from what I believe to have been spawning Carp, by this time there were Carp starting to spawn all over that lake and I'd even watched a nice size common Carp mount the floating island flapping away for a good 15 minutes before it got free, it was pretty funny watching a Coot heading straight for it thinking it was going to be an easy meal only to end up keeping its distance as a fish double its size thrashed about. 

The three part video blog - embeded as playlist so it should play all the way through (keep you eyes peeled for a greedy Cormorant in part 2 around 6:48).

I think I'd made the right choice in packing up early and considering it was going to be another boiling hot day plus my main targets were busy spawning I think I done well to get a fish out, for the first time in a long while I think I was one of the only people to land a fish so I was really happy with the result, now that I come to think about it may well be the biggest common Carp I've had out of the Fendrod.

After I'd packed the car I thought I go and see if I could do a bit of filming the fish spawning. I managed to get some pretty cool footage but nothing as good as I could physically see with polarised sunglasses on, I spotted some massive Ghost carp and even caught a glimpse of the infamous Fendrod Koi.

My enthusiasm has been revitalised and I'll be giving them a bit of time to get their business done and I'll be back, hopefully the spawning will give them a bit of an appetite and I'll be there to exploit it.