Ended on a high

Well that's my close season project completed with twelve days to spare. One hundred carp, caught off the surface, from Homersham Lake at Marshside. I left home just before 04.00 hrs and was at the fishery within thirty minutes. A perfect, still, bright dawn, the sun rising magnificently over the eastern horizon behind me. I had a quick recce, before I returned to the van and unloaded my gear. I introduced a few floaters in pegs three, four and five, watching the water as I threaded the line through the rings of the Mk IV Avon. Peg five looked the most promising and I moved the barrow to this swim and prepared my net and un-hooking mat in readiness.
By now it was fast approaching 05.00 hrs and I cast my first baited hook amongst the floating mixers. Second cast and I'm in, thus job done. My one hundredth carp from the fishery! I'd allowed myself a two hour time slot, so carried on fishing, and was to enjoy regular action right through to 07.00 hrs when I packed up and went home for a much needed kip. Work at 14.00 hrs.
I ended the session with ten fish hooked, nine landed, which included the heaviest fish I've caught from this venue. A beautiful Common, of 15 lbs 6 oz, was guided over the net at around 06.30 hrs and I went through the self-take ritual, but using the EOS not my favoured Finepix. The results are perfectly acceptable as record shots, of my achievement, but lack the sharpness that the Fuji camera produces under these same conditions.

Both flanks of the lovely fish. A very fitting way to end this particular challenge.

Great couple of hours made even better by a flyover Bee-eater (called three times), a Common Tern fishing the lake and the constant accompaniment of singing Whitethroat and Reed Warblers. Back in bed well before 08.30 hrs. I'm now sitting in the study looking at the steady rain falling on the garden. Crazy how quickly conditions change in my little part of East Kent!
Just one other observation, although it will be lost on the vast majority of carp anglers, I fear? There were two bivvies set up on the north bank, thus a couple of guys had done the night I assume? I watched the dawn, caught nine fish, and experienced the joys of being outside as the countryside comes alive. Those two were still slumbering when I packed up, not a sound from their alarms all the time I was at the fishery. Now it is certainly not my place to say how others enjoy their angling but, from my perspective, I was fishing, they were just camping. Still, it takes all sorts - eh?

Thirteen days - one required

Three short sessions, since Friday, has seen my surface caught carp tally, for the 2019 close season, reach ninety-nine. I started on March 15th with just a silly plan to get me through the enforced lay off but, the closer I edged to that magic ton, the more seriously I've taken the challenge. With a week of late shifts ahead, I'm fairly confident of completing the task with a week to spare. Time to focus on the resumption of the split cane thirty quest which should keep me game-fully engaged after mid-night 15th June? Two projects, both designed to keep my angling focused and on track, yet like chalk and cheese in their complexities and approach.

Always a surprise when a floating bait is taken by a "snotter"
I grabbed this shot after seeing the latest post by Bure Boy! I've plenty of mat shots of scamps.

From the sheer joy of a bent rod at a carp puddle to the mental challenges required for the mind-set involved in targeting a single fish in a wild venue out on the Kentish flatlands. Crazy as it might appear, I've loved using this target methodology to keep me on track whilst I'm at the waterside. Marshside has been very kind to me since I was invited to join the Wantsum AA and I'm hoping that their two sections of the rivers Wantsum and Stour will allow me to explore, further, the potential of these local fisheries.

Marsh Frog at Homersham Lake, Marshside Fishery.

Will that thirty finally grace my landing net? The only way I'll achieve my dream is by going out there and chasing it. The backdrop is bleak and flat, yet the variety of wildlife sharing the habitat is as diverse and varied as anywhere else I've ever visited. Once the bait has been positioned, the trap set, I have nothing to prevent me melting into the background and becoming part of the wild vibe. Roll on the 16th June!

Unexpected visitor

So there I was; sitting at the desk in my new study (man cave) just perusing the BBC news pages and checking the weather. The desk is strategically positioned to allow me a clear view down the garden via a large window and a glass panelled door. I don't know what made me look, but all of a sudden there was a bright blue damselfly flying around some Ivy which grows up the patio railings, right outside my door! Thankfully, my camera kit was sitting on the desk, right next to my laptop and I was quickly able to grab a macro lens and step outside. The insect behaved wonderfully, in the superb sunshine, posing for a series of images which, in turn, have allowed me to id it as an adult male Azure Damselfly.

It's a very common species around the Kent marshes, but this is the first time I'd recorded it in our back garden. A very pleasant encounter, purely by chance - right place, right time, I guess?

Can't see for looking

I've had two sessions at Marshside, over the Bank Holiday weekend, catching another eleven carp, one double, to take the close season total to a very respectable eighty-six. Every fish has been taken off the surface using small cubes of wholemeal bread. Although there have been several occasions when I've seen other guys enjoying some good sport, at no time have I been out fished. What a smug twat I really am? Because what I'm doing obviously works I have fallen into some false sense of having "cracked it".
This afternoon was to provide a, much needed, kick up the arse. Arriving, as I frequently do, to coincide with many of the pleasure anglers packing up, looking for feeding fish is a ritual that I perform before any kit is unloaded from the van. With a stiff breeze coming across the marsh from the north-west I would have normally gotten on the back of it, thus allowing it to take my freebies out into open water, way beyond catapult range. However, the anglers present had already got their gear in these swims and I was left with no option other than to fish a swim with the wind coming over my shoulder and pushing my baits into the adjacent margin to my left.
It didn't take long to get some indication of feeding carp, although the rippled surface made it difficult to see exactly what was occurring. I kept a regular trickle of "Happy Shopper" mixers going in. Cheap as chips - 1.5 kg/£2 and the carp were soon on the munch. The Dick Walker split cane Mk IV Avon was fitted with a Mitchell 300, 6 lbs b.s. Guru line, a Nash "Bolt Machine" and a size 6 Gardner barbless Talon-tip.
As the session got under way, the carp were all over me like a rash! I dropped the first two, both hook pulls, although I'm sure one was foul hooked? Two scamp commons and a nice scaly mirror fell to this simple presentation, yet I knew that the fish were having me over. I was getting mugged off with frustrating regularity. As the day drew to a close, the wind dropped away, thus allowing me to get a better view of what was happening. What the rippled surface had been preventing me from seeing was the reaction to my hook baits. Fish were sucking them in from a distance, to check for hooks/line, before actually deciding to take the offering. I'd been pulling the baits out of their reach before they'd even attempted to take them.
Still, my methods were working and I'd caught three - whoopee doo! Then I missed an absolute sitter and discovered that my hook link had managed to knot itself. Time for a change? What if I lengthened the hook link and reduced the hook and bait size? A barbless size 10 Gardner Talon-tip was attached to 24" of 6 lbs Guru line and baited with a much smaller cube of wholemeal. First cast and I'm in. A feisty little "ghostie" common to the net, get in! Three or four casts later and I'm in again; this time a fish of a very different stamp. The rod has a test curve of around 1 lb, coupled with 6 lbs b.s.  line and a size 10 hook - not the kit for bullying a decent fish. I was forced to hang on and enjoy (endure) the ride. Twenty minutes passed and I'm shaking, the adrenaline had certainly kicked in, I'd still not seen the bloody thing. It was probably another five minutes before I was finally able to push the net under my prize, job's a good'un! Now I'm very sorry to disappoint, if you were expecting a tale of a monster, it didn't happen. The fish, a beautiful mirror, tipped the scales at 12 lbs 14 oz and made my session. It had been taken using a refined technique that I thought I'd already mastered. It's very easy to fall into a rut, just because things are going well, thus stop pushing the learning boundaries. Today was a very good wake up call. I got some photos then headed off home, happy that something positive had come from the session. Obviously, I'll need to pursue this further in order to draw any sensible conclusions, however I'm glad that I've been dragged from the comfort zone that I'd been so contented in, by a very ordinary carp, captured as a result of a knotted hook link.

Double number five, from eighty-six fish landed.
What a fantastic wake up call - just what I needed to get out of the rut and resume searching for alternative answers.

P.S. Looking back through the records - this is the same fish I'd taken, at 12 lbs 10 oz, on 22nd April 2019

More of the same!

Before I start ranting about the negative stuff, thus material for yet another post, I'd like to share some more memories of the superb wildlife that is part and parcel of wandering around the Greek mainland. The holiday was everything Bev and I required, allowing us a break from reality and some time to recharge our inner souls. Normality isn't much fun at present, although there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Loads of images - very few words! Works a treat for a lazy blogger.

Pefkohori wanderings

I always look forward to my holiday time, around the Mediterranean, because it allows me to become a birder again, even if only for a short while. One thing's for sure, I soon realise how out of practice I am, especially the auditory side of this fabulous pastime. Birding, like this, is almost like starting out again, the kid in a sweet shop excitement returns. The simple joy of being outdoors, looking at anything that grabs my interest, is a magical mix of memories and discovery. I'll use this post to concentrate on the best bits that visiting new places is capable of providing; the negative stuff can wait for another time!

A decade is a long time, although seem to pass a lot faster the older I get? It was 2009 when Bev and I were last in the resort and much had changed. The distance I needed to walk, to get beyond the developed area, was greater than the earlier visits but, once out into the Greek countryside, the thrills were much the same. The views are stunning, habitat/terrain unlike anything I've experienced elsewhere around the Med, and the birds, similarly, unfamiliar and worthy of prolonged study. With just a seven day window, I went at it full on and paid the price; aching limbs and sunburn being my added reward  - so not a bad deal? Getting back to work was a doddle by comparison.
Each day I set out with a plan, hoping to relive some of the fantastic adventures that I'd enjoyed ten years earlier. Although I never did quite reach those dizzy heights, it was still time and effort well rewarded by some stunning encounters.

I came very close to completely screwing this "lifer" up. Thankfully the EOS saved the day

The ancient Canon EOS 350d and even older Baush & Lomb 8x42 Elite binos were, once again, put through their paces as I sought to discover the avian gems of this wondrous landscape. If I wasn't looking at birds, then assorted bugs, butterflies, lizards and even plants ensured there was never a dull moment. Because pictures say so much more than my words ever can, I'll share some of the images that were taken whilst on my walkabouts.

Happy days indeed. A cold Mythos and a decent meal, as close to perfection as it gets.

We're back

Well that week went quickly, wish time at work passed as fast, or do I really? Bev and I have just had a wonderful break, enjoying the Greek sunshine and hospitality, as experienced staying at The Anna Maria Paradise complex, Pefkohori. It was ten years ago we were last in the area and so much has changed, but not for the better, in the interim; so plenty of material to blog about over the next few days. As is typical, of our Mediterranean sojourns, Bev needs nothing more than the sun and a pool whilst I require somewhere to wander, habitat to explore, binoculars and camera kit to hand.
Just to offer a flavour of what's to come, I'll share a few images which will help set the scene.

I'd never taken the time, previously, to study the nest building techniques of Red-rumped Swallow and House Martin.
That the Swallow picks up the mud between the mandibles is, very much, in contrast to the Martins
technique of balancing the same material on the upper mandible. Quite interesting, if you're of that mind set?

A flower - just for Steve Gale! Yes mate, I even looked at plants!!!

So there you have it, just a taster of what I've experienced over the passed week. There were plenty of highs, I even managed a "lifer", but there is also a real downer on the whole Pefkohori experience, based upon my previous visits.