Martin Bowler’s Adventures
My first proper carp session, and I’m off to a fine start
The secrets for success on your first carp trip
THE pungent scent of wild garlic pervades the air, wafted under my nylon shelter by a warm southwesterly. Change is afoot.
The sun grows warmer day by lengthening day, and nesting birds sing their approval of a long hard winter finally in retreat. Spring’s influence is everywhere. Woodpeckers drum to attract a mate and deter rivals, while Canada geese honk day and night, with courtship firmly on their minds. Frogs and toads have already emerged from hibernation to spawn in the lake, while closer still, in the margins, shiny gravel is exposed where only a couple of weeks ago there was silt. Something has been busy rooting around under cover of darkness, and carp are the prime suspects.
In the lee of the wind, behind an island, the water’s surface acts as a solar panel and the temperature slowly climbs.
Nature and her creatures miss nothing. With the arrival of daylight, shadows start to appear and soon enough the identity of the fish gathering in this sun trap is revealed. What’s more, I know I’m in the right spot to hopefully win a bite from one of these carp.
How do I go about fooling one? I have a few tactics up my sleeve.
I love the moment when the peace of the lakeside is shattered by a screaming alarm. It’s so addictive, hearing the sudden racket and seeing the bobbin smashing against the alarm.
Today was no different, and reacting fast I charged to the rod and joined battle with a 30lb common.
No golden bar of perfection, this one, but a humpbacked brute with real character. She had a tale or two to tell and I now shared one episode of her long life – she had officially started my spring campaign. So get your carping adventure underway – they’re waiting to be caught.