It was Wednesday night and I had finished my latest shift at work, so my thoughts turned to my next session on my syndicate water. I had landed a nice 23lb mirror on my last trip which had ended a run of recent blanks. The conditions were still very similar and the lake had done a couple of fish over the weekend. With all of this in mind, I felt confident that I would be in with a chance!
Thursday morning arrived and after a hearty breakfast of egg on toast and a hot cuppa, I sorted out my gear, the car was loaded and my fishing companion (Bailey the Carp Dog) and I headed over to the lake. On arrival there was a slight south westerly wind blowing into the top right hand corner of the lake, however, it wasn’t a particularly warm wind despite it’s direction. I decided to have a wander around the lake but this proved to be fruitless as I didn’t see any fish and, I eventually decided to fish the same swim as on my previous session.
I had been baiting a spot at around 60 yards range, so I put my first rod there with around one hundred freebies. I hadn’t taken a fish from the spot over beds of bait, so decided on a different approach fishing boilie’s only. My middle rod was cast approx 90 yards to a silty area at the back of a gravel bar with around two hundred freebies scattered across the spot. This was where I’d caught the fish on my previous visit so had to be worth another go. My left hand rod was cast across the lake, tight to an overhanging tree. This was an area that I had access to, so before casting out I wandered round to the far bank and introduced a kilo of Mistral Baits Purple Plum tight on the spot.
My rigs, as always, were kept simple and I fished a running rig on all three rods using Gardner Tackle Chod Skin hooklink material in conjunction with a size four Covert Mugga and a single 20mm Purple Plum boilie at the business end. With all three rods place accurately on the spots I set up camp and sorted out some dinner. Once I had eaten I settled in for the long night that was ahead. The nights always seem so long once the clocks have changed but I was hopeful of some action. After a lengthy conversation with good friend and fellow angler Dale Glover about a 24hr session we had planned for the following Monday night I hit the sack.
I hadn’t been asleep long when at midnight I was woken by a steady take on my left hand rod. As with my previous fish the fight started slowly, the difference on this occasion being that this fish felt a lot heavier and eventually started to show the signs of a good fish, holding the bottom right until the margins and once in close the battle really began. After a few heart wrenching moments a nice common was in the net and once I’d had a good look with the head torch on it was apparent that I’d got myself a thirty!
On closer inspection I realised that it was a fish that a fellow syndicate member had reported to have been attacked by an otter, and at the time wasn’t in a very good state. It’s a fish I’d had before, which has always had a slight kink to it and a growth on one side but despite this was always fit and healthy. However, after it’s encounter with our furry friend we didn’t give it much of a chance! I am pleased to say that despite all of this, the old girl was up in weight at 34lb and her battle wounds seem to be healing nicely. After a couple of quick snaps for the album and a treatment of Gardner Tackle Medic Plus to her still healing wounds she was returned to fight another day!
A cold night followed and I awoke to a bright, crisp November morning and despite not having any further action, I headed for home a very happy angler. Not so much because I had another thirty under my belt, but because the old girl was still alive and obviously recovering from her ordeal. It’s not always about the size of the fish but more about our chosen quarries well-being and I was glad to have been able to treat her wounds and see that she was OK. We don’t really have named fish on our syndicate water, but for my own records I have decided to call this fish ‘Bella’ a name that derives from the Latin word Bellator, which means Warrior. I believe this is a great name for her and one she has rightly earned.
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