So here I am once more at this tiny little backwater (not in the literal sense. Or maybe it is? Who knows!) with my carp gear and sandwiches (see previous blog on
Pond with no name for more background info). The pool still looks overgrown and idyllic, the car parking is still dangerous for non 4x4s, and the cost is still a fiver. The only new thing this season is a couple more cleared spots on the bank that can serve as pegs, and it was to one of these, at the less attractive end of the pool, that I was drawn.
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The view from the bin zone. Not the nicest niff, but great
access to a remote island in the Atlantic. Notice the now
defunct cattle enclosure on the right, thankfully devoid
of defunct cattle! |
It was an area situated right next the one and only dustbin on the site (nice smell of old meat) so not the sort of place you'd bring the wife or fiancee, but for me it looked ideal because it was opposite a small shaggy Island that spewed forth a couple of nicely overhanging trees. Its near to an area that I have had some success before but the newly cleared zone gave me a little more direct access to the spot of water that I wanted.
There are quite a lot of fish in this pool and I think a lot of them are wild. I decided I was going to hunt out a few of the big ones so I set myself up with a hair-rigged strawberry boilie that looked nice enough to have on a sandwich. I took my time to cast just in front of the trees, without, thankfully, the heartache and embarrassment of getting stuck in them. I employed a technique known world wide as the underarm plop (What? You've never heard of it? Where have you been?) to place my strawberry delight right on the button.
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Carp a la strawberry delight. Notice the well organised
set up of the Riviera Kid. As tidy as his bedroom. |
Now throughout the whole day, I only caught three fish. The first, a smallish bream who had an amazing talent for filling his mouth beyond all reason with boilie. The second was a fantastic looking common carp weighing in at 6.5lbs. Beautiful in colour and flawless in its sheen, I was quite convinced that I'd reached the peak of my day. A call along the bank to a fellow angler and he very kindly took a piccy (through gritted jealous teeth no doubt!)
Satisfied, I planned to take another hour or two to wallow in the great fish that I had just nabbed. The clouds around started to darken a little and the other three anglers all decide to call it a day and pack up, so I was starting to get the desire for chicken curry and a nice frosted can of Guinness myself. Just a few more casts. And boy am I glad that I hung on.
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Wow, a giant torpedo of a carp. The yellow object that you
can see in the picture is actually a two-person kayak, just
to give you some idea of the size! |
Do you recall that memorable scene from jaws when Robert Shaw is sitting around eating a cheesy cracker and the reel on his gear starts to gently click round a few notches. Everything goes quiet and just as he straps himself in to his reinforced seat, the fish takes off an the reel screams like a formula one engine and the rod bends like a grass stalk. Well, guess what, the same thing happened here. A few short clicks of the bait runner reel, I brace myself in my reinforced camping chair and suddenly the reel takes off, nearly taking me and the rod with it. After a good ten minute struggle and unheard cries of 'We're gonna need a bigger boat!' I managed to land the most glorious looking 14lb common carp. A personal record and wouldn't you know it, no one there to share in the victory or sigh the chitty. I had to photograph it on the unhooking mat but it was the fittest, sleekest, most muscular carp that I have ever caught. I even thought for a short while that it might be a grass carp as it was so long and slender but on reflection, the snout was not upturned enough.
Anyway, with it safely returned, I did depart, happy, for a well deserved curry and glass of the dark stuff. Happy days
Riviera Kid
