As there are only 5 swims on this pond it was imperative that I was up and out of the house as early as I could manage.
I arrived at the pond a little after 6 am to find the small car park empty. "Perfect" I thought to myself. I parked the car about 15 metres from the swim on the far right of the pond which meant no need of the trolley today.
I was set up and ready to make my first cast dead on 7 am. As this is a carp pond it was carp rod and a buzzer today. Not a tactic for a day session that I use very often. Tangerine Dream 15 mm boillies were my bait of choice.
I had fed two lines within the swim, one to the right and yes, one to the left. I started with the one on the left. It was thirty minutes into the session when the buzzer went off the first time and I was in. The result didn't threaten the breaking strain of the line, a mere 1 lb of fighting carp!
I then swopped to the right hand swim and ten minutes later the buzzer went again. This one was a bit bigger (2.5 lb) but still smaller than I was expecting.
The pattern for the day was now set, I would change lines each fish or after an unproductive hour whichever came first.
At 8:21 my biggest fish of the day so far turned up. I estimated it to be about 5 lb.
Six minutes later and I was in again, the result was the same, a small carp of about 3 lb. Where were the bigger ones? When I had visited the pond a few years back they went to about 7lb.
I had to wait half an hour before the buzzer went off again. Yet again it was another carp of about a 1 lb. I began to suspect that the club had recently re-stocked the pond with small carp.
Things were slowing down. I had to sit for an hour before the sound of the buzzer disturbed the peace and quiet. The result? Yep another small carp. This one about 2 lb.
The time was now 10:49 and I'd just released another 3 lb carp. These greedy beggars were taking 15 mm boillies like they were Smarties.
Of course I don't mind catching fish but when you come armed for carp around 7 to 10 pound but keep catching fish like the 1.5 lb specimen I caught at 11:30 it is not a fair fight. I had however no choice but to continue.
Between 12:30 and 14:30 I had three more of the small carp. If I'd fished the swim with a waggler and light tackle I would have had a monster day.
Between 14:30 and 16:30 I caugh 8 lb of carp.... with three fish!
At 16:06 I caught my biggest fish of the day. A very nice carp of 6 lb. I felt almost happy!
At 16:48 I caught my last small carp of the day. I decided at that point to give up and go home. Was it me or was the pond just over-stocked with small carp? It's a shame if it's the latter.
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