Just What I Needed.....

Dayhouse Farm, Old House Lane, Romsley, Halesowen, B62 OEX

Dayhouse Farm Fishery

I really needed some time on the bank-side this weekend after receiving the devastating news that my cousin Kevin had passed away on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.  He was just 49 years old and leaves behind his lovely wife Natalie and his two young sons Nathan and Evan.  It is no age for anyone to die but cancer is a vile disease that does not respect age and the sooner it is eradicated the better.  Kevin and I were so close as kids and some of the best memories from my childhood involve him like when his Dad, Uncle Ray, took us boating at West Smethwick Park.  Ray couldn't swim so Kev an myself started rocking the boat and he was gripping the sides so hard that his knuckles were white and the air was blue with his language, another memory is Kevin writing a ransom note in his tent for my Mom to find so, as we thought, she would go home and leave me at his house. The fact that it was in his handwriting and they would know where it was from hadn't occurred to us, but to make it seem more genuine, Kevin picked a scab off his knee and dripped blood onto the note for added dramatic affect.  I am going to miss him.

I had tried to keep myself busy all week after hearing the devastating news because I couldn't let things get on top of me and undo the hard work that has gone into getting me to where I am now.  I had been working on the South Coast and doing two shifts per day so I wasn't stuck in my hotel room where I would no doubt sit and think about things and slip back into a deeper depression, so the rushing about from job to job through the day really helped but left me feeling shattered.  I had decided that after my last job on Thursday, I would be heading back to Smethwick and home, where I could look forward to my weekend and get some time in on the bank-side and come to terms with everything.

I decided that it was about time I got back to one of my favourite places to fish, the bottom pool at Dayhouse Farm, just outside of the village of Romsley on the Bromsgrove side of Romsley Hill.  It is a wonderful venue, perfect for the experienced or the novice angler, situated in a small valley with trees and greenery all around and the kind of place where you can just chill out in the peaceful, relaxed setting and let your hassles just wash over you.  It has two pools, the smaller top pool and the larger bottom pool and both are well stocked with a variety of fish.  It was here that I caught my first Gudgeon, Ide and Bream on my first session here and I had not been disappointed on any visit since.  This time though I was going to do things differently and come out of my comfort zone and not take any maggots as bait.  I had been using them since my first fishing trip with Luke back in May, and they had become a sort of security blanket to me.  The only time I had fished without them before was when I was down in Cornwall at Bake Lakes an could not find anywhere that sold them and I was forced into using 6mm soft hooker Strawberry flavoured pellets.  I did okay that day though by fishing the margins, but this time I wanted to give my method feeder a try that I had got free with the Angling Times.

The bottom pool at Dayhouse Farm

Aldi had just started to sell their fishing range and so I went for some of the particle mix of maize, hemp and seed and a bag of the green match groundbait.  I mixed this up at home and took along some chopped luncheon meat an a tin of Tesco own brand sweetcorn for the hookbait.  I got to the fishery and had a look at the top pool but it was packed an very few pegs were available so I made my way down to the bottom pool which was being fished by a local club for a contest.  They were more than helpful pointing out which pegs were going spare and so I was set up for a days fishing.

I set up the method feeder and realised that I had made the mix too wet and it was sticking in the mould so when the feeder came out, the hookbait and half of the mix were still in the mould.  I plugged away though and just pressed the mix around the method by hand.  The only problem with that was I kept stabbing myself in the hand with the hook but I figured a little blood would just add to the flavour.  I cast out and sat waiting for the day-glo orange tip of the feeder rod to do something but then realised that maybe I should have watched a video on YouTube or something to know what to look for to indicate a bite.  I'd never used my float / feeder rod as a feeder before and my only experience was when I sat with Luke when I went with him for the first time in May.  Back then I was constantly surprise when he sprang into a flurry of activity because I hadn't seen anything to indicate a fish was on an I was beginning to think he had some sort of fisherman's intuition that I didn't,, that there was some special power that I had yet to find deep within my psyche that meant I could call myself an angler.

I suddenly had a brainwave and posted on the PIDS Fishing Club facebook page what I was up to and asked the question, What should I be looking for ?....Luke posted a reply pretty quickly that I had to do this, that and the other and look for the tip doing this or that.  I read the posts and then realised that I had sat watching the tip of the rod do all of these things and missed loads of bites.  Undeterred I reeled the feeder in and recast roughly where I had before, using a marker on the far bank as my aiming point.  I only had to work out how to judge the strength of the cast now to ensure I was in the same area each time I recast, but I got through okay even though I was just providing the fish with a free feed.

I had been two hours providing this takeaway service for the fish when everything came together for me and I got the moulded bait perfect from the mould, the cast was bang tidy and the tip moved as it should to indicate that I had a bite at last.  I struck the line and felt the fish catch, something I had heard other anglers talk about on the angling shows on Discovery Shed bt never really experienced myself.  The fish took off and I realised there was a problem with my reel straight away because everything went tight and there was no run on the line.  I looked to make sure that I had the clutch set to allow the fish to run and that was correct but the tension on the line indicated there was a problem still.  I tried to reel in and the rod bent right over making me fear that it was about to snap and I would lose everything.  I then remembered what Luke had said about making sure the drag was set properly so any activity would allow the line to run freely.  I hadn't done that part and the drag was set not to run.  I turned the knob to allow the line to run and there was an explosion of line from the reel as it suddenly had the freedom to go, the fish must have been as surprised as I was and it started to run into deeper water.  It was now that I made my second mistake an started to reel in furiously and suddenly everything stopped.  I looked down to see the line had come off so fast that it had wrapped around the reel and I had added to the tangle with my over eager reeling.

I had no choice but to hope that I had the fish securely hooked well enough to stay on the line as I attempted to untangle the Gordian knot I had created.  The Gordian Knot is a legend of Phrygian Gordium associated with Alexander the Great. It is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem (disentangling an "impossible" knot) solved easily by cheating or "thinking outside the box, only I am not Alexander the Great and I didn't want to cut anything if I could help it.  I sat for the best part of 20 minutes trying to extricate myself of the problem when I realised that my line had gone slack and my catch had managed to rid himself of the hook.  I decided that I had nothing to lose now so cut the line and untangled everything.  To say I was slightly miffed would be an understatement and I decided that feeder fishing was rubbish and I was never going to attempt it again.  I got the trusty pellet waggler out and set it up on the big carp rod using the luncheon meat as my hook bait.  The pellet waggler had been bought for use at Drayton Reservoir when I went fishing with Damian, and had caught nothing with it.  Hopefully this time would be different and I would not draw a blank as I had up until now, because it couldn't get any worse.

My first few casts felt promising and there were loads of knocks and bumps on the line and the float would dip and bob as the fish investigated the bait.  I was mindful of my habit of striking too soon and waited patiently for a proper bite that would pull the float under the surface.  I sat there waiting....and waiting....and waiting and when I reeled in the meat had gone and the hook was bare.  I re-baited an this time I added some of the Aldi amino feeder dip I had bought and gave the meat a generous amount of Tutti-Frutti flavouring.  I was fishing in the middle of the lake, just on the drop off and in the margins and the activity was the same in each area with line bites, knocks, bumps and everything but I could not get a fish to take the hook.  They took the bait every time, but not the hook, and I had never been so desperate for some maggots in my life.  I was so far out of my comfort zone and my confidence was rocked by my failure to catch anything and I was cursing under my breath at Damian and his suggestion that I tried fishing without maggots.

My fears of blanking were banished when the float disappeared from view and I felt the familiar pull of a fish on the line.  I didn't care what it was, how big it was or what species it was.  I had caught something and I could go home with my head held high, safe in the knowledge that it was possible to catch without maggots.  The luncheon meat and sweetcorn combination had paid dividends and I had a nice Bream on the hook.

My saviour from a blank

It was getting quite late now and the sun was slowly disappearing the trees on the hill to the west of the lake and so I decided to call it a day.  I had got my fish an hour or so earlier and had a few nibbles on the hook afterwards but my timing was off and I was beginning to strike too early again and I thought it better to pack up and be satisfied with my one fish.  As with every fishing trip I have, I learned new things about fishing like making the groundbait mix too wet, allowing the groundbait to soak in the moisture the night before and not immediately before trying to fish and to remember to allow the line to run freely by turning the clutch down.  Fishing is a wonderful sport that really does help anyone to relax and unwind, but there are some frustrating parts to it, but funnily enough that frustration is fleeting and doesn't last longer than a few minutes until you sort yourself out and calm down again.

I left the fishery having come to terms with the loss of Kevin though I wasn't looking forward to his funeral on the following Wednesday at all, but I as already looking forward to getting back to Dayhouse Farm in the next few weeks when I have a week off work and will be fishing most days.......

See you on the bank-side.........

A Day of Mixed Fortunes....

Drayton Reservoir, Daventry, Northants.

Drayton Reservoir

Drayton Reservoir is considered by many to be one of the finest Carp lakes in the UK and often features heavily in many articles and reports in the angling papers and magazines.  The Look Fishy website gives this description of the place "To many people, this could be described as the Wembley of places to go fishing (not in a facilities kind of way), walking round the boards on the way to your peg must feel like emerging from the tunnel ready for an FA Cup final or England international match. The reservoir is packed with fish, not just any kind of fish, it is packed with lumps! There aren't many places where you could get bored of catching double figure carp, but this is potentially one of them!"......Did Damian Smith write this ?

The day started very early with a 04.00 wake up to make up my flask of coffee and cheese & pickle rolls, pack my gear into the van and get the general chores done that are part and parcel of a fishing trip.  I left the house at 05.15 because the Sat Nav was telling me it was just under an hours drive to the lake and they opened at 06.30, and you needed to get there early to guarantee a parking space along the dam wall.

Damian and myself were to only two from the PIDS Fishing Club who could make it, Luke's car needs repairing and Richard's young son was ill on the day, so a mixture of financial restraints and sickness decimated our ranks.  Damian was, as usual, like an excited schoolboy, even calling me at 05.15 to make sure I was on my way.  I made my way onto the motorway and headed off down the M6 southwards towards the M1.  After an uneventful journey along an almost deserted motorway, I arrived at my destination a few minutes late, but nothing major.  Of course Damian had been there extremely early and had already set up his gear on the dam wall and had put his chair on the next peg to save it for me.  I got myself ready with my gear and was going to use my new purchase from the day before, a loaded pellet waggler, on 10lb main line with a hair rig of a Size 14 hook on 8lb line and a pellet band on the hair.  This was connected to the main line on a snap swivel and the waggler was held firm on the main line with two float stops preventing the snap swivel it was attached to from sliding around.  I'd never fished with a pellet waggler before so wasn't sure what to expect, but I had some idea about the workings of this new style of fishing.  

The deepest water in the lake goes to around 30ft along the dam wall, but then it levels out to around 3ft deep at the far end, with around 7ft being an average depth around the sides.  Damian had researched the venue and the majority of comments suggested that the dam wall was the place to fish from, so we were fishing from there.  The set up at Drayton is impressive and there is a wooden walkway around the majority of the lake with jetty style pegs to fish from.  The dam wall also has these platforms but with no walkway between them so access was over the wall through gaps in the barriers.  With everything in place it was time to fish and I was trying a new bait this week that I had been told was irresistible to Carp, the fruity flavoured Starburst sweets (formerly known as Opal Fruits).  A bloke at the hotel I stayed in the week before had told me that he would squash them around his hook and catch all day long.  It being a day of firsts, first time with a pellet waggler, first time specifically targeting bigger Carp and the first time on a seriously big venue, I had nothing to lose.

Damian had told me that I was sure to catch big here, that every cast would produce a fish of a decent size and I would smash my personal best for a Common and Mirror without a doubt.  Well I sat there with the pellet waggler out about 30 yards, for about an hour with no activity on or around my hook, rain lashing down, wind blowing a gale across the lake and holding onto my umbrella for dear life.  The wind had already got underneath it and lifted it clean out of the hole in the decking, sending it shooting through the air onto Damian's peg, so I was fishing with a distinct handicap now.  My left hand holding onto the umbrella, the right hand free for the rod.

After three or four hours of no activity on the hook I decided to switch to my float rod for a while and see what I could catch around the margin and platform because there was no way I was going to blank at this so called legendary venue.  The rain and wind had subsided a little so I set up the reliable float rod with a waggler float, 5 x Preston Innovations No. 8 Stotz weights, snap swivel and a Size 14 hook on a 6" nylon line.  Straight away I was into a nice Perch fro right beneath the platform so at least I wasn't going home with no fish to my name and three more followed in quick succession.  While this was going on Damian was into a Carp and he provided a real comedy moment when his umbrella was lifted from it's anchor while he was trying to land his fish.  He shouted across for me to give him a hand but I just sat there watching him struggle, remembering the laughter that had come from him when my brolly had decided to go on a fly-about.  He managed to sort himself out and landed a pretty decent Carp but it wasn't close to beating his PB of 16lbs.

The next fish he got into came shortly after and we both knew that it was a big lump straight away.  His reel was almost smoking as the line raced from it and it was game on as he played the fish back towards his platform and the safety of his landing net.  It was a full 5 minutes before the fish was ready to give up the fight and at one point it had nearly pulled him from the wooden decking when it had put on one final burst.  I made my way across to help land the beast and when we saw it surface we both agreed this was a huge lump that was at least 20lbs.  After successfully landing it and weighing it Damian's face was a picture when he read the scales and said it was 27lbs 8oz, beating his previous PB by 11lbs.  He was like a little kid at Christmas and the wind and the rain all seemed worth it, for him at least.

Damian's new PB Carp

While all of this had been going on I had reeled my line in but had unknowingly left my hook and bait in the water and it was Smudge who noticed that I had something on and it was about to pull my rod into the water.  I rushed across the little ledge between the pegs and managed to grab the rod before it went into the drink and landed the fish which beat my own PB for a Roach.

Roach PB (sorry about leaving it on the wooden decking.  It has been pointed out to me already by numerous people)

Little did I know that my fishing was finished at that point, with no activity around my hooks gain for the rest of the day.  The Carp pellets had failed, the Starburst had failed, I was soaked, cold and beginning to long for my sofa at home. Smudge made me up a rig with a boillie and pop-up to see if I had any luck on the bottom, but nothing happened.  I had been sat under my brolly, still holding onto it for dear life, when I decided to recast and let go of the brolly to use both hands on the rod.  Suddenly I felt very exposed to the elements and all I could hear was laughter coming from the next peg.  A quick glance to the right and I could see my brolly floating away in the wind but taking on water as it did.  I jumped down onto the small ledge between the pegs with my landing net in the hope I could throw the net over the end of the pole but it was too short and I had to run along the ledge and fetch my long handled  landing net, again it was too short but only by inches.  All of the time I was running back and forth between peg and brolly it was getting lower and lower in the water, and Damian's laughter got more and more hysterical.

I grabbed Damian's landing net which was a lot longer than mine but it was all to no avail as the brolly slipped below the waves and slid down the sloping concrete wall into 30 feet of water.  Now this brolly was my Dad's old one and all that I had left of his gear so I was rather upset at losing it, so Damian then spent the next 30 to 40 minutes trying to hook it and reel it up from its watery grave.  He managed to hook it several times but the weight it had taken on was too much for his hair rigs and he lost three heavy weights in his attempts.  I had had enough of the wind, rain and cold and decided that without the shelter of the brolly I was going to pack up and watch Smudge fish from the van.  It was then that I noticed something different about Damian's set up and asked if he was going to loose feed on the surface, Damian said no and then we realised that he had lost his Spod Bomb.  Now he hadn't used that rod when trying to rescue the brolly so it had either worked loose or one of the yachtsmen had snagged his line when they sailed close to his line.  This is what I didn't like about Drayton, the sailing club have banned fishing from  around its little corner but they just sail as close as they can right across where people are fishing.  While I am sure the sailing club pay a dividend to the Canals & Rivers Trust to sail there, the CRT need to remember that it is angling that brings in a lot of money for them from their various fisheries and other schemes and anglers should be looked after to stop the Hooray Henry's from sailing across their lines.

With his weights and Spod at the bottom of the lake, along with my brolly, Damian decided to call it a day also so we both packed up and tried to get warm.  It was here that my turn to laugh at his misfortune arrived when he realised that he had read his scales wrong and it was a marker hand he had read and not the actual needle that gave the weight.  His new PB had gone from 27lbs 8oz to 18lbs in an instant, still a new PB but not as epic as he had first thought and it was my turn to laugh at his misfortune.....

All in all, despite the loss of my brolly it had been a great day with a great mate and it had lifted my spirits again and despite the initial despair I felt when the brolly went and along with it the last tangible connection to my Dad with fishing, I had managed to get over the loss pretty quickly and had moved on.  In the past I would have allowed things to fester and get to me, but now that process is just momentary and I am able to dwell on them less which in turn lessens the amount of time I spend feeling sorry for myself.  There is still a long way to go but at least I can now recognise that there is progress.  However on my way home I received some devastating news which I have been dreading for a while.  I'm not going to go into it now, it is too painful and I have to respect another person's right to privacy.

It was a day of mixed fortunes, a day of mixed emotions, but a day that I enjoyed for the most part....

See you on the bankside.....