Friday the 13th may be unlucky for some but I was on my way to Bait-Tech’s headquarters for our annual meeting with the team, followed by a overnight session at Suffolk Water Park. It was to be my first night of the year so I was a tad excited as you can imagine!
I got to the lake around 9am, it was fresher than I would have liked with a easterly wind blowing, on the bank we were going to fish. Couple of the guys Craig and Ian had done the night, but no avail. The rest of the Bait-Tech team were just turning up debating where to fish. I settled in the boards with my good friend Joe Turnbull who was also there for the social.
Bivvies, beds and rods were set up in double quick time and my market float was cast around 80yds for a quick plumb around before setting off to the meeting. I was happy with a clear wide area around 70yds, not wanting to thrash the water I decided to clip up the marker, and fish all 3 at that range.
With that out of the way, I made my way with the others to the HQ for our meeting with Hayley G and Peter Clapperton. The agenda for the meeting was to discuss the release of Carp Catchers 3 DVD, new products for the season and of course the release of the much awaited Poloni boilie. It was all very positive, we also had a look at snippets of the DVD which is being copied as we speak, and I have to say it’s the best yet!
What we did discuss the most is the Poloni Boilie and what an incredible bait it is. And not just that, Pete was telling us how during the early testing stages, the 8 secret mixed spices that are in it have an incredible quick pulling power, more than anything they had ever seen.
We all agreed that we’ve got the mix just right now, as we’ve all been catching on it consistently for 2 years; and we are looking forward to hearing everyone’s catches once released. The meeting came to a close on a high and I was itching to get back to the lake and get some Poloni out there!
It was 4pm when I got back, Joe who stayed there to look after our tackle had lost one during the day so it was looking like they were feeding. I wrapped all 3 rods to 18 wraps same as the marker, loaded them with a 14mm Poloni pop-up and got the first lead flying high. It landed with a nice donk. That will do; next came the spomb, around 4-6 spombs loaded with 14mm boilies, I was happy.
For the next rod I decided to get the marker out there, that was clipped up, just as a visual. Second lead went in, after 2 or 3 attempts, it landed inches away from that float and again felt that famous donk; lovely. I got two spombs of boilies out, before needing to get some more from the van 20 yards away.
I literally managed to open the van doors when I heard a full blooded one toner and Joe shouting JOHN!!! I ran at full speed to bend the rod I had only just put out into a decent curve. Fish on! What a result! The only problem was my marker was still out there, and it soon went under as the fish wrapped itself round it! Joe was in hand to slacken the marker off and help me get this fish in. It took 10 mins but I soon had it over the cord! Get In!! I shouted! The quickest bite ever and it looked close to 30lbs.
Craig walked down looking gobsmacked and I laughed about the Power of the Poloni! On the scales it went 28lb 08oz, what a result.
Pictures were quickly taken and I was not hanging around in getting those rods back out. My swim at this point was total carnage! Tackle box open, packets of hooks all over the floor, and boilies were flying in on the spots via the spomb, hoping for more action. An hour or so later, I managed to get my swim in order ready for the evening take away and social.
And what a social that was! If any of you were on the lake that night, you would of known about it. Sorry! Shhh.. Anyway, the rods were quiet all night so a few hours sleep were much needed. First light came and I just felt like I should have had another.
I decided to recast the rod that I had the fish on and to top up couple of spombs of boilies. It couldn’t have been more than an hour as we were having a brew, I got couple of bleeps, the bobbin started creeping up and bang I was into another fish. Now this one felt really good, deep and a heavy fight. It seemed to go on for ages, I got it in close, just as I was about to get a glimpse of it, it rolled on the surface and the hook pulled out. Gutted!
With just an hour left before packing up, I quickly fuzzed it back out there, hoping for another chance. It never happened. Still, I wasn’t going to grumble too much about losing one after breaking the record for my quickest carp ever! The drive back home was a pleasant one and was looking forward to spending the weekend with my family.
Until next time: Good Angling
John Bassili Carp Catcher