Its less than a week till the big day,the weather was clear the temp a barmy 10 deg C with little or no wind so we were up early for the last session before christmas,Charlie was not feeling too good so Samuel volunteered to be my ghillie for the day.
Once we arrived at the pond i set Samuel up with a small roach wip ,a homemade balsa and quill float and a size 12 circle hook baited with maggot,today i set up with a goose quill and wood float hooked and baited the same as sammy and a drop of 6 feet or so.
We baited our swims with a blended groundbait,we waited and waited for the tell tale bubbles of methane to be disturbed from the bottom by feeding fish,the cold was not helping much and it took a full hour and a half for the first fish to be landed,sammy landed a lovely perch fingerling and this started his continuous catches for the rest of the day,all perch and all fingerlings,he was best pleased but was hoping for a carp apparently.
It took a bit longer but eventually my float started to wobble and after a short pause then it gently ducked under the surface as i struck into the fish.Clearly this was no monster but fought well all the same and within a just a short while my pint sized ghilli was netting my fish,a small but pretty common carp.
I baited up the rig again adding a handful of ground bait and waited,and waited and waited,no bites but there were clearly fish feeding in the baited area.Time to switch tactics,this time an arsley bomb a #12 circle hook and a homemade strike bobbin to show bites as the sun was glaring off the surface of the lake making it difficult to see the tell tale twitches of the rod tip
No sooner had i set the rod down and clipped the bobbin on the bobbin shot up signalling a take.I struck and connected with a fish i could tell it was not a huge fish but by the way it was fighting i knew it was a carp of some sort,in no time my diligent ghilli was eagerly netting this fish again,photos taken it was gently released back to the murky depths,little did i realise this wasn’t to be the last time we met that carp today,in fact i would land this same fish three times in a row,its distinctive 2 scales missing being its identifying feature.
This friendly picatorial buddys appearance paused by a nice crucian carp which is always a nice appearance,a sturdy solid fish photographed and returned gently to the lilies they like to frequent.
Within a little under 20 minutes the strike bobbin stood to attention signalling another bite,upon connecting I immediately i knew this was not a carp and i suspected that the bream had come on the feed,and i was right,instantly my giggling ghilli was grabbing the net making comment of ‘oh not one of those slimeys!’
Within a short while our lift home had appeared and it was time to pack up and head off home,it was starting to get a little perky as the sun set towards the west in a watery yellow yuletide sky.
There were no excited recollections to his siblings from sammy,as soon as he got in the car with the heater on he was asleep with a little cheeky grin of satisfaction of a good days fishing on his face.
Fish's angling diary. 