Fulfilling a childhood fantasy

As a child I briefly had a copy of “Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing” by Bernard Venables. It was the stuff of fantasy. Wonderfully illustrated and full of fishing tips and adventures, a new species at a time. I recreated some of those scenarios as a child but I didn’t have an estate lake where I could fish for tench, bubbles fizzing all around the float and that hankering has never left me. I finally scratched that itch this weekend.

One of the waters I have access to feels a bit like an estate lake with lots of lilies and it has (allegedly) a good head of tench. Between small children, work and study opportunities to get fishing aren’t always easy to come by and the current heat of the day isn’t great for the fish. As a result, on Saturday I set an alarm clock for 4am to get a three hour session before parental duties kicked in.

I managed to get a few phases of fizzing but not the jacuzzis I’d been hoping for and in the end I left without a tench, only a small rudd for my early start. It was still a wonderful morning as a I watched a kingfisher fish on the bank opposite me. I then spent the rest of the day obsessing about what I should have done differently. I had forgotten a box of weights so couldn’t shot my float correctly or change float; I was plagued by small fish stealing my baits and attacking my float; I wondered if I’d overfed; whether my groundbait was over too wide an area; whether I’d scared fish off by raking the swim or hadn’t raked it enough; was my large shot for the float method too far from the hook.... I couldn’t let it go. I decided I needed a thicker float; bulk shot down the line to get the bait through the small fish; groundbait rather than hemp to pull them in… I couldn’t let it go… so I set my alarm for 4am again.

Again I raked the swim. Then I through a couple of balls of groundbait while I set up. And very soon there was fizzing in the swim, again not a jacuzzi but definite activity. I cast out and three minutes later I had a lovely tench of just over a pound on the bank. All that thinking had paid off. I’d cracked it.

And then, while I got a little fizzing in the swim occasionally, I didn’t get another bite except a nice roach at the end. So what had I done wrong this time? Firstly, I think my main line was too thick. It was a stiffish 8lb and I should have fished 6lb. Secondly, rather than fishing hook to nylon I should have tied my own using fluorocarbon. Thirdly, I should not have fed while there were fish in or near the swim. Next, I should have cast beyond fish and worked the bait back into the swim (even if it meant little fish sometimes stealing it). I should not have raked the swim - there wasn’t enough weed there so the downsides outweighed the positives.

But most importantly, I hadn’t chosen the best spot. For the last half hour I changed swims and five minutes before I had to leave I had a veritable jacuzzi going, moving ever closer to my bait. But I had to leave. The lesson - you can’t catch what isn’t there.

I can’t wait for 4am next Saturday.