After the truly dire winter had finally loosened its grip I was mad keen just like everyone else to get back out on the bank! Last year had pretty much been a write off for me due to several promotions at work which had seriously limited my time and predictably my angling suffered with just a few small commons to show for my efforts.
The Motorway Pit has never been kind to me and every capture felt hard earned. Fearing another busy summer at work this year I had taken the unusual step for me of booking off several weeks holiday in April and May to try and string together some consistent time knowing full well it would be the autumn before I could maximise my efforts on the pit again.
Studying the long range weather forecast on what seemed like an hourly basis made for depressing reading with just weeks and weeks of freezing temperatures and easterly winds. I ended up cancelling the first weeks holiday as the weather steadfastly refused to change and in no time at all May was just a few weeks away.
Although conditions were still awful I’d had enough of being stuck inside and decided to start with the odd night to try and tune in with the lake and hopefully get the drop on the regulars that I knew would soon be venturing back out. It was during one of those early trips that disaster struck and I did my back in pushing my fully laden barrow through the muddy paths whilst moving swims! I was in agony and even needed help from a couple of mates to pack up the next day having woken to find the pain worse than ever. After a torturous two weeks of recovery which involved Pac-manning numerous pain killers and muscle relaxers and a brutal physio session my back finally began to strengthen and I decided on a quick overnighter to see if my back could handle it. Thankfully it held out and at last I could start to think about the fishing again.
My plan for the year was to up the baiting and concentrate on several areas I thought would put me in the mix with the big un rather than the mobile approach I had generally favoured the last couple of years. Bait choice was simple, the Odyssey XXX which I knew the mirrors loved but mindful of the fact I was planning on applying more than normal I got Ian to supply me a slightly tweaked version to prevent someone else capitalising on my hard work.
My first week off saw me arriving after work on the Thursday evening with the lovely reality of having the next 10 nights at my disposal. Depending on how things were going I planned to break it up into several shorter sessions returning home for supplies and also mindful of the fact that my back was still pretty sketchy too.
After plonking myself down for a cuppa with Matt in the Slipway I was soon getting the low-down on what had been happening over the past couple of days and scanning the water in front whilst chatting it was plainly obviously that the bulk of the carp were down this end of the pit. This came as no surprise to me given the conditions and I had already primed up the nearby Canopy swim with a couple of kilos of boilies earlier in the week after work. Thankfully the swim was free and with the light fading all the time I decided to drop in on the pre-bait for a night before assessing things in the morning.
The night and indeed the next couple of days proved uneventful but the carp were still evident out in front so I decided to sit tight in the Canopy. Eventually the stalemate was broken by young Oscar on the Sunday night who managed two bites in quick succession on zigs from the Lawn swim which is situated centrally on the lake. The Croptail and Random Linear’s were his prizes and after an eight month blank Oscar was naturally pleased to be back in business.
This proved a bit of a game changer for me and suddenly I began to suspect the carp were moving back up the pit away from me under the cover of darkness. In the end I did 5 nights in the Canopy for the odd liner and knowing my rigs were presented perfectly above the low weed decided they obviously weren’t interested in feeding here just yet. I packed up the next day planning to return in the early hours on Thursday for a 3 nighter to finish my first block of holiday.
The weather was forecast to change with cooling temperatures, strong south westerly winds and rain however it was still and calm when I pulled into the car park at first light on the Thursday. A new member Oz was already setup in the Lawn which meant I had a good view of the lake whilst I settled down for a cup of tea with him. Whilst sat there chatting with Oz I saw three shows in front of the Left Hand Container swim. Although I’d missed seeing each one properly judging by the size of the rings they were obviously caused by carp and I made my way round there to investigate further.
I sat down in the swim for half hour but that was to be the end of the action however I’d seen enough already and with the majority of swims occupied down the other end of the pit and Oscars result still fresh in my mind I decided the Container looked a good bet. I knew the areas I wanted to fish but as it was still early I rigged up the rods then popped round to see Tom who was setup opposite in the First Point. Tom had bagged himself a couple of twenty pounders in the night which confirmed my thoughts about the fish moving up the top end area of the lake after dark.
By mid afternoon I had all three rods positioned perfectly, 2 on hinge stiff rigs and one on the ever faithful choddy. After an early start I was shattered and soon dozing off on the bedchair and it wasn’t until around 6:30pm before I was awake again and thinking about cooking some tea.
The temperature was certainly cooling and with a strong south westerly still blowing I spent the rest of the evening in the bivvy before eventually retiring to bed about 11pm. At 2:30am I woke to the right hand rod in meltdown! As soon as I picked up the rod I knew I was in trouble, a horrible grating sensation transmitting back up the line as the fish continued running right. Seconds later I heard Tom’s buzzer over on the First Point start to tone. The fish had obviously picked up his line, what a nightmare! I could feel even more pressure on the rod as Tom had obviously struck what he thought was a legitimate take.
I held the rod firm and tried shouting over to Tom but it was fruitless facing into the strong wind especially with the nearby motorway too. Every time I eased off Tom would start gaining line his side and it was obvious if this kept up a loss was on the cards. Eventually I was left with no option but to put the rod back on the rest with the clutch slackened off and leg it round there!
When I got to Toms swim huffing and puffing he was in an equal state, the offending rod propped up against the bivvy and mumbling about just losing a good fish after a strange take. I blurted out what was going on and the pair of us shot back round to my swim. Why is nothing ever simple! Thankfully once back in the swim I picked up the rod and was once again back in proper contact with the fish.
The fight was far from over but steady pressure with the rod sunk deep down to avoid the overhanging bushes finally had a big mirror boring deep down under the tip. Tom slipped his shoes off and rolled his trousers up before taking a couple of steps out into the lake to get into a better position with the net. After several more nervous minutes the fish was finally on the surface and Tom was on him in a flash scooping him up and turning round with a big grin and an out stretched hand, top man!
Upon closer inspection the carp laying beaten in the net that had caused us so much grief was none other than a stunning mirror known as Cluster, one of the lakes most sought after originals and a rare one to boot. In fact during our time on the water neither Tom nor I had seen him on the bank before. What a result! After readying the scales we recorded a weight of 34lb 2ozs before slipping him back into the margins to recover. By now it was around 4am and after making a cup of tea the pair of us sat there laughing at all that just gone on!
With the photos done at first light I was left to reflect on what had been a fantastic start to this year’s campaign and couldn’t wait to get back next week and hopefully continue with more of the same!
Phil