With the
alarm set for five o’clock I woke every twenty minutes until four o’clock and
then was out like a light when the alarm went off.
I
loaded up the dishwasher and had a look at the Internet. There wasn’t a lot to
see so early in the morning so I got dressed, got the last of the fishing gear
into the car, and drove round for "My Boy TM".
We had a
quick McBreakfast, then set off to Bethersden. I knew a shortcut along Magpie
Hall Road. However I didn’t know that Magpie Hall Road was closed. But despite
a little diversion we were still at the gate to the lake ten minutes before it
opened. We exchanged pleasantries with the bailiff, and made our way to the
lake.
Lovelace
fishery is somewhere I’d not fished before. I’ve driven past it several times
but I’ve been put off by what I’d heard (I follow the lake’s Facebook page).
I’d read that the lake was incredibly narrow. (It wasn’t). I’d heard it
was difficult to fish. (It wasn’t… really).
"My
Boy TM" had warned me that the place wasn’t a runs water...
You’d think that runs water is a bad thing, wouldn’t you? I’m sure that many of
my loyal readers are having quite unmentionable visions… In piscatorial terms a
“runs water” is a lake, canal, pond, river or any other watercourse from
which it is very easy to catch loads of fish.
"My
Boy TM" had given me the choice of where we would fish
today Did we want to try Lovelace fishery? On the one hand we had a chance of
catching some very big fish there. And on the other hand we had a far better
chance of catching nothing all day long. I gave the matter some thought. Common
sense told me that there were no end of other lakes where we had a far better
chance of catching stuff (albeit not as big). But in my world common
sense is no match for idiot enthusiasm so Lovelace fishery it was.
We set
up our rods and (despite a minor hiccup when my reel broke) we were soon
fishing. The first fruit of my loin set up three rods; each with a huge bait.
He was loaded for shark(!) I set up one rod with a huge bait, and one
rod with a very light float which I baited with maggots. I had one rod the bait
of which could only be taken by a big fish. And I had another rod with which I
was targeting tiddlers because when you are targeting tiddlers, anything might
happen. I’ve had carp over ten pounds in weight when tiddler-bashing before.
The
tiddler rod was a success. It really was fish after fish. I lost count of how
many I had on that rod but it was well over a hundred. Admittedly none were
over six inches in length, but tiddler bashing is a dying art. If I don’t keep
the old traditions alive, who will? And
it kept me occupied whilst I waited for the bite on my other rod.
That
bite came at mid day. "My Boy TM" had caught a carp
of over twenty pounds within minutes of our arrival, but after that things went
very quiet on the big fish front. It was over five hours before I had the
second carp of the day. Not quite as big; it was a shade under twenty pounds.
But it beat what had been my previously heaviest fish by six pounds. I was
rather chuffed.
"My
Boy TM" caught two more carp during the afternoon; both
about sixteen pounds in weight. We came home having caught four fish between us
(I’m told the hundred-plus tiddlers don’t count!), and we were rather
pleased with ourselves. "My Boy TM" didn’t catch
anything on his first three visits to that lake.
Would
I go back there again? Yes. Admittedly we didn’t catch as many big carp as I
would have done at other lakes, but the fish we caught were far bigger than
those where we usually go, and I can amuse myself by tiddler-bashing.
I took quite a few
photos
whilst we were at the lake. I would have stayed longer, but "My Boy TM"
was getting hungry. I had offered him one or more of my six-pack of crisps but
Cheryl has said that he is on a diet, and (apparently) if he’d had any
crisps, I can’t be trusted not to tell tales and squeal him up. So we came home
so he could have his permitted dinner.
I’d
struggled to get my gear to the lakeside, and I struggled getting it back to
the car. Regular readers of this drivel may recall my spending quite a bit of
time last year finding a trolley big enough for all my fishing gear. The
trolley I got worked for a while, but it isn’t big enough to accommodate the fishing
seat I got for Christmas. I need another new fishing trolley
Once
home I hung out my wet tackle (ooo-eer!) and took the dogs for a walk
round the co-op field. We had a rather good walk; we didn’t shout ant anyone,
or try to hump anyone. A passing normal person did give me a pointed glare when
Treacle and Pogo were play-fighting; I suppose that (to the uninitiated)
their play-fighting does look rather nasty
"er
indoors TM"
boiled up a rather good bit of dinner. We had a bottle of fizzy plonk with it
as a celebration for my big fish.
A
spinning head, too much sun earlier… I think I should have an early night…
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