When the wind's in the east

I had a window of opportunity, Bank Holiday, Monday afternoon, so took a drive down to the club waters for a peruse. Although wonderfully bright and sunny there was a chill wind blowing from the N/NE and I failed to discover any signs of feeding fish at either of the venues. "When the wind's in the East; the fish bite least!" It's a proverb which has been passed down through the angling generations, yet still has as much relevance today as it did when Izaak's peers first offered this observation. I returned home without bothering to get the tackle out of the car, such is my lack of confidence under these conditions. I give absolutely no credence, whatsoever, to the "moon phase" theory and will go fishing whenever I feel the conditions are right. So, for me, it's all about confidence. An Easterly is the kiss of death where carp are the target, being a species who's distribution and feeding behavior is dominated by wind direction. The moon, however, will only play a part if there is no cloud cover, thus, increased light intensity will also have to betaken into consideration when setting out my stall. I think that the only time I welcome clear skies, with a full moon, is when I'm pike fishing and either arrive pre-dawn or plan to stay late, exactly the opposite would apply if perch were my target species. At all other times I don't give the moon phase a second thought when I head out of the door - I'm going fishing, confident in my methods and abilities. Get an easterly wind; my confidence takes such a dive that I sometimes find myself sitting there wondering why I bothered ?
All this week I've been studying the weather forecasts, looking for that combination of wind direction, cloud cover and barometric pressure, attempting to pick my moment. Benno had wanted a Thursday session - all his fish, last year, came on Thursdays (how very scientific!). I fancied the Friday, but it coincided with Benno's birthday and so didn't happen. St. George's Day it would have to be, the best forecast for a while given the ridiculous temperature drop we've been threatened with.
On my own today, Benno still sulking over the football results - he's a Spurs fan (I tried my best, but school friends turned his head). I arrived just after 16.00 hrs and spent the next hour and a bit walking a two mile section looking for signs of carp. It wasn't until I was almost back to my starting point that I found what I'd been looking for. Couldn't be 100% certain that carp were responsible, but seeing reed stems being knocked about was better than nothing. Two rods out by 17.30 hrs, I had a two inch lift on my right-hander within 30 minutes. Tench? Half an hour later and I had a liner on the same rod; something was happening out there. Both rods recast and another scattering of freebies catapulted over the top I had to wait until 19.50 hrs for the next action - a screamer! Same rod again, this time there was no messing as a huge boil on the surface appeared as I picked up the rod! What a battle, I had the fish over the net only to have it swim back out. It was an epic encounter and one which left me reduced to a gibbering mess when I finally managed to draw it over the chord of the landing net. On the scales it gave the statistic of 23 lbs 5 oz - what a way to start my campaign.

I am forever indebted to Keith for getting the photos - thanks!

I rang Benno, who was willing to drive down to get some photos, but I said I'd ask another angler, who was fishing a couple of hundred metres away, if he'd do the honours. The guy, who's name was Keith, did me proud and I am forever in his debt. I slipped the fish back and pretended to go through the motions of carrying on. It was pure farce; I'd done what I wanted, now it was time to pack up and get home - job done! I'm typing this post, grinning like an imbecile, a glass of 1664 close at hand. Days like this don't come round too often, best make the most when they do - tight lines.