Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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Information Page

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over four years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish (I'm putting the freshwater stuff on now and it will be similar when complete). I keep adding to both and to the tactics pages which are mostly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science. These pages are effectively my diary and will still take me a little time to bring up to date but often several pages are added in the space of a week.

27 April 2005.

Carping.

Cabin fever was setting in again so I needed a fix of fishing. The only real option was my local lakes, so I hacked half-a-loaf of bread into big cubes, tied a hook on the end of the line and set off. It was still not warm - perhaps thirteen or fourteen degrees with a sharp breeze making it feel almost chilly. I was not too optimistic.

Having seen a couple of carp swish at loose breadcrusts last time I went I opted to give them no choice. No free offerings. I simply baited the hook and lowered the crust into the edge under a small, overhanging gorse bush. I saw a couple of smallish carp about ten metres to my right but I resisted the urge to reel in and cast to them. I stood like a heron for about twenty minutes and, just as my attention was about to wander, the rod began to drag towards the water. I grabbed it to find a well hooked carp ploughing away under the bushes and through the reeds on my left. It was a matter of rod top under the water and hang on.

It was a couple of minutes before I managed to get the fish to emerge into open water. Then it was easy. I let the carp swim round until it was quiet enough to guide into my smallish short-handled net. After all the disturbance I moved to another swim. I threw a few bits of crust in to see if anything was active but they drifted out into open water and the black headed gulls had most of them. Another angler came and began to fish almost opposite me. He was legering sweetcorn. Before long he landed a small (2-3lb) carp. I put on a large piece of crust with three inches of white bread attached to it. The hook was threaded through the crust and buried in the end of the white. The idea being that the carp often snaffle the soft white bit and leave the brown. After five minutes or so the rod began to dance down the bank, I picked it up and played in a fat six pound mirror. i took its picture and then I went home - a satisfying session.

.

Nice carp (16lb).

The fish ploughed through bushes and reeds before being landed.

My second fish.

I'm always impressed by the size of the scales on these fish.  Big 'mirror' scales occur as mutations in other species.  I've seen 'mirror dace' - has anyone seen other mirrors?