September 2011 - Guest diary by Dan Chart
September is always the month I'm desperate to get out, yet seldom can! I always seem to have work or family commitments which we all have and, if you are like me, don't you just dread those texts telling you that the 'one' you were after has been out!
Well I did manage to get out, albeit less than I'd like (more than Mrs Chart would like though!) for September and things went better than the previous months. It wasn't planned for me to do this months diary piece but when you read on you'll know that I had to give you, the readers, something to visualise involving our hard-working bait roller Mr Elmer!
The months of June, July, August were slow on our syndicate lake, with no one receiving any action. The weed had thrived and the algae bloomed making finding the fish near on impossible. It was only at the back end of August that I first managed to locate some of the carp. The water regained a lot of its clarity enabling me to spot a few fish in the snags at the back of a swim I had some success from the previous year. The problem was, I couldn't get a bait within twenty yards of them due to the horrendous weed. I found a nice hard silt area that merged onto gravel halfway across the swim but that was about it. Last year, I could fish the swim casting to the snags some 60 yards away and knew I was in with a shout of a bite as the fish would network the snags bank and travel to and from the neighbouring bay. However, as this was the closest spot to where the fish were, I decided to prepare it with a few kilos of 14mm Aquatix Anchovy and return the following weekend in the hope the swim would be available.
I only had a quick overnighter available that Saturday night but made the most of it putting a trusty double bottom Aquatix Anchovy 14mm bait to a size 6 Gardner Mugga hook, 15lb Sly Skin and a 3oz bolt bomb onto the hard silt area. The other rods were positioned to a far softer silt areas to the left of the spot at a similar distance using chod rigs. I was field testing new size 5 chod hooks from the Gardner stable which accompanied with the new 16mm Aquatix Anchovy Cork Ball Pop-up I was hoping I'd got the perfect set up. A further two kilos of Aquatix Anchovy was placed on the main spot giving the fish something to enjoy should they be up for it.
The night passed me by with the only noises coming from the foxes and rabbits in the adjacent field, not a ripple on the lake in front of me could be seen in the darkness. Unable to stay up anymore I retired to bed at not far off 11pm. 3am that morning had me screaming with delight, holding the right hand rod in my arm after being bellowed at by the Neville alarm. At this point I hadn't landed the fish but was so happy to get a bite after what seemed an eternity! The fish weeded itself almost immediately, but not enough for me to stop it from moving with a huge ball of weed over its head. Netting the whole lot first go and trying to regain my composure, I excitedly peered into the net to see what awaited me at the bottom.
Instantly recognising the fish was over thirty I got all the gear ready before hoisting her ashore. Amazingly, the hook was more than six inches in its mouth which meant it loved the Aquatix Anchovy! I settled on a weight of 35.15lb, a fish I hadn't seen before.
The next morning the choddy rod rattled off and I landed a peach of common just over 25lb, nailed on the new chod hooks and the pop-up still attached! The Aquatix Anchovy Cork Ball Pop-ups have gone through the most rigorous of testing I can tell you! John is a perfectionist and if you haven't tried them, do! There is not a better pop-up on the market I can assure you.
I followed that trip up the following week by returning to the same swim but just wasn't happy as I wanted to be closer to the fish that I'd seen a few weeks ago. Now I knew I'd had a result, but I couldn't help but feel it was a one off and the next session confirmed that when I had nothing to go on after blanking. I decided to have a look over the back of the swim and although not huge, I could make out a small hole in the weed right in front of the snags, it was going to be a cow of a cast but it had 'bite' written all over it! My plan was to return in the week with plenty of Aquatix Anchovy and a bucket of hemp and deposit it on the spot in an effort to keep the fish in the area. I managed to repeat this twice over a two week period.
With a young family, opportunities are always difficult to grab and, on this occasion the only chance I had was to go once my wife returned from work late Saturday afternoon. I got to the lake with no more than an hour and a half of light and thankfully the swim was available again. The cast was proving difficult to get right but after about ten casts (yes, ten casts!) it raced to the bottom with a satisfactory donk! Another dose of 14mm Aquatix Anchovies on the money meant I was ready! The other rods again were on the choddy areas.
I remember having a good chat with John that evening and he knew I was confident. He was fishing on a neighbouring lake having returned after having a result on the first trip he fished there. When I put the phone down to him I heard what sounded like an enormous fish crashing out against the snags. I was practically shaking with excitement knowing I was very close to whatever that was. Sleeping on the edge all night bolting upright with any noise I heard, it wasn't until 7am that I needed to get off the bedchair to what was a belting run to the right hand rod. Picking the rod up, I was met with an instant dead weight as the fish had buried itself into the weed. I felt the line moving and continued to apply the pressure gaining small amounts of line as I did so. Eventually, I managed to net a large mass of weed and just had to feel through in a hope that a fish was in there somewhere. Like a kid at the fun fair having a go at lucky dip, I had won a prize and set about getting the mat and scales ready before getting the fish out of the water. It nearly broke my back just trying to lift it up the swim with all the weed. Removing the same set up from its mouth as the 35lb and placing him on the scales, I recorded a weight of 41.01lb. Happy was an understatement!
Trying to get John to come over and take the photographs was hard work in itself. His phone was off and I had to get hold of one the bailiffs to come up with a plan to get hold of John. Eventually, John wound in and made his way over but he had the precarious route of having to cross the dried out stream which I had to confess, never ventured before. I knew of some mates that had done it with no problems but when John rang me rather distressed, I knew he must have been in some difficulty?! Wondering up the path I eventually stumbled across him holding what resembled a rather black Reebok trainer that I think was once white?! His trousers were also a combination of black and khaki brown, but not intentionally! Oh yes, he had sank right in the thick of it! Trying to show sympathy to a man not seeing the funny side made me wet myself even more!! After all, I needed his expertise in photographing the fish!
Alright, I confess, I got stuck in it as well but I couldn't care, I'd just caught a forty!!
Cheers and tight lines...
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