T.H.P.C: Part Six: A Great Days Work.

 As Spring slowly gathers pace towards some slightly more consistent temperatures my sessions will increase in regulatory. This is usually planned using a few little pieces of technology that we all have at our fingertips. I use WeatherNow which is an up to the minute mapping of cloud, rain and storms. Also a quick look at the pressure (Barometric) to get a rough gauge as to where I may have the best chance at finding carp.

 I know some anglers who swear by these indicators to improve chances of catching, but others are a little more chuck and chance about their approaches. Both in opinion funnily enough do work, on their day! There's many times that I've not looked at more than the forecast to find out, "Is it sunny or not?" and "How strong is the wind". These two simply because I try to stalk all of my carp, if at all possible.

 The outcome of such trips can often have chequered results which is understandable. So having done  very little by the way of preparation I set off early doors, long before the dawn chorus filled the cool misty air.

 By the time the sun broke the horizon I was already prepared for what the day may swing my way. The heat could be felt very early on as I was set to endure a scorcher of a day, the mercury set to hit 28c.....with plenty of stalking/walking planned it was going to be a grueller. I knew where I wanted to fish so that was the easy part taken care of. Just catching was all that was left.

 Thankfully stalking carp in the sunlight with very little wind is always a bit easier, as long as the carp are playing ball. Within fifteen minutes of casting out a chunky common cruised into a small bay that was gravel lined and a shallow fringe of reeds to my left. As the carp came closer she cruised really close to the reeds, just brushing them as she passed. As my target slowly cruised away to the edge of the bay she double backed and again, slowly drifted to within twenty feet of my position, where I was crouched down on my haunches to maintain a low profile. Knowing exactly where the carp was made it easy to cast a bait. My bait of choice for the day was a loaf of the finest money can buy.

 My cast was precise and I eased my hook bait slowly back to the feeding position, as my flake slowly wafted through the water column my heartbeat began to increase, twenty seconds later it went through the roof as the cast and winching back into position was superbly executed and the carp made had clearly made up its mind as she turned full circle after seeing it fall to the bottom to suck it up. My Nash Dwarf "Abbreviated 9ft 2.75tc rod slammed over and a healthy bend confirmed what I already knew! It was a good fish. The fight was pretty spectacular as numerous powerful runs were met with long heavy sulks before finding that "second wind" and powering off again.

 My net was readied as my prize looked destined to surrender and I wasn't wrong, with a wide back it looked dead set to be a mid-twenty. Happy days....new water and a mid twenty in 20 minutes!

 At 23lb 7ozs I was made up, I didn't think I would be rewarded so swiftly. However, when it all clicks into place the limits are endless.

Just a little happy with that!

 My morning was not even half an hour old, the sun was still trying its best to get just a few degrees over the horizon before my duck was broken and I set off again looking to add to that lovely common. A few fish were showing but most at distance. For me the real buzz is being close quarters, I absolutely love it, sometimes I am fishing a lump of flake just 3ft off the bank and thats just how I managed to bank my next pearler!

 Many anglers aim for the far bank, or sometimes even the car park in the next complex! but that really isn't necessary as some of the countries best carp anglers will tell you. I'm not one of the best of course not, but I will certainly reiterate that ignoring the margins is only putting you at a disadvantage. For me, I would comfortably say that 40-50% of all the carp I have ever landed (that's a hell of a lot, well into the thousands with hundreds of them being 20's and 30's upwards of 36lbs).

 Roughly an hour passed before a feeding fish was located within freelined flake distance. A small plume of sediment was wafted into the upper layers of the water column in the margins thus hiding the culprit, it took me a good 4 or 5 minutes to finally catch a glimpse of what it was, then a stunning linear mirror appeared, roughly 25lbs and it was having a right grub up for breakfast, so I obliged by offering it some more food, only problem for the carp was, I was attached!!!

 The levering of the bait again was absolutely flawless the carp, never had an inkling it was being hunted, with a small pluck on the line I could feel its barbules touch the line, but the time between that and the flake vanishing down its gob was too short for it to realise its wrong move. That small plume of sediment turned into an enormous cloud as hell broke lose. My Shimano bait runner paid out line at such at rate I began to wonder if I could stop it! Such was the power a loaded spool began to look rather threadbare...I had to put the breaks on it though before I risked losing the fish to a snag or something worse. 

 Minutes passed before I really began to gain the upper hand and for what seemed like a great fight she came in on a 60 yard charge to give up right before the net, if I could only get it in! On the third attempt I thankfully managed it. Boom!

24lb 4oz Linear Mirror.

 The morning was turning out to be pretty great. I spent the remaining hour or so looking for more carp, but they became fairly difficult to pursue so I pressed on with the next part of my trip, a brisk walk was embarked upon as I look to make good of the favourable stalking conditions.

 No sooner did I arrive at my second destination I was greeted with the same spectacle as on the previous water. As marauding carp littered the surface I was led into the stalkers dreamland once again, numerous fish of varying sizes displaying themselves as if it were a pick'n'mix sweet stand. I simply couldn't chose which one to go at, that was until I noticed a stunning mirror carp sandwiched amongst a group of commons. This mirror was not a big fish but when it sucked my crust in, before all the hungry commons got there did I realise just how stunning it was. Wild & Urban, Immaculate, Pristine....and whatever other superlatives you could conjure up, make your own mind up.

Insert Caption!!!!!

 Yes, that mirror wasn't big, it wasn't weighed either, when they look this good, a simple photo and admiration for what nature can fashion is all that was required, then with one powerful stroke of the paddle, she was gone, maybe to not be seen again for a very long time.

 My day was made, I had had a great morning, but with such good conditions I had to make the most of it. I spent the remaining 5-6 hours parading around for more opportunities but these were quite difficult to find. Plenty of carp were making their way around the waters, their intentions though seemed to be swaying to the more social side of their lives, the warming waters was obviously having an affect on how they were behaving. Seeing this activity I left the carp on those particular waters and headed back for the deep dock where I caught my scaley mirror.

 Again, opportunities seemed to be few and far between. Possibly twenty minutes of arriving back two nice commons showed themselves in the upper layers of the water, these were feeding and not within a minute of angling my bait into position I was in once again. A chunky common powered off into the depths of the dock, using all of its might to avoid capture early on she gave up fairly easily and behaved for a couple of snaps in the blaring sun, 30 seconds and it was back in the water. 

13.12

 The release of that common pulled the curtain down on the day, a great day had and one to remember. Very pleased with that indeed. It was an effort too, in the boiling heat of the high sun my stamina was called upon but I came through it unscathed and another 20+miles added to my body clock!