Wildies @ Witham

Jolly Piscator · #1 04-17-2011, 08:48 PM

Got a call from my friend Nick last Saturday afternoon asking if I wanted to join him at a local lake in Witham Friary . It was a lovely still afternoon and I couldn't think of a nicer way to relax than on the bank in the sun . All was good except Nick said the lake wasn't fishing well & he'd hardly had a fish all day . I wasn't put off though , I'd never visited the lake before and was keen to see what it was like . So a few bits of tackle were quickly grabbed & I was off .
Upon arriving what impressed me most was just how beautiful the lake was , much bigger than I expected at about 15 acres and set in lovely wooded countryside with nothing man made in site . It's the old Carp pond for the original friary And the wild carp are probably decendants of those stocked fish.
When I found Nick he said that although the day had been slow fish were starting to move , with a few carp cruising up in the water . And as if to prove the point he was soon into a nice little Tench. I threw a few bits of bread in while we chatted and soon some carp were showing some interest .
View from our swim .

I quickly tackled up with my favourite rod , a 12'6" splitcane barbel rod which prove to be perfect for fishing floating crust to hard fighting carp. After about half an hour of the fish feeding everywhere but where my bait was I finally got a bite and was into a serious tussle with a good fish , but the hook held & I was using strong tackle so soon got the upper hand . The result this lovely wild carp easily over 7 lb on the bank .

Shortly after that Nick got a call & with family matters pressing reluctantly had to leave . It was still light so I fished on , occasionally switching to freelined worm , which was repeatly scoffed by something too rude or canny to introduce it's self . I did manage one more carp off the top before dark , a bit smaller at about 4 lb but also in fine condition.
So a great evening session on a beautiful new venue catching my favourite strain of Carp on my favourite rod . I lingered a while soaking up the atmosphere & enjoying the sunset .