Two more sessions on the little lake this week, fished in contrasting conditions. The first was in temperatures pushing into the 30s and blazing sunshine. The second saw the thermometer showing around 10 degrees lower than the first and overcast skies.

On both occasions, carp were very visible all over the lake, but looking very lethargic. On the second visit, the swim I chose had six carp on the surface close in when I arrived. They didn’t seem to be bothered at all while I was tackling up even though they must have been aware I was there. Indeed, they didn’t even flinch while I was checking the depth of my float right in among them. But as soon as I introduced some loose feed, they melted away.

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon, both times, that the fish began to show some activity, with tench and bream fizzing at various points in the swim. I managed to land three tench on the first visit, losing another, and on the second visit, it was skimmer bream that showed, with a last-cast mini-tench to end the day – small but perfectly formed.

I seem to have sorted a method that puts a few tench in the net, but it looks like I need to refine my tactics to tangle with the more elusive carp.

Oh, and “Mad Mama” Moorhen was spotted seeing off a wood pigeon.

Never mess with a moorhen. That was the lesson a squirrel learned today. The moorhen family on the little lake that I’ve mentioned in recent posts were over the far side of the lake. One of the parents and the chicks were on the lilies by the bank, while the other parent was up the bank. Suddenly the one on the bank went running along the path in an aggressive manner. I then realised that it was chasing a squirrel! It was certainly one of the funniest things I’ve witnessed when fishing to see the two tearing along the bank at full tilt. Unfortunately it was over too quickly to capture on camera. I didn’t see the final outcome as they disappeared into the trees, but I later saw the moorhen looking none the worse for the encounter.

As for the fishing, when I arrived, the surface of the lake was covered in little rudd, and quite a few carp, which were looking very lethargic under the baking sun. I caught a few rudd and roach in the height of the afternoon heat, but it wasn’t until some shade began to creep across the water as afternoon moved towards evening that things began to liven up.

The first tench of the session came at about 5 o’clock. At 2.11 it was just an ounce short of my pb (Note: I’ve not caught many tench before!). This was followed about an hour later with the smallest tench I’ve ever caught, a pristine fish of about 8 ounces. Unhooking it was fun, as it was like handling a bar of wet soap that had come to life.

A further hour passed before the float shot away, heading rapidly for the nearby lily bed, succeeding in burying itself under the pads. At first I could still feel the fish, but another short surge saw it embed itself a bit deeper and all went solid. I thought that would be the end of it, but steady pressure gradually began to regain some ground and  eventually the fish emerged from the lilies into clear water. Once there, things were relatively calm, although the carp continued to put up a lively resistance. A minute or two later a nice linear mirror was in the net.

I’d been fishing close to the lilies throughout the session, but I’d also been baiting the other side of the swim, and after the commotion caused by the carp, I decided to give this other line a try. It wasn’t long before I was into the third tench of the day, a lively scrapper of about two pounds.

It’s the usual fisherman’s tale of the biggun that got away. Well not really all that big, but big enough to snap a 7lb hooklink like cotton.

It was a funny afternoon from the start. On arrival at the pond that I fished the previous week, I found that I’d forgotten my chair. On the off-chance, I texted my mate Andy, who had said he might be joining me later, to ask if he had a spare chair he could bring along. By an odd coincidence, he was in the area and had a chair in the car, so about 20 minutes after I’d contacted him, he turned up carrying the chair!

Already, carp had started to feed around my swim, bubbling up the water. I’d started casting slightly to my right, but as a large patch of bubbles appeared by the lilies on my right, I cast my float to the patch of bubbles. Within 30 seconds, the float buried and the rod top bent round as a carp shot off towards the lilies. As I put pressure on to stop its charge, the hooklink suddenly parted. I was surprised by this, as I’d used a similar hooklink last week and was able to apply quite considerable pressure when playing a 7lb carp. Later, Andy mentioned  that he’d lost a carp in a similar fashion in the same spot on a previous visit, and wondered if there was a branch or other snag that the fish went into that caused the line to part.

Half an hour later, another carp picked up my bait and rocketed off towards the lilies on my right, but I was able to turn it and bring into open water, where I was confident of winning the battle. I’d almost got the fish to the net, when it turned and went into the small lilies at my feet, and somehow immediately transferred the hook to a lily stem.

Andy arrived later, and settled into the swim next to mine. He hadn’t been there long, when I was into another carp. The take was preceded by some bubbling a couple of yards from the float, then some bubbles a bit closer, then closer still, then the float shot away. Unlike the previous two, this one was successfully landed. It was a fully scaled mirror, weighing I suppose about four pounds.

By now the sun had dropped behind the tree, and there started to be increased activity in my swim, with lots of “fizzing” going on. Most of it I think caused by tench, although there was a carp in the area too. It was obvious that the fish were rooting around for the loose feed I was putting in as the fizzing was often right around my float, but apart from an occasional bob of the float, which I suspect was caused by fish brushing the line rather than mouthing the bait, not once was there a positive bite.

I had to leave early evening (and just in time to avoid a heavy shower), which was frustrating as the fish were still active in the swim. I later learned that Andy (who’d had a couple of tench from his swim), had moved to where I’d been fishing and had an eight pound carp from it.