- Joined
- Jul 31, 2016
- Messages
- 4,971
A few weeks ago I had a PM from another MD'er @Simon Walsh to say that he would be staying at Eye kettleby for the last week of September and did I want to join him for a day ?Having previously fished with Simon twice at Eye Kettleby. It was an invitation that I had been looking forward to, especially as the end of September, is one of the four busiest times of year and I was suffering from Stressure TM (a combination of stress & pressure) and I knew a day's fishing in good company would sort that out.
Met up with Simon for full English breakfast at 8:00 AM. Is there a better way to start a fishing session ? was good to catch up with Simon over a very good breakfast (Simon must have been hungry, because he made breakfast disappear like a stage magician !)
Short drive to Lake & with parking right beside the peg was a welcome change. Simon said he was going to start on expander pellet against the island far bank approx 15 Metres. Normally I wouldn't choose to fish that far, as the last time I tried it with my Middy XK55 (original version) It wasn't too comfortable. Now that I had a Whisker XLS, I thought I would re-visit fishing long. Well I gave it a go and the difference was amazing by comparison although maybe lifting the rig clear out of the water to drop it in, when there is a stiff breeze blowing wasn't such a good idea, as the wind blew the rig into the island vegetation. Nothing else for it but to ship back at an angle, low to the water, fortunately the rig did break free, but shot back and tangled around the top kit ! I decided fishing long on a breezy day wasn't probably the best way to practice, so I opted to fish at topkit + 2 with caster in search of the bream. My first attempt at mixing ground bait using 50/50 mix of Dynamite Swim Stim F1 Sweet Cool Water ground bait and some dark ground bait made up by a local commercial seemed OK, although maybe a bit heavy. Like anything it will come with practice.
I have found that using a banded caster works well for carp & skimmers and as Simon informed me he had already caught 4 carp,
I needed to catch up. I potted in half a 250 ML cup mix of ground bait & hemp, with a few casters and shipped out top kit + 2 and laid the rig in. I was getting indications, but no bites, so ship in adjust shot and it didn't take long for the float to dip before burying a short scrap later and carp number one was in the net.
Not huge, but, I am always glad to get the first fish in the net, although it always takes me some time, I get there in the end.
Simon wanted to know if my Daiwa XLS was longer than his Tricast Excellence, so we laid both poles out at the full 16 Metres with standard no 4 and the XLS was about a foot longer. Simon hopped back on to his seat box as he wanted to see how the XLS handled at 16 Metres, needless to say he was impressed with the lightness & stiffness of the Daiwa coupled with the satin finish. I think he was surprised how good a pole, the Whisker XLS is.
Simon's far bank had gone quiet and the wind though not constant was gusting, so he borrowed some ground bait and went down the track too. We both settled in to steadily catching carp, bream and occasional roach. I had noticed that there were indications of fish in the margin to my left, a lot earlier in the day than I expected fish to move in to margins. Now catching in the margins has never been a skill set I have managed consistently to crack yet, no time like the present to try out a Drennan Crystal Margin float to see if it made a difference. As with most places the water level had dropped considerably to normal, it was far to shallow close in by the bank so after plumbing up I found a decent depth about 3 Ft from the bank and potted in ground bait and sweetcorn. Laying the rig further out and drawing it back up the shelf to settle at the right depth gave an instant sail away bite with nice 4 Lb carp on. What was odd that subsequent margin catches were all bream of a very dark colour almost black, so maybe a hybrid.
Simon was catching steadily from the margin too, I did have a chuckle as he had taken a phone call and was happily talking away to a mate, with the phone to his ear with one hand hand, whilst playing a carp in open water with the other.
All too soon it was, time to pack up and call it a day, why does fishing time go 3 X faster than work time ? Good byes & handshakes exchanged and promises to meet up again in the Spring. Simon suggested we post it up as a MD fish in next year the more the merrier.
Met up with Simon for full English breakfast at 8:00 AM. Is there a better way to start a fishing session ? was good to catch up with Simon over a very good breakfast (Simon must have been hungry, because he made breakfast disappear like a stage magician !)
Short drive to Lake & with parking right beside the peg was a welcome change. Simon said he was going to start on expander pellet against the island far bank approx 15 Metres. Normally I wouldn't choose to fish that far, as the last time I tried it with my Middy XK55 (original version) It wasn't too comfortable. Now that I had a Whisker XLS, I thought I would re-visit fishing long. Well I gave it a go and the difference was amazing by comparison although maybe lifting the rig clear out of the water to drop it in, when there is a stiff breeze blowing wasn't such a good idea, as the wind blew the rig into the island vegetation. Nothing else for it but to ship back at an angle, low to the water, fortunately the rig did break free, but shot back and tangled around the top kit ! I decided fishing long on a breezy day wasn't probably the best way to practice, so I opted to fish at topkit + 2 with caster in search of the bream. My first attempt at mixing ground bait using 50/50 mix of Dynamite Swim Stim F1 Sweet Cool Water ground bait and some dark ground bait made up by a local commercial seemed OK, although maybe a bit heavy. Like anything it will come with practice.
I have found that using a banded caster works well for carp & skimmers and as Simon informed me he had already caught 4 carp,
I needed to catch up. I potted in half a 250 ML cup mix of ground bait & hemp, with a few casters and shipped out top kit + 2 and laid the rig in. I was getting indications, but no bites, so ship in adjust shot and it didn't take long for the float to dip before burying a short scrap later and carp number one was in the net.
Not huge, but, I am always glad to get the first fish in the net, although it always takes me some time, I get there in the end.
Simon wanted to know if my Daiwa XLS was longer than his Tricast Excellence, so we laid both poles out at the full 16 Metres with standard no 4 and the XLS was about a foot longer. Simon hopped back on to his seat box as he wanted to see how the XLS handled at 16 Metres, needless to say he was impressed with the lightness & stiffness of the Daiwa coupled with the satin finish. I think he was surprised how good a pole, the Whisker XLS is.
Simon's far bank had gone quiet and the wind though not constant was gusting, so he borrowed some ground bait and went down the track too. We both settled in to steadily catching carp, bream and occasional roach. I had noticed that there were indications of fish in the margin to my left, a lot earlier in the day than I expected fish to move in to margins. Now catching in the margins has never been a skill set I have managed consistently to crack yet, no time like the present to try out a Drennan Crystal Margin float to see if it made a difference. As with most places the water level had dropped considerably to normal, it was far to shallow close in by the bank so after plumbing up I found a decent depth about 3 Ft from the bank and potted in ground bait and sweetcorn. Laying the rig further out and drawing it back up the shelf to settle at the right depth gave an instant sail away bite with nice 4 Lb carp on. What was odd that subsequent margin catches were all bream of a very dark colour almost black, so maybe a hybrid.
Simon was catching steadily from the margin too, I did have a chuckle as he had taken a phone call and was happily talking away to a mate, with the phone to his ear with one hand hand, whilst playing a carp in open water with the other.
All too soon it was, time to pack up and call it a day, why does fishing time go 3 X faster than work time ? Good byes & handshakes exchanged and promises to meet up again in the Spring. Simon suggested we post it up as a MD fish in next year the more the merrier.
