I was hoping to get out angling for a couple of hours this afternoon, especially when my friend Roy told me of some carp and tench he’d caught at Carron Row. The thought of catching a tench whilst float fishing in January was very appealing. The forecast was for a dry morning with rain coming in later in the day, I finished work at midday when it was apparent that the sunny morning was starting to merge into an overcast afternoon, it was just a case of when the rains would come.
I arrived at the pond with only one other angler there, and he was fishing on the opposite bank to where I wanted to pitch up. Initially I set up in the Bramble swim, but the water was coming through the inflow quite strong which was playing havoc with my float, so I moved next door into the rhododendron swim. Once plumbed up I scattered a few maggots over the spot and began fishing with three red maggots on a size 16 hook tied to 4lb line.
It only took a few minutes to start getting bites, and the fish ashore was a pristine rudd of around 6oz. I think these are the most beautiful fish we have and although I don’t target them half as much as I should, when I do bump into them it’s a very special day indeed. The fins on this fish were blood red, classic colours and more akin to summer fishing than January.
More rudd came to shore, some were quite good sizes too and they varied in colour from greeny golds to more metallic silvers. Even a couple of small roach made an appearance too. One bite resulted in a fish taking line from the pin, obviously something far more substantial than a rudd or roach, perhaps a tench or small carp, but before I saw it the hook slipped.
The rain came and with a vengeance too, I put up the brolly which shielded me nicely, with everything dry I could concentrate on catching that tench, but during and after the showers and downpours all that was brought to hand or netted were more of these rudd, not that I was complaining, they were stunning and each and every one brought a smile.
With the rain falling and the light fading fast at around 4:30pm I struck into the last bite of the day and felt a resistance which made my heart flutter. The jagged fight was reminiscent to that of a crucian, but it felt too heavy to be one of those. I held out the net in preparation to scoop as soon as I saw my prize, I left nothing to chance. When it did roll it went in first time and to my delight was indeed a tench.
The fish was stunning, a lovely shade of green with gorgeous red eyes, the epitome of summer days on lily covered lakes, but in winter. I guess it must have weighed somewhere around 3lbs, not that the weight mattered at all. I was just so pleased to have captured my target fish.
I think next time I’ll try for a 2lb perch....
I arrived at the pond with only one other angler there, and he was fishing on the opposite bank to where I wanted to pitch up. Initially I set up in the Bramble swim, but the water was coming through the inflow quite strong which was playing havoc with my float, so I moved next door into the rhododendron swim. Once plumbed up I scattered a few maggots over the spot and began fishing with three red maggots on a size 16 hook tied to 4lb line.
It only took a few minutes to start getting bites, and the fish ashore was a pristine rudd of around 6oz. I think these are the most beautiful fish we have and although I don’t target them half as much as I should, when I do bump into them it’s a very special day indeed. The fins on this fish were blood red, classic colours and more akin to summer fishing than January.
More rudd came to shore, some were quite good sizes too and they varied in colour from greeny golds to more metallic silvers. Even a couple of small roach made an appearance too. One bite resulted in a fish taking line from the pin, obviously something far more substantial than a rudd or roach, perhaps a tench or small carp, but before I saw it the hook slipped.
The rain came and with a vengeance too, I put up the brolly which shielded me nicely, with everything dry I could concentrate on catching that tench, but during and after the showers and downpours all that was brought to hand or netted were more of these rudd, not that I was complaining, they were stunning and each and every one brought a smile.
With the rain falling and the light fading fast at around 4:30pm I struck into the last bite of the day and felt a resistance which made my heart flutter. The jagged fight was reminiscent to that of a crucian, but it felt too heavy to be one of those. I held out the net in preparation to scoop as soon as I saw my prize, I left nothing to chance. When it did roll it went in first time and to my delight was indeed a tench.
The fish was stunning, a lovely shade of green with gorgeous red eyes, the epitome of summer days on lily covered lakes, but in winter. I guess it must have weighed somewhere around 3lbs, not that the weight mattered at all. I was just so pleased to have captured my target fish.
I think next time I’ll try for a 2lb perch....
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