Quest for a thirty - By Mark Normanton (Coffindodger)

I will continue the Redesmere theme with a small sketch of the lake and a list of the swims

  As a guide

Pegs 1-11 are on the new bank, Pegs 12-22 are on the shallows, Pegs 23-28 are on teh stream, Pegs 29-33 are on the island, Pegs 34-40 are on the woods bank, Pegs 47-52 are on teh duck pond and Pegs 53-60 are on the meadow.

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So the quest for my first 30+ began in earnest,  and I started fishing the mere with a passion every weekend was spent on there for the whole of the first season and I learnt  a lot about the place and how frustrating it could be. Being able to observe the fish in the clear water though was a joy until I started seeing them get rid of rigs on a regular basis. Nibs and I decided to go with a bait that had done him prowd on the flash and he did ok on the mere with it too that first year with a few fish yet I strugled  and I managed to blank the whole year around.

But the place had got a grip on me and I was falling for it big time , I convinced myself that more effort would equate to a fish or two and maybe even a thirty  but the mere can be cruel and effort dose not always mean rewards, so the close season was almost over and I had done the work party’s so that ment I could fish from June the first as appossed to the sixteenth .

With the new season came a new challenge the club had stated to let in more and more members and the banks which had already been busy became even more so  but call it determination or shear bloody mindedness I suck with it  and watched as 99% of the new members fell by the wayside carn’t say I was surprised  but it was frustrating at times knowing where the fish where  or where they would end up only to be stuck well away from them without any chance of a move  but that season did atleast see me start to get the odd take even if they where mostly off bream and tench 

I had two takes of carp that year and lost them both to hook pulls,  but I was starting to get too know the regulars and also some of the fish which I had seen on the bank.  The big thing at the time though was I was still persevering with the same bait and almost all the fish where coming out to active 8,  and like a fool I stuck with my bait for the rest of that season.

Yes I know I am a slow learner but on such a hard water you can not be sure you are doing anything wrong as you don’t get that much action.  So that concludes my second season on the mere without a carp to show for it yet still the determination was still strong and my love for the place was growing  it was well and truly in my head now and I could hardly waight for the new coming season with the warm weather and active carp searching for there morsels of grub around the margins.

Before long the new season was with us again and this time I had changed over to the active8 , I never fished the first couple of weeks because of work commitments but as my first session approached I was like a little kid not being able to sleep the night before with excitement  as I new that it was fishing quite well and felt I would be in with a real chance.

 So when I got there and one of the regular lads was packing up from a swim in the shallows I thought happy days that will do for me. Although it was busy down in the shallows I new I should be in with a chance and I was right at about mid day I got a very violent take and was in to a fish at close range and amongst the weed it did very little and was in the net within only a couple of minuets not the biggest of the redesmere residents but I was very  glad to see it in the bottom of my net  .

It went 14.08  I  was duely named the pest controller by one of the lads but I had had my first redesmere carp and I was happy. The rest of that season went really quickly  and I managed a second mirror of 18.14 so I was starting to get amoungst them and the hard work and obsevation was eventually starting to pay off yet still not even a 20 let alone a 30  as the season drew to an end I was feeling that some of the pieces of the jig saw where falling into place.

So onto my forth season and probably the one I will always remember  it was late july and I had been blanking big time one of the contributing factors was that we could not get down there until the Saturday  so we made a concerted effort to get down there Friday night straight after work finishing at 8.30pm we got there for 9.30 and just droped in on the nearest available swims to the car on the road bank  Pegs 45 and 44 known as the beach and right hand beach .Intending to get up early and move onto them if possible .

That night was all a bit mental at 1 am Nibs had a common of 24+  then at2.30 he lost one at 6am he had another a mirror known as the ugly one at 25+ I never got a bleep that night but come morning time I could see the line that fish where entering the duck pond on, and Nibby being the true gent that he is offered to swap swims but I declined so he said “well just angle a rod over this way a bit “, so I duely obliged and put a stringer in the area , about 12 mid day the rod I had cast to the area slamed around and I was into a fish I knew it was big but not how big as it was slow and dogged with just that sort of dog on a lead type of motion all went well and to plan and it was within a few yards when I first caught a glimps of it well all I saw was its tail and that was bloody massive so I stood there shaking like a leaf and with my legs turning to jelly it bored off at such a pace that I was almost taken off my feet  by this sudden surge of power  but that was to be its last show of power and she behaved herself as she sliped over the draw cord and her nose hit the spreader block I looked in the net and thought its close but how close will she make 30 well I was still shacking too much to hold the scales propely so Nibs did the honers with the scales and read them out at  30lb and 8oz

 

Mission accomplished...!!!

It was the first time this fish had been out at over 30lb and I was asked to name her but I declined it would be like putting a price on her head.

I hope you enjoyed reading this ATB Mark.

 

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