Getting There

What a cracking day today has been. i had made up my mind that this week on Dogleg i would stay in a swim all day rather than move after a 2-3 hours if i had no action. Finding the fish seems not to be a problem it's getting them to take a bait that is not the easy part Soon after arriving at about 10.00am i had found a few fish cruising up and down one of the arms that run off the main part of the lake. So that's where i made up my mind to stay for the day. Putting 3 rods out i sat back and watched as the fish came in and out of the main lake and up the arm these carp was in mid water so after a couple of hours i made my mind up to put a 3 foot zig out hoping that at least one would take an interest in the black piece of foam with the hook in it.
It was a little after 2.00pm when the middle rod burst into life a short battle with the mirror and it was soon in the net a short dumpy fish. I left him in the net while i sorted the weigh sling and scales out and also to set the camera up i have a cannon g5 and its fantastic for quality photo's especially self-takes i just set it up on a tripod get the remote set the timer for 10 seconds that gives you enough time to pick the fish up and get your self in the pose you want and it's done. You can if you wish hold the fish in the pose position and use the remote control which ever is easy for the user. Any how this time the camera would not switch on the battery seemed to be dead which was odd as i had charged it this week Thought was running threw my mind that the camera was broke which meant that A) i would have to buy a new one and B) who can i call to come out and take a photo for me. When from out the of the blue i heard a voice say "you got one mate" It was a guy that had walked pass me an hour before. After explaining that the camera had broke on me i asked if would mind taking a few shots for me with my phone "no problem" he said so lucky for me he turned up when he did. I thanked him for doing the honors with the photos and off he went in search of his own carp.
After the weighing and photos was done i slipped the fish back into the water and off it swam ready to fight another day. I sat it out for the rest of the afternoon in the swim but that was the only carp to grace the net. So had the idea of sitting it out in the same swim all day seemed to have payed off but is it the answer to cracking the lake??

23-12 mirror

captures Part 2

The story i am writing about is again with me and my brother the first time that we both went to juvigny. It was wednesday night me and andy was sat chatting over a brew And i said that we had been carp fishing for a lot of year's he agreed and started to say it would be nice if one of us caught the big one that was in there. It had not been hooked for a while so according to Chris the lake owner it was due a visit to the bank. Shortly afterwards i went back to my swim as it was getting dark recast the rods on the spots and sat chatting with the rest of the group on the 2 way radio till well after midnight before getting into the sleeping bag.
I was a wake early as i normally am watching the lake for signs of fish movement when the 2 way burst into life and andy was asking if i was up and could i go down to his swim as he had one in the net and he could not lift it out the water. I thought to myself here we go again. I ran down to his swim and asked him what he had got in the net. He said it is the big one i think? He asked me to take a look at it and what did i think it weighed. He passed me the arms of the net and as i spread them open and peered in my jaw just dropped wide open before i spoke the words "Fuck me" It was massive i thought the 55 was big but this thing just looked so much bigger its back was as wide as any carp i had seen before. I radio Martin my son could he come round and on his way grab Merv's scales as his went to 120lb.
I never told martin what was in the net and when he arrived i just said how big do you think this goes mate. He like me just peered into the net and the words of "Fuck me" rang out again.

We all thought that it would go 60lb It took 2 mats up and 3 of us to weigh it the scales again went round and the needle stopped Martin read out the weight me and andrew lowered the fish on to the mat and we just bust into giggles and laughter we was shouting shaking hands it was a great moment. We again lifted the beast to weigh it again but this time Andy was watching the scales to confirm that Martin had read them right. No mistake he had read them spot on it went
a massive 72lb.

How great was that that i had been there again to witness such a thing and again i could not have been more pleased for him. Just mind blowing stuff. I may never see a carp of that size again for the rest of my life, But i was so glad that i was there and what made it just as special was it was my brother that caught it.

Capture Part 1

I love it when i am there to witness someone else's captures or i hear of someone i no catching. I have been lucky to be at my brother's personal best catches not once but twice. The first time was in France at a lake that he had been fishing for ten years. A lake that i had never fished due to either time or the money. This trip was back in about 2004 i saved up the money and took the the trip out there. I remember that it was the wettest week of the year it rained every day for hours on end even some of the nights was just non stop rain all night. By thursday we both had no dry clothes left because if it wasn't raining there was no sun to dry anything out. As per the previous day the rain was coming down in buckets i could only just see Andy threw the rain on the otherside of the lake i had the camcorder with me and was taking a shot of the rain and the lake when i scanned it round to see andy was into yet another fish i just sat inside the bivvy and started to laugh thinking thank god that's not me playing a fish in the rain.
Ten minutes went by when Andy gave my a call on the 2 way radio that we use when fishing away from each other said he had one mirror in the net but was too heavy for him to lift out the water! After reeling in and getting round to him in double quick time thanks to the use of a push bike that was on site. I told him it better be worth me coming round to help. We both grabbed the landing net and lifted the lump out the water on to the mat. It lay there as we both looked at each other it was the biggest carp that we both had ever seen. The laughter started as we new it was going to weigh heavy and we was right once in the sling and the scales was lifted the needle on the dial just went round and round till it settled on 55-01lb a new pb and a new lake record. It was unbelievable i never saw anything like it after we had done the photo's and slipped the big mirror back into the water we just sat and talked about the fish we just could not get over the sheer size of it. I don't no who was more over the moon my brother on catching the fish or me for just being there and witnessing it and being so happy that my brother had caught such a beast.

About Time

Had a day on Dogleg this week its the 3rd time i have fished it. I got there a little after 7.00am and had a short walk to a nice little swim. The rods went in on a couple of spots nice and easy. But after a few hours and not seeing a single fish i thought i would move so up sticks and off i went i had not gone 40 yards when i spotted fish cruisin on top so out came the floaters After an hour or so one of them was happy to take the chum mixers and he proceeded to make a pig of himself. It was time to put the hook out to him he sucked a few more then came up to the fake one. That is where it all went pear shaped as the mirror come from underneath the hook bait mouth wide open he must have spotted the hook he just turned his head and was spooked off that was the last i saw of him and my only chance of getting one off the top.
It was time to move again so off i went in search off the fish. Wasn't long before i found a few Well i counted 9 but they could have been more. This time i was going to try a short zig on them they was only in 4-5 foot of water just below the surface so set a zig up of about 3 foot i put on an once lead just small enough to get over to them but not enough to spook them out. I cast over to them and feathered the cast to make the least noise i could. It was a perfect cast and it sat right in the middle of the group. i could see that the fish was still there so i just sat back and waited for one of them to take the trap. 15 minutes went by and i had not even had a liner i climbed a tree and saw that the fish had moved out was it the line or the sound of the lead that made them move on. Only one thing for me to do was move again that was 3 moves now and it was only 1.30pm This was going to be the last move of the day so i found a nice swim where i had seen fish every time i had been there i set 3 rods up this time all on pop ups Squid from Active Bait Solutions that Paul had gave me when i was going to France they are only 12mm i just love fishing small baits on the hook. Small baits mean big fish in my book. The baits where placed on the spots that i was happy with and i put about 50-60 free malarky offerings around each hook bait.
After an hour or so i had a screaming take on the left hand rod after a brief gentle fight the mirror was beat and as i slid the net under it the hook slipped and it was off It just lay there on its side for a second or two so i made a stab at it with the net to try and scoop him up but i missed and he just swam back in to the dark water. I was gutted but all i could do was laugh the thought of me trying to net him after he spat the hook out was so funny. The mirror was a real pretty one it would have been my first Dogleg carp. After recasting and topping the area up with marlarky i sat back and thought on why it had just lost the hook so easily what i came up with was it's been that long since i had a fish that all i did was pick the rod up i NEVER set the hook a big mistake which cost me a carp lesson learned.

Time was knocking now and the night was drawing in so i started to pack my stuff down when the left hand rod was a way again this time there was no mistake i pulled into the fish and made sure the hook was set. A short battle and the fish was in the net a cracking looking common and a big one too. i left him in the net while i sorted things out. i got the scales out and weighed it a belting 28-12 I did the self take photos and slipped it back into the water. To say i was pleased and a very happy angler was an understatement it was a cracking end to a cracking day i worked hard for the two fish i had and it had payed off.

Till next time
Russ
My 1st Dogleg carp 28-12 happy days