With late spring upon us the carp in most lakes were spawning up and down the country, the syndicate was closed for a couple of weeks and the park lake did not open until June the 16th. There was a pit I had fished in the past, where I knew the carp would spawn late, due to its depth and location. This lake is referred to as the poach pit and it contains a nice stock of carp, with a handful of them being really old, absolute gems, with a blood line close to, if not the same as the original dink’s. On arrival at the lake in the early hours it was obvious that most of the areas had been taken but we could not believe our luck when the two swims we wanted were still free. The carp in this lake get a lot of pressure for a poach pit and they often show in one area of the lake and feed in others, with my friend setting up on the edge, with fish showing in an area we call the Bermuda triangle. I set up in a swim to the left called the beach, having part of the shallow end of the lake and most of the island at my disposable. I spent most of that day watching the carp showing out in open water around the triangle, it was great to be back full of anticipation and a chance of catching one of its real special ones.
Having lightly baited a couple of margin spots around the island, I decided to check the areas early that evening and on closer inspection one of the areas had been cleaned off and there were 4 carp sat in the weed at the back of the spot. Making sure not to spook the carp I lowered a rig into position, with the light levels starting to fade, I sat back expecting that rod to burst into life. The bite came around 2am, with the carp taking just enough line off me on a tight clutch to make the island trees that were overhanging the lake. With the carp wallowing on the surface, I had to keep the rod as low in the water as possible to try and keep the fish away from the snags. As quick as the bite came the fish was gone and I was stood there in complete darkness thinking what have I just lost? with the silence creeping back in I lent the rod up against the brolly……. Gutted. It was time to get my head down for a couple of hrs.
As daylight appeared it was silent on my half of the lake so I wound in the other two remaining rods and headed over to the other side of the island to have a watch. There were lots of fish showing and it looked like a completely different lake to my side of the island, it was a great sight to see multiple shows of carp bouncing out. It was forecast to be a hot day once again and I needed to get some supplies, so before going out to the shop a small amount of bait was applied in a couple of areas.
Returning, we got some breakfast cooked and walked back along the path where I had baited the two areas, one of the spots had been cleaned off already. I quickly got a fresh bait on the rod and a tiny amount of bait in my hand then swung the lead into position, watching the bait land on the bottom, then throwing the bait just off the rig. Slackening off the line I placed the rod on the ground, when 3 carp came swimming up my left hand margin, they swam under the line and two of the fish started feeding. On closer inspection I could see the two small commons tails up and a really dark mirror looking around for food, all I thought was to reposition the rod to that area once they had moved off.
The two commons started moving off and the dark mirror was following them so I picked up the rod, when out of nowhere the mirror changed directions dramatically and headed straight for the lightly baited area. A few seconds past and I could not believe what I was watching as it went straight down on the bait and in slow motion it was lifting the big lead out of the silt, nailed. With the rod bending round in my hand as it started to power off for the island, I had to keep the pressure on not giving an inch, it started to kite from right to left allowing me to gain small amounts of line with each pass. Within a couple of minutes the carp was nearly beaten, so I looked down for the net and had the most awful feeling, it was still next to my wound in open water rods 15 yards or so away. Having no option but to the drop the rod after wrapping the leader four times round a bunch of reeds, I legged it for the net at full speed, it was soon thrown on the ground next to the reeds grabbing the rod as the fish powered off once again. Getting it under control a second time the fish was finally sat in the bottom of the net….how’s your luck boy! It was a fish that I had seen a picture of a few years prior and was thought to be dead.
The carp looked ancient with black eyes and small linear scales down her flank that were hardly distinguishable due to how dark she was, placing her safely into a sack and lowered her into the margin, before ringing my mate to tell him what I had just caught and to get him to take some pictures of the special creature. After getting everything ready for the photos, I lifted her out and placed her carefully on the wet mat, where we were both in awe of how mega she was. A fish called the black linear was added to the album and safely weighed, at 31lb 4oz. She was not breaking any records but when they look as good as her weight is completely irrelevant, with one last look before returning her to her watery home, it was mission accomplished.
