Richworth Linear fishery Braisenose 2, 2014 Fishability UK fishing event.
With a warm winter just behind me now and some great carping fishing opportunities opening up for me in the coming months, I found myself sat in front of my PC planning my fishing goals and targets for the coming months. Out of the blue, I received an e-mail from Roger Sharp who is one of the organisers behind a charity called Fishability UK who provide fishing experiences for ex-services personnel who are receiving either physical or psychological rehabilitation.
Rogerwas requesting my services free-of-charge to attend the Richworth Linear Braisenose 2 Lake in Oxford on 28th June for a 36 hour carp fishing session with a group of very keen ex-services personnel. I was very lucky to have fished with the Fishability guys at similar events before and I have grown very fond of them all despite the excessiveabuse I get whenever we are fishing.
In what seemed a blink of an eye, and nearly a dozen e-mails later, my car was loaded with enough fishing tackle and bait to set up a tackle shop and I was on my way to Oxford. The hour long journey seemed to whizz by as I drove up the A34 allowing my thoughts to drift into thinking about my alarms screaming and angry carp fighting hard all the way to the net.
I arrived about an hour early to find the entrance gate lockedwith several cars and vans already parked up waiting to get in. I settled back into my car preparing to wait for the bailiff to open the gates and contemplating what was in store for the next 36 hours. My dreams were soon shattered by John AKA “DOG” who screeched up alongside me and proceeded to offer me a whole lot of friendly abuse; according to Dog, I really need it!! This was followed by multiple “Gizz It” requests for any and all of my fishing tackle. This banter and general fishing chat continued until the gate was opened and we all drove into the complex.
Being the early birds, Dog and I drove around the complex to park up in front of a nice double swim in a corner of the Braisenose 2 Lake that the guys at Linear had very kindly reserved for us. Being the ultimate gentleman and always keen to help his buddies, Dog shouted at me “We will have these two pegs before anyone else gets here“andproceeded to tell me I was fishing with him!! With that, we both started to unload his tackle and carried it to our awaiting swim. In the bright and hot early morning sun, we proceeded to set up our shelters, fish care products and rods then, just as we had got everything ready to go, the sun decided it was going out and the rain began. I did a quick dash back to the car to get my waterproofs and I came back wearing them - full military DPM Gortex water proof jacket and matching trousers making me feel at home with the guys I was with!! Dog was already to start fishing, having to set up a lot less tackle than me. He was sat in his shelter looking at me through the clear door panel offering friendly advice in the only way Dog knows how to such as “if you were a true professional, you would be prepared and have your waterproofs already in your shelter before the rain”!At this point, I knew I should have brought my ear defenders with me. The weather then changed again and was now was stunning with a beautiful bright sunbut thenfurther rain came down whic now was heavy monsoon style. The weather forecast was supposed to be intermittent light showers only – typical!
Between the setting up and showers, our fellow anglers slowly started to arrive and say “Hello” before setting off to locate nearby swims. At last Roger turned up with his infamous “Mobile Kitchen” AKA Camper Van (never used as a camper van!!)stacked with all the provisions, oh and some fishing tackle as well. Roger told us that quite a few of the regulars who attend the fishing trips had withdrawn due to illness causing much sadness amongst the remaining servicemen. However, one avid angler called Alan did not attend because he had to be in London to attend the first exhibition of some of his excellent photographs which was really nice to hear; a great excuse if ever I heard one. We all wish him the best and trust that it did go well for him. We look forward to hearing that story next time we see him.
When the rain finally stopped, it was time to start fishing. My knotless knot rigs were ready and I started to add small boilies to the hairs ready to cast them out to the two spots 90m in front of me. Before I could proceed, Dog started to show me the new rigs he had made. He ranted about his finely tuned ability to tie rigs so well they were “Rig Art” to anyone one who knew what a good rig was! This was quickly followed by his sales pitch telling me “as a mate I could tie up as many rigs as you need in my line and hooks for a ‘steal’ at only £5.00 per rig”!
I was not sure exactly what he meant by a ‘steal’and refused Dog’s generous offer. With the contents of my wallet safe, I reached for my trusty Greys distance+ spod rod and set about spodding particles out into the swim. An hour later, I finally had enough bait onto the spot then, using my Greys 13’Aircurve rods, I punched out solid PVA bags with my rigs and micro pellets inside.
Once settled down into my chair and relaxing after my physical workout, Dog asked if the “Tea Bitch” could make him a brew. I think he was rudely referring to me as there was no-one else in the swim with us!! With the kettle on and looking at the showing fish just past my spot, we heard a faint shout from Stuart a couple of swims down saying“Fish On“. A short while later, a very happy Stuart came wandering into our swim telling us about the first fish of the day. It was a nice mirror carp and he proceeded to show us the photos of his fish.
At this point Dog’s highly competitive nature kicked into overdrive. He said “Damn 1-0” and looked at me expectantlyhoping I could produce a fish to level the score. The day seemed to pass far too quickly with Stuart showing some great fishing skills catching fish after fish topped off by a huge
PB-smashing 29lb mirror.
Dog could not stay in our swim any longer as he secretly needed to work out what Stuart was doing and what bait he was using. He went over to talk to Stuart and John who were sharing swims on the pretence to congratulate them. Stuart unwittingly told Dog everything he was doing. Dog found out that they were fishing just past a weed bank using 10mm black and white boilies fished over hemp and corn. He had also caught on a double fake corn stack in the same spot. At this point the now infamous“Gizz It” was shouted at Stuart who gave Dog a few of his carp bagging boilies. Dog quickly returned to our swim to re-bait and re-cast his rigs with the new special boilies.
The day raced by with many cups of tea drunk, rods reeled in, re-baited and re-cast out to the spots. Lots of banter and general teasing of me and anyone who dare wander into our swim was had. Roger then appeared in our swim and, after we gave him much abuse, managed to get a word in and told us dinner was ready. Roger and his “Mobile Kitchen” had managed to pull off a Jamie Oliver moment and produced a superb lasagne with French bread. As all of the anglers tucked into their delicious food, an eerie silence settled over the location as the banter completely stopped. The main course was followed by hot mugs of tea and thick slices of the most delicious chocolate and peanut brownie cake. With all the food eaten and tea drunk, the banter started up again and as Dog and I wandered the short distance back to our swim he kept telling me our swim is a night time swim and we will bag fish in the coming hours.
At this point we were 4-0 down to Stuart who was the only angler to have caught. With this pressure, I was elated when at last one of my alarms burst into life as one of Braisnose 2 carp made a mistake and picked up one of my baited rigs. Dog was on the rod in a second and soon put a very healthy bend into the Greys carp rod. After a long battle, Dog’s steady pressure got the carp to netting range where I quickly scooped the fish into the back of the net.
A nice double figure carp was soon sat on the un-hooking mat, un-hooked, given fish care, photographed and put back into the lake. The second rod was brought in and both rods were re-baited and cast to the 90m spot followed by four spods of particles over the top.
The traps were re-set and we settled back into the swim. Dog reminded me that we were 4-1 down and had no time to relax. Almost immediately, one of the alarms chirped once then burst into life again with a full blown screaming take. Dog was on the rodagain in a second - I am sure he could out-sprint Lindford Christy! He set about battling what certainly felt like a big carp attached to the end of theline.
The battle seemed to take a life time as the carp made run after run and took Dog through several weed beds in the process. Eventually though Dog managed to coax the carp into the waiting landing netwith a huge cry of relief and a quick 4-2 shouted over to Stuart.
As I tried to lift the fish from the water, it was obvious this was bigger and heavier than the previous carp caught and, as I struggled to carry the fish over to the unhooking mat, I asked Dog what his PB was. It was 16lb and I knew at this point we had smashed that. The scales confirmed this as it was actually 22lb 9oz. An elated Dog posed for the camera, holding a beautiful carp like a pro. After all the photos were taken, we put the carp back into the lake. We then spotted a baby carp in the bottom of the landing net which we had scooped up when netting the large carp. Dog immediately claimed this as his and shouted 4-3 to Stuart.
With the fish returned to the water, it was time to re-set the traps again. I spodded four spods of particles and re-cast the rigs out onto the spots. Hard work completed, it was time to settle into my Chub bivvy for the evening. As I got myself settled, a rod rattled off again; they were arriving like London busses, wait ages for one then you get a whole load all at once! Before I could even get out of my shelter, Dog was on the rods again and he was battling yet another fish into submission. After another hard fought fight, the fish was finally netted and weight was 19lb 3oz. Score now 4-4 we had the whole night ahead of us. I was happy with our strategy and the fish were responding to our game plan.
I did not spod anymore just casting a single rod out and retired to the bivey. No sooner had I started to relax, the rod rattled off again. This time I managed to beat Dog to the rod and bent into yet another hard fighting carp.
However, my dream of bagging a Brasenose 2 lump was soon dashed as an immaculate 5lb mirror begrudgingly swam into the back of the net. It was quickly unhooked and put back into the lake. The score now 4-5 with all to play for. As the night drew in, could we stay aheadbag more fish? I again retired to the bivey and was asleep in minutes. The night went by without a single bleep on the alarm only to be awoken at 7am by the ducks and coots fighting close in.
As I got up and started to refresh the rods, Dog called over“Good Morning” and requested another mug of tea and to hurry up about it! With the rods re-cast and the kettle on, Dog and I discussed the lack of fish activity during the night. However the carp were still showing out in front of us which gave us both the motivation to keep trying to bag a few more carp.
With the tea made, I got my frying pan out and started to cook bacon and sausages for breakfast. When cooked, we put them into French bread topped off with a huge helping of Daddies sauce; an angler’s proper breakfast!
As the morning raced by, Stuart and John came over and talked about their success. John had unfortunately blanked but Stuart bagged four fish. We had managed to catch four by fair means and one by netting a baby which, I was assured by Dog, did count!
The session all too quickly drew to a close with no more fish caught Stuart and Dog’s PB’s were smashed and happy anglersall headed home with fond memories of a very productive session.
For me, I cannot wait for the next fishing opportunities with the Fishability guys who have become my best angling buddies and I look forward to getting out on the bank with them at any opportunity.
Tight Lines guys
Ian Gemson
Smart Carping Limited