Well since my last post I certainly have been a busy chap! I’ve been flitting about here there and everywhere but have finally settled down again and looking forward to a fresh start.

I had a night back on that “special pit” and although I have no fishy activity to speak of I can certainly tell you the session was far from dull, the force 10 gale sorted that out and I spent most of the session hanging on to the bivvy!

After I left I had a venture round a water that I had known about for a long time and had walked its banks countless times during the summer months, I won’t name the water but for the purposes of this blog I shall call it “Snag Pit”, but what I will say is that it is simply stunning and has every feature a carp angler would want!

It was only when I spoke to Pete about it as a possible target venue that the juices got flowing once more, my mind was made up!

I decided to have a few last visits to Island in hope of landing the big girl in all of her winter glory but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be, I did manage a few doubles though whilst other struggled to get a touch so it was nice to get a take or two after a long winter.

I left Island knowing it would probably be my last visit. I have had some great times on there and made some lifelong friends but I am looking forward to starting afresh.

That pretty much brings us up to now, I’ve spent most of this afternoon down the new water having a good lead about and trickled in a bit of bait too. I even managed to find a few fish hiding in the snags exactly where I expected them to be. So this evening shall be spent sorting out the gear and tying some fresh rigs before heading down there tomorrow morning for a quick over nighter. It’s a far from easy water but the creatures it holds are absolutely stunning and it will certainly be worth all the hard graft that I am going to need to put in should I be fortunate enough to land one……

Until next time,

Smithy

Unfortunately on arrival at the syndicate Monday morning I was greeted by Heron & Island being completely frozen!

I stuck around for a while and had a smoke in the car park whilst watching the sun rise before heading off to get a few jobs done.

I had Tuesday off and got a few things done at home, but by the evening I was staring out of the window at the ever strengthening wind, chomping at the bit to get back on the bank.

So with the van still loaded from Monday I shot down the lake yesterday morning like a man possessed! I helped the fishery manager do a few jobs around the lake before getting the rods out at about 4pm. The conditions couldn’t have looked better and I was full of confidence, that first brew of the session really did taste good!

As usual Pete came down after work for what seems now like an everyday occurrence of a social and a Chinese (not that I am complaining!), he commented before leaving that he was fully expecting a text with news of a fish.

After Pete had left at about 10pm I got straight into the bag exhausted from a hard days graft around the lake and it didn’t take me long to nod off. I awoke at 6:30am to the alarm on the my Blackberry and immediately fired up the coleman and rolled a smoke, I peered out of the bivvy door, it still looked spot on but time was running out as I had to be packed away by 9am. I must have had 4 or 5 coffees in quick succession all the while not taking my eyes off the water then at 7:40am it happened, a stuttery take woke me from my daze…….I looked for coot or swan but couldn’t see any, “it can’t be a fish can it?” I thought, then reality hit and I lifted into the culprit! It was a pretty uneventful fight to be honest, other than it taking me into a weed bed 30 yards out but with a bit of persuasion I soon had it wallowing over the net cord before being safely netted. I let out a quiet cheer just to myself (well it has been a long hard winter) before inspecting my prize. It certainly wasn’t one of the lumps I was hoping for but was an absolutely stunning little common.

Now normally I would have just slipped it back but seeing it was a little gem I secured it in the net in the margin and then went and got Craig from a few swims up to take a few pictures for me before safely returning her to her watery home.

I didn’t recast the rod in fear of spooking anything in the area for the remaining hour of the session so had a celebratory coffee and a smoke or two before slowly packing up and heading home.

Which bring us to now, the kit has been sorted and food stocks replenished, so tomorrow lunch time I shall be heading to a another very special water for the night that I spent some time on a few years ago, I can’t wait to grace it’s banks again and look forward to pitting my wits against its mystical resident’s………

Until next time,

Smithy

It seems like ages ago since I last posted, I left off last time looking back on the highs and lows of 2010 and looking forward to the year ahead.

Like every other Carper in the country as soon as the lakes had thawed, the van was loaded in a blink of an eye and I headed off to Heron to continue my quest for “Rudder”, unfortunately all I got was frost bite but it was nice to be back behind the rods for a few nights, it was the first time I had managed to relax since before Christmas!

A few days later I headed round the M25 Kent bound to have a “Guesty” on my mates Southern Syndicate, the conditions were the best we could have hoped for still being the middle of January but unfortunately nothing materialised, although it was great to have a catch up not to mention a curry of a lifetime……the sleeping bag was warm that night! I struggled to pack up the following morning, I really didn’t want to leave the stunning venue! I couldn’t help but look on in awe at pictures of its prized resident in the club house before departing! I must have only been home 10 minutes before I had emailed the owner with my application!

Talking about Kent, Paul showed me a new bait which has been developed over the last couple of years named “Ninja Nut”, the aroma the bait gives off is phenomenal and the make-up of the bait is equally impressive! Certainly one to keep an eye on that’s for sure, it’s taken some rock hard waters in the Colne Valley apart during testing! I know what I shall be filling my freezer with this coming season!

Following my trip down South I was keen to get back behind the rods on Heron again and I did at the first opportunity……although again to no avail. Heron isn’t an easy water at the best of times and in the winter it can’t be described as anything else other than a ball breaker! As of today (30/1/2011) it hasn’t produced a fish since the end of November 2010, the first fish of the year last year wasn’t until the 2nd week of February and I remember that well because I landed it on Brownies rods whilst he was answering the “call of nature” and what did it happen to be you ask? None other than his target fish “The Long Mirror” at 35 lb+!

And that brings us up to this week! Well for the third New Year running I have been laid off from work – the joys of living in Modern Britain! Although it wasn’t a shock, I kind of saw it coming when they were unscrewing light bulbs and turning the heating off to save money! So to clear my head a bit I headed off down Island yesterday for the night, I had the rods out by dusk and fired up the coleman for the first brew of the session…….I don’t know why but I always forget about my troubles at this point of the session. Shortly after Pete turned up for a Chinese which as always was absolutely fantastic, the cold really set in at about 9pm and the margins started to freeze rapidly! Pete left shortly after 10pm so I jumped in the bag to get some warmth!

When I awoke this morning as always the coleman was lit and the kettle was on before I even got out of the bag, I gave it until 8:30am before reeling in and getting a few jobs done round the lake which took most of the Day. It was getting dark as I packed up but before leaving I had a good chat with Yoda as I hadn’t seen him since the autumn, he was filling me in on all the happenings over on the Mill.

And that was that, I loaded the van and pointed it in the direction of home, which brings us up to now. I’ve got another night or two planned on island for Monday so with a bit of luck I shall report back with news of a winter whacker!

Until then,

Smithy