A Chance Rendezvous

The prospect was incredible, to visit a very seldom fished pit, to see in the flesh the exquisite Chance cane rods and to meet the man behind them. The day was booked off well in advance, all I had to do was drop Jessica at nursery and I was free for the day. Without seeing the pit before I didn’t quite know what tackle to take with me, although we were there to meet friends new and old and to waggle the new rods, there would still be time for some fishing. I was told that tench and carp would be the order of the day, so a Chapman 500 and a Mark IV were packed, along with an Intrepid Elite, a 300 and a Hardy Altex.

 

The morning came, thankfully there was more blue than white and grey above me, it felt warm early on and excitement levels were extremely high. I dropped Jessica off at 7:30 and headed towards the venue hoping the traffic would be kind to me. It wasn’t of course, 3 separate jams made the 45 minute journey take closer to 2 hours, frustrating even more so when you are imagining a new lake, a lake draped in early morning sunlight.

 

Carpathia....An Update

I promised I’d post regular updates as and when I could, and the latest is that Carpathia is out of the varnishing room and looking splendid. All that remains is to tickle up the ferrules and make the stopper. From what Andrew tells me it’s set to be a true stunner, but not only in looks, but the way it fishes too. A classic onion shape cork handle meets dark cane embellished by green whippings with crimson tips, ‘Carpathia’ is written in white.

Although this rod has an extra foot on most cane carp rods, Andrew tried his best to avoid an unwieldy beast, thick in the butt and heavy to hold. With a compound taper the rod has plenty of reserve power in the butt, but retains a slender feel throughout and has a tip that will be friendly to hook holds and cast soft baits without exploding them.

I’m hoping | can get my hands on Carpathia number 1 in time for the start of the new season. I have a date with some carp on a local pool, but more than that, I plan to put Carpathia through its paces, to find out just what it is capable of, to put it amongst various situations and see if what we’ve created here is indeed the ultimate cane carp rod.

More when I receive it from the workshop…

Wonderful FLE

I fancied a bash at FLE's 24 hour carp match. The deal is that 10 anglers pitch up on the prolific Canal 1 and battle it out for the heaviest carp. Without a combined weight win, it could go right to the wire, the leaderboard could chop and change throughout, and it was also a good excuse to visit Graham and check out the great work he does down there at his fishery near Romsey. 

But it's so much more than a fishery, yes there is great angling to be had with match orientated canals and a specimen carp pool, but it is also an outdoor activity centre, aimed at most but concentrating on disabled adults, youths and anyone else who wants to learn to catch fish, the right way. 

I finished work on the Friday at midday and although the match started at 6pm, I wanted to get there, have a nosey around and catch up with Graham. Turns out I was in for a nice surprise, Southampton FC had one of their sponsored Catch Club afternoons, and as an FLE Ambassador, he asked me if I wouldn't mind helping out some. I jumped at the chance , this sport has been wonderful to me over the years, here was a chance to give a little back. 


 

An inspired walk...

This evening I continued my journey, an effort to get fit, the plan is to enter the Great South Run in October, a run of some 10 miles. It’s a way off yet but I thought I’d begin by taking a few brisk walks. Whether or not I actually make the race remains to be seen, but it seems like a good idea right now. Maybe being on the wrong side of 40 has prompted me to do something, something radical, the London Marathon was my first thought, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Today’s walk spanned a mere 4 miles and revisited some of my old stomping grounds. The idea was to leave my parents house, walk the short distance to the beginning of Hilsea creek (the bit of water that makes Portsmouth an island), and to follow the footsteps I once trod when I was much fresher faced.

The first glimpse of water was at the roundabout bridge, I peered over the edge and smiled when I realised the tide was out, always a good time to spot things, wading birds and such like. I glared at the spot beside the wall I sat so many times, 30 years ago, catching small wrasse on lugworm I’d gathered myself just downstream. Blennies were also plentiful in the deep hole, a hole I could fish into even at low tide and catch fish. I would sit waiting for the rod tip to nod, with my index finger on the line, and marvel at the impossible mullet and bass that would charge through when the tide began to flood. I would watch crabs chase each other around, large shrimps evade capture and eels slithering from one weed bed to another, it was like an aquarium, one I never ever got tired of viewing.

Crucian Heaven...

I finished work at the usual midday and headed for the moat in search of my first crucian of the year. The day had been overcast with the threat of showers, but thus far it had remained dry. I set up in peg 10, a peg I usually tend to overlook, but after the great success Nobby had in there the week previous, it had to be worth a go. The worry in the back of my mind all day was that when we all fished there, it fished well in the morning yet very poorly after lunch and for the rest of the day. Once in position on the platform I sprinkled some pellets and some sweetcorn next to the pads. With the rod set up I began fishing among a mass of bubbles, it looked spot on, it just had to happen.

Another Gift...

After last week's success with the 2 commons, yet failing to land either of the 2 mirrors I hooked, I couldn't wait to get back and settle the score. Today I finished work at midday and pointed the car bonnet at Sultan. 

I never had long to fish, but after a short time looking around the usual spots I stumbled across a group of mirrors. I was actually trying to get some photographs of them, but when they started rolling over each other and almost beaching themselves to get to some bread I'd deposited, I quickly swapped the camera for the rod. 

A piece of bread was squeezed onto my size 4 hook and cast out amongst the fish. I held my breath, hoping the fish wouldn't spook off, and although one or two drifted off, a couple remained. The hook-bait wafted through the water and landed on the bottom quite slowly. I watched where the line entered the water for a minute or so, then wound it in to find it had gone soggy and fallen off. The carp had disappeared by now, but soon after my next cast I saw them out of the corner of my eye coming towards me from the left. 


 

A Gift from the Gods...

I woke to rain, increasingly heavy rain, it didn’t bode well. I had planned go stalking after lunch, opting to fish the later part of the day as the mornings were still a touch chilly. As luck had it, the rain subsided and the sky cleared nicely by 11, and by midday the sun shone as I left the house and headed towards the moat. 

It looked lovely when I got there, no other anglers were in sight and the gently ripped water reflected a million shards of sunlight. Among the sparkling margins I hoped the carp would be on the move, I crept around, all over and saw very little. I regrouped, had some lunch and began looking again. It was surprising what an hour can do, the spots I’d baited had fish on, fish that looked every bit the classic long lean fish I’d come to associate with the moat. 

Easter Weekend

Forgive me if this seems a little rushed, I'm dead tired...


I decided to be brave this weekend, it is April after all. I'd been to the moat twice during the week to deposit some sweetcorn onto the spots I'd ultimately be fishing. Peg 27 is one of my favourites, tucked away in the corner, just the way I like them. The problem lies with the fact that the swim isn't big enough to spend the night in.....well, for most maybe. 


I tipped up around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon and carries my scaled down gear to the swim. There was a match on one section, but it was far enough away for me not to see or hear a soul. I set up camp, which consisted of chair under a brolly. With the rods fishing either margin I settled back and made some tea. 


Teatime came and so did the bream, they were relentless shaking their heads violently from side to side all the way in. Some had to be pushing 8lbs too. Just on dark I made a cast with the left hand rod which took off before I could put it in the rests, it was a lovely dark tench of around 3lbs.