Well, let me just say the outcome of today is
the LAST thing I would of expected from the Docks...
I woke up at the lethargic hour (and a half) — of 6:30am, the docks were to
be my destination of choice. After a quick breakfast of....toast, I ran down
to the shed and got my gear ready. I was then off to get that beautifully
reliable (*cough*) London transport to Woolwich.
Upon arrival at the docks and walking through the gate to enter the dockyard
I realised that i was a lone angler wandering amongst two bustling pools of
life, which one to choose...THE DOCKS WERE MY OYSTERS! (for a while anyway).
I decided to fish the east dock, or the carp side as it's known, with no
intention of catching carp (as it's near enough impossible to catch the carp
there at this time of year). With one rod out on a legered swimfeeder and
the other on a float setup, maggots were my only bait of choice. The feeder
was cast out (and then later packed away as it proved useless) and the float
fishing began....with very little success the beginning of the day saw two
rudd come to their downfall by mistaking my bait for food and being heaved
up to the surface, one of which was a good 12oz!
The dock then died...no, literally...DIED!
I tried everything, slider rigs, different depths, different
locations...still with no result...ok then, another rudd, but still...the
day was proving weird. Anyway, a while later, Reggie popped over from the
market to come and say hello and have a quick fish. I was fishing a slider
on a ledge at about 11 foot deep. "Anything out?" - he asked, to which I
told him about a few small silvers. He gave me a look that could only be
described as a confused, distressed, constipated look, to which he sighed
and told me that he would 'show me how it's done'. I told him to put his
money where his mouth was and fish next to me so he did...nicking a load of
maggots in the process! He had about as much success in catching fish as a
man with no teeth would do trying to eat a steak. In other words...none at
all. He was more confused than me and the other anglers put together as to
how the fishing had got so hard!
Early afternoon had come upon us and after a quick bit of lunch I decided to
fish the adjacent bank, but directly opposite the small floating Koi island
that I WAS fishing to. I decided not to go on bottom but to keep at 11 foot
deep in the 23 foot area. What happened in the next half an hour can only be
described as a miracle!
Literally 2 seconds after my float had settled, the float sank. My instant
reaction upon striking was that it was going to be another small
silver...that was until my rod bent right over! I was using 4lbs mono to a
size 18 hook and single white maggot, it seemed to do the trick! After a few
spectators watched the epic battle between me and this fish, two lads
fishing the dock ran up to me with a look of great surprise on their faces.
I had managed to overpower the fish slowly but surely and I ended up netting
a beautiful 5lbs 6oz mirror carp.
Reggie, thinking it was luck, decided to give it a bit of large saying that
it will be the only one I will have all day, and that it was a fluke. The
funny thing is, I actually agreed with him! The docks are not easy fishing
at all this time of year! So I plopped my float out again, it settled, and
what does it do? It started drifting about 2 seconds before settling, so I
struck out of curiosity. The rod heaved in to yet another carpesque curve
and I veered the animal away from the treacherous area that was the floating
Koi island. The two lads were on standby again with the net ready to give to
me as I had now had angling groupies for some reason! The fish was
eventually persuaded in the net and was weighed up to be another quality
mirror carp, this time at 5lbs 12oz.
Reggie astounded in disbelief blamed it on luck again...I blamed it on
skill! (*cough*) - After informing a few passers by about what the fish was,
about what they're like and that they can grow up to ten times that size I
returned the fish safely in to the water and re-baited with a small pinch of
maggots. Yet another single white maggot was put on the hook and back to the
same spot again...you can guess what happened next, the float sank
immediately after settling and I was in to yet another hard fighting
Woolwich Dockyard carp...
(Thanks to my groupies Jack and Ashley for the pics haha)
After a longer fight than expected, I saw a glimmer of gold through the
polarised glasses I was wearing, the time is was bigger, and it was a common
too! After a few more runs and dashes later the fish got tired, and the net
was swiftly under it...this time upon weighing it, it turned the Avons to
7lbs 6oz.
Reggie, now furious that HE wasn't the one catching decided to pack up and
leave, leaving me, Jack and Ashley to fish the east dock to ourselves. Jack
and Ashley of which had parked up a couple of swims next to me in hope of
catching a few. I couldn't believe what happened next...
Again, single white maggot on the size 18 hook, I re-baited with another
pinch of maggots and cast out again. Literally when my float settled again
after about 5 seconds it was submerged fully, I struck and again my rod bent
in to a delightful carp-curve and another battle took place. Awe struck, I
came to a conclusion that the result of this frenzied half hour of carp
catching was down to the fact that I had hit a mid-water shoal, which are
almost impossible to find at this time of year at the docks! The fight was
soon over when I netted yet another mirror with a lot of character to it, a
very pretty fish of 5lbs exactly.
I tried my luck again, but with no success, that was my lot...all caught
within half an hour. And then I caught nothing for the majority of the rest
of the day, apart from 8 more small rudd. The light was then fading so I
decided to call it a day. And what a brilliant day at that! Four winter carp
at a very unusual and difficult water...I'm still smiling, I told the
manager and even he had to lift his jaw up off the floor! I can't imagine
Reggie's face when he finds out that I had another one out after he left!
It's going to be priceless!
What a brilliant day, I think this one will put me through work tomorrow
haha!
Cheers for reading everyone, tight lines!
Ash
