A warm welcome to this
week’s blog update and I start this week’s update by talking about a new river competition
that is set to take place later this year with a working name of River
Mania. The idea of his competition is for
River anglers to have a big money competition on a similar scale as the still
water competition Fisho-Mania and is the brain child of the famous river match
angler Dave Harrell.
The idea that is being
suggested is to have 20 matches all around the country with 60 pegs in each
match the 60 pegs will be split into 3 sections with the winner of each of
those three sections going through to the final 60 peg match for the prize
money. The prize money being mentioned
is up around £10,000 for the winner with good back up prizes if the
participation levels throughout the whole country are high enough. Obviously for a competition on this scale to
work it is going to take some massive organisation by both angling clubs and match
organisers and I am pleased to say it seems that enough angling clubs have
contacted Dave allowing their waters to be used for the idea to be passed over
to the Angling Trust for serious consideration.
Fishing the banks of my
local river every week it is easy to see how low in popularity river angling
has become compared to the busy still waters and commercials and it is not too
hard to notice when you are one of the youngest faces on the bank. The arm of river angling has declined from
what it was many years ago and there are sections of rivers that once where
lined week in week out with anglers that now have one or two pegs on them with
the rest completely reclaimed by nature. I know of two places this is the case
on the River Dee and I also know from fishing the river that apart from the
busy winter venue I fish that me and my uncle only saw a handful of other
anglers on the bank during the whole of our summer campaign.
I myself have never fished
a river match before but I would certainly be looking to take part in this
competition as I feel it will be not only a really exciting experience but I would
love to be part of something that I believe will really help the promote river
angling in this country and in time I really think we will look back at this
competitions introduction as a moment that possibly changed river angling in
this country. I know there are a few
river anglers who read this blog so let’s try and spread the word about this
fantastic competition and get this idea as much support as possible as at the
end of the day it is only us anglers that can make it a success.
More information on venues
and prize money is expected to be released shortly so check out the link below
for more information as it breaks.
For more information check
out Dave Harrell’s Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/DaveHarrellAngling
Dave also talks about this idea in this interview
released a week or so back:
This past two weeks the blogs mini carp blog has taken a
front seat and I have been putting my exploits up on there, baiting up and my
first session are on there so far along with some information on my plan for
the rest of this year’s quest so feel free to check it out on the page bar at
the top of the blog or on the following link.
10lb car quest mini blog: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/p/10lb-carp-mini-blog.html
As part of this mini blog I have found myself returning
home just as the sun is setting and it has presented me with a perfect
opportunity to capture a few pictures of the local nature reserve and the Mersey
estuary.
On to this weeks fishing:
Friday afternoon was spent enduring a cold blank in
pursuit of the carp for the blogs mini blog so come Saturday I was determined
to get a few bites and that float going under so I decided to put my faith in
my local commercial Flushing Meadows. I
actually called in this place last weekend and the pool I fished in this update
was frozen solid with no chance of fishing it as you can see below.
With this in mind I arrived on the banks of flushing a
few hours later than normal and it was gone 9am by the time I settled in my
peg. There were a few other anglers on
the pool when I arrived and the peg I had wanted to fish was taken so I settled
on a peg on the far margin on the above photo, I picked this peg as it gave me
plenty of margin to go at and the option to fish deeper water straight out in
front of me.
My plan for the day was to fish solely maggot and fish it
high up the shelf to see if any carp where willing to feed the weather was
surely warm enough for carp with clear blue skies and the warm sun on my back I
was confident of picking up at least one.
The action was really slow and it seemed an age to even
get the roach going let alone any carp but eventually I managed to get the
roach feeding and was rewarded more with numbers of fish than quality but at
least the float was going under.
The roach continued to come in fits and starts and it was
noticeable the angler on the back of the island was having a really good day
and catching a lot of carp, this can be the case on flushing meadows at times
and myself and my uncle have had many a session on there where one of us has
been bagging up on nice carp while the other is scratching around with bits.
The sun on my back and the float going under steadily I was
a happy man but I just felt I should have been picking up a carp if they were
feeding so ferociously for the other angler so with around a hour and a half of
the session left I began to up the feed rate and really pile in some maggots
hoping to prey on the greedy nature of the carp. A few small roach and eventually I got what I was
hoping for as the elastic melted from the end of the pole tip what I hadn’t remembered
to change my top kit to a thicker elastic and it became really obvious early on
in the fight that I was connected to a decent carp and that I was in for a long
battle on only blue hydro elastic.
The fish was in no doubt as to who was in charge in this
exchange as it powered from left to right and back again, I did all I could to
gain control of the fish by submerging the tip of my pole in the water to
increase the strain on the fish and I managed to turn the fish a few times from
reaching the other anglers, I was in a right mess!! Eventually I got the carp under my feet and I
saw how big it was and I estimated it to be around 5-7lb and I must say around 5
minutes into this fish my arm was beginning to ache and as one of the other
anglers commented “its having none of it”.
The fish was getting to the stage when it was beat and I had
the fish under some type of control and all of a sudden the line flew back at
me, it baffles me at times how a fish can impart so much pressure on the hook
at still not come off yet the stage in the battle where the fish is under control
but still on a tense elastic the hook pops out.
I must say I was gutted as it would have been the first carp of the year
and I knew in the conditions it could have been my only chance of a carp in
that session.
The session continued to count down to its end and as
time was just about to be called I struck into another strangely delicate bite
and was connected to another carp but it was not in the same league as the
previous one and armed with white hydro elastic it was soon in the landing net
and on the bank. It was a strange
looking carp as it didn’t look like a common carp or a mirror but more like a
really big crucian mixed with a common.
It was only when turning the fish over for a picture of
its other side I noticed the fish only had one eye.
This was the last action from the trip and I must admit
after the hard session the night before I was happy to get a few bites and left
the fishery with my fishing itch well and truly scratched for another week.
This weekend I am hoping to get out on the bank both
days, Sunday I will be on the carp quest as it is forecast to be the warmer day
and I am undecided at the moment as to whether to go to flushing meadows or
visit a water on the WAA card.
Till next week I wish you all
Tight lines
Danny
Fantastic sunset pics there mate!
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