I've never been good at keeping to targets, being quite impulsive with regards to my fishing. I prefer catching bigger than average fish - who doesn't - but I don't always prefer fishing for them. With the rivers and drains still out of the equation, pike have been put on the backburner and carp have come into consideration as I seek out a healthy bend in the rod.
A fish of twenty pounds is the benchmark, having only before managed one fish of this size in my many years of angling. My companion on that first trip was Ben Franks, and he joined me again today for another trip to the same venue where he also took a 23lb 11oz fish last time. Once again the owner at Viaduct was most helpful, and it's not hard to see why it is one of the most well-renowned fisheries in the country, not just the South-West.
After our chat in the on-site tackle shop, we had a walk around Cary Lake where three carpers had set up camp. My enquiry of "Any good?" to the third of these was met with strict instructions about where we could and couldn't cast depending on which swims we chose, and a parting shot of "plenty of room for everyone, eh". I still don't know what he'd caught but being told where I can and can't fish by a tosser with matching big pit reels on a one acre pond is one of the reasons why I often steer clear of commercials.
We set up with Big-time watching us intently, lest we cast near to one of his many loose-fed pellets, Ben taking a swim where he could explore a small wind-swept bay, and I an open-water peg. A switch from livebait fishing for perch and pike last session to carp fishing with straight leads was made easily with my new system of carrying minimal gear, just a quick switch of a light tackle box, and a change of rods, being all that was required. I cast the left-hand rod out with meat on the hook and a few loose bits on dissolving PVA string, whilst the second rod had two halves of a spicy squid boilie on a hair (no feed). It was only when we walked around the fishery a bit later on that we discovered that boilies are banned. Oops!
Within ten minutes Ben had a run on a bait cast to the bay, but lost it. I was next in, when the boilie hookbait was picked up by a plodding, parrot-mouthed mirror of just under twelve pounds. As we were weighing that one the other alarm screeched off from a more scrappy common, but one of around 6lb or so which was unhooked in the net and slipped straight back. I chucked back out and then Ben had an 8lb common carp. It is hard to make this kind of fishing sound any more interesting than what it is, that of lobbing a bait out and waiting for a run, which is what happened again with a third carp, this time weighing 14lb 4oz, the best of the day.
The activity seemed to coincide with a spell of sunshine and fish on the bank for the other anglers on the lake, but the next 45 minutes passed without incident. I reeled in to find that disappointingly the PVA string on both rods had failed to dissolve so I had no chance of any action. Next time I will hollow out the boilie next to the bend of the hook to allow water to attack the PVA. I scoffed a hot pasty in the shop and picked up a few bargain pole floats for 99p which look great for a spot of bread fishing when I don't have the seatbox with me, before we upped sticks and headed to Spring Lake where the carp run larger.
By this time we were more familiar with the rules so it was luncheon meat all the way on this lake. I cast one towards the island and dropped one in close with a little helping of meat and hemp over the top, before sitting as far back as possible to await further developments. I only had one more run, this coming to luncheon meat on the margin rod, but I missed it, before Ben enjoyed a hectic forty minutes landing four more carp to 12lb 2oz and losing two also. I even hopped into the swim the other side of him for the final hour, to no avail.
I quite enjoyed our trip to Viaduct even if it did start off on a slightly irritating note, but I will continue in my search for a twenty pound carp, no doubt enduring more selfish carpers and parrot-mouthed pasties along the way.
