Thursday, a day to remember

So this is it, the last full session for my May trip, Dave and I had discussed where to fish the night before and decided on the Pontoon swim, mainly because a) it had been seriously baited for a couple of weeks b) it is a known swim for producing big fish and c) it is next to the restaurant where they serve big breakfasts and loads of coffee. I arrived at approx 5.30am and Dave was already there and after spodding out plenty of particles we sat back and waited. After about an hour there were fish crashing out all over but the going was slow, so slow that by 4pm we had only caught 4 fish between us but as we had been working hard all day putting the bait out, we decided to fish on for a couple more hours…………..what a great decision that was, despite the fact that all fish activity on the surface had now stopped, the fish went on the feed and during the next 3 hours we added another 13 fish. It was during this period that the moment I had waited for over the last four years finally arrived, the take was slower than normal and the fish held station just taking line as and when it pleased. It took probably ten minutes before I saw the fish and as it came to the net I saw the biggest fish I had ever caught in my life. Safely in the net I lifted it out of the water and Dave confirmed it was a big fish, I could hardly bear to look at the scales as they registered 32lbs on the dot (photo above), needless to say I was ecstatic and looking at the fish it was so beautiful with absolutely no sign of spawning. A quick call to Jeff to let him know, a shake of Daves’ hand and a couple of photos and she was safely released. I cast out again and within 5 minutes was into a 23.5, not bad for 2 runs. We finished the session with 17 fish………a 32, 2 x 20’s and all the rest big doubles on a great day shared with a great mate in a great place, what could be better.

Wednesday

And just to prove how frustrating this carp fishing can be, Dave fished Tuesdays swim again and struggled compared to the day before, although he did manage a 20 and 5 doubles in his 7 fish catch. Me, I had a nightmare, the first area I went to was unfishable due to floating weed ripped up be the spawning carp, I then moved and had the same problem but worse, until finally I joined Dave but only ended the day with 2 fish although one was a 23.

Tuesday

I didn't fish today as I had some work to do at the house, Dave fished a swim which can be very productive with flowing water ideal during this hot spell. In total he had 29 fish including 4 x 20's and 2 x 19's making this the best session of the holiday. Strangely at around 7pm when the sun had finally gone down and the conditions seemed perfect...................the fish stopped feeding.

Monday

Fished one of the more productive swims today but it did not produce, only 1 fish for me, Dave managed 7 mostly doubles. The weather is now hot, hot, hot and the fishing is hard. It just goes to show that even with so many fish in the system, nature rules.

Sunday

We returned to the swim I had fished on Thursday. It is fast becoming evident that early morning and evening are the best times as the heat during the day is putting the fish down. The weather now is more like summer than spring. Sure enough the fish are now spawning and the sights in the bays are something you have to see to believe with thousands of carp crashing about in the shallow water. We managed 11 fish between us with Dave getting the majority plus the biggest fish of 26lbs. It looks like it may well be tough going for the rest of the holiday but hey......that's fishing.

Saturday

Today we fished a swim at one of the bridges, Dave was getting liners from the start and managed a total of seven fish with the best going 24lbs-6ozs. I had a bad one with only 2 fish. The east wind continues to make things difficult and the hot weather could encourage the fish to start spawning. The next few days will tell.

Friday

Dave has arrived and we made an early start. When I got to the swim Dave was already there and all looked good but it didn't work out that way though as the wind had swung round to the east and along with the really hot day we only managed four fish between us to 21lbs.

Thursday

Best day up to now, caught the first fish at 7.45am and by 12 noon had 11 including 3 x 20's and 2 x 19's. Left at lunchtime to do some work at the house, fished the same swim on the evening and had another 4 fish in a couple of hours................weather is really starting to warm up.

Slow Going

Fished tuesday but only managed 6 fish, although the number of fish starting to show are increasing day by day. The water temps are now just above 60 degrees and the place should catch fire anytime soon although with the air temps pushing 80 we will need some wind please. It is noticeable that the bites are more savage now as the fish wake up and not all fiah are small, just look at this one Colin caught with his first cast ......all 31-4 of it. My mate Wazzy arrives today so we will be up and at em from Friday. Me, well I'll be out first light in my persuit of the elusive 30 pounder.

Not all a bed of roses

Went down to Long Sault early this morning (Monday), on arrival the wind was pushing straight into the bank and I saw a couple of fish show on my walk down to the swim. One fish caught and one lost in the first ten mintes made me think it was going to be a good day. After about an hour Colin arrived with Lee, the guest of CCC, he had been fishing another swim when a couple of EE's appeared, yes they're here too. Despite there not being enough room for them they pushed their way into his swim and on catching a carp........promply bumped it on the head and deposited it in a bin liner. Utterly and not surprisingly disgusted by the whole episode Lee packed up and Colin came for him, after giving them a piece of his mind, he brought Lee to my swim.
Being the gentleman that I am, I made room for Lee and for the next 4 hours I took on the role of ghillie as he totally outfished me. No problem there, it was his last day before flying home later this afternoon......hope you had a pleasant trip mate.

Short, but nice and sweet

Sunday I spent most of the day pottering about the house and the garden, the weather is getting better every day and today the temp reached 20 degrees and sunny. I Went for a few hours fishing late afternoon and in 3 hours banked a 12, 17 and a 23 which looked and fought like a 30, not bad for a short session. I put half a bucket of corn in before I left ready for the morning. With the temperatures set to increase on a daily basis here's hoping the wind blows as well.

A laugh and a joke and fish to boot

On Saturday I spent the day fishing with Lee who is the guest staying with Jeff and Marion. We fished a swim that is barely 4ft deep yet it can be full of carp without them giving themselves away. During the course of the day we had plenty of liners as you would expect but we only managed 7 fish between us with the best going just over 20 lbs. Lee is a great lad and a good angler despite coming from Nottingham ( we have to live somewhere) and we both had a great day with plenty of laughs, at the end of the day aint this what fishing should be all about.

Frustrating day in paradise

Fished friday, it was a frustrating day as you would pick up a few fish, then it would go dead, then a few fish and so it continued. Packed up at 5pm, best fish 21 lbs. Jeff brought a father and son down so I let him fish the swim I was in, the lad had never caught a carp before..........................he has now

Out with friends

Marion and Jeff invited me to a barbeque tonight (thursday) at their motel along with Colin, Jason and their angling guest Lee, what can I say, great food including a lovely steak cooked by Jeff and smashing company.....what more could you ask for, thanks again guys. Off to bed now as its an early start tomorrow

Fishing the Polaris Float

Over the last week, with the water and air temps being well below the average for the time of year fishing has been hard............fishing the lead was a waste of time due to the fact that bites were so finicky. The carp here are crazy fish and fight all the way to the net, this week however whilst fishing the Polaris the bites had to be seen to be believed. I watched today as my float dipped but didn't go under, went under but no fish there, I could have been back in Ireland catching those dog roach, but no, this was carp fishing, but different to anything I had witnessed before. If I had been fishing the lead, there is no way I could have seen those bites, talking to Jeff he said that the Polaris regularly out performs any other method and I can understand why, plus that fact that personally I find it a far more pleasurable way of fishing. No doubt when the temps increase the fish will feed harder, but until then give me the float any time.

It just gets better for the Canadiens

Having scraped into the Stanley Cup playoffs by the skin of their teeth, then dumping out the favourites Washington 4-3 in the best of seven series, they did it again tonght by seeing of the defending champions Pittsburg Penguins 5-2 to take the series 4-3 in Pittsburg, all that stands between them and the Stanley Cup final is a confernce final against either Boston or Philedelphia. To put it into perspective it's like Burnley beating Chelsea and Man Utd in best of seven games each.

Warming Up

The weather is finally getting warmer, fished the same swim as Tuesday and caught 10 fish, best going 19lbs but all the fish were doubles. Packed up at 3pm and headed home. Temps are set to go into the 20's by the weekend, you can already sense that the fish are moving around more and every day there is more activity on the surface.

PB on the Polaris

Fished on Tuesday and managed a new pb on the polaris float of 26.1/4 lbs, cold NE winds ensured that the going was tough so needless to say I was well pleased

Just the one

Went out for a few hours this afternoon (Monday), over the weekend the weather has been crap with snow flurries on Sunday, consequently the water temp had dropped by an incredible 10 degrees in three days so to say I was not very optomistic is an understatement. Nevertheless I managed a nice well conditioned 23 and went home happy. Evidently the weather is set to get warmer from now on so the fishing should improve. The fish here are no different to those back home, there may be more of them but if the conditions are hard then so is the fishing.

Up the Creek - no paddle required

Whilst talking to Jeff, owner of the Canadian Carp Club on thursday evening, he mentioned that he was going to fish his favourite swim on friday morning to see how it performed, he asked me if I would lke to take over from him at 11.30 as he had some business to take care of, we left it that he would ring me friday morning to let me know how he was doing. Jeff rang at 9.45am friday to say he had caught six and lost a couple so I packed my gear into the car and arrived at the swim by 11am. By this time he had caught 12 and netted another as he was packing up mainly mid doubles but two 26's, I took over and by 6pm had caught a further 12 and lost 4, best fish was 17.5 half of them doubles. Best thing was that all the fish were caught on the polaris float and although the fish were on the small size, the sport was great.
So in total 25 fish came out, over half were doubles, two best were 26 and in reality this was a slow day, you gotta love this canadian carping.
Today the weather is bad, NE winds and rain so its around the house for me and tomrrow doesn't look much better but next week should improve.

Off the mark

Went out for a couple of hours on Wednesday with the waggler, although there were a few fish showing I didn't manage to connect with one. On Thursday however I did manage to land a well conditioned 24 and a 14 in between the thunder showers and gale force winds. Not far away a guy was taken to hospital having been working on a house which was struck by lightning, the owners had only moved into their brand new home 3 weeks ago, makes you think it does. In the ice hockey Montreal Canadiens came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 tonight against the Penguins and level the best of seven series 2-2.......the Stanley Cup dream lives on and goes to Pittsburg on Saturday.

Oh Dear

Woke up at 7am Monday, its raining. Finally got away at 10am and was in the swim by 12 noon. put out 20 spods of bait and cast in at 1pm. By the time I packed away at 6pm I had 1 liner and saw one fish show well out. I tried different baits, fished the lead and the float all to no avail, the fish simply were not there, never mind as they say tomorrow's another day (or maybe Wednesday).
Talking to Jeff and Colin consensus seems to be that very shortly the place will catch fire, another few degrees in the water temp and we will be off.

Feeding Time again

Went back out in the boat this afternoon, checked around the marker, all the corn from the day before had gone , put out another bucket in the same area and just got back before a thunderstorm hit, it is still going on as I write.

Preparation day 1

Friday, the first day....got the boat ready, put the motor on and gave it a test. Thankfully it started first time so I then went down to the corn supplier and purchased two 40kgs sacks of maize, started to soak the first sack ready for the prebait and I already had some in the freezer which had been thawed out ready.
The swim I had in mind was one we had been over before when we had the big boat, on arrival the fishfinder showed 9ft at around 50 yds gradually shelving up towards the bank, I put the marker in and deposited a large bucket of maize around the area and as the water is clear you could see the yellow corn on the bottom, question is will it be there tomorrow when I return ??. Called in to see Marion Jeff and Colin at the Canadian Carp Club then we went to Grumpies (the local and only bar) for some tea and beverage before going home.

I'm off

Thursday 5.15am and the doorbell rings, oh no I've slept in and my train leaves at 6.06. Anyway after a quick panic we are off and arrive in plenty of time at Dewsbury railway station.........thanks Julie. My flight was from Manchester to Paris and then on to Montreal, the trip turned out to be eventful to say the least, first tip......ensure you have euros with you in Charles de Gaulle airport, I didn't and was relieved of £6 sterling for a pint of Heineken. Second tip, when eating your meal on the plane, if you have a spill, don't use a red serviette to wipe off stain on a light coloured polo shirt and ensure there isn't chocolate on the back of your hand whilst wiping said stain off. Other than that and losing my reading glasses mid flight all went well really.
My mate Rocket was waiting at the airport and within an hour we were at the house in Cornwall on a lovely, warm April day