Lee Gennings - June 2007
Many people just don’t understand the concept of carp fishing; I am forever hearing people comment on how boring it must be to throw the rods out, wait all day and in the end possibly catch nothing. Well all I can say is the people who say this are totally wrong with the image they have of carp fishing.
There is a hold that carp fishing takes on us as not only do we enjoy catching carp but it becomes an ambition to achieve them. I say ambition as you have to work for your results and many people would agree that carp can be very tricky to catch and after putting all of our time and effort into the thoughts and ideas we come up with it can still blow and our nets will stay dry for the whole session, it is this that keeps us keen and interested and makes us play about with rigs, all items of tackle, baiting and location until we finally catch one of the lakes smart, scaly, slimy inhabitants we call carp.
Now it was certainly time to celebrate on the 5th May this year as after putting all the effort I had into an idea I planned to do at the beginning of the year, I landed “the one that got away” at 42lb 8oz, the reason I say “the one that got away” is because last year I was fishing a swim known as “the pipe” and in swam this big mirror which I recognised straight away and without further ado I ran and got a rod. After placing the bait I sat back and waited, within minutes the rod tip bent round and I slipped the net under a lovely 18lb common, what a blower! I missed my chance. So when I did catch this fish it was really nice to laugh at it and tell it how nice it was to get my own back!
In March this year I started baiting the lake priming up a few spots as not only would this make my angling easier but it would also keep the fish sampling my bait, which was key considering many other baits get used on the lake, so being able to give them free food is a great bonus to your fishing. By mid April I had landed a couple of fish and was feeling confident that the plan of baiting was working. Also at this time I had found another spot that had took my interest. In a swim known as the “Long Swim” I had seen many fish show very close in over the last six weeks, and after seeing over a hundred shows in one weekend on this spot I decided to take a little look. It was a small spot covered in light blanket weed and was a couple of foot shallower than the rest of the area. Thinking about this spot gave me an idea to start baiting it with small pellet and broken boilies in hope to clear some of the blanket weed that lay over the top of the hump. Each week the spot was getting cleaner and then come Friday the 4th May.
I had turned up and saw the “Long Swim” was free so after setting up and realizing I had left my leads at home on the side as I had to buy some more, I only managed to get the first rod out which was cast to a showing fish in mid water. My mate Luke was round in the “Bars Swim” so after I set everything up for the night I popped round to nick a few leads (I’ll replace them soon Luke). On my way back I fell down a ditch and seriously hurt my knee, so after crawling the remainder of the way I clipped the leads on the plopped them out, one of them on the hump I had been baiting. After I had set the rods I tried to get some sleep and after a painful nights kip due to my knee I had a ripping take at 8 o’clock the next morning, she fort a good’un weeding me up twice, and on the scales she went 42lb 8oz. To say I was buzzing would be an understatement, for those of you that know Luke ask him, he had to calm me down!
Thanks Andy for the pictures and Luke for the net assistance, I couldn’t ask for greater friends! The social that came was great thanks boys!
Now that people, is carp fishing
Lee Gennings |
