Resourceful Mash doing the Damage!

Some lovely sweeping bends on this waterway

On a very last minute decision, as I was staying near one of my favourite chub rivers, coupled with my gear still in the car from fishing with Mark the previous day, I decided to have one more trip before the end of half term. I still had some liquidised bread and dead maggots and with the old loaf from the day before, I mashed it up with some river water, making some bread mash. The river was looking spot on with a nice green tinge and my first choice of tactic was fishing the link leger over the top of the mash mix. I parked myself in one of my banker swims on this section and after feeding some mash, a nice little chub came along almost straight away on some cheese paste, which was a nice result. This was rather encouraging to have had a response this early on. The next swim is a lovely sweeping slack pool, which has been a rather moody swim this season, but has done me very well in the past. After throwing some mash in upstream and watching some of the maggots move very enticingly into 'the zone', I flicked the link leger out in the flow and let it waft into the slack. A tap was instant as the tip started to rattle before whacking round. I lifted and made contact with a nice fish. As all the chub do on this stretch, they really get down making the line really 'whoop' under pressure, as the fish dug away for all the snags possible. In true hit and hold fashion I got my rod low and guided the fish in close, safely to the slack, as I guided it into the waiting net. After a quick revival, I quickly put the fish on the scales and photographed it.

A very welcome Chub on the flake (3-6)

The next section of this particular stretch possesses more depth and has a much slower, and in places, more stagnant flow. I decided with the remainder of mash and dead maggots to go a bait some swims with some generous helpings of mash. I did go into some more swims with single hookbaits rotating between breadflake and cheesepaste and the only results to come of this were a few out of conditioned trout. The next swim I fancied was a nice bend with a fair bit of structure in terms of depth and snags. I opted to fish on the link leger with bread and let it trundle into the spot. Five minutes or so passed and I received a little enquiry on the rod with the rod springing back into neutral. I slightly tightened up just in case this had dislodged my link, and waited. The tip whacked aggressively, before violently pulling round. I lifted and angled my rod low with a fish that absolutely took off up in the water and with a big gold flank forming a huge bow wave. My drag on my tiny 1000 size spool started absolutely singing as I tried to cup it and after hearing a nasty grind on the line, the tension disappeared and a parted mainline sprung back at me. Watching the ever decreasing bow wave and putting my head in my hands whilst I sat back on my stool, I knew I had lost a river carp. It had managed to absolutely destroy me on the main snag in the swim. This was a wounding feeling as I really wanted one from this particular section of river and I was partly regretting opting to use 6lb mainline.

I rested the swim, as I picked a nice little arlesey bomb out of my tackle box and tied on a size 6 hook for another attempt with the flake or the cheesepaste. After missing a mysterious bite, I felt the next cast I had to be sharp with my hands close to the rod. I was sitting there on my little stool watching my rod tip, as the tip tweaked making me feel instantly some fish were moving around. Was it chub, was it carp? It was one of those moments where the anticipation absolutely drives the angler round the bend. The tip nudged again and I outstretched my hand, ready for what could be an unexpected take. The tip aggressively knocked, then paused, before completely pulling round with increasing acceleration. I nervously struck this savage take, and felt a good weight on the end holding its ground on the bottom. I started to guide the fish upstream and it suddenly woke up. My little Shimano Rarenium went to absolute meltdown as the the fish tore line off the spool going downstream. I cupped the spool in hope, as the last culprit successfully managed to get to the snags. The fish tried to go up in the water again like the previous fish and that's when it's golden flank broke the surface and I knew then what I was connected to. Luckily after I applied some pressure with the 6lb mono at full stretch, the fish kited left before charging off upstream. All I could do was cup the spool and angle the rod to try and turn it's head as it was absolutely unstoppable when it wanted to go. The spool continued to scream off as it tried for three other nasty structures. Thankfully though, I did manage to turn its head eventually. The fish broke the surface, it was a stunning ghost common. It wallowed on the surface beautifully, as I adjusted my drag, making sure the fish would not have an opportunity to slip the hook in close. The rest of the fight was agonising, all under the rod tip, but luckily my feeder rod was cushioning the final lunges beautifully. After a few more wallows on the surface, I managed to get the fish's head up and it was resting safely in the net.

Such a fantastic result, especially after the one that got away (8-4)

After reviving the fish for a few well-earned minutes, I readied my camera gear and quickly put the fish on the scales. At 8lb 4oz, it's not a massive fish I agree, nor my biggest river carp, but given the swim I was fishing and on chub tackle I was so happy to have managed to land this beauty after a long and intense battle. The fish was absolutely perfect: fins were all perfect, as well as the scales and the mouth was in mint condition - I'd be rather surprised if this fish has seen a hook at all! I continued on for maybe another half an hour or so in a couple more of the baited spots, but all that was to come of my efforts was trout. I was not disappointed though, as I was so chuffed that I had managed to land the carp after a very long, agonising battle.

Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous