I hadnt intended to fish much over the easter break, maybe a day or two at a local runs water just to get a few takes after a rather slow start to the year so far.
I managed to finish work on time thursday night and as i started the hour journy home i thought id take a small diversion and pop in to a lake which i learnt so many of my skills on years ago. if my memories serve me right i think ive done half a dozen nights in maybe 4 years since so i was interested to see if much had changed there. Well as i pulled into the car park the same old friendly face appeared Trevor the bailiff!! We stood chatting for half an hour or so, in which time id learned that the previous week had seen a few fish out upto 38lb but the fishing had dried up despite plenty of people having a go none had been out for 7 days. Now considering the fact that it was an easter break there did seam to be quite a lot of swims left, some of which had done the business for me 6-7 years ago. Prehaps they new somthing i didnt!!
After being hinted at it was time to lock the gates i left the lake with a plan brewing in my head. i had a few days spare, sod all else to do so i planned to get there at 6 am the next day and have a good old mooch around and get the rods out for a night.
Il take this oppertunity to tell you a bit about the lake, its called Suffolk Water Park and sits just of the A14 at ipswich. although it used to be a boating lake nowadyas it just sees bait boats, and lots of them!! Stock wise my estimates from my time on there is around 200 carp between upper doubles to now 2 over 40lb at the right time of year with 20 or so -30lbers and the rest averaging now twenty plus. The lake is around twenty acres in size and a horseshoe shape the cafe side being the shallowest with depths between 2-3ft up the north end to 10-12ft in the other arm., plenty of gravel and silty channels and loadsa lovely weed in the summer. Not by anymeans a hard water but thought and location pays a big part down there, other times its can be really moody and switches right off.
With a plan firmly in my head and my gear all sorted, a bath and and a bit of tea i though id get some sleep for the early start.
I woke up the next morning full of eagerness and confidence with the sun warmly glowing throuh my window, hangon the suns up, it should be dark, whats the time!! 8 am,. Damn id slept in and forgotten to set anykind of alarm!!
Gear in the back of my motor, and leaving my parents fridge raided (just a small oversight on my part id forgotton about food and milk) i slowly (cough) started the 40 min drive to the lake. At 8.25 (do the maths!) i slid to a halt outside the bailiffs shop, to be greated as ever by the smiley if not rather scary smile of Trev 'morning jamie' he boomed at me, he could see i was in a rush but the offer of a free fag calmed me down, only one person had arived before me and he was piking so normal brain functions were resumed. The wind was only really a breeze blowing in a north west direction towards the point or spit of land betwwen the two sidesi really wanted to stay on southern arm as it does seem to hold fish there through the winter and has a nice depth between 6-8 ft with plenty of features to go at. I had inteneded to have a good walk around but with quite a few anglers around the lake it was not really much point as the good climbing trees were in peoples swims and even if i had seen fish i couldnt get anywhere near them. i could see from the shop that a swim known as windy place was free, a good spot to ambush moving carp coming up from the shallows and vice versa, it also had a fair bit of open water to the left and just round from there i was pretty certain a lot of the carp would be held up in a spot known as the holes. although i couldnt fish it from my swim i was as close as i could get.
First things first i need to have a quick go with the marker, im not to keen on using markers nowadays but i needed to check a few spots out that i still remembered and get my bearings. "30 mins later the lake resembled nothing like it once did in my head. the central bar was there some 90yds out but was more a gravel strip now, with little in the way of well anything really, just fairly smooth silt and a bit off the old weed beds. close in some 40yds to my left a new bar had appeared depth on top was 6 ft!! with a real sexy shelf on my side at 8 ft of water, the slowly pulled back up to deed weed bed at 7ft deep. That will do me i thought so out went my ever faithfull hinged stiff rigbaited with a mainline tiger nut pop up and a small bag of 10millers. pukka, well happy with that!
By now the gentle breeze was becoming a bit stronger, and gusting a bit and i considered bunging the brolly up , looking into the sky there was a big old dark cloud looming so i put the strengthening wind down to that.
I found a simalar spot to my first 60 yds straight out in front. this i decided to have a go with some bait BK had kindly sent to me. a simple stealth skin hook link with a longish hair made its way into the lake followed by 30 odd freebies, losely scattered with some landing in the bit of weed the rest in a line along a 3 mtr length of the gully.
Just as i was slackening of the the line the heavens opened and through down huge hailstones the wind increasing nearly blowing me off my feet and sending my nevs into melt down!! straight away the undertow was picking up my lines and despite doing my best i had no option but to tighten down a bit and back lead, somthing i rearly do try to avoid if i can.
With 2 inches of hailstones on the ground, my still wet bedchair from the carp addict social getting even wetter and the wind seaming to be getting worse (remeber the swim name!!) i had to summon a couple of young
lads to help get the brolly up. somhow it worked and the ever faithfull jrc stealth now bent worse than it was before, was up and doing its best to to keep its shape. Now the main reason people hadnt turned up i guess was the fact that everybody else had watched the weather, well i hadnt!!
Still with the rods out by ten, brolly up it was time for a fag and a brew.one of the youngish lads had stayed with me, and seamed quite alarmed by the fact i was in a brolly, i laughed it off and the subject soon turned to bait. After doing my best to remeber What PeteB had said only a week before i had one confused lad drinking my tea. he asked about the white bait i had with me (BK's) he seamed impressed by it so i gave him a few so he would leave me in peace as he was eyeing up my baccy tin!!
To cut a long story short the rest of the day passed quite quickly the showers came and went, so did the wind, only to return with vigour!. id had a few texts from mates asking if i was mad so i turned on the wind up radio jobby and waited for the weather. OH dear stronger winds and snow!! I should have bought the titan!
somtime later that evening and during the strongest of winds i think ive ever fished in. and certainly the hardest hail stone storm my trusty nev shrilled into life, a one noter!! woohoo i shouted as tripped over a storm pole knocking my freshly made coffee into my bait bag, hand on spool i lift into it expecting a nice powerfull thudd... donk donk donk damn a tench!! a nice classic looking tinca of 4lb ish maybe.i quikly recasted back to my marked line and i nice firm thud, pukka in the silt not the bar bang on.
Time for a new brew. as soon as i had my first sip the tea kid is back, blimey how did he know there was a hot ketlle? ! But it wasnt a brew or my baccy he wanted it was so say thank you. About the same time as my tench take he had had a take too, which had resulted in cracking mirror of 25lb and onces, and a new PB for him. i was well chuffed for him and it just goes to show that not all kids are bad!!
The night passed with no more signs of fish, although with the wind battering my brolly and my alarms bleeping continuosly unless i had a belter i wouldnt have known.
Sat morning i was up nice early sun was out so i quickly pulled in my rods grapped a few biolies and my faithfull carp spotters(polaroids) and headed down the shallows, it was still windy but up in the treas i could see pretty well most of the shallows an area about 3 acres. an hour passes and no carp spotted. i made my way past the dozing carpers and put the kettle on. I was watching the coots, trying to see if anyspooked after diving on there favorite spots but they all seamed pretty happy so the rods went back onto yesterdays spots. The morning passed quickly listening to the weather warnings about snow and flicking between the various dance music stations while watching the waves crashing and the rain hail and sleet showers dumping there worst on me, the wind still doing its best to destroy my weekend home. The phone rings, Its the infamous Mo from Mo's Co hes on the way down to see me!! brave man!
He caught me up a tree scanning the water lookin for signs of fish, and knowing theres a good chance of a taylor made tab i hastily desended from my outpost snapping several branches much to the amusement of Mo and a bloke from the next swim.
We had a good old chatter about all things carpy and i listend to Mo about his thoughts on baiting. Now i havnt known Mo for long but hes one of those people who would get on with everyone hes a damn good angler and extremly modest of his achievements, he listened to my thoughts and observations and told me a few of his own. a top bloke and im proud to be assocaited with him , anyway more fags and coffee and the sun decided to come out and the wind died down, what a lovely change, the sun was warm and mo commented on the the fact that he should of bought his rods!! (bet your glad you didnt!)
I decided to leave the rods where they where, and as the weather had improved i decided to let go of the spines on my brolly and chance a bit of kip. I was woken suddenly by a shout, blimey whats that as i peard out from my now dark brolly i could see a figure 20 yds away with a landing net folded around a very carpy looking shape. i quickly rolled a fag, found my head torch and headed over, the lucky captor garbbed my hand and shook it hard followed by a huge smile "that spot you said mate, i bagged one from it"!! slighty jealous i congratualated the chap. on the mat, he slowly unfoled the net revealing his prize i could see it was old friend pop rib, looking back through my diary i had that firendly fish in 2002 at 22lb and now it looked a fair bit bigger, on the scales she turned the dial round to just over 27lb. A new PB for him too, i was really pleased for him and as i got back under my bag cover i felt the very magic of carp fishing, id seen two people catch there PB's in 24hrs and i felt genuirenly pleased for them both, the looks on the faces was fantastic and in the future when im getting stressed about trying to catch a biggie i will think of those two people and remember that somtimes its just about being there, i guess those two lucky anglers will remember me helping them when there telling the mates out the captures.
I went to sleep a contented angler.
During the night the wind had changed round to southerly and i woke to sharp pin pricks on my face. SNOW and lots of it was piling into my brolly, once again i had woken up soaked!!
still i just rolled over and brushed the laying snow aside and lit the stove for a first coffee of the day. With the wind having changed i felt that my chances of a carp was slowly drifting away Trevor came around to tell me the water temp had also dropped a degree to 6 degrees, which is so often the kiss of death in the winter down there.
Behind my swim
The snow continued for a few hours, in a last ditch attempt i moved my rods to the swim to my left, quiclky tieing up a couple of stiff rigs baited with the floros, yellow being my fav and hooned them out to the horizon. Both leads landed with a satisfying thumb, good not in the weed. Im not sure why the fish like this area of the lake as its pretty barren during the winter but time and time again fish get caught from the bit of water so i hoped that maybe one would slip up
a last minute chance!
Morning soon passed and with the wind feeling colder and colder, baccy getting low and no food left i decided another night at the lake could wait so i slowly packed up my gear and slopped through the mud back to motor.
So no fish to my rods this time, but i did enjoy my trip, seeing two very happy anglers going away with PB'S made me feel glad to have just been there to witness it.
Be lucky
Jay.
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Subject: 3 days, 4 seasons 
Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:29 pm
