The carp have been showing themselves to me a bit this year. But does that mean that I have been able to catch them? Of course not. I’ve continued to occasionally check the location where I lost the Grand Western Canal ghost carp a few weeks back but am pretty certain that that particular horse has bolted. Meanwhile, spotting a white koi of around six or seven pounds has had me fascinated by the diminutive Ilminster Canal in Somerset. I had a quick go but, unfortunately, a stray mirror of a similar size slurped down my floating bread just as the koi was homing in on it, and when it did finally build up the confidence to have another go, I pulled the hook straight out of its mouth (hook too small I think). A separate visit yielded only a goldfish as the target fish stayed pinned to the far bank, and hasn't been seen since.
More recently, Chris Lambert has kindly agreed to putting me on the right path towards catching a decent river carp. A session on the Tidal Exe saw Chris teaching me about location, tackle and tactics for fulfilling this ambition of mine. On this occasion no carp were landed, but I did catch my first River Exe pike – a five pounder which grabbed a snowman boilie presentation on the retrieve! Honestly, with so many dace in the river, I couldn’t work it out either.
As for carp showing themselves, perhaps the most exciting of the lot (because it wasn’t then followed by catastrophe) was the sight of a clonking great carp mooching around on the gravel shallows of the Exe during a lunch time walk. From thirty yards away I could clearly make out the fish opening, closing and extending its mouth to search around for food items in the river bed.
With rods in the car, I wasn't going to fish too far away from my most recent sighting. All I had to do was now try and concentrate on my work until I could leave at a quarter to six. Heading to the river soon after, I was brimming with enthusiasm, although, as always accompanies trying out new styles of fishing, there was an element of doubt. I continued with the heavy set up I had used in Chris's company, but included a leadcore leader for added insurance against the rocky riverbed. My second rod was a 1.75lb test curve barbel rod, which was set up with a running three ounce lead and short braid hooklength to a size 6. I started with luncheon meat on this rod, but after plenty of plucks in the first half hour I decided that a switch to something more durable was in order and so went for half a spicy squid boilie and half a pink pop-up of similar flavour. These tactics resulted in the target species for this rod; a 3lb 9oz 8dr chub.
The second rod was away some thirty minutes later with a screamer of a take. As soon as I picked the rod up, a big tail slapped down on the surface over the far side of the river, and a tidal river carp surged upstream against the flow. Regardless, it was no match for the tackle I was using, which was beefy stuff to say the least, and by far the heaviest kit I have ever used. The five ounce lead was jettisoned in the fight (which must be a good thing as far as mouth damage is concerned), but I still had to overcome the best efforts of an 11lb 3oz mirror carp, which was coaxed over the net after a spirited scrap. Mission accomplished, but I can't thank Chris enough for selflessly helping me once again. I still owe him a debt of gratitude for my personal best pike.
