It's coming together

Benno and I spent a couple of hours down on The Royal Military Canal, on Thursday evening. Nothing doing for me, a small bream to Ben but, it wasn't about what we caught, as much, as what we saw. Carp were rolling, in the general area, with one adjacent swim appearing to be a place worthy of future effort. I am hoping to get a couple of early morning sessions in next week, work dictating the time restraints as I'm on "lates" - 14.00 hrs - 22.00 hrs. Everything we have gleaned from the local carp anglers would suggest that dawn and dusk offer the best chance of success. Night fishing is not allowed, although quite how the controlling club can enforce this, on a 27 mile long venue, is a mystery. For the time being I am happy to remain within the rules - if, however, I find myself in a situation where fishing in darkness will offer me a better chance of success, I'll make my choices accordingly. After all I'm only fishing for carp not robbing banks or assaulting young kids!

I feel that this image might well be replicated many times,over the next few months, as my
"split cane" adventure unfolds?

I watch loads of stuff on Youtube and have been studiously attempting to get my head around some of the finer points of rig presentation - not that there's much about particle fishing to be discovered! It appears, that within modern carping, particles are great for "munga" but not as hook bait? Still, this is of no consequence; I already have a basic grasp of where my project is headed and what will be required to ensure a modicum of success. I look at this material as a source of inspiration, opposed to education, as my thought process evolves. I keep going back to the early Korda underwater stuff - fantastic, thought provoking, images which demonstrate, without doubt, the carps' ability to learn in the highly pressured venues that exist on the modern circuit. There's also a lot of fantastic learning to be had from the Free Spirit and Nash offerings - new ideas relayed via new technology.

There is one aspect of modern carp (specimen?) angling with which I am unable to align myself - guesstimation! If I can take the time to catch a fish, then I can also make the effort to weigh it, should I feel it worthy. I am not talking about scamps - I refer to the modern situation revolving around "it's a double, a twenty, a mid thirty?" You what? I have witnessed some outrageous claims - get a set of scales and no-one can be in any doubt. Celebrity anglers and their glib attitude towards  quality fish has resulted in a culture where word of mouth is dominant over fact. I have no problem with guys lying to themselves, but can't find any reason to support this hype when it results in other anglers attempting to catch fish which don't exist. (There are many obvious parallels to "stringing" within a birding context here)

I am totally aware that weight statistics are an egotistical nonsense - we go fishing to catch fish! However, as I deliberately seek big fish, I want to record their weights (for my own records) whenever I'm lucky enough to catch one.

One of the male Common Whitethroats present around the farm

Other stuff worthy of note over the past few days includes a pair of Grey Partridges flushed from beside the Scaffolder's Yard, a decked Skylark and a frustrating brief, flight view, of a probable Corn Bunting, whilst Lesser Whitethroat, Swift and Yellow Wagtail being added to my year list - all from my "patch". There was a Greenland Wheatear bouncing around the potato field on Saturday morning and three male Common Whitethroats have set up territories around the farm - Spring has certainly now sprung! I fired up the moth trap last night and had a fair haul of the usual culprits. A Least Black Arches was a nice bonus, as was a splendid little Phyllonorycter messaniella ( a new species for me) plus a couple of Eudonia angustea. I should make more effort to run the trap on a regular basis - I'll add it to my "to do" list!

Least Black Arches

Phyllonorycter messaniella

Eudonia angustea