One of the great things about carp fishing is no matter how you may foresee the time ahead on the bank, nature can simply discard of your plans and have you in a whirlwind of thoughts within seconds.
Since being given the red light as far as fishing was concerned in december, being a mainland angler who lives on an island, unfortunately it was time to hang up the rods until things were okay to travel again. This wasn't the worst thing to happen as myself and fishing companion had just joined a new ticket to get stuck into, so time to prepare wasn't such a bad thing.
When we finally got the go ahead to travel again, the sudden urge to get out wasn't quite there, with unpredictable weather and temps doing up and downs like a yoyo, maybe just sticking local and letting the inevitable rush die off before travelling up and starting the campaign, seemed like a sensible idea.
It was my birthday on the 3rd of June and by surprise, my buddy asked me if I would like to go do a kind of recky on the new ticket and see what it's all about.
Due to it being half term we couldn't get a ferry to the mainland until 9pm meaning we would be arriving with many hours of darkness ahead, not ideal for a new venue but what the heck it's been that long that it really didn't matter, and just like that an adventure had begun.
Upon arrival it was clear that the lakes were still very busy. Especially the ones we wished to get on, and being of their very tricky nature, maybe we had bitten off more than we can chew. After waking around the lakes multiple times taking us up till about 3am, we reluctantly set up camp pretty much blind as we hadn't managed to locate any signs in the darkness, but in reality we're burned out and in need of sleep.
The next day we collected our thoughts and in those moments realised that this campaign would be better suited to the winter months, the fish were very spawny too and it just wasn't right for us. After having some issues we decided to go try one of the many big fish day ticket venues for a night, again proving more tricky than it would seem given the time of year. After huge traffic problems and possible ringing every popular day ticket near the m25 we managed to gently persuade the bailiff at Thorney weir to keep his gates open for us while we made the last part of the journey (again huge thanks)
Upon arrival we were greeted by two small lakes, having not fished or seen Thorney weir before we were a little underwhelmed to say the least, but with light fading (again) we thought what the heck. We were met by a jolly fellow who I assume was the head bailiff who kindly showed us where the actual lake we wanted to be on was (huge difference) and away we went.
This time we deduced that we had walked enough over the last 24 hours, and to just load the barrow try and find a carp or two and get our heads down, after a small walk we luckily stumbled across a few fish that were clearly backed off from the pressure of the busy road, and near Bank.
Being as there we so many carp in this little bay, I didn't want to crash about a lead looking for spots and risk moving them (it was obvious why they were there) so I tied up a long rig with a slow sinking bait that I know would sit over anything, plus it was quite clearly a very weedy part of the lake.
I decided to fish just over a weed bet in front of me just a couple of underarm flick if u like with a couple of mesh bags of Crushed boilie and some wicked insect oil I've been trying out for a new company (I'll get to that).. And they were far from drops as such but it was deeper water among weed beds but deffo still fishing over some weed.
By the time I was set it was perhaps just gone midnight and I was that broken that putting a Bivvy up wasn't ever going to happen, quickly checked weather, nice clean night ahead so all good.
Now here's the best bit, I mean I've heard of Thorney weir, but never really done my homework and was certainly had no clue what it looked like. I woke up at 4am (don't know how) to what I can only describe as the best morning on a lake I can honestly remember, the sky was a deep purple with lilacs on the horizon and big old shiny crescent moon as the centrepiece. Mist started to rise and with each minute that past , something else would appear in the distance, we had barges, islands, swans stood on mounds in open water, I mean a pirate ship wouldn't have looked out of place here, it was atmospheric, had all the nature you could ask for and minus the planes and trains, it was a right old slice of heaven.
I'll be the first to admit I'm not the most experienced weed angler, and I've got to be honest I laid there thinking am I presented, but with only hours left before we would make the journey back to the island, I knew I had no choice but to leave them.
I know we always think it's bite time but by about 4.45 the all night display had stopped and I thought to myself this is it if it's gonna happen, and just by magic the slack line zipped tight and the rod was bent into action. After a quick battle mostly in the weed bed in front of my swim, I had my first Thorney weir carp in the net.
Not a monster by any means but it was a looker that's for sure, dark as your boots with some broken, golden linear scales down the flank. Carp perfection. Must have only been 10 mins after that fish when I was having a coffee and recollecting my self, when I had a couple of single beeps, didn't get my full attention at first but I looked at the rod and my reel was sat on the alarm, in a moment of confusion I hit into what felt like just weed on my line, or perhaps the goslings feeding in front of my swim had pulled my line down, when I saw a huge eruption about 40yards out. This time I simply drafted a huge ball of weed in with a carpy prize inside.
Another small fish but again very dark old character and a nice welcome to the weir I would say.
With only an hour left it was last cast time and I thought I'd redo the rods and see if we can get a hatrick, unfortunately in this process I managed to fall into the lake, undoubtedly scaring all those fish away. Safe to say it was home time.
Now going back to the bait. I'm sure during lockdown many of you will have watched seaspiricy, unearthing some real problems within our oceans and the global fishing trades. I was one of those massively effected by this, having grown up next the sea, and always having huge interests in marine life it hit home so much that I have up my favourite thing on this earth, seafood.
Never even considering about the bait I was using, krill, fishmeal ect. It was by chance that I stumbled across a small company on social media, who instantly caught my attention with a great ethos on using zero products from the ocean. My inquisitive nature saw me message the page basically saying well done Its a great thing to be doing. A quick response was received by a very polite and friendly bloke named Richard, the gaffer if you like of seasoned baits
We had a chat on the phone and without much persuasion at all, my first bit of bait was on the way to try. After very quick turnaround I had my first order. Was very impressed for the slick packaging especially for a new company, and first impressions are everything.
The boilie them selves are made up of a rich, very high percentage insect meal and some natural oils and attractions. It smells very natural and has visible crunchy food items, exactly what carp like in a boilie. I mean in this day and age its hard to get too excited about a boilie, as you know there isn't many smells or baits you won't have seen similar too but a quality roll and ingredients is what you should be looking for. Now, the real star of the show here is the 'slick insect oil' this stuff just smells amazing, and with Richard being a chef, it's no surprise his special sauce smells so inviting, I almost was tempted to try some on some noodles ha.
I can't really say much more about the bait but I stuck some boilies through the crusher, soaked them in the oil and had two fish from a new lake in the dark when everyone else blanked, at the same time as knowing I'm not contributing to the problems at sea. Give it a try is what I'm saying..
Fast forward a couple of weeks, we have now decided that Thorney weir and the mets will be our campaign water for the summer and autumn and will return the the other venture when it's nice and cold.
To be continued
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