Afternoon delight(s)

It wasn't until nearly 13.00hrs that I became aware of a window of opportunity that had presented itself to me. All of a sudden I wasn't required to do the school run and, with Bev out to lunch with her mate Christine, it was to good to ignore. I grabbed the rods and associated kit, loaded the van and headed over to Sandwich Coarse Fishery. A quick lap of Victory Lake, then an equally brief conversation with Kev, and I was on my way to the swim in the NE corner where the 45+ mph winds were absolutely piling into. Twelve sections of the "Bushwhacker" baiting pole proved to be quite a challenge under the conditions, yet with a bit of effort my rigs were positioned and it was less than fifteen minutes later when the left-hander was away. A lively, if rather predictable, scrap ensued before a lovely little Mirror of 10 lbs 8 oz was in the net . A quick photo session and the fish was returned before replacing my rig in the same spot.

Just over half an hour later, the same rod was in action again and this time it was clearly a far better fish. It was nearly ten minutes later when I drew my prize over the draw chord and the fish was mine. At 21 lbs 12 oz, it represents my fifth "twenty" of the campaign and, as such, that particular target achieved. I thought it had battled in the water, it certainly did its' best to beat me up whilst on the unhooking mat. I am very glad that my self-take technology is able to deal with these situations and I managed to secure a few decent images out of the thirty obtained. 

At this point I decided to fish with just one rod, feeling sure that the right-hand set-up was actually detrimental to my cause. The rig back in position, it was nearly ninety minutes later when it rattled off again. This time is was a crazy battle with a "cricket bat" Common which refused to give up. Fortunately, once landed, this fish, of 11 lbs 2 oz, was far more cooperative and photographed then quickly returned with the minimum of fuss. 

With the clouds thickening and the wind showing no signs of abating, it wasn't a difficult decision to call it a day. I called in to give Kev an up-date before heading homeward, very pleased with the result of this impromptu session.