This is something new for me so bear with me and try not to laugh... not too much anyway

In the early months of this year my angling has been limited some what due to comitments both in and out of work and my returning to school to hopefull better myself and get me out of the hole of a place i work and the mundane job i do!

I have however increased my number of club cards i own and have spent days dreaming of the chance to get out there on the new waters and my new ideas for tackeling the old ones.

As well as the lymm and warrington cards the two new tickets offer a totally different chalenge from that i have faced so far, one being a carp anglers club and a very sought ofter ticket by myself and many others and the other a local card that covers the water i fished when i started fishing, and to my knowledge now holds fish to over 26lb and a good head of 20's to back this up! Top that with the fact that only a dozen or so anglers at most fish this water for carp means a swim is always avilable.



Session 1 of my year.
Sat 8th april.
An over nighter with a working party on the sunday, not very long i know but the fact i was out angling was more than enough reward for the waiting, and catching was a mear bonus if i happened. Me and fellow new member arrived at a slightly more packed carpark than expected but was quickley on route to a couple of swims and base camp quickley erected.
Time for chuck! Being on a short session i didnt bring the carp scaring kit and intended to fish singles and bags. WEED WEED and more WEED. After finding some clearer spots the light was closing in and the final bits done before dinner, liners were a plenty as a fine curry was destroyed my myself and angling buddy! I got into the bag and was hopefull of being awoken by the worst of noises that means the best of things!........ to be continued.

That was a hailstorm n half on Sunday had to be seen to be believed huh mate?

Must find out how to post that video I took without infringing on da management.........dance choones by Micron MMX

Felt sorry for Archie on t'other side tho, bet he was like a drowned rat

Get your hols out of the way lad, we be doing some regular time straight after!

come on 007 wheres the rest of it, i settled in for a nice read there

well 6 more nights and still nothing to show for it... then a night else where and still nothing to show!!!!



THEN THE NEW BAIT IS SORTED OUT AND BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!

A good nights fishing topped by a 23 mirror followed a few days later by a nice 18 mirror.

Followed by my trip to france which finished only this saturday!

The details of which will follow!!

dave

Here we go

Etang du rouge
France
29.07.06 - 05.08.06

Saturday 29.07.06
Arriving to find that the lake had fished really poor for the two weeks before out trip with more than 5 anglers blanking was a shock to say the least. The thought of travelling all that distance and all that cost for a blank is not worth thinking about! A quick walk along the west bank shown that the water seemed to be rather green looking but the sighting of one or two fish moving did much to increase hopes of banking one or two of the residents during our week on the lake.

With our party having booked the gite we had the 3 swims outside it reserved so choice of swims was nothing to consider(well as long as the 3 of us angling could agree). I will mention here that out party consisted of 8 persons. Me and zoe my better half, my mum and dad, family friends john and liz and their two friends mark and mike. It was a holiday as much as a fishing trip.

We had arrived before the others and decided to go down to the bar to see if our broken(very broken) French would pass and make our introductions and have ourselves a beer or two. Well job done and a beer or 3 later we were still waiting for the others but decided to set up the gear in ready for the choices of swims being made. Swim 18 was the most sought and 17 the next with 16 the last choice. When the time came it was with a closed eye and a trembling hand i landed swim 16...with john claiming 18 from the start, me and the old man drew for the others. O well time to erect the sti motel. After what seemed like an eternity the rods were baited and placed, the sti motel was sorted and the matt was ready and waiting.

It was time so see what the trip would bring. The merguize(sp) were cooking on the bbq and the beers were a plenty....in was around two hours later in the middle of our leg of lamb amongst all that first night excitement around the patio set dinner table that my receiver let out a single ........beep..........




to be continued...(my work break over)


dave

where was i..o thats right...beep..

Then nothing




Then 10 seconds later the mother of all runs....one of them that just goes...one tone that seemed to be getting a higher pitch the longer it went on. As i bent down to hit into what was clearly a very angry fish i was looking at a buzzer about to hit meltdown point with 2 inch of solar union flag trying to drill a hole in the front thinking this was it!!!! Well it was for around 5 seconds when my expression changed from utter excitement to total depression as a result of a hook pull!
GUTTED!!!

Rod chucked back to spot i wanted to mope around in the sti motel for a bit on my todd.... but no... had a cold dinner to go and finish! sat there eating cold bbq looking as dejected as everyone else it was a bit of a come down to say the least. That was it....my chance to get of the mark and save the blank...and its gone....

I'm stood in the water playing an angry carp "Wow what happened there one minute i was eating some spuds and the next minute i am playing another carp" That's what happened, was just thinking i was too depressed to eat and whallop..same rod off again! This time i was in for a better deal and the resulting fight was rewarded with my first rouge carp of the trip.....all 24lb 2oz of it. COME ON!!!!!
The fish returned and not 5 minutes later the middle rod was away, could i believe it.... well at a slightly smaller 18lb 10oz i was really happy with my first evening. It was time for another beer.


Sunday 30.07.06

An early start of around 07.30 was had on what looked to be a rather overcast morning. "Happy days" were my first words to zoe who decided that on account of the poor weather she would stay in the fleece lined bag within the sti motel. When she decided enough was enough at 13.00 i was still awaiting the action that i was sure was just waiting to happen. I was glad to see that one or two fish had shown up around the lake and although disappointed that none had come to swim 16 to have as feed i was content that i had already had a few fish.
It was again around tea time and as i was in process of building the bbq that a single beep came over the receiver. I was on the rods instantly to see a positive drop back on the right rod. Bang a hard fighting scrappy carp hooked, playing around in the swim it picked up the left hand rod..."er hold on no its not that's another run!" I will describe the comedy of errors that followed but the resulting photographs show me with a brace of carp, one common at 16lb 3oz and one mirror at 23lb. Was i happy?? You bet your arse i was! Then disaster!

A jerky run that stopped as quick as it started but only for a second before it took off again at serious speed. I was on the rod in a millisecond and instantly felt the power and spotted the huge vortex that only a catfish shows. With line emptying my spool i tightened down to put the pressure on the fish that was now 60yards away from where i hooked it with no effect at all! The with a huge splash inches from the dam wall 100yards away i was able to start to retrieve some line...... only there was the horrible feeling of a serious grating. The weight of the fish was immense and i was winning....for a short time..... the grating on the line was the final winner and as it snapped i was almost @rse over t!t in to shallow margins. Gutted! AGAIN!


Monday 31.07.06

Much the same as Sunday but with fewer fish landed around the lake and it was once again around tea time that my rod chose to rip off. This time the resulting fish was a very angry carp of Just over 28lb and it gave me hell on the mat. (Thank you to zoe for getting video of me receiving a good hiding from the tail of this fish!) The camera was also on hand to record me being destroyed by another catfish that much like to one before it didn't seem interested in stopping even with an almost solid clutch. Really Gutted!! AGAIN!
****i will say that apart from two dropped runs on the livebait this was it on the catfish front apart from the 1lb pussey my old man had on his waggler rod!****o and the only can to be landed was in the shallows and weighed in at 92lb. SO NONE OF THE REALLY BIG ONES WERE LANDED!!!!

And in the true forest gump style
"and that's all i have to say about that"

dave

Tune in tomorrow for the next instalment.

Tuesday 01.08.06

Rain, rain and o more rain. Party decided this is a good day to hit the supermarket... with a quick look into decathlon and McDonalds!

What started as a quick pop down the supermarket at 11am turned in to a 6 and half hour day out!!!! Had i not have picked up my bottle of Johnny red i would have thought it a wasted day!

Anyway back fishing and within an hour of starting the left had rod is away again and the feeling of a bin bag on the end tells me something i dont want to hear! When all of around 5 seconds later a huge chub like fish pops up infront of the net i was the old man to get ready. Having caught grass carp in the past i know what was coming..... as soon as the fish felt the mesh of the net all hell broke out and les was soaked to the skin. Fish was out, un hooked and send the needle to 20lb 11oz quick photograph and back.....me i was in serious pain from thighs to face where it had battered me. If you have had them then you will know!

That was it for Tuesday!

As i climbed into bed with the rein falling again my mind was set on thinking how i was going to get these fish feeding in my swim throughout the day... as it seemed clear they were passing through and only staying for a short time in the evening!
A thought struck me and i fell into a dreamy sleep with a plan.


Wednesday 02.08.06

Awaking later than usual at around 10.15am to a strong wind and over cast conditions i was rather happy...again zoe looked out the door and rolled over heading back to the land of nod! I had in the back of my mind my plan but could not put it into full swing until the wind died down a bit! Around 1pm the women decided more shopping was needed and a request to fill up the beer reserve in the fridge was well received. Within the hour the wind had died and i was out in the water up to my knackers sending the spod out to my markered spot.
About 5kg of pellet and boilie went out and two rods were places in the general area. Time for a game of boules and a cold kanterbrau.

The next 5 hours were a bit of a blur but the results started quickly with a 16lb common quickly followed with a 29lb 04oz mirror then a few more games of boules and a few more 20s was added before tea. The fish didnt seem to come and visit me that evening but i didnt mind. I had done what i had set out to do and was happy sitting down to my piece of chaval(sp) followed by some stunning pork chops with noodles.

A missed drop back at 2am didnt even faze me from my happy spell.


dave

Thursday 03.08.06

"what" "er" "right"
Dad was into a fish when i ran out the sti motel to hit what i thought was my buzzer. I was just about to go and offer my self as nets man when my left had hanger hit the rod and it ripped off. Not bad i was thinking, two generations of Penny's playing angry carp at day break....an think we could have been working on what was becoming a cracking misty morning.

Mine was in and registered at 25lb 10oz before dad had landed his, which turned out to be a real prize,(see my photos). What a start to our day. Anyway back to bed it was for me!
Next thing i was out again but now it was around 09.30 and my 3rd 16lb common of the week was landed. I was really happy that the bait was doing its job and bringing the fish into the area. A top up was done with the spod and breakfast was had!
The remainder of the day produced two more 20s for me in the shape of a 23lb 09oz mirror and a 20lb mirror before it was time to reel in and head into town for our meal booked by the women on their Tuesday shopping spree!

As always with french food the meal was amazing and the beer was good! Arriving back after dark a little later than i would have hoped getting the baits out in the correct spots was not easy and zoe wisely stayed out the way watching a dvd on the laptop in the sti motel! A few more beers whilst watching the exploits of Joey, chandler, Ross, Rachael and Monica. Then off to sleep.

Dave

Friday 04.08.06

The final full day.

Again the fish were troughing in the swim and my first sight of the day was the bubbling of carp on my baited patch. I didnt have much chance to get a true picture of what was in front of me as an angry carp took a liking to the double botton 18mm bottom bait on the left rod. A cracking battle was encountered and as the winner i lifted my 23lb 11oz common up for the picture just before first light.
Two doubles followed before 11am and then the lake just died.
What turned out to be my final run of the week came totally out of the blue in the middle of the afternoon and produces a reall scrappy 27lb 04oz mirror. The last of my fish.
The even turned into a cracking sunset and some amazing pics were taken. Our last night in the sti motel was a quiet one with the only nois coming from our new friend harry the hedgehog as he trudged past on his rout to annoy my old man.


saturday 05.06.06

Nothing, no bubblers, no showing fish, nothing! Much the same as friday afternoon. Packed up packed in and good bye's said. It was time to hit the road!

TOTAL
fish 18
largest 29lb 4oz
smallest 15lb 12oz
A very happy man i was when leaving and although nothing massive came to my rods i had the most out of our party and i did it from the least favoured swim!

Our total fish haul for the three of us was 45 fish upto 38lb(my old man) fir a total weight of 1038Lb. average fish weight was just over 23lb.


A great week was had by all!!
EVEN ZOE!!


dave

Pics up loaded if anyone wants to look! just check the gallery!

dave