Cold Clear Water from Tommy
The last session seems like an eternity ago. It's already February and the inner tingling is growing inexorably. Winter seems to be staying long and cold. But this weekend I have to get out. You know that inner burning feeling. It's February 2nd. The ponds have been ice-free for a week. The weather forecast says blue skies and sunshine. The time has come. I threw the tackle in the car and headed to the club's waters. I had put my target fish on the list. The "wild one" should fall today. A quick note on the name of this carp.
It is a tradition in our club to hold a small competition at the annual fishing festival. A carp is exhibited and everyone can guess its weight for a small sum. The winner at the end of the day can then claim it for himself. This year's winner has the nickname "the Wild One"! He gave our club this fish, weighing 9.98 kg, and released it into our club waters. I knew it was the biggest carp swimming in the lake to date. That was the one I was after today.
The water was only 3 degrees, so not exactly the best chance of convincing him to eat. But no matter, finally back on the water, that was the main thing. Everyone knows that at these temperatures, less is more. I decided to present a Ronnie Rig with a 15mm bloodworm pop up, with a small PVA bag of crushed and dipped bloodworm boilies.
As expected, the bite alarms remained silent for hours. But hey, it's February 2nd, it's bitterly cold, a fish would just be a bonus. I just enjoyed this sunny day with tea and coffee. And yes, a beer was a must. At the same time, I got the tackle box back in order and conjured up one or two rigs.
The hours passed, but unfortunately there was still no activity on the lake and certainly no activity on the rods. I was already thinking about the end and slowly thinking about cleaning up when the bite alarm went off. I quickly picked up the rod and immediately felt more pressure on the rod than usual here on the water. It had to be him. He was pretty annoyed and fought back, but I won the fight.
What can I say? My plan worked. The target fish was in the net. The season couldn't have started any better. I was super happy and the year can only be great again. He had to endure a short photo session before I let him go again.
By now it was already late afternoon. Before it got dark, I had packed everything away and ended the day feeling overjoyed.
Conclusion of this trip: Don't be afraid of cold, clear water. It's always worth going to the water. Only wet lines catch fish.
With that in mind, go out there and have fun. Success will come naturally.
