Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over four years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff so if you are new to fly fishing or spinning these are the ones for you).

04 August 2009.

Carp off the top.

With my statutory 25p's worth of 'Small Farmhouse White Loaf' in a bag I set off to see what the carp were doing. It must be a month since I went carp fishing (time flies) and I have to say I enjoy it. If the local bakers knew that I use their bread for carp bait I don't suppose they'd be too chuffed. For 87p I can get enough bait for three sessions plus a couple of sandwiches so I consider it pretty good value. It seemed even more impressive when my pal Nigel told me of carp anglers putting tens of kg of boilies into a swim on another carp lake that he visited. They must have money to drown!

Anyway, enough of my mean Yorkshire attitudes. I walked round until I saw a couple of carp peering out of holes in a bed of Canadian pondweed. Probably too dense to fish in I thought so I baited my hook with a matchbox sized crust and flicked it to the edge of some nearby waterlilies. I like the line to lie across the lily leaves with the bait just on the edge of a leaf, just in case the carp might be suspicious (Well! It helps my confidence). It was five minutes before a fish came swimming along. It sniffed its way along the lily patch and ignored the bread. It seemed to me that I'd chosen a poor spot so I jerked the line to shed my crust, reeled in, rebaited and dropped it back closer to the path the fish had taken. Sure enough, after a further five minutes, back came the carp. This time it found my crust and after two or three sucks it mouthed it and hooked itself. I hung on grimly but it was no good the fish ploughed off into the nearby Elodea bed. The strain was too great and the hook-hold gave. never mind, it was a promising start.

I wandered along to another spot where I was in the shade of some trees with a patch of open water in front of me and a big bed of reeds ten metres out. On went another crust and I dunked it quickly before lobbing it into the reed bed. Nothing for a while and then I saw the reeds shaking as a carp shouldered its way through them. Closer and closer to my bread the shaking moved and eventually a pair of rubbery lips appeared nuzzling the bait. The line tightened and a fish was on. Lean back and heave seemed to be the best tactic. It worked and the carp, splashing and flapping, slithered through the reeds and into the open water. After a short struggle I netted the fish, about 4kg, took its picture and slid it from the net back into the lake. Mike 1 carp 1.

I shifted along twenty metres and the exercise was repeated. This time the fish was about 6kg (say 13lb) and it was a bit more difficult to handle. However, again I landed and photographed it. The fish was out of the water for no more than a few seconds before I was able to roll it back over the edge of the bank. Good session - must have another go soon

Got it!

My first carp's in the net.

Ready to go back.

I slide the fish ashore. Click!! and back it goes.

The second fish.

Another nice common somewhat bigger than the first.

Click again!.

- and roll it back into the water, weeds and all.