Well, what can I say - I have taken somewhat longer than I would have liked to have done to finally put pen to paper!
With one thing and another writing has unfortunately taken a back seat and what little time I have managed to find naturally I have spent on the bank chasing leviathans.
Looking back through my ramblings, I pretty much carried on from where I left off - several more quick overnighters on Raptor which all ended with the same sorry story. It was during one of these that a mate I was with asked if I fancied a change the following week and head down Oxford way to fish a busy day ticket water neither of us had fished in over 6 years.
Now, anybody who follows this blog on a regular basis will know that this type of venue really isn't my cup of tea - much preferring to blank for weeks or even months on end but getting a bit of peace in the process, however with the last few months that I had endured I thought getting a bend in the wands may just put a smile on my face so agreed I would meet him there at dawn the following Sunday.
The week seemed to pass in somewhat of a haze, I had a wedding to shoot on the Saturday and didn't get home till late, exhausted I still managed to sort the gear out and chuck it in the van before retiring to bed sometime after midnight.
The alarm was set for 04:30am and I soon drifted off into a deep carp filled dream but when the alarm sounded to wake me from my slumber it felt like I had only been asleep a few minutes, after peeling my eyelids open with my fingers I staggered down the stairs and knocked back a mug of the good stuff - it hit the spot instantly and my caveman like stature soon changed to that of a man who was on his way dangling!
I grabbed the camera batteries which had been on charge overnight and jumped in the van pointing it towards Oxford, the journey passed in a blink of an eye and I was soon driving up the track towards the lake - however my keeness soon turned to dismay when I looked out of the van window to see the little lake absolutely rammed with anglers, I couldn't see a space anywhere!
Nethertheless I carried onto the hut and purchased my ticket determined that I would manage to wet a line! On my way back down to the lake I met my mate driving up towards the hut, he looked as shocked as I did - but agreed that we weren't going to waste a journey!
With both of our tickets purchased we loaded our barrows and made our way round the lake, we were 2/3 of the way round and still hadn't come across a free swim let alone 2! Eventually right at the far end of the lake we came across a small bay no more than 1/2 acre and it was separated to the rest of the lake by a small island - with only one swim in it and the only swim available on the lake we had no choice but to jump in there for the day and double up.
My mate noticed some fizzing down to the left of the swim so naturally he called for the left hand side of the swim, he had seen the signs so I said go for it!
With me taking command of the right hand side of the swim I stood and observed the water for a few minutes to see what I had to play with, the features were obvious - the island!
It didn't take me long to get two rods rigged up with 2oz inline leads, simple knotless knotted rigs of about 7 inches in length and a simple 15mm Odyssey XXX hookbait which was apple cored - I then simply made up a PVA bag the size of a tangerine with XXX chops nicked it onto the hook then flicked both rods towards the island margin with as little disturbance as I could.
I had just sat down and was about to fire up the coleman when the right hand rod signaled a stuttery take, I was on it in a flash and after a brief scrap I was pulling a nice low double common over the net cord whilst giggling saying to my mate "we're going to haul today!".
With the pictures done and the fish safely returned I rebaited the rod and got it back out on the spot that produced the take before sitting down and attempting to put the kettle on once again!
I had on just taken a sip out of the mug when my left hand rod signaled a take, once again I was on it in a flash - this fish was hell bent on getting away and scrapped like a demon, I was just getting the better of him when I felt that dreaded hookpull that we all fear - I threw the rod into the bushes behind me sat down and rolled a smoke and didn't speak for a good 10 minutes before eventually turning round to my mate and saying "Dude, that was a proper salmon" we both had a chuckle and I retrieved the rod from the bushes before once again rebaiting it with an apple cored XXX hookbait and chucking it back out on the spot.
After the lost fish the small bay seemed to die a sudden death, the hours passed and we hadn't seen a single show, not so much as a fart bubble but eventually about 5pm we began to see the odd show near my right hand rod.
Still the time passed by and the Neville hadn't made a sound then out of the blue one of mateys rods rattled off, we hadn't seen a single show on his side since the bubbling when we first walked into the swim!
The fish was landed, photographed and returned with no drama at all, we had just sat down again to drink our umpteenth brew of the day when my right hand rod finally signaled another take - I was on it before the Neville barely had a chance to make a noise, took control and had the small common in the net in less than a minute - Smithy 2 Carp 1!
After returning the little critter I got the rod back out on the spot knowing that I had to be packed up shortly and with more and more shows by the minute I was determined to bank another before calling it a day.
I was just about to throw in the towel when the left hand rod went into meltdown, the fish put up a great account of itself and I have to admit I was slightly shocked when I pulled it over the net cord to see a upper double looking back at me I was fully expecting to see something of slightly larger proportions but still I was chuffed to bits and after a few photographs I returned her to her home and then set about returning to mine.
After the bit of fun on the little lake I was keen to return to Raptor and put my wits against the big leviathans but try as I might the quick overnighter the following weekend proved fruitless and once again I left scratching my head.
On the way home I called into the Park Lake that I had fished on a few short day sessions the winter before, somehow I managed to drive out of the gate with a ticket in my hand, I had only gone for a walk but the lake full of myths managed to pull me back for a night!
A quick phone call to my media shy mate saw me meeting him down the lake a few nights later, after a quick walk round he too left with a new ticket in his hand - such is the draw of the stunning lake I think most people find it hard to resist, the only downside of course is the hoards of people walking round the lake during the daylight hours however when the darkness falls the lake takes on its own personality as we were soon to find out.
I normally fish Friday nights but I agreed with my mate I would fish the Saturday night with him for a bit of a social and just to get a feeling for the place, in all honesty I will only do a night or two on there this year but any information I could gather would come in handy for seasons to come.
I arrived down the lake early afternoon the following Saturday, it was packed full of sun seekers running around screaming and shouting -I even struggled to park the van, the overflow car park was bursting at the brim!
Eventually, with the van parked up I loaded the barrow and began a circut of the lake stopping in every swim and gazing across the water hoping that something would give the game away, the barrow journey seemed long and hard - not because of the distance involved on the contrary in fact the lovely gravel paths were a joy, it was the kids, dogs and push chairs that I had to dodge every few yards that made it a chore and when I say I was ecstatic when I had got round half the lake to a swim on the end of the wind I can assure you I'm not over exaggerating!
With the gear dumped at the back of the swim I grabbed a can of the coke from the rucksack, rolled a fag and sat on a old log and watched the water for a good 15 minutes. I couldn't be 100% certain but I thought I saw a couple of very subtle rolls at range, that however was enough for me and within a few minutes I had set up my right hand rod on a chod with an Odyssey XXX corkball pop up screwed onto the "D" and whacked it out the 130 or so yards to roughly where I had seen the suspected show - then the fun began, with the wind in my face I struggled to get any bait out at that range with the stick and after half an hour of trying I succumbed to the new blisters on my hand and told myself I had done the best I could.
The left hand rod was fished with a lead clip arrangement, and after a quick flick about it was apparent that the bottom was very clean so I tied up a 6 inch knotless knot rig with a bit of silicon on the bend of the shank and threaded an apple cored extra hard 15mm Odyssey XXX bottom bait onto the hair, a mesh bag of chops was nicked on the hook and this was then chucked out 80 yards in the same direction as to where the fish showed.
I couldn't help but the notice the amount of people stopping behind me and watching, I was almost getting stage fright so put the oval up facing into the wind,threw the bedchair underneath and went and hid - after several cups of coffee and a few smokes the constant background noise of screaming kids and screaming parents seemed to blur out and I began to feel in the zone.
As the last few rays of light shone over the horizon my mate appeared after just finishing and after a quick coffee and a natter he went and chucked out a couple of chods in a swim to my left that controlled a small bay.
He appeared 15 minutes later with his mug in his hand, we sat at the front of my swim with our legs hanging down the steep bank for the next few hour - we were in complete awe of the lake, we had 50 odd acres all to ourselves and if I am honest I think we were a bit overwhelmed by it all which I am sure sounds silly but you really had to be there to know what I mean.
By 9pm the lake was pitch back, our bank was surrounded by heavy foilage and a spooky atmosphere was created all around us, you literally couldn't see you hand in front of your face,I have never known anything like it - talk soon turned to the history of the lake and the roman village that was found whilst it was being dug years ago, we really weren't doing ourselves any favors!
Just before 11pm we were just finishing our last brew before calling it a night when we heard foot steps walking very slowly up the gravel path behind us, we looked over and couldn't see a thing - the footsteps paused right behind us for a few seconds then carried on and walked away into the distance, I could actually hear my own heart pounding out of my chest and that last brew - well that turned into 2 or 3 more!
It was gone midnight when we finally called it a night, my mate left for his swim so I sat on the edge of the bedchair and had one last smoke whilst gazing out over the lake.
When I did get in the bag it didn't take me long to drift off and just as I was about to head to a hotel room with Liz Hurley I became aware of the footsteps approaching once again, half awake I grabbed hold of the storm pole which was supporting my oval and said rather boldly "Come any closer and I will stick this right up your arse"...there was a pause, then thankfully the friendly voice of my mate replied asking if I had heard that fish show, I replied no then rolled over desperate to re enter the dream where I had left off but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
I awoke at first light and if I am honest I was quite pleased when I saw a couple of rather attractive joggers going up the path behind me, their skimpy support tops took all of the spookiness out of the session and made it a distant memory for me at least,my mate however had a different story.
After making myself a brew, I wandered the short distance down the lake and found him rocking like a nutter on the edge of his bedchair, after asking if he was ok he told me that he had heard the footsteps on the hour, every hour - each time at the same pace and stopping in the exact same spot behind his swim for the same amount of time before leaving, each time he shone his head torch in the direction and couldn't see a thing. Clearly spooked he asked if I had heard anything which I simply replied no mate, slept like a log!
Then to top off his wonderful night a pike angler dropped in the swim just to his left at first light and started casting live baits all over the place, 50 acres to choose from and he went next door - absolutely mental!
After some breakfast we were both stood in my swim looking out over the water enjoying the final brew of the session when a very big fish rolled about 160 yards out, not a million miles from my right hand rod - all thoughts of packing up vanished, I ended up staying 3 hours later than planned before eventually packing up just before 11am.
To be honest, despite the ghostly going ons I was very pleased just to have seen a definite show, the lake is over 50 acres and with a guestimated stock of 60 fish I managed to get my location right.....well for one fish at least!
After packing up we had a stroll around the rest of the park to see if we could see anything else, but other than a few joggers who were nearly falling out of their tops we didn't see a thing so left for home keen to return another day.
Until next time,
Smithy