The most memorable session!
Venue
This 24-hour session was one of the most memorable, not
because of PB breaking carp, but because of the overall experience and
conditions we fished in. The venue of choice was Eves Batch near Hereford. It’s
a complex of three small lakes with two surrounded by trees. The venue is
hidden away down a dirt track and requires a code to get through the gate so
the security is great. No paying on the bank; you must visit a local post
office or St Johns Tackle shop in Worcester and they will give you a code for
the gate. The last time I fished this pool I was around 9-10 years old and it
ended fairly quickly, with my dad falling in and taking a pint of maggots with
him!
Swim Choice
Rigs
The rigs I had chosen to use were very simple. I try to keep
everything simple and not complicate things too much, so I went for a basic
hair rig and a size 6 hook using my first batch of homemade boilies I had made
a few days before, which were sweet corn and poppy seed. I put a second rod on
the same rig, but with a 14mm banoffee boilie just to see which rod would rip
off first and then I could switch the other rod over to the winning bait.
I decided to cast one rod to the far bank near a pipe with
flowing water coming from it. I was sure that fish would hang around waiting
for any food to come from it. The second rod I put out also to the far bank
near a reed bed where I did see some bubbles while setting up.
An hour past of a few knocks myself and my dad still
blanking for it was early days and still 23-hours to go. I decided to keep the
same hook baits but start adding a PVA bag of method mix, pellet, corn and hemp
to each cast to try and get something going.
Lights, camera ACTION!
FINALLY! nearly four hours in and my rod which was cast
towards the pipe ripped off, it wasn’t a big carp at all coming in at around
7LB. I was happy but happier that I caught it on my first home made boilie
which gave me more confidence in the bait and overall the hole setup I had use
including the choice of swim. My dad landed one at around the same weight also
which was on a wafter under some trees to the left of him.
Several more hours pass and we are still on for 1 carp each.
It’s getting to the stage now where the bacon rolls need to come out and the
lights need to go on. We casted out the rods for the last time before the sky
hit pitch-black and settled down for the time while the winds of Doris were
still hitting the bivvies’ hard and the constant sound of the bite alarms being
nudged wondering if it’s a bite or just the gale.
It hits 12am and alarms are going off, throughout the night
the carp were biting and 2 other guys across from us were also catching. It was
getting silly, it was cold and windy and overall the conditions were just not
“Carpy?” But every 20-30 minutes we were getting runs and landing carp, none of
which were monsters with the biggest of the night being 10LB. Throughout the
night myself and my dad caught 11 fish between us and had very little sleep.
Around 3am the bites stopped and we managed to get our heads down. I woke up at
around 6:30am and re-cast one rod which ripped off again within 10 minutes, yet
another carp around 8LB and this would have been the last fish of the session.
Summary
There were some big fish at Evesbatch, up to 25lb including
some ghosties but we couldn’t land them. Neither could the other two guys in
front of us who also landed around 12-13 carp weighing no more than 10LB.
Although this may seem like an average session for some it was a winner for us
with the winds blowing down the lake and the odd bit of rain. It was one of
those sessions you think to yourself “Should I have come out today?” Catching
on my own bait was probably the best feeling and it’s made me want to make more
bait. Sorry to finish on a downer, but the wife doesn’t want the freezer full
of boilies.
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