Keith kindly replied attaching a backlog of newsletters explaining that his main Season runs from April to October although March was sometimes a very productive Month, pending fishable conditions like the lake not being frozen over. So that was that and the ferry and all inclusive monies were wired through there and then and I began to count down the weeks until the 7th March 09, yes it was a tad early but I’d have the Venue to myself and I was relishing the prospect of some early Season action right up until the “big freeze” kicked in and continued right through most of January and February ….Bugger!
As luck would have it though, the end of March was surprisingly free which also meant that I would now have my Partner in crime Lee England in tow and would also have the new and exciting “A” Bait that Jay Rider had been developing to pick up on the way down to Dover…..Perfect! The forecast looked just right for that end of the week with the previous and first Group of the Year landing some nice fish to boot. All that remained was for us to get there in one piece, which turned out to be too close to the mark for my liking.
The minute we left Calais it tipped down and I mean proper rain, the kind where the wipers are on full speed for ninety percent of the time and when you add this to the fact that I stupidly opted for the 1.15am ferry to get there in time for breakfast Saturday morning, you can appreciate that we were simply just happy to get there to re-tell the tale in person….going passed those slow moving extra long vehicles and having to put your foot to the floor due to being blinded by spray with a flask full of black Nescafe, a few tins of Redbull and half a packet of Pro-plus down the hatch, was not a very relaxing journey and certainly not recommended for the feint hearted…next time will be a leisurely Friday daytime stroll for certain!
Nevertheless we were “buzzing” to say the least and were soon making our way through the quaint and picturesque Villages en-route before turning right at the two Conifers and the white post box that pinpoints the winding track leading to Keith’s gates where he greeted us. He then showed us into the “Gravel Bar” and introduced us to his lovely Wife Jan and youngest Daughter Sharon whom had a much needed freshly cooked English breakfast ready and waiting for us that was washed down with plenty of OJ and infinite Tea! Spot on.
At this point I’d like to elaborate a little on the food package that totally blew us away. I mean Lee is a fussy eater that will only eat quality tucker and I’ve been around the Globe and back quite a few times staying in top quality Hotels and eating in prestigious Restaurants and We can both honestly say that the home-cooked food at Moorlands is as good, and in many cases, far better than the Gourmet style dining we usually enjoy…..no jars of Ragu or tins of stodgy Puddings served in the Gravel Bar I can assure you!….. I’m certain the girls could easily make a successful Restaurant business…no wonder Keith used to be a Fat Bastard tad overweight!
Back to the Fishing…..after a good chat with Keith and with the timely easing of the rain, Lee and I decided to fish into the moderate South-Westerly pitched up in the “Oaks” and “Royal Box” that both command a nice portion of the lake. Lee called Heads and opted for the Royal Box that did look particularly good on the wind, he probably regretted that decision just after dinner when one of my ultra safe running rigs baited with a single “A3” white boilie ripped off resulting in a lovely looking 22lbs Mirror…..how things would change! He did open his account as well on the first night with a 20lbs Moggy, but action had been put on “ice” so to speak when the heavy frost appeared, followed by a big Northerly hacking it’s way down into the Southern-arm….if this keeps blowing we’ll definitely be in for a challenging week I thought!
22M
Oh well, I did say that I like a challenge although the very minute I drove through the gates of Moorlands’ I fell in love with the serenity of the place and was just happy to be there in such natural, tranquil, and scenic settings that also contained an abundance of wild-life…like Black Woodpeckers, Red-Kites, Owls, Tree Climbers, Foxes, Wild Boar, Kingfishers, etc etc….although the finest part was the warm relaxing feeling that Keith and Co provide by simply being themselves i.e. genuine courteous hosts whom have made a “Chocolate Box” home out of their successful Venture….I just hope and pray that a Carp Anglers Heaven meets the same pre-requisites.
The next day I reeled in for another superb Breakfast, Hot Shower, Call of nature (without standing up!), a fresh change of clothes, grabbed a couple of stalking sticks and followed the wind down into a swim called “Billy no Mates”. The blustery cold wind was rolling into the fenced off Nature Reserve ending with an inevitable Blank with no shows for the day either. To his credit, Lee did like the look of the “Pampas” swim and Dam wall corner where the wind wasn’t a factor. We decided to do one more night where we were bivvied up and assess a move in the morning. The night passed by without any action in my swim with Lee having one take and what a take it turned out to be!
39C PB
His PB last year was a 38.08 C…..this one would be close and it was, at 38.12 Lee had done his PB Common on only the second night….”Well Done Mate!….really glad we didn’t move now”, I mused. However, the action did dry up on the Carp front, and the Cats moved in and Lee had two on the bounce before Brekkie. The bitter Northerly continued throughout the morning on Monday so we decided to go on Lee’s hunch and moved round to the “Pampas” swim on the back of it. The sun came out and was quite pleasant particularly out of the breeze and Keith said that the water temperature was down after the heavy downpour and that the wind direction could stay for a few more day’s with warmer climes forecast for the end of the week.
The Eastern-arm could still be observed from my new vantage point and with the easing of the Northerly and the warmth of the Sun, I decided to reel in and stalk the holding pools. After a good look around the margins where I’d scattered five kilos of 14 and 20mm white balls the previous two nights and where I’d not had any takes from a couple of large’ish beds, it was time for a re-think…..were they spooking off the colour? Keith thought so and he was usually right being fully in tune with his back-garden, thus I would be foolish to ignore his description of the patrol routes and plateaus down the Eastern-arm that look like great spots in this silent bay and where a good stalking opportunity exists but only if they are down there of course.
Keith spotted me in the bay opposite one of the plateaus and wandered round to join me where we stood for a while in the warm sun chatting Carp and observing the water. We both could see a little milking up aside a drop off on the left hand side of the larger plateau and Keith thought he saw some movement. Not much longer had he gone when I’d repositioned one of my baits to cover a patrol route near the slightly discoloured water. Within minutes I was in! The fish didn’t appear to know that it was hooked and floated into the anxiously trembling net very surprised indeed! Yep, it went bonkers in the net and on the bank but at 34lbs and ounces, I wasn’t put out! Keith heard me shouting across to Lee to do some photos and came round to have a look and also take a few expert snaps on his “Tarty” camera….he recognised the fish immediately asking if it had a birthmark on one flank and sure enough it had…..a real Cracker that I owe to Keith’s excellent watercraft skills and knowledge….thanks again Sir Moorsey!
34M
That night Lee had a ton of action resulting in two more Cats to thirty, a twenty Common, a twenty two Mirror and a thirty three Mirror. He was certainly enjoying himself even though he had developed a terrible chesty cough probably brought on from the stresses of the semi-blind drive down through the deluge! Noisy Bastard! It was quite amusing though because I could even here him when he tried his luck one night up in “Billy-no-Mates” and I was seven-hundred and fifty yards away in the “Pampas”! He did say that the pitch black darkness had him a bit twitchy especially when the “Piggy Wiggies” in the Forest crunched through the undergrowth!
27M “Peach”
25M “Another Peach”
35M
We were fast approaching mid-week where the water temp had risen from 11 too 14 degrees and the mid-day sun was gloriously warm, shimmering off what was now a pukka wind for one of the big Girls…..a South-Westerly. Lee had done another move along the start of the Forest Bank and was taught the art of spotting and fishing to Bubblers by Keith….result equals another four thirties to thirty-six, this time a near Mirror PB. Yours truly was struggling a little although I did manage a forty two Cat, a thirty two Mirror and a Common just shy of twenty pounds that ran me ragged! I did hear that some of Keith’s fish are bionic and to not try and bully them…..this little Fella bullied me much to Keith and Lee’s amusement!
36M
32M
Thursday soon rolled round and what a day it was….stunning blue skies without a breath of wind, ideal for spotting them feeding. Lee and I decided to ambush the fish as we believed that when we started catching fish, albeit Cats or Carp, the fish in the vicinity appeared to move out and could be found at either ends. Putting two and two together, Keith did say that this is why most people catch when it’s at it’s maximum capacity of Anglers….another big plus at Moorlands’ is that there’s plenty of room with clearly defined boundaries, especially when the pads are up and using the back drop of mature trees as natural markers.
The Ambush theory worked a treat with Lee bagging his new PB Mirror at 38.08….what a brute, looked like the magical 40 but maybe that was on its way! I managed to intercept a thirty one mint Common and followed that with a couple of Moggies to mid-20.
38.08M PB
31C
Our last day came round far too soon and we were both determined as ever to keep on angling hard and smart to try and bag that special one that Keith so sincerely wanted us to have. Not many weeks go by at Moorlands without a forty plus Carp out although Lee had been close on several occasions. Maybe something was wrong? Was it the bait? Don’t think so because we were catching and the “A” bait does have something special about it. We did try beds of the CC Moore’s Tutti’s supplied by Keith without making any difference. You can tie yourself in knots over analysing instead of persistence in what was working, on this occasion it was two or three bait stringers or singles/doubles tied to fluorocarbon running rigs with no leaders, light leads and slack lines...pretty much identical to Keith’s set-up….Lee has certainly been converted. I’ve always liked running rigs myself and was converted completely when I saw how the Carp use the lead to their advantage on the excellent Korda underwater DVD’s…..if you’ve not tried it then you don’t know what you are missing….absolute screamers! If you pay attention you cannot fail to learn from Keith and he showed me how to tie an alternative to the widely used knotless knot, the Snail knot very strong and neat and won’t slip like the knotless version is prone to do….thanks again Mate.
Back to the last day….Lee was doing his usual few fish with Mirror’s of twenty seven and twenty two….the larger one being an absolute Peach!I on the other-hand was struggling to settle, covering showing fish and hunches without a take when Keith pointed out a large fish show out in the “Boneyard” swim. I quickly covered it and waited in anticipation for one of the “Screamers” that we had both been accustomed to most of the week. Three bleeps had me at the rod in a flash with my heart in my throat but with the Bobbin jammed at the top and the clutch not whirring away, I thought maybe I was having a rare drop back! I wound down and felt a very heavy resistance, and I mean heavy! Keith was soon at my side and commented that this could be what we have been waiting for all week……a biggun’!!!!
Ten minutes quickly turned into twenty with repetitions of rod pumps and clutch ticks…..thirty minutes soon turned into forty-five with Keith exclaiming that He’d not seen this kind of really slow, ponderous fight before….I could not get the bloody thing up or in! Was it the hundred and ten pound Cat? Was it the new Lake Record Carp at sixty plus or was it the first bionic fifty pound Common? I took my time even though the arm aching turned into wrist and shoulder ache! “Stop moaning” demanded Keith! “Sorry, but I’ve only ever had a fifty pound Cat on for longer than thirty minutes and this is approaching one hour! The fish seemed snagged as it got closer to the margin so Keith went back to fetch his waders and was soon in the water following the line to the fish……it was soon revealed what had happened and in hindsight was quite obvious….the ball of line and trailers must have been around eighty yards in length with a so called “safety” clip rubber pushed on to the hilt and a fake red piece of corn that the fish luckily escaped from only because I’d managed to catch the tether. It was a sad moment and a happy one because the fish was free. Please ensure you double check your rigs and lead arrangements with Keith before casting out, lead clips and leadcore will NOT catch you more fish….think fish safety first wherever you go!
The atmosphere soon changed when Keith, Lee and I stood and watched one of Lee’s rods rip off from the point on the Forest Bank. A screaming clutch signalled a Cat….several more bursts signalled a big Cat…….Keith’s face when trying to lift the net out of the water signalled another new PB for Lee! Fifty eight pounds of slimy overgrown tadpole had me in stitches, especially when Lee had to change his clothes for the photos…..little did I know that the smiles would swap faces as no sooner had I recast my rod, that was next to his, and I was doing battle with another big Pussy! Only forty-six pounds this time and they insisted that I put on Lee’s slimed up T-shirt to have a photo! ERRR! I do not like holding these creatures and was shocked after I’d changed my rig and fired it back out only to get another flyer almost immediately! No photo’s this time as it was only a mere Forty and ounces! What a manic hour! It certainly brightened the mood and we enjoyed a good chuckle with the two new Lads whom arrived for the next week….Lucky so and so’s….Lee prompted me to do another week and Keith said we were more than welcome but I simply couldn’t but as consolation…We have booked another visit for October….this year!
46 Cat
58 Cat
Lee managed a mid-20 Mirror and I had another couple of overgrown Tad-poles to thirty pounds before the reluctant pack up and fond farewells to Keith and Family. The final tally was forty fish, twenty Carp to just under thirty-nine with ten-thirties and ten-twenties with Cats to fifty-eight with three-forties….What an awesome beginning to an annual pilgrimage that we hope will continue for as long as possible…..Again many thanks to Keith, our new Friend and Mentor…..you are a diamond Fellla…..and to your Ladies for such fantastic food, drink and hospitality….the Sunday Roast and Bannoffee pie will live with me forever!
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading as much as I’ve enjoyed typing and reliving….As always, be lucky….Jez.
PS Congratulations on all your PB’s Lee…..you fully deserved each one Mate.
Another “Peach” 30M
