13/09/09 - Fishponds

Weight – 335lb 5oz
Catch – 44 Carp, 2 Bream
Weather – Sunny & warm, but cool NE breeze
Water Temp– 18.0c > 18.0c

If only everything else was going as well as my fishing! And yes I had 335lb. I thought 300lb would be a possible, but had considered the opportunity to had passed until next summer.

I had made a late decision to go fishing today and I thought it may be the last opportunity to fish paste before autumn arrives. I settled on peg 3 and decided on 3 swims, LH margin a few metres away from the reeds. 9m to my right fishing at the bottom of the shelf and the final swim would be shallow at 13m.

When I arrived I wasn’t sure what to except and to be honest I would have been happy with 100lb, however after an hour I had 12 carp for 88lb from my RH swim, at which point I thought 300lb may be on the cards.

I briefly tried the shallow swim and caught 3 carp, but they weren’t coming as quickly as on the paste. So after 2hrs, I decided to concentrate on the paste. Initially all my fish came from the RH swim, whilst the LH swim was only producing odd fish, but as the session progressed the LH swim got stronger, producing the biggest carp of the session at 13lb 5oz.

I could have continued for another hour, but that would have meant re-tying a trashed rig, plus my left shoulder was feeling the strain. It’s never been right since a car accident 2 years ago.

1st hr = 88lb
2nd hr = 141lb (53lb)
3rd hr = 200lb (59lb)
4th hr = 250lb (50lb)
5th hr = 335lb (85lb)

So another PB. It’s been an awesome summer for big weights, this being my 5th weight over 200lb in the last 3 months. Not sure why I have done so well recently? Suzanne reckons I have just relaxed and in some ways she is probably right. Also, because money has been a bit tight, it’s meant keeping a simple approach and a simple bait tray.

I got a call from Mick Duckett this afternoon (Monday) asking whether I wanted to fish his Lands End Winter League. The answer was yes, but during our chat Mike explained how he has been struggling during these difficult times. With the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in America this week, the last 12 months certainly has been difficult. Things will improve and at some point in the future there will be another recession, because that’s part of the cycle, but hopefully lessons will be learnt so the next time it wont be as hard as now.