Molyneux Report to 25th August 2012

Anthony and his pb 34lb Mirror

This week’s Molyneux anglers turned up nice and early having managed to squeeze onto an earlier ferry across. With no anglers on the previous week it was no problem and we welcomed them in with the usual cuppa, followed by a wander round. Anthony and Micky seemed really likable lads from Leicester, and we were soon getting on well. They were delighted to find they were the only two anglers fishing this week. I gave them the parti-mix they had ordered and they also chose to have 5kg of both Rahja spice and Ghurka spice boilies plus pop up’s.

They decided on the double swim as their base, and being the only two anglers on the lake I told them to take full advantage and wander round during the day if things went quiet, and see what they could find. They set themselves up, and we scooted out in the boat to poke and prod about their respective areas, and sprinkled a bit of bait to try and get things moving.

The first night Micky lost what felt like a good fish. Sunday the weather if anything was warmer than the day before. The guys had slept under the stars, as the night had proved to be so mild. As it turned out the week was a scorcher and I think apart from one night when we had a little drizzle they did this. The hot weather meant they had a lazy day drinking a cold beer now and again, and after one of Helen’s legendary Roast Dinners set off back to their swim for the night.

That night proved to be a little better than the night before, when at midnight Anthony played and landed a 16lb catfish, an hour later he followed this with another of 14lb’s. At 4am Micky landed the first carp of the campaign with a lovely 28lb 8oz mirror. The following morning they were delighted to be off the mark.

Once again the day proved to be a little slow; with the occasional grassie cruising past with its dorsal out of the water. That evening they had a very quiet night with nothing out at all. On Tuesday morning after breakfast I shot them out in the boat again to bait up, and a quick scoot around the island, in the hope of seeing a few fish and also to show Anthony our Neolithic stone burial chamber which we have on one of the islands. He is a bit of a history buff, and so was very interested.

Despite traversing the whole of the island margin we saw no fish or signs of any movement. I told Anthony not to worry as I knew where they would be. We motored up toward the shallow end and Jacks swim, and I cut the engine and we drifted in, as we did so an area at least the size of a tennis court erupted and dozens of fish moved off in all directions causing some impressive bow waves. “This is where you need to be buddy” I said to a gobsmacked Anthony. He agreed and I took him back to his swim.

He and Micky grabbed a couple of rods each, unhooking mat, sling and net and headed up to Jacks. It took until around 2pm before they made contact with a fish, but boy was it worth the wait. Anthony was the lucky angler and after a tense battle landed a cracking mirror of 34lb’s, by far his pb. He was delighted, the Ghurka spice and one of my special pop up rigs doing the business for him. He even went as far as to get in the water with the fish for a water trohy shot, sadly it didn’t go quite to plan as the fish had other ideas. The minute the sling was opened and it sensed it was in water, it shot off soaking poor Anthony in the process. His face was a picture.

Sadly nothing else was to be landed and the lads came for their evening meal. After which they set off back to base camp in the double swim to try their luck again. Micky caught first that night with a 28lb Grasscarp at 8pm. At 9pm he had his second of the night and once again a Grasscarp, this one slightly smaller at 26lb 4oz. At 10.30pm Anthony addressed the balance somewhat with a 28lb 8oz mirror.

It was to be 4am the next morning when Micky was once again summoned from the comfort of his bedchair to do battle, this time with a 29lb 8oz catfish. He followed this up at 7am with a 22lb mirror. They were delighted, both with the number and stamp of the fish they were catching. After breakfast they set off to Jacks again for the day, sadly lightning didn’t strike twice and despite a number of fish milling around they couldn’t tempt them to take the bait.

Once again after dinner they cast out from the double swim. At 8pm Micky’s alarms sounded and he was in again. Another Grasscarp, this time it weighed 20lb’s. There was nothing else to show for their efforts that night, and the following morning with the sky still cloudless and the sun beating down, they headed for Jacks in search of them once more. At 2pm Mick caught a 24lb 12oz mirror, and followed it up at 4pm with a corking new pb of 33lb 10oz. He really was on a roll now having caught the last five fish.

They asked for their evening meal in the swim as they had decided to stay there for the night, and so we popped it up to them. As Helen and I strolled around in the evening sunshine and called in to collect their plates Micks rod tore off, he was in again, this was only a tench, but an immaculate specimen of over 5lbs. At midnight Anthony finally broke Micky’s run with a lovely mirror of 27lb 6oz. At 6am he had another, this time a golden common of 19lb 2oz.

The guys then decided that Anthony was to stay put in the shallows and Micky was going to try his luck slightly further down the lake in the cabin swim, as they had seen fish out of casting range which he could reach from that swim. The move paid off for him in fine style, when at 3.30pm he hooked a cracker which led him a merry dance for a while, until finally Anthony landed it for him. Once again he had broken his pb with a cracker of 35lb’s exactly.

Anthony had no sooner returned to his swim, than one of his reels began to peel line out and his alarm sounded. After a spirited fight he brought in one of the young long commons at 15lb 6oz. An hour later and Micky caught it’s slightly bigger brother at 16lb 4oz. Anthony then managed a tench of 5lb 4oz before dinner.

The night proved to be quieter than they had hoped, until Anthony had a screaming take at 1am resulting in a 29lb 4oz Mirror in the net.

A cracking week during which both guys got a cracking tan, and exceeded their expectations and both smashed their pb’s in fine style. The Quest Ghurka and Rahja spice boilies once again doing well.

We thoroughly enjoyed their company, and had a great laugh with them both. Really nice guys, who we hope to see back next year.

French Carp Lakes – Molyneux