Shear delight with my little Pony

Easter Sunday and instead of hosting the Angling Times Super cup, Pewsey and I had a free day as our opponents Wests Tackle had forfeited. I was looking forward to a lie in or possibly an easy day in a bed chair behind buzzers, or a bit of fluff chucking for some big rainbows.  Instead the offer to go with Brian and a few others and fish an old haunt Shearwater lake on the Longleat estate.

Def Leppards "Animal" was followed by Rainbow and since you've been gone, blew away the cobwebs as I zipped down the A 36 toward Warminster.  Happy memories of whizzing through the dawn chorus with my brother in his RS 2000 Escort crammed to the gunnels with Fiberglass waggler rods Efgeeco nets a bucket of brown crumb groundbait and gozzers topped of with swing tip rods and target boards and whopper dropper catapults.

Times have changed clearly as we found "No night fishing"sign ignored and nearly every swim taken by the bivvy Carpers. We found the only place where we could get six pegs in a row we started tackling up; as bleary eyed Carpers crawled out of the sleeping bags and stretched away their carp dreams.

I had the excellent Brian Shutler to my right and the terrific trio of Leo, Spanners and Chris the stallion Rushton to my left.  We tackled up and flipped the first feeders to the horizon in almost synchronicity fashion.

I found the lake sloped gradually away to 5 or 6 feet at 30 yards, then dropped of to 9-10 feet.  I decided to make this the main line and after prodding around with a bomb.  I found it was pretty rocky and boney and a little snaggy but it did it did seem promising.  So ground bait mixed and sieved a few times I dug out the whopper dropper and started the aerial bombardment.

The banter and excellent humour flowed as various piss taking comments were made up and down the bank.  It was good to be enjoying the fishing again after recent discontent.  Brian was casting disparaging remarks on my accuracy  which wasn't as bad as he was suggesting but continuous pole work recently had affected my rod work.  The boys were also laughing at ground baiting.  I explained you needed to lay a carpet of bait around the size of a car bonnet down to give the Bream something to to graze over.  Brian said he agreed, but i wasn't doing a car bonnet more like a car park!! Harsh and untrue.

Last laugh on them as the Bream started to flow interspersed with beautiful Roach the Bream were all around 2 lb and nine of the Roach under 8 to 12 ounces.  Fin perfect the Roach.  Fish whacking it on the drop meant the bites were a little hard to hit. So I shortened the link and the bites became more positive.  So much so cries of boys peg started to flow as I stretched a small lead.

But today was not about competition and conversation soon got around to manly conversation as Chris the stallion tried to make us all feel our age as explained the conquests of his love life.  Clearly it was because of his equipment he said.  Thoroughbred stallion.......at which point Spanners said more like "My little Pony" well cue the raucous laughter as we all fell about.  You just know that's going to stick for a while.  Even Chris was laughing.

I had to get of my box and go and have a wee.  And so the day went Bream after Bream for all of us now.  The others started to bait heavier and we all started getting one a chuck, Brian even had carp topping in his swim.  Leo did catch a Carp and even Chris who had a very slow start was now catching quickly.

After the tiny fish on the Canal we were all enjoying the clonking Roach and the Bream.

Most of the Bream were  2 lb + and it was dawning on us all what a great day we were having.  If only we could use keep nets it would have been good photo op.  At twenty Bream I stopped to allow the others a chance. Well that's what I said to howls of disdain; but I needed sugar and some liquid.

On resumption the boilie  queens to our right started to fry up the bacon and eggs and suddenly all of us would have given £20 for a bacon butty there and then.  So cruel to let the smell waft our way.  I really was catching some clonking Bream now, I was having a job to grip them across the shoulders.  As always the bigger ones (the biggest 4 and half to 5 lb)were darker in colour; and the head and shoulders were covered in tubercles.

Brian had switched to the waggler and upped his catch rate, he missed loads too as he tried to bait up with a catty the float kept sliding away.  We all were catching well until Brian and I realised the others were including everything caught in their figures as opposed to just Bream. Chris had gone over to worm and was catching bigger fish.  Me I was alternating between groundbait feeder, method with pellet and micro pellet and block end feeder trying to eeck out my bait.

The snaggy rocky bottom to the lake was taking its toll as hook lengths and feeders.  The boaters sailed majestically passed us and the tip kept going round.  As I hit 40 Bream Brian went to 41 and passed me.  The waggler was obviously faster.  We decided to give it to 4pm and call it a day so I aimed for 50 Bream.  Not to be though as Brian stretched away and beat me to it.  I got stuck on 46 Bream and 14 Roach to his 51 Bream and 9 Roach.

Not a match but the competition crept in inevitably with Brian Pipping me back to second; but can't complain all of us had over a hundred pound of Bream each and is traditional Spanners took his customary pound coin from his "little pony"

The lads got some practise in for their pilgrimage to Ireland, so great day all around.  The boys will be back on the cut next week for the first round of Ditchers Spring League.  Sad not make the team(s) but everyone wants in and there are only 8 places.

On leave this week so could get in a few more trips.