not the trip we expected

[baitmaster]

well we arranged a zed session with Dan (Norfolk boy ) and Richard (fishing forum admin ) for yesterday night and we were all well up for it .
so after all arrangements were made i made sure all gear was in order and although the weather was looking like being pants i had a good back up plan for us all to fish with relative comfort if my first choice venue was going to be out due to the weather .
i loaded the car early and picked Dan up and brought him to mine so it was easier and meant when Richard got here he could have a rest after his journey .
we sat and waited then i got a call from Richard and he explained due to a accident he had been stuck in traffic and had no chance of getting out for a couple of more hours and the difficult decision was made and sadly Richard was not going to continue over to us .
i explain this to Dan and we were bother disappointed but theirs always other chances so hopefully we can get together for a zed session soon .
we can now only wonder how good it would have been but i know it would have definitely been a scream .
so me and Dan set off a bit subdued with the fact richard was not going to be here but still felt confident.
we were soon on the fens and after a good meal at the little chef we went of to the drain in question to find it more than fishable.
the rain had even stopped and the wind was down to a light breezes
i made the choices where we were going to set up and soon we were sitting down enjoying the late afternoon with the first of many coffee,s
soon darkness fell upon us and we were well confident and the baits were working well and i had set one rod off to my right as a sleeper rod with a dead bait on it and this was placed down the inside slope and just left to itself in the hope of snaring a zed working the inside slope.
i had another tight to a reed bed on a paternoster and a simple ledger set up just off the slope in front of me .
Dan was set up similar to me and also had one on a fresh dead bait .
we talked at length of what we were hoping was going to happen and it was getting around 5pm and Dan had a massive dropped back and picked up the rod and wound down only to missed what ever had investigated his bait .
it stayed quiet for the next hour but we were confident when my left hand rod started to get very agitated and soon it was had by something and the bobbin started to rise steaderly i struck and the rod bent over and i short battle insured and Dan done the honours with the next it was unhooked in no time and soon Dan had done some pics of this 8lb 8oz zed

i soon had the rod back along the reed bed and we sat back and waited for further action from the zander but nothing at 8pm thoughts were starting to wonder and i told Dan that he was going to get a run at 8.35pm .
we had another coffee then Dans right hand rod twitched and i said better go investigate that as we walked over to it is snatch up a bout three inches then stopped and then just went all the way up Dan struck straight away and soon his rod bent over and was into a zed it soon was shaking its head angrily on the surface and it looked a good zed i did the honours and had it netted i unhooked it quickly and told Dan it look like a new personal best but we better check it and sure enough it went 7lb 10oz
soon we had a few pics of the battle scarred warrior .

(well done Dan ) oh and Dan you caught it at 8.37pm .
Dan was well happy and we both had now caught so we could now fully relax now .
we fished on and it was very quiet indeed and i for one expected further action and was trying to think why it was being so slow although the conditions were very good .
at around 10.30 we turned inas it was so quiet and i must have been tired as i fell asleep very quick only to wake and here my sleeper rod bleeping away i was soon out to the rod and was trying to play the fish around the reeds i had cast over but it was making life difficult for me as it did not want to play ball and i struggled to get it round
soon Dan appeared and he extended my landing net to the full length and stretched over to try and net it and he only just managed to and we soon had it on the unhooking mat .
Dan again took the pics and weighed it at 9lb

i soon had the fish back in the water and recast the rod along the inside slope and we retired back to the bivvies nothing more happened over the rest of the night and in the morning over a early morning coffee we started to pack our gear away and Dan was then rewarded with a pike of around 8lb and i too had a pike of 4lb .
then Dan had another take and on striking he snapped up and he felt guilty about leaving hooks in a fish something no predator angler likes to do but it does happen.
we had all the gear apart from the rod packed away and we were hoping for a last run and sure enough i got a take and i was soon on only to find i had missed it but i did catch something it was the rig Dan had lost twenty minute earlier so Dan felt a lot happier now as we got the trace back with that we pack the rest of the rods and set off home happy zedders

tightlines
Kevin

[Charter Skipper]

Well done Kev and Dan,cracking report and pics as always .....

[perch_king]

well done guys great report and pics you jammy gits

[keana]

What a session Kevin. I`ve never taken much notice of game fishing before but I have to say it looks a blast. Well done and what lovely looking fish too. Shame Richard couldnt make it. Sods law that you should have a session like that and he cant get there eh?

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Still in a mood that I did not make it , but the great report and zanders have cheered me up now

[pingu]

great report and pics there
some nice fish and a pb too dan cant be bad

nice too see you left the 15lber in still for richard

[Rob M]

Well done lads, sounds like a good session. Great read, great pics and you both look happy with your catches

Cheers
Rob

[Twiddler]

Brilliant report/pics as ever, well done Kev and Dan.....some cracking looking zed there.

Shame Richard didn't make it.....good excuse to arrange another meeting though

[Norfolkboy]

Well, I was always seem to attract the uglies.

I wasn't disappointed yesterday when I had a zed in the not the best of condition. Kev thought he'd recognized it as a fish he had caught previously due to a.....unique fin.

The session was very enjoyable, but I was never 100% happy due to Richard not being able to come.

Still, we set off anyway and had a bloody good breakfast/lunch to keep us going from the Little Chef and made our way down.

The weather forecast was wrong (what a surprise) and it was actually quite nice when we were about to set up. Light wind and the rain had stopped.

By the time all the gear was sorted, we'd cast the rods out and were sitting down with a coffee my confidence was brimming and was expecting a bumper session.

It started well too, with a couple of early indications and a missed run.

Kev then had his zed which looked bigger than 8lb 8oz in the water and we both thought it may go a high 9, but it was still a cracking start.

Things went a little quiet after that and it was a relief to finally get 1 on the bank so I could relax a little more, a new PB too, so I was well chuffed!

The cloud had unfortunately cleared out, but there wasn't a big moon, so whether it made any difference to the fishing or not, I'm not sure, however it did seem to slow up a bit.

Got to sleep for a little while when I thought I heard when of Kev's alarms, had a look out the bivvy and saw a headlight looking in my direction, so thought I'd go investigate.

It was a cracking fish, which looked bigger, but still an nice size.

Back in to bed and I couldn't really sleep, it hadn't gotten rather cold and I just couldn't settle.

Got up around 4am and decided to get fresh baits on all my rods, so with them re-cast I sat in my chair for around 30 minutes, before twitching them all and then going back to bed as there was a biting wind.

Had a nice pike of 8lb early hours...well I say nice, it was again a pretty ugly fish which had been in the wars, but very welcome.

That was pretty much it apart from a few more runs and the odd jack banked.

I really enjoyed it despite Richard not being able to fish with us, and a new PB is always nice!

[Rob M]

Great report Dan, and well done on the Zander and Pike mate!

Rob