I'm still "buzzing" after the capture of that magnificent carp on Sunday evening. So, OK, it's not the biggest carp I've ever caught, or even the biggest carp I've landed in 2015 - but it means so much more than that. To have captured such a beautiful wild carp, in the circumstances I did, is why I go fishing. The only thing that would have put the cherry on the cake is if I'd have done it using a centre-pin!
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| Oh! Go on then, just one more. As if I need to apologise for using another image? |
But I do have one observation which I missed when making my post, yesterday morning. I had stated that I'd gone tench fishing. Reading back through my post and looking at my bait choices it is obvious that it was carp which were my target, yet knowing that tench will respond to these methods and tactics. I have become, without realising it, a carp angler - my mentality fully geared up to the demands of these fantastic fish. Darren Roberts posted a very nice comment, to which I have responded, basically stating that the eel I landed would make his season. Bizarre, they just ruin mine; whatever the size (just kidding!). I spent yesterday afternoon/evening on a manual packing bay, filling 1 ltr bottles with flushing solvent (printers stuff?) - therefore I had plenty of time to think about what I'd written and what I need to change to get back to the purpose of my project; to catch a tench from the drains of the East Kent Marshes. I am in a very fortunate position in having contact with many of the land owners around the area and, as such, permission to go birding/fishing along many miles of these untapped venues. True Marco Polo stuff, which brings its' own reward. Yes, I am fishing blind for the most part, but I have freedom of choice with my swim selection and every fish that graces my net will be unknown to me, it's photo isn't adorning the wall in Dragon Carp - well not until after I've landed it?
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| Yet another seven from tench angling "Mecca" |
There is absolutely no way that I'm able to turn back time and relive the Wilstone years. True, I can continue to seek enjoyment by using the rods and reels of that era, but it will never be the same for umpteen reasons. The role that modern terminal tackle plays in todays angling is monumental, the quality and reliability of the latest manufacturing processes ensuring quality that was unachievable in the 1980/90's. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and have come to the conclusion that if tench really are my target, then I will need to refine my approach? Under no circumstances can I use the Wilstone tactics - eels would think I'd opened a McDonald's swim-through. Worms and maggots would be a recipe for disaster in these venues, so particles it will be - get rid of the pellets also, Tuna flakes are completely out of the equation, although I might just be able to get away with casters? Something for me to experiment with over the next few weeks.
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There are mile upon mile of these drains out on the marshes - none of them see an angler from one year to the next!
The carp will never make 30 lbs, the tench will probably be small and they don't contain any barbel - so they're
not worth the attention of the vast majority of angling clones? Long may it continue! |
I've been reading up about our old particle choices and think that there could be some mileage in these long forgotten baits? Black-eyed peas, maples and haricot beans would all be suited to the challenge ahead, modern flavour/colour enhancement providing limitless combinations - and they're cheap! I've got several drains within 15 minutes drive, which I can pre-bait on a regular basis - who knows what might happen?
Wow! Great achievement, Dylan, if I may be so bold!... Stupendous, really. I knew two old boys who tench fished the dykes beyond Worth in the 90's. They were genuine and caught tench to over 9lbs (honestly)- this came at a time when I'd never caught one, so I hung on their every word! I tried my hardest as a teenager and managed most other species locally apart from tench, and believe it or not, carp; when I was a kid, the local cyprinid community was nowhere near as prevalent as today! I knew one or two spots where the carp were enormous (no hoardes of littl'uns then), but it was specialists only, really. I didn't know about lines above 4lbs when it came to coarse fishing! Those spots have died now. I used to sea fish and when I coarse fished, it was for roach, rudd, perch, bream and I became an expert eel angler (fascinated with them- I know I'm in the minority!!)... Never heard of anybody fishing the dykes since- (I've never even been out to them and I grew up around here) so they must all be virgin catches. Hence the immaculate appearance of that carp! The rise of the commercials has probably made it easier for over-worked blokes to go and get it their angling fix, which is a shame. Don't get me wrong! It's nice to go after some of these local carp with a centre-pin! Do it a few times every summer. But it doesn't feel right to do it too often. The perch, however... Perch and farm ponds/puddles of any kind are birds of a feather and it's been nice to see them rise again. Or run wild, more like! They've been the best thing about the rise of more day-ticket waters. There's a few decent still-waters locally where I feel the perch fishing is really worth the effort in autumn/winter... Do you think the tench would still grow big out there in the dykes? No hoardes of small carp to compete with?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Gareth - I really don't know what size a tench could attain in the local drains. If Wilstone is anything to go by, and I'm unsure if it is, then the agricultural fertilizer run off, should enrich the environment thus promoting growth through eutrophication. As all of the venues are to be found in such agricultural situations, then I feel that there is the possibility of a "specimen sized" tench, or two. They certainly won't be numerous.
DeleteAs yet, I haven't spent enough time on this project to make any type of conclusions. It is quite possible that I was extremely jammy and hit the jackpot first time out - only time will tell.
Tight lines and wet nets - Dylan