Dan O’Neill angling guide and casting instructor at South East Casting reports on a recent coarse angling trip…
Had a quick walk about the lake yesterday and of course we had a fishing rod which paid off. As my two young boys walked beside each other to the lake edge I felt very lucky to be able to share moments like this with them. Approaching the lake Anthony held Daniel back a little and pointed at the feeding fish. Daniel, amazed at this, immediately knew it was quiet time. He watched his brother’s every move closely. Daniel was given the very important job of getting the fish to feed, throwing in 4-5 riser pellets at a time. Rudd hammered the pellets nearly as they landed. The Rudd then started to back off and as they cleared a shadow began circling underneath the pellets. As the shadow moved it created small boils on the water’s surface. Of course, Anthony at this stage knew exactly what this shadow was and explained to his brother the importance of keeping low and quite as he allowed the fish to gain confidence. A second shadow approached also which was great news. Anthony knows that once the fish start competing for the pellets, they lose a little caution. This means of course that a mistake on their behalf is more probable.
Now came the time for the important cast. Waiting until the fish was a little deeper and facing away Anthony dropped in his offering. Some minutes passed and the fish didn’t show much interest in the hook bait. The fish seemed to drop down a little in the water. The fish were certainly hungry, as they were hanging around under the pellets turning every now and again which we linked to them taking the pellets as they absorbed water and began to sink. This of course brought us to the tackle box to devise a rig. Daniel at this point was watching us and asking what’s that and what’s this. As we told him the different names, he would repeat them back to us.
With a homemade rig we travelled back to the location and approached with caution, Watching closely to see how the fish were now behaving after some alone time. Watching a fish patrol the edge of the milfoil looked inviting but the weeds would pose and issue for us when we hooked up. Slowly we began feeding an area a little distance off the milfoil to try lure the fish out a little giving us the chance to turn it away from the weeds and into open water if we were lucky enough to hook it. After some time the fish moved out a little and we decided it was now our chance. We had left some pellets steeping in water and we now had some sinkable bait.
Watching the fish approach we gently flicked the bait into position. A nice gentle entry into the water and it slowly waved towards the bottom. The carp spotted it and made its way across, using its pectoral fins and magically moving the top and bottom of its tail separately the fish was lining up to take our bait. With a slow suck the hook disappeared into the fish’s mouth. Anthony lifted and the rod pointed straight to the carp. Anthony immediately knew something was different here, this fish was slower but stronger. Long steady powerful runs, it took a lot of skill and there were a couple of times I thought it was going to be “the one that got away”. Turning around I saw Daniel was standing with the net looking at me, he knew what was happening, maybe from all the Mortimer and Whitehouse we watch he knows a hooked fish means grab the net. Eventually the fish was ready so we netted it and left it for a few minutes in the water before taking it out for a quick picture.
What a lovely way it was to spend an evening, with the two boys who have that famous bond Ii keep speaking of that only angling can create. Watching Anthony showing his little brother the ropes was superb and shows sometimes even though I don’t think it, he is listening to me. Daniel has a little way to go but is on his journey, with the warm evenings I am sure we will make a trip for some Gudgeon and Tench very soon.
Go fishing…
