Hailstones and Halibuts

Catfish Virgin (Still!) · #1 04-05-2008, 10:04 PM

I sneaked a few hours at Gold Valley today with the intention of fishing the pole on the inside. Weather was pretty good to start with but this time the forecasters got it right!

It got steadily colder and by mid afternoon I'd got a bit fed up with being pelted by hailstones some of which were bigger than the pellets I was using!

But the fishing was plenty good enough to sit there and see just how waterproof my suit was (pretty good as it turned out!

).

My plan of attack was based on feeding hemp and casters with a pole pot and then starting with single and double caster on an 18 and then, if the carp showed up, switch to 6ml soft pellet:

Although the weather was a bit of a downer, I did catch fairly regularly at 5mtrs out and 10mtrs to my right. Mainly roach, small perch and some decent roach/bream hybrids. I also managed several proper bream with the best one going a fraction over 4lb:

I should know by now that eventually the carp would show up! There I was quite happily landing a succession of roach and hybrids to about 1lb+ when I lifted into something all together different. That carp is probably still motoring towards Aldershot as it took the #8 elastic to its limit and kept going!

So I switched to a #14, still with an 18 but now armed with the 6ml soft hooker pellet. Straight away I lifted into a carp which finally slid into the net, it was about 7lbs. For the next hour or so I had several more carp with the biggest going 11lb+:

I lost a couple of carp as well but I reckon they were foulhooked as I couldn't control them too well. The pattern was quite distinct, get a few roach or bream and then all would go quiet and then hook a carp. They were clearly moving in and out of the area, all it needed to get the carp back was a pot full of hemp and caster and wait a few minutes, they were feeding that well!

During a break in the increasingly bad weather, I lifted into a very solid fish which just plodded around but would not come up in the water or anywhere near the net. Several times I added a pole section and then another, then got it back a bit only to add another section as the fish went looking for it's winter home! I had the full 13mtrs out there 3 separate times but eventually got it somewhere near the net. Big boiling tail patterns appeared as the fish cruised up and down the margin and I was begining to doubt if it would ever get within netting range. Then on one of its "passes", I managed to get most of it in my pan net! I dropped the pole and grabbed the net with both hands as the carp did its best to roll out. But it stayed there with the result that I had landed my biggest mirror carp from Syndicate Lake at 19lb 6oz and it was a fully scaled mirror to boot. It wasn't in pristine condition and perhaps on another day would have easily tipped the scales beyond "20", it's paddle like tail was big!:

I carried on fishing and did have a couple more carp and bream but then took advantage of a "bright" period to pack up and head for home. I just about got the gear into the car when the heavens opened up again with another deafening rattle of BIG hailstones!

Twiddler · #2 04-05-2008, 10:24 PM

Very well done Partner

....some cracking fish, specially caught on the pole and the 19+lber....well that is an awesome catch.

I will soon have to join you at GV, so you can teach me how to fish the pole for carp.