The Lake of Dreams – Part Two

In the first installment Juan had worked hard to catch a couple of old fish from the historic Ringstead Fisheries and was looking to capitalize on his good momentum. We rejoin his story as he awaits action after baiting heavily to a large group of carp.

Awaiting action - Would the fish respond?
Awaiting action – Would the fish respond?

A couple of hours had passed since getting the rods in position with the fish just milling about in front of me. I decided to make a couple off fresh rigs to have ready on hand, just in case I felt the need to change to a different presentation. No more than five minutes after I had started my left hand rod screamed into life. This time I was ready with my waders on and I was on the rod in a flash. I lifted into the rod and the fish just took off, it was like being hooked up to a car and it took a good seventy yards of line on the first run. There was just no way of stopping her! Letting the fish have some line I was hopefully that it would be getting tired after each massive run. After a long twenty minutes of tug and war and getting flat rodded twice by the fish I knew I had to get her in the net.

Tense moments
Tense moments

As minute after minute passed my mind was racing, still not knowing what I had on the end of the line. I didn’t want to rush it too much as I know all too well it can take a split second to pull out of a fish. When she finally rolled on the surface I got a glimpse of her and estimated her at high thirty or even a low forty. Every second counted and with her rolling a couple of times more in front of me I managed to slip the net under her on the second attempt. I knew I may have just caught a fish of a life time and my heart was beating out of my chest.

Get in the net!!
Get in the net!!

Special moment

Leaving the fish in the net to recover I got everything  prepared on the bank for her moment of glory. Not leaving anything to chance the scales were zeroed and ready to go. I composed myself and got back into the water to get the net with the fish in it . As soon as we opened the net Ryan said it was a fish called Twin Scale. At first I didn’t believe him as Twin Scale is one of the A-TEAM fish in the lake and fourth largest resident.

Ryan did the honors of with the scales and she was a lot bigger than I expected; 47lb on the dot. I couldn’t believe my luck. Another UK personal best smashed and this time by 10lb. We took a few pictures on the bank, and took some in the water as special moments like this don’t happen often.

The majestic Twin Scale
The majestic Twin Scale

Pic 12

On cloud nine she had a kiss and a cuddle and was released back to where she belonged, safe and sound to grow bigger.

That special moment when we release them to grow bigger
That special moment when we release them to grow bigger

THE DREAM CONTINUES

Still with the thoughts of Twin Scale buzzing around my head i knew the targets I have set myself were now achieved; my first UK forty and on three fish out the lake for the season. An absolute dream come true and one I didn’t expect for my first season on the new lake.

Saving my season has been hard work and with not many sessions left for the year we decided to have a bit of  a social with my best mate Rich invited along with another of our good friends Rob. We were all set for three days of great weather, good food and a few beers. Any fish would be a bonus. Arriving at the lake later than normal (Rob’s fault for having to work a night shift) we set out to find the best swims.
I opted for the famous Royal Box, Richard in the Bean Tree swim and Rob in Chestnuts. The fish were well spread out in front of these three swims and all of the signs were looking good. We managed to polish of a nice curry and a few beers in the evening watching the sunset.

We settled in our bivvies about 12 pm for some sleep. I got woken up by a screaming alarm at 6am with the middle rod in melt down. As soon as I hooked into the fish it felt good with a very scrappy fight going on under the rod tip. The fight was immense but I soon managed to get my net slipped under her. Looking into the mesh I saw a fish that doesn’t hit the bank much and one of the very few commons in the lake, the Original Common at 37lb.

The Original Common
The Original Common

The lake kept throwing up surprises for me but I wasn’t going to complain about it as I had invested a lot of time and effort so far in the season and I had well and truly saved it and with two nights left of my session I didn’t care if I caught another fish. I was content and the twenty four hours came and went so quickly. At 1am on the last morning I was woken up again, with only two beeps this time and lifting into the fish It felt heavy, plodding back and forth in front of me. With a couple of spurtS of energy she took line but I don’t think she realized what was going on until I had her in the net after 10 minutes of steady battle.

Another lump in the net
Another lump in the net

Knowing what I had in my net I rushed around to Rich and Rob to go wake them up so that they could come and help with the photos and see this amazing animal. Scaring the life out of Richard at first he didn’t believe that I had something special in the net! The lads were soon round in my swim to assist me and the needle settled on 44lb, a fish called Prince.

The Prince
The Prince

With five fish from the lake comprising of three thirties and two forties to say I’m a bit happy is an understatement. I have already taken on another ticket for 2014 so hopefully the lake is going to be even nicer to me and let me have one of her bigger residents.

Until next time, tight lines.

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