Friday 1 August 2008

27/07/08 – Fishponds

Weight – 258lb 7oz
Catch – 33 Carp, 3 Bream.
Weather – Hot & sunny.
Water temp – 22.0c > 22.0c


A busy social weekend catching up with some friends meant my fishing trip was limited to an evening session.
I decided on a simple day, fishing paste and settled on peg 16 which is a usually productive corner peg. When I arrived in the afternoon, it was hot and still, with carp just cruising around on the surface, so I wasn’t sure whether they would feed straight away.

I settled on a single paste rig, made up of .19 line straight though to a 12 carp feeder hook, fishing in 5 foot of water just past the marginal shelf and an open water swim slightly to my right.

The session started better than anticipated and most of my fish came from the left margin with a few fish from my open water swim, when I wanted to rest the margins. During the 1st half of the session I lost a few fish, mainly due to being lightly hooked, it wasn’t until later the carp started to feed properly and the number of loses reduced.

As I started to catch consistently I was feeding a handful of 8mm pellet in both swims whilst playing each fish, which allowed a short period for the fish to settle again over the baited area.

1st hr = 44lb, 2nd hr = 30lb, 3rd hr = 38lb, 4th hr = 46lb, 5th hr = 53lb 5½hr = 47lb.

The fishing just got stronger and stronger as the session progressed and I ended up finishing slightly early after a carp dived underneath my platform, trashing my rig. It was starting to get dark and I was more than happy with my day.

The carp do run on the big side and my catch included 5 doubles up to 12lb 10oz, which means it doesn’t take long to build a good weight. However 258lb is now a personal best weight, beating my previous best of 230lb from Stafford Moor.

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