A brace of winter carp!

STALKNG LIKE IT'S SUMMER

After many walks around a small lake near to a job I am working on I found some shadows lurking near the surface basking in what little sunlight was available at this time of the year. Usually at this time of year the fish are a lot less active than the warmer months but this lake had many interesting features on the bottom including a few deep holes allowing a circulation of water as cool water and warm water can mix creating a pocket of ambient water that the fish can retreat to.

over the far side of the lake an area that fitted the bill and had all of the features that held big fish such as snags and gravel sections full of weed banks. a perfect grazing ground just off the big thermal patch of the lake.

I started my campaign with some surface baits to see if any carp wanted to feed. it was only a matter of minutes until the tell tale sound of the carp taking a dog biscuit off the surface echoed across the quiet and glass like water. now I knew we had some hungry carp feeding i started to draw them closer with the floating bait until i was close enough to cast a free lined piece of bread about two rod lengths away from the bank.

a big set of rubbery lips nudged the hook bait followed by that infamous kaaplunnnkk sound as the carp engulf the bait, the line whipped tight and the rod tip bent double we was into a fish!

a few short runs and a respectful fight for a winter carp and she was in the net looking glorious with a dark back and golden yellow tanning throughout, clearly one of the king carp Cyprinidae family with a perfect example of shape and scale pattern.

LET'S MAKE IT A BRACE

If you have been following any of my recent posts you would know I wouldn't leave it at just one fish and be happy, I have a greater urge than that so heading across the bay I fond myself a small clearing close enough to the hole still that I could draw another from.

the reason i moved was because after catching the last one I felt the fish would have darted to the next safe place around the thermal area of the lake and that is where i proved that theory right.

it took a little longer this time to get any interest in the free offerings of floating baits but slowly we started to see them showing again. I had knocked their confidence so feeding little and often seemed to draw them up and feeding before i put a hook bait into the water. the carp circled the bait a few times investigating it. the weight of the hook in the bait is enough to make it look different to the other free floating baits so they was a bit cautious leaving it in favour of the free offerings.

i soaked a few floating baits for an hour to make them less buoyant and started to feed them and surly the carp at first left those in favour of the ones that floated better, however carp being carp don't get big without being greedy and it was only a matter of time before they couldn't resist a free meal. A slow take in a controlled and cautious manner was not cautious enough as the line slowly tightened and me striking the rod to seal the deal.

A rugged looking Mirror carp also part of the king carp Cyprinidae family who had some battle scars was enough to end my day on a high. I had beaten the odds of finding a winter carp using summer tactics that don't usually work through the winter.

thank you fpr taking the time out to read about my fishing adventures, if you enjoyed this the you would love some of my other stories of fishing adventures so please follow me @callmecrypto & upvote, comment and resteem this post.