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A DAY AT THE RESERVOIR by Mathew Woods A days fishing lay ahead so I got myself an early night. Morning came and I actually saw most of it for once. I had risen much earlier than usual, it was 8:30 and it being the holidays that was a complete surprise for a lazy toe-rag like me. But I was so hungry to get out onto a pool I had not tried yet that it was well worth getting out of bed for. I rode my bike up the large hill through winding roads next to the illustrious hills of the ercall wood. The sun was shining but the air was still morning crisp against my face as I ploughed the pedals down to get to my chosen venue. I had come up early to check the scenes out, I knew there were two pools but didn't know which ones to fish, one was a tiny 'reservoir' of about a half acre and the other a lilly ridden pool about half a mile across. After snagging my jumper and getting nettle stung a fair few times I inspected the pool with lillys and saw absolutely no signs of life whatsoever, my bread flake offerings outside the lilly pads were ignored for so long that they swelled and sank. Maybe this was the lake where the monster carp I had heard of resided, monster carp that take 6 blank sessions before you even manage a nibble. Trudging through more brambles and being careful not to trample the newly spawned toads I came across the small reservoir and my eyes shone like a small childs outside a sweet shop. Feeding bubbles fizzed in every margin, ripples of carps top fins dissected the small pool and then the slap of a carp splashing the surface got my heart jumping around like a trampoline even more. I couldn't believe it! The water was clear and fish were visible at depths of up to 4 feet, and then I saw something I had never seen in my short years as an angler: A shoal of carp in double figures, cruising the pool searching for surface food. I had only ever seen carp of that size roaming individually, so to see this took my breath away. I wished that I had brought a rod so badly that it hurt, seeing the carp swimming so lazily, gulping vigorously at my offerings had me stood taken completely aback by it all. I had taken some hemp with me, so I laid down a small bed in an area where playing the fish would actually be possible. The pool was so overgrown that only a few pegs were fishable so I picked myself a prime spot and the carp took straight to devouring the hemp instantly, so instant infact that I wondered if anyone had actually fished here this season. I walked very swiftly back through the nettles and bramble bushes, sneezing along the way and pedaled at immense speeds to collect my gear and my bait. Luckily I codged a lift up to the reservoir this time so I was buzzing with anticipation as we neared the venue. I got out the car so fast that nothing could get in my way. I set up a simple rig using a bubble float I had purchased in Corfu the week before, attached straight onto the line with tiny lead stoppers with around 2 feet of hooklength I was ready for action. I made sure to set up away from the pool as not to disturb the shoal of carp I had gathered, it was a day for stalking! Or so I thought. I pinched a flake of bread around the line above the hook and gently cast it over the shoal so that they would not see me they would only see the bread. Then I watched in amazement as a rugby ball snaffled my bait like it had never eaten before in its life. It darted for the cover of an overhanging tree but I held on for dear life whispering for it to turn its head and thankfully it did. A nice 11lb mirror in my net and my eyes rolling back in astonishment to the glorious waterhole I had found. I tried stalking a little longer but they had all resided to the depths. The shoal had fled, the splashing of their pal caused a spread and retreat of these fish, the pool had gone quiet. I moved away for a while, setting up a ledger outfit at the clearing where I'd set up previously. Quietly flicking in small trout pellets and bird seed I gathered the fishes confidence once more, and cast out ledgered bread. This was completely ignored, they wanted pellets and they wanted them there and then! I baitbanded some larger trout pellets and put two on a size 10 hook. To this I moulded carp pellet paste and cast out once again, the fish fled with the crashing of my ledger, but after a few minutes returned to feed. I was watching a squirrel inspecting the open bag of birdseed I had left a few yards away when the rod bent over like no tomorrow. I set the hook and an almighty fish began surging around on the surface darting in all directions attempting to get itself free, I gave line begrudgingly, as curse words crept from my mouth at the power behind the fish. After a relatively long fight the carp literally ran out of steam in the middle of the pool and lay back looking at the sky as I trawled him into my net. 16lbs! Excellent mirror, scarcely scaled and quite lean. An extremely athletic fish that fought a lot like a wild carp. This method was working a charm, so I cast to the same spot, around 8 feet from the bank halfway across the resevoir. Some more hemp and pellets had the area around my bait fizzing, I was confused at the luck I was having, I had found a beautiful spot with some beautiful fish in and the weather was sticking it out for me despite grey clouds closing in. I was getting small taps on my rod and wasn't sure if they were line bites of not, then the rod slowly bent over and I leapt to my feet with the rod flicked up high. This certainly wasn't a carp and it didn't put up a fight until it got within reach of my landing net, then it sprinted to the depths for a few moments before finally conceding a losing battle. A fine tench, almost yellow in colour, 4lbs and not a blemish on it! Next cast produced another tench, after around 45 minutes wait another bright young tench graced my net at around 3lbs. Things went a little quiet in my swim and it was so cloudy now I couldn't see if anything was there or not. So I tried using the paste straight onto the hook and after seconds of tightning my line something snatched at it and wobbled its fins to the depths. This was a bulky fish by the feel of it, almost like a huge bream. I seemed to be bouncing up and down in the resevoir, I reeled it up off the bottom and then it mustered the energy to get itself back down again, after a tiresome fight a mirror carp built like a bowling ball fell into my landing net. This fish had a potbelly like Mussolini , and thus I gave it its nickname, also fitting as he kept sinking to lower depths. Mussolini, on being released, swam straight back to the spot I'd just caught him to feed some more! This feeding frenzy was quite amazing and I kept sitting thinking that maybe I hadnt woken up at 8:30 at all. After a while It'd been an hour since I'd had a bite and wandered if maybe Mussolini had told all his friends to avoid the pellets. I sat imagining carp talking to each other, like different characters from a play, I had wandered off a little and when I remembered that I was fishing I saw my rod dancing like a grass snake and struck in shock. God knows how long that fish might have been hooked, but after a few surges here and there I landed a 5lb common that was not to happy being handled on the banks. The swim had gone completely off the boil by now and I had no more freebies to offer. I gave the fishing a rest and had something to eat as it was nearing tea-time and I'd been too occupied for lunch. I stood guffawing to myself as I ate, pinching myself at the wonderful day I'd had. I was set back in a state of awe, the fish weren't the biggest I'd ever encountered but the way they all flocked to the same place was truly magnificent. On my last few mouthfuls I flicked in bits of paste to an overhanging tree the opposite side to which I had fished and once I had finished my sandwich I unclipped my lead weight and freelined a single pellet on the nose of what looked like a double. Over to the left I saw an even bigger fish and as I tried to lift the pellet out of the water to cast towards it the carp lept forward and hooked itself. 'Now you're in trouble' I though to myself, I was stood on a very small flat of a bank with overhanging trees and bushes all around me. I had no room for movement so I rolled the clutch over a little more to stop the fish taking too much line, the rod jiggled and bounced and bobbed in my hands as a man walking his dog came behind and asked if I needed any help. I laughed and requested that he go fetch my landing net, which in all the excitement I had left elsewhere. Holding onto the fish whilst rolling my toes over the bank for grip I was having a right laugh with the dogwalker who found the whole incident highly entertaining. Eventually I got the fish close to the bank and my new best friend hurried to net the beautifully curvaceous common. He told me stories of the 40lber he had seen washed up on the banks of the other pool as I weighed my fish in at just under 15lbs. After a brief discussion about the various species of carp the old fellow plodded off into the woods with his spaniel. After all that excitement I could barely comprehend anything that was going on, I had spotted a ghost carp in the margins that looked to be around 7-8lb, but my floating bread spooked it away. I didn't want to push me luck and it was 8 o clock so I decided to go home to a waiting girlfriend after a wonderful, truly wonderful day of fishing. As I walked down the dark lane and wildlife around me I walked with a tired, but happy stroll. Knowing that this fishery was merely a mile away I knew that would not be my last day at the reservoir, and as I sneezed I smiled at the prospect of being able to target larger fish next time without the worry of a blank session. I stumbled through my front door with a grin as large as the fish I had caught and was greeted with a kiss by the other love of my life. A days fishing had made my life seem like heaven, and I thanked God that I wasn't dreaming after all. Mathew Woods |