Wow its windy

But it wasn't when I took the boat out on Thursday.......nor was it forecast to be as strong. Went back to where I had cut out my new swim and found, probably 20 yds below, an area where I could actually sit on hard ground out of the water. 30 minutes with the secateurs and hey-ho swim No.2 was done. I catapulted a couple of pouches of corn out and literally within 10 minutes had caught a 20lbs 8ozs fish. Fish came thick and fast but the wind intensified so much that I had to stop fishing after 4 hours and get the boat to somewhere sheltered. I had caught 16 fish including 3 - 20s best going 24lbs in only 5 hours........not a bad mornings fishing. then spent 3 hours sat in the reeds waiting for the wind to subside so I could safely get back to the marina. Colin a guest with the Canadian Carp Club was having a red letter days fishing to remember, he only came out from the UK on Thursday and by the time he packed up he had caught 81 fish including 3 - 30s and a 25lb mirror, all on the polaris ( a new record for the CCC) I sat with him for the last hour, there must have been thousands of fish in front of him as the rod was never still.

Back out on the water

Yesterday was the first time out since Thursday due to my illness, the weather has now turned very warm and has reached 94 degrees as I sit here. Fished my swim at the top of the bay again and managed 10 but nothing of any size as the best was 17.5lbs, I cannot begin to explain how many fish were in the swim but we are talking hundreds if not thousands and it is highly likely that this weather will induce their spawning. The good thing is that due to the sheer volume of fish, they do not all spawn at the same time and it is quite possible that whilst fish are spawning in one bay, they are happily feeding in another. When I left in the boat I could hear them bumping on the bottom of the hull due the sheer numbers of fish.
Tomorrow I will be back out as wind is forecast so we could have a better day.......fingers crossed.

Now where did I leave that lawnmower.

Mirror, Mirror.......................

Took the boat out for the first time yesterday (Thursday), having scooted around for a while with the fish-finder on I settled on a previously unfished spot right on the end of a large bay, stood up in 4ft of water I rowed the boat out, put a marker in and dumped some corn, within 10 minutes I was getting movement on the line signifying there were plenty of fish around, though I knew that from the number of carp crashing out around me. It wasn't long before I netted the first fish and with regular spodding between 12 noon and 5.30pm I had landed 12 fish and lost 7, best 20lbs-8ozs and took fish both far out on the lead and close in on the polaris float. I also had my first Mirror which are far scarcer than the commons and followed it up later with another, needless to say I went home a happy camper (its not easy taking photos in the water with the self timer)
There were some very big fish showing themselves and I was looking forward to returning back today but the rain is banging down, it's windy and I am not well at the moment so hopefully will be out tomorrow.

The girls are back in town

Today (wednesday) was a day round the house working in the garden and getting the boat ready to take out on thursday. The engine had not been run since it was winterised in October but started second time, good engines those Mariners. A call to Jeff brought the news that the big girls have arrived in town. He had caught two thirties and there had been another caught. Yesterday another angler had caught three 30's in one session including a 39.12, not a bad session I'm sure you'll agree. Jeff finished with I think 15 fish including three 30's, best 37 and he packed up at 12.............oh and they were all taken ON THE FLOAT.

It's behind you......................

Yesterday (Tuesday) I paid my first visit to the Power Dam, I took the water temp which showed only 52 degrees so I didn't really expect anything. However I finished the session with three and lost one.....best being around the 23 mark. Have you ever been fishing and thought you were being watched, it happened here and on looking behind saw this lovely creature, apologies for the poor picture quality but you get the idea, she stayed for a couple of minutes before bounding off. Also had a walk down the bank and came across this eel...........didn't weigh it but it was 3.5 ft long, Jeff informs me that it is only a small one as he has seen them much bigger, I will have to have a go for them one night, bet they give a great fight.

It's not all about catching........but it helps

Well today the lads have returned home after what can only been described as one of the worst May weeks for bloody ages. Cold east winds with rain, rain and more rain together with cold water temperatures have all managed to hamper catching, but they did get a few 20's in the harsh conditions along with some smaller ones. I will post more on the catch when Wazzy gives me the info.
Despite the fishing we managed to have a good time, Wazzy revealed his latest purchase which I must say did actually work, Grumpies sold more Chicken Wings in the week than in the whole of last season and on wednesday Marion and Jeff gave us a superb barbeque, thanks lads for letting me stay over for those two nights.
Last night we had a few beers and games of pool at my house before Wazzy slipped out in the early hours of this morning to bag 14 carp to 26lbs to finish off the holiday.
The company was great, shame about the fishing, I will miss you boys and we will have to do it again some time............next year maybe.

Its miserable out here

Well it hasn't stopped raining since Saturday morning, air temps haven't exceeded 10 degress centigrade and needless to say I haven't been fishing. I did however set to work on the boat trailer and changed both wheel bearings, one tyre was flat and on closer inspection found to be toally knackered so I replaced that also. Wazzy and crew arrive today and the rain is set to finally ease by tomorrow with the air temp back up in the 20's by Wednesday let's just hope the fish co-operate.