Awesome trip down memory lane, Peg 1, 29/5/2018 24hrs
Awesome trip down memory lane on Tuesday night. Myself and Lucas went to Wetlands Lakes for the night. Lucas has never seen the place and its been a good few years since i was last there. I had a idea of where we wanted to be before we arrived going of the weather that had forecast during our stay. Luckily as we walked round there was nobody in the swim, so we went to get the car and started unloading. The swim held numerous islands and features to fish to. However we opted for some spots that i used to fish that more than likely would of been overlooked. Lucas chose the right hand side if the swim but soon changed his mind after seeing a fish in the margin to the left. He positioned his rods with a few freebies round each rod and didn't have to wait long for the first bite. A strange take as the bobbin just dropped a inch then reset to its position. Lucas hit it and it seemed like a bream as it came in like a dog on a lead. It wasn't until it had seen the net that it woke up. Although still convinced it wasn't a carp as they were very short bursts. As soon as we had seen the leader we realised it was a pike. Not what we wanted but Lucas likes pike so up she went for a trophy shot. All rods re positioned and it was time to kick back and enjoy the sun. Chilling in the hut Lucas' rod let out a few bleeps. He shot to the rod and held the tip low in the water as the fish tried to make its way around one of the islands. As soon as it was in open water he let the pressure off a little and slowly eased her to the net chord. First carp of the session had came just after a few hours of setting up. Few snaps and back she went. Just put the net back together and my rod was away. I chose to fish up against a large island at the back of the swim. I could remember that i had always done well within inches of the islands. Took a few casts to get it right as i was fishing a 2 foot hole amongst a bush. As soon as the bobbin hit the rod it was show time, keeping the rod low and slowly walking back kept the fish coming in the right direction. Lucas did the honours with the net and we was now on a carp a piece. We was happy with that as we knew it is a lot trickier than it was many years ago. However little did we know what the rest of the session would hold. Just half a hour later and Lucas was away again. Having known where the last fish headed he was quick on the pressure and held her strong away from any snags. Another cracking fish with the average stamp being around 17lb. We settled for some tea and jumped in the bag for the night. Just as it got dark the fish turned up in numbers. Lucas was away again. We could tell this was a little bigger from how it was aiming for every island in the swim. As soon as he got a glimpse we seen a big set of shoulders and had a idea of the fish it was. The clutch was let off a little as he played it in the margin. Up popped the head and i scooped her up only to find it was a fish known as quasi. Lucas peered into the net with a huge smile on his face knowing it could be a new personal best. We zeroed the sling and slipped her in. Taking the needle round to 24lb 8 oz we were both on cloud 9. Many fist bumps and high fives later he held her up for some shots. The smile on his face will be a memory i will treasure for ever. As soon as he slipped it back he was straight on the phone to his mum to tell her the news. We was no longer tired through all the excitement but we needed to get some sleep. I topped up the swim with a fair bit of bait over all the spots.As the night passed i could hear fish boshing out in the next swim so knew it wouldn't be long. I ended up having a few fish in the early hours of the morning whilst Lucas was asleep. It was now time to go get a morning snack from the cafe but the weather had different ideas and the heavens opened. We decided to stay bivvy bound until it passed. I took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. The rain stopped and minutes later the rod ripped off, another strong battle but we had it tamed all the way in. We then reeled all the rods in and topped up the spots with more bait and headed to the cafe. We was lucky as it was closed but we found the lady on our way there and luckily she made us a sandwich each. We then headed over to a friends swim for a chat and a catch up. The rain slowly started coming down so we headed back to the swim ready for a slow pack up. We flicked the rods back in "as you do" and not even 5 minutes later Lucas was away.
What a session it turned out to be.
14 runs 12 fish landed 10 carp a pike and a tench. Many thanks to Dean Burton
