Page #5

 I was 'well pleased' now as some good fish had been caught and the thought of the Carp being on the feed was enough to keep the exhaustion at bay. As Karl was returning the carp back to the lake my alarm screamed off once more. Now by this time the foreigners had left the lake and the sun was starting to set as I ran towards the rods. It was the right hand rod again. I picked it up and struck into what was again a good fish. The line went slack immediately.

"Shit!!!" I yelled at the top of my voice. My confidence was now completely shattered. I had no confidence in my rigs or tackle and started to wonder what the hell I was doing wrong. You know how it goes......Hair too long, Hair too short...to pop up or not to pop up - that is the question. By now the light had gone and I was in complete darkness. I did remember something Karl had said to me in regards to his match fishing back in England.

 "You've got to have confidence in your bait and tackle mate."

I walked away from the rods and felt utter frustration. I knew that if I carried on as I was there was no way in hell I would catch that PB. So I did what I usually do in these situations. I made a cup of tea and stopped to think. I sat and watched the stars as the temperature rapidly dropped and I drank the familiar liquid. There was nothing for it - I was going to have to break down and set up - From Scratch in complete darkness.

This is what I proceeded to do to the point of actually disassembling the 2 parts of the rods and putting them back together again (Crazy or what !!). I was meticulous with every step. I tied on new hooklengths with a familiar knot that had never let me down. I checked each hook and each leader for quality. Satisfied with the result I cast out the unbaited hooks as far as I could to retrieve the line so that it lay correctly on the spool. ( I know I probably took this to the extreme, but it was something I had to do !! ) I then popped up three pieces of maize on each rod with different length hairs and covered one in a liquid flavoring (Not the salmon and shrimp - that was now a not so distant memory as it still lingered on the ground ) and cast immediately to their respective swims. I tightened up, set the baitrunners and alarms and felt incredibly confident.

I walked over to Dave's swim as we waited for Karl and Carol to come back from a MacDonald's run. They had offered to go as we were all feeling hungry and the cold was starting to set in.

"It's going to be a cold one tonight mate" I said to him.

"Too right" said Dave "Brass Monkey's"

"I think my hair was too short" I explained to Dave with concern.

" Looks like you need a damn good cut actually" came the Meisters' reply, wicked grin on that Aussie face.

 There was no getting away from it. Dave was on form this evening.

This evening happened to be the Christmas parade on the lake and as Karl and Carole arrived, we all sat eating our MacDonald's and watched twenty or more expensive boats decorated in Christmas lights slowly follow a 'figure 8' pattern and parade the lake. Various Christmas Carols were transmitted through the PA systems and we all felt rather festive. It was all kind of Surreal, as again it had been a scorching hot day, and it was the beginning of December, and we were fishing for Carp - In a Desert !!

"That Guy in the backs in a bloody canoe !!" exclaimed Karl. "Look, he's got two starlights on his oars!!"

We all looked and indeed at the very back of the parade, frantically paddling away was someone in a canoe - with a starlight on each end of his oar. We did have a good laugh at his expense.

Eventually we all retired to our respective swims. Tonight was colder than yesterday evening and I had 2 pairs of sweatpants and a pair of jeans and 5 layers of upper body clothing. Now don't get me wrong, I know it's not exactly roughing it at Redmire with ice on the line but for us.....It was pretty bloody cold !!

As I retired to the bedchair and sleeping bag I did feel very confident. I don't know whether it came from completely setting up again but I'm sure you have all felt it before. I just knew I was going to catch that evening.

At around 11pm the left rod let off 2 blips and slowly started to run. I jumped up fearing the worst - a catfish.- I hit into the fish and  as I felt the familiar tugging of a carp on the end my hopes were alleviated. It was a great little scrapper of 10lb. I had to completely submerge my landing net and draw the fish over the net to the spreader block and then lift the net as there was literally 6 inches of water to land the fish from a gradual, and I mean very gradual, decline of the lake bed.

'That'll do for starters' I said to myself and re-cast and put the kettle on. No sooner had the kettle boiled and I was stirring my tea than the Left hand rod went screaming off again. That sound, where the line is tearing from the real gives us all, I think, such an adrenaline rush that cannot be duplicated. I think it's the uncertainty of exactly what size fish is at the bait.

I ran to the rod and struck into a  fish. This felt better. The fish took some line and kited to my right ( Thank God the Foreigners had left !!! ) I turned his head with some sidestrain and brought him over the submerged net. As soon as he saw me he was off again. I think this fish may have been the younger brother of the one Karl had caught earlier !!

He eventually came to the net after a few more runs and I weighed him at 15lb exactly. Things were definitely looking up and my confidence was growing. I now felt good about the tackle and the swims. I had taken the time to bait them correctly and I think that now it was paying off. I recast and went back to the tea.

The temperature was rapidly dropping and a mist was forming on the lake, I noticed a layer of condensation / water covering everything. This whole 'no camping' thing made as much sense as holding an AA meeting in a bar. 'Sod this' I thought and put up my stalker shelter. Now in actual fact I was fine doing this, as it was not a 'Tent' nor was it a 'bivvy' as it has no front enclosure. After all it was now 2 am  and Dirty Harry would be snuggled up in bed by now. Having the top half of the body covered did make a difference if only to the dampness to the sleeping bag. I bundled up and drifted off into a light sleep.

 At three thirty I was woken to the sound of my left hand rod screaming off once again. Jumping out of the bedchair and kicking over a bucket of maize I hit into what was again a good fish, this thudded around on the bottom for a bit and then came quite quickly to the net. I weighed it and again it was a nice common of 15lb, not the same fish I might add.

 This was what it was all about I said to myself - sod the sleep , who needs it ? I re-baited and re-cast to exactly the same spot. Clipped up, set the alarms and jumped back into the sleeping bag -  I went straight to sleep!!. I think that an hour must have passed as I had gone into a much deeper sleep when I was woken with a short Blip on the Left hand Rod. I sat up and watched the blue light hanging in silence. Then it gave two more blips then nothing. I lay back down and the alarm and baitrunner went screaming off in a continuous tone. I did like the sound of this. I jumped out of bed and hit into the fish and the rod immediately bent double 'yes', I thought  ' I've got you, you bugger.' This fought like the fish I had lost earlier in the day. It took line slowly and steadily and was moving in very deliberate motions. The rod would then surge and line would be taken from the reel. I would then retrieve some and then give some back. This was definitely the largest fish that I had fought with. It fought differently.

After a few minutes I managed to get it over the net and lifted it out of the water. I could immediately feel the difference in weight and brought it to the unhooking mat. Removing the hook, perfectly placed in the lower lip, I stared at what I knew was my first ' 20 '. I put her in the sling and weighed her. 21 3/4 lbs. Deduct the sling etc and it was just under 21bs. Phew just made it !! Karl - it's time for the Cubans !! ( I had promised Karl that If I cracked the 20 mark I would break out the Cuban cigars that I had brought with me).

I gave her a kiss on the head and thanked her, returning her to the lake. Two flicks of the tail and she was gone. I had thought about getting a picture but I knew everyone else was asleep as they had no action and the water wasn't deep enough to sack her. I also had another feeling that this wasn't the fish I had came for.

Never mind, I had done it - I  had cracked the ' 20 '. I celebrated by recasting and putting on the stove. I not only made another cup of tea but made myself a bacon sandwich. I can honestly say that was the best tasting bacon sandwich I had ever had !!  It was soon going to be light and I was happy to let everyone know I could now catch fish that were not just in the 'Gay' category. A term affectionately coined by my mate  Aussie Dave, who has been fishing for years,  all over the world and has caught his fair share of 'Lumps.' When I had a fish on he would come up to me and ask:

"Is it a lump?" (Anything over 20)
To which I used to reply "No mate don't think so"........I waited for the inevitable.
"Gay fish then" he would say with cackles of laughter walking away. Bloody Aussie !!

I sat on my chair and watched the sun starting to rise. An orange glow covered the water breaking the darkness as the mist rose from the lake, which was now as calm as a millpond. The wildfowl were taking off from their sleeping spots and the sun was starting to warm things up.It's that magic time when everything feels just right. The break of a new day where anything is again possible. Life was good - I had caught my ' 20 '.