Sunday saw me arriving at Cicily mill at 5.30am to find the car park full already and another car behind me waiting to get in, I quickly unloaded the car and started to walk around the pool, to my amazement a swim that I have had some cracking days on was still vacant so I so jumped on it. With the place being so busy it was going to be a tough day as the fish wouldn't have to look far to find a decent meal. My plan of attack was on my margin pole just off the tree to my right, I also noticed the peg next to me had been removed so i had a fair bit of water in front of me, if i was quiet and baited properly I felt i had a chance.
the swim:
I began to feed the swim with corn, only a few kernels, just enough to get the fish around my area, after around 30 minutes the float buried and i was into a carp it came straight to the top and turned towards the tree, as quick as I had hooked it, it was off, Disaster!! from past experience a lost fish usually means a good wait for another bite as the place is so shallow it spooks all the fish around. A few more bits of corn and i sat back expecting a decent wait for another bite, not this time though the float buried again straight away and straight away i knew i was into a crucian carp from its tough jagged determined dives for the tree. The fish was no match for the pole elastic I had on and I am thinking of getting the 24 elastic replaced as it is really too powerful for what I need.
Crucian Carp
After this fish my swim got invaded by countless numbers of small roach gorging themselves on a early morning hatch of flies, not one to miss an opportunity I set up the lighter section of the pole and begin catching fish using punch bread, nothing of any size but was still fun. By 8am a I overheard 2 lads behind me talking saying they couldn't believe every peg was taken!!. Not alot was happening fish wise to be honest with only one person in my sight catching with any regularity, quick forays back over my baited spot with corn and meat brought nothing and I took the opportunity to watch a pair of grebes methodically working the shallow water out in the middle of the pool.
grebes (not the best quality but they put on a real display for us all.:
With the witching hours in the morning coming and going in a blur I decided to set up the method feeder out in the middle with instant results with the best bream of the day coming on the first cast.
First Bream:
From then on it was bream, bream bream all the way I took pictures of a few of them but they were all of the same stamp and kept the tip going round enough to keep me interested till around 5pm when I called it a day.
Bream
Bream
and more bream:
Throughout the day I am sure there was the odd recapture, which isn't as uncommon as you think on this venue I have had big captures of crucians in the past years with the same fish coming 2 or 3 times!!, all in all it was good to be back on the mill again but I have to say I was gutted about the carp I lost early on and the tench didn't turn up for me. It was also good to catch up with a good friend, Colin, who I have not seen in over a year due to me mainly fishing the rivers.
Tuesday - Rixton Clay Pits
I did a short session on Rixton on Tuesday, my plan today was big fish or bust, I put my sleeper rod out to the right and float fished over a bed of hemp and corn out in front of me. It turned out to be a day of what could have been with me missing 5 runs on the sleeper rod for one reason or another, I always seemed to being doing something when the runs came, from setting up my float rod to talking to the local bailiff, it was just one of those days when had I been in luck and by the rod I could be sat here typing with 5 tench or carp to wax lyrical about, but it wasn't to be, but with angling its the what could have been's as much as the red letter days that keep us going back, and I will be back!!
The short session ended in me catching a few skimmers spaced evenly throughout the short session and I probably learned more today about Rixton than I have the last few visits form talking to the bailiff and having a cast around with the depth plummet. A few side note's from the trip, I saw my first clutch of ducklings today, a sure fire sign that we are leaving the winter well and truly behind and also I finally found out the possible culprit behind the funny bites I have had on Rixton where I have had one beep on the alarm and nothing only to reel in to find the hook gone and line snapped, apparantly there is a few terrapins that live on there that must have a taste for boilies!!!, so if anyone reads this who fishes there make sure you test your bait after every run, its not always a liner.
No fishing for me now till Saturday where I am contemplating a visit to either Woodshaw, Rixton or C and D pools in Wigan, I would love to get a carp before the river season opens again.
tight lines
Danny
No comments:
Post a Comment