R I P Malcom Grice a true Gentleman

The ticket on the nene valley pits has now run out and it was time to move on to pasture's new also it was a move out of the nene valley and in to a different county all together that was Cambridge. A smaller water of about 7-8 acres a water that i had watched for years as i drove by in the lorry. Once a Coarse lake and very baron with no trees or shrubs surrounding the margins it is now grown up to be such a beautiful lake with bushes and trees all the way round its margins. With gin clear water that is in place's 22 foot deep you can see every stone and pebble at the bottom of the lake in 12 foot of water. I was lucky enough to fish the smaller of the 2 lakes over christmas. the smaller lake only 3 acres in size with plenty of fish to go for. I had 7 carp in total from mid doubles to a stunning 30lb mirror. The smaller commons of 18lb was a stunning fish and one was the blackest carp i have ever hooked

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                    I also had a crazy time on zig rig i have been using them on and off for a long time now and never done any good. After having one on set at 5 foot all night i was watching the water and noticed that there was swirls coming from just under the surface like the carp was dashing about just under the water line causing small vortexes to rise and make these ring's on top.  I reeled in and swapped the 5 foot for a longer 10 foot zig with a cut down 10mm avid ziglight in yellow and black this was shown to me by my fiend Malcolm Grice who rates zig fishing very highly after catching for the second time in 10 days a 45lb nene valley common on a zig and at night. After i had seen malc's zig rig and spoke to him i was confident that they do work in the right conditions. I was sure that this was the right time too use a zig. It was cast out without much trouble and i picked up my mug and off i went next door to get my mate flash to put his kettle on for a brew. Well i had not been at his all of 5 minutes when my delkim rung out then stopped then brust into life again by that time i was on it and the my 1st ever zig caught fish was on it was a mental fight that resulted in a stunning common.
  So it does work i had 3 more over the next hour and a half they was having it just below the surface in the middle of winter on a small piece of rubber how mad is that. Something that i just cant get my head round how a carp can eat something that does not smell of anything we will never really understand i don't think.

         Like i say that was back in winter over christmas and while i was there i kept an eye on what was happening on the main lake the lake that i would have to wait till june to fish with only one angler fishing it over the festive period it still looked good and i could not wait to wet a line in with so many big fish in it up to 41lb 

        This is a small video of the 30lb mirror i had out of the small lake at the time a winter 30lb in all its colour's

   I like to write my blog a few weeks in advance and already had this next section written and was ready to post But i am very sad to say that i had the sad news That Malcolm Grice passed away 28/07/12.
  He had been ill for a few months and my thoughts go out to his family.
 
  I first met Malcolm last year when i had added him to my facebook friends list he posted up that he was down Little Irchester for the weekend and i told him if he wanted me to photo the big one then i would be in the bungalow swim.  At 5,30am Saturday morning Malc came bounding into my swim shaking my hand and at the same time he is asking me to take photo's of the one they call cut tail the biggest common on the complex at 45lb That was unreal first night on the lake and malcolm had had his target fish.  Now you may be reading this think that was luck or just a jammy bugger. But let me tell you that malcolm due to work and other commitments could not get back down the lake for 10 days. Again i was down there and 11.30pm malcolm's come round to my swim asking if i would take more photos of cut tail he had only gone and had it again this time on a zig.  So you see malcolm was not just your average carp angler he was a bit more than that he had had some big fish over his life time The fat lady being one of them.   The last time i saw and spoke to him was back in march when i took some snaps for him of a 20lb common i will never forget him and i am pleased our paths crossed      R I P Malcom Grice a true Gentleman

    Here is a video of Malcolm when he had cut tail the 1st time on a rig that he loves to use the chod.

      

Its not over till the fat lady sings

In my last blog piece i said that i had said my farewell to the syndicate well i had but because work was not very busy and i had some holidays left i was stuck with where to go my new water ticket didn't start till june so that was a no go. I new my mate yoda was going down for one last session so i thought i would join him and have a bit of a social as it would most likely be the last time we would ever fish together as we are both going to different waters this year.
  I met him in the carpark so we could have a look round see where we wanted to fish it was the hottest day of the year so far which did not please yoda not one bit not ideal fishing conditions and after a few laps of the lake yoda made up his mind to jump back in the car and make the 2 hour drive back home me on the other hand made the decision to stick it out and fish the main lake in a swim called the pond.  Its a cracking swim where you get maybe a acre of water to fish and is literal like a pond hence the name.
     Fish where everywhere all laid on top basking in the sunshine.   As the afternoon went on i leaded about and found three clear spots which was baited and hookbaits placed on ready for the hopefully the night time feed. I was again not that confidant after all i had done over 6 months now on the main lake on and off without a fish Night came and i settled in the summer bag for the night. All hell broke lose at around 2.30am when the left hand delkim was screaming a one toner. I was up and at them rods within seconds i pulled into what felt a good fish the rod banged over it was game on. It made two very strong runs as it tyred to get away when the line went limp on the 3rd run. I was gutted this lake has for every 3rd fish is a 30 plus so maybe thats what had just done me who knows.
  I could not believe it was i now after a year on the complex starting to find my way had i put the jigsaw pieces together that was three fish now in as many sessions and from two different lakes. All though i had lost that one i was buzzing and with another two days to go god knows what was going to happen.

   The two days went so quick and it was time to pack away and leave this was it the very last time i was going to fish these lakes the ticket runs out in 2 days and i was back at work so that was that. Banger the bailiff came round and said his farewells and wish me luck on my new water.  Everything was loaded up on the barrow apart from the rods they where still in in a last ditched attempt to catch when again the lefthand rod ripped off. Unbelievable i could not belive my luck i was in was this a big mirror that i hoped i would catch. Within a few minutes it was mine another common that banged the scales round to 25-06lb  What great way to end what had been such a crazy year with so many highs and lows threw out the year.

Well you no what they say it's never over till the fat lady sings
 Till next time have a good un
 Russ