Mike’s Diary

From Spring 2010...

The latter part of 2009 was a particularly difficult time for me personally and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all my friends, family and customers alike for their help and support following the passing of my father. There were times when I never thought I was going to make it through, but your wise words of wisdom and encouragement have helped me more than you will ever know.

It was almost six months before I could even bring myself to look at my gear, but I was told by more than a few that I would eventually find the path back to fishing, and they were right. The last few days of the season at Frampton were beckoning and I just wanted to be there under the stars and waking up to the sound of birds singing. Anyone who lives and breathes carp fishing will completely understand that. Catching a carp was secondary, it really didn’t matter, I just wanted to be there, “doing it!”, as my old mate Jon Mac would often say.

I then spotted a carp! Then another! Then another! All of a sudden, and for the first time in ages, I could feel the enthusiasm flooding back into my veins and with the arrival of a new southerly wind and a massive fly hatch, I was presented with an opportunity far too good to miss!

The fish were moving very close to the shallow margins, so a length of camo netting was quickly installed to screen any bank side movements. My trusty B5 corker pop-ups were tied on in eager anticipation and a few loose scatterings of freebies were presented amongst the patchy weed. The situation didn’t warrant lots of bait due to the fact that they were on the hatches, but presentation was key, therefore feeling the lead down for that satisfying ‘donk’ was all important.

The rest is history as they say, and I managed to extract five magnificent carp from their weedy home over the next 48-hours, including a couple of stunning thirties. At long last, I was now well and truly back in the zone!