After banking a group of fish over my previous 2 overnighters including some of the biggest Mirrors & Commons in the lake, I’d had my fix and was then looking forward to a family break away in which I could savour my success. After a few days away i’d managed to keep in touch with what was happening and the lake, which had been relatively quiet with not a lot out, so I was eager to continue my spring assault when I returned, and hopefully to bank my target fish, the elusive Big Scale common which had been a target for about 4 or 5 years.
I was lucky enough to photograph it 3 years ago when it was last out to my best friend Lee, so with it being such a wily creature and while I was on such a run, wanted to make my time count, and bag the fish I dearly craved.
The first job after getting back was get some bait on the spots, so, with a bucket of bait spread over the area’s, I knew it would be a week before I was able to get back in the hot seat, and see if the fish were still partial to my banquet that I had laid on for them. On two more occasions that week, I was fortunate enough to be able to prep the spots, now it was just down the countdown Friday, where id be climbing the walls and counting down the seconds until I was able to leave work and go into ‘Carp-mode’.
With 2 members fishing, one was pulling off Friday night which enabled me to get onto the area’s I had primed up and before long, I had 3 rods exactly where I wanted them with a scattering of bait over the area’s.
I had a slight problem in such that I had run out of bait, or at least the bait id been testing, The excellent Equinox! But thankfully, I had stocks of XXX, Live system & N-gage in the freezer that id accumulated, so wasn’t overly concerned, as Id used them all and had utmost confidence in them all. The main thing was that I had fish feeding on the spots and was certain that any of them would produce a bite for me, if presented correctly. Therefore, I used a XXX / Northern Special snowman combination attached to my ESP Stiff rigger hook, 15lb ESP Bristle Filament / 15lb ESP Camo Sink Link, Reverse combi Anchor rigs, attached to a 3oz Mucky Lead-shed flat pear and 3ft of 35lb ESP Green Leadcore completing the set up for my overnight adventure.
In the early evening my friend Mick, caught a lovely scaley fish of upper doubles up in the shallows, so knew the fish were active, but my swim at the other end of the lake remained quiet. I awoke to motionless bobbins and saw 2 or 3 fish show at my end, but nothing near the spots. I was conscious of the bird life that were diving on the previous anglers bait, although they left my spots alone, which left me thinking that hopefully they were clear of bait, or at least the copious amount that id deposited on them, 2 days earlier.
I got permission to stay a little later than normal, and was advised that I was being picked up later in the afternoon. I spent the day, trickling baits in over the spots, on a little and often basis, to try and stimulate a bite, but even this edge didn’t seem to be working today!
By early afternoon I admitted defeat. I was disappointed after the crest of a wave that id been riding on, but knew from experience, that it doesn’t always happen. That is a fact of life.
I had everything packed up, apart from the rods that were lying on the floor, and some bait that I had left that I was going to deposit onto the spots when I had reeled in, when suddenly, I heard my phone bleep alerting me to a message from my better half, informing me I had an extra 30 minutes, as she was running late; no change there then! Although I wasn’t complaining…
Suddenly, I heard a clutch screaming and looked down to see one of my spools spinning for all it was worth on the deck. I grabbed my rod bag, and quickly shipped my net together, then proceeded to hit the offending rod which immediately bucked over as one angry fish started to try and gain its freedom.
The fight was scary, epic but at no point did I feel I was in control. It left the water 3 times whilst on its surging runs. I couldn’t make out what it was due to the sun glistening on the water, although at one point, I could only make out that it was about 3ft long as it came up onto a bar and showed its length in the shallow water that it was swimming. It then kited off towards a far margin and held deep holding its own using its weight, over a 100 yards away and to be honest, I couldn’t do a thing with it. 20 minutes had passed and a slowly, I was bringing the fish closer to me, although I was still fraught with fear, at the thought of losing this leviathan!
Then, like a submarine and in the clear marginal water, a common of huge proportions surfaced, and I saw the swirly scale pattern adjourning its flanks and knew that my journeys end, was near. Then, I took a deep breath and managed to drag it over the draw chord and stared down, gazing in amazement at the creature which had given me the inspiration to put in so much effort in a bid to catch it.
I left her to calm down whilst I sorted myself out, having to un-pack the recently packed up ancillaries, such as scales, sling, camera as well as 3 unhooking mats, to make sure she was completely protected and safe; just as they should be.
With the fins flat, she was lifted out from her watery home and gently laid onto the barrage of mats, and after zeroing the scales, the Ruebens pulled around settling to 41-6. Deep joy!
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My head was scrambled, I quickly got hold of Treena to ask for assistance with the camera, as she was a whiz with the Canon, and all too soon, I was holding my bar of gold aloft, with the flash clicking away amongst the surrounding Bluebells and other spring foliage of the surrounding forest. I also had my son Callum there to witness the beast and he even got in with some of the shots; something that I can savour in later years, and hopefully when he’s older be able to appreciate and remember that special day.
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It was then a case of stripping off and holding her in the water whilst she composed herself before kicking off back into the depths, hopefully to remain un-caught for another 3 years and then it was time to pack up again, and reflect on the mind blowing month of May that id experienced. Something that still hasn’t really sunk in, a few days later, even now whilst writing this and long may it continue….
Tight lines
Spence