Blog

The Flick Of A Coin?

Posted: 21st Apr 2013

What the Hell happened this week? What a contrast and there has been no better example of how the weather plays a massive roll in the Carps feeding behaviour, which I will explain further. We have been a good 2 weeks behind with the weather so far this season, and with the temps being so cold the water had only risen to 8oc the second week of opening, going of past records we are normally around 10-12oc first week and climbing fast as the days unfold. With the weather improving slowly and Graham having 5 fish on the Friday (Second Week) I thought the lads turning up the week just gone had timed it to perfection, how wrong could I have been? Well Summer hit us with a Bang on The Sunday and with full sun forcast and Clive taking a couple of fish first night in Peg 1, I thought it would just get better but the water temp shot up to 17oc by Tuesday and must have peaked at 18oc in the day, that's a 10oc rise going from winter conditions to spawning temp in a matter of days and it just killed the fishing. I honestly think the fish could not adjust to the change and with having the odd anchor worm on their flanks the second week, the fish had not even come out of their winter slumber to be greeted with it's time to get spawning. This is not a good situation for any fishery owner, and I had spoken to another couple of fisherys reiterating the same concerns, and contributions to the poor fishing. The male fish caught were not even showing signs of milt, and the big females will be in no shape to start spawning, this time of the year the fish feed hard to bring themselves into condition and it takes a good 2-3 weeks for the eggs to swell and mature in a large fish before they are ready, it's only the rampant small carp that get a bit excited when the temp first strikes 18oc, just like 18 year old lads at the weekend!!

The water stayed gin clear most of the week telling me the fish were not moving around, nevermind feeding, leaving the lads trying everything, but struggled all week. Combined with a blanket weed bloom because of the huge temp increase and nutrient runoff from the heavy winter rain, it moved around in a mat causing problems as it moved from either end with the change in wind direction. I really felt for them and it's hard sometimes trying to rationlize in your mind what the hell is going on, but it just shows how "Mother Nature" has the final say. The week ended on only 9 fish which is very poor indeed for this time of the year, best fish was Mikes 39lb with all 3 of the lads catching but nothing to write home about. 5 x30lb+ and 4x20lb+ making the catch, with Mike having 3 young 20lb commons all off the same spot midweek on bright hookbaits down the righthand margin, off peg 3 which got alarm bells ringing in my head about the males grouping up for spawning. The Wildies in the Back Stream were spawning like rats on the Tuesday/Wednesday and all I could do was pray for the cool weather to move in and switch the fish back to feed mode.

A big cool wind did start to push down into peg 5 but it was a little too late for the lads, packing up on the Saturday the temp had dropped sharply again down to around 3oc in the night and the wind had a real bite to it, the water had clouded up overnight which maybe a signal the fish had responded to the temp drop and luck was about to change????

Well what a swift kick in the knackers for the lads who left because Mr Lanes Group arriving on the Saturday spread out to cover the lake fishing pegs 1,3,5 like the lads the week before. We were about to have tea, with the lads being down the lake for no longer than a couple of hours when Darren from peg 1 had called to the car for something and mentioned Mike had had a 37lb from Peg 5, great start and looking better. Well I went down with the breakfasts this morning and they have had 10 fish, how could you call that!! Darren in Peg 1 taking 5 fish to 45lb, dave in Peg 3 had 3 fish to 39lb and Mike in Peg 5 had the 37lb along with an animal of a common of 35lb+. That's more like it and it really shows how it can change on the turn of a dice, but sometimes that's fishing!! With the cooler weather forcast for the next few days I think the fish will get over the temp shock from the week before and really start to get on the bait like normal, it could be a good week?

Back soon with anything juicy.

Team Sanctuary