1st Carp of 2012 TARN PON 24hour session

An epic battle with this beast lasted 15 minutes, as usual the catch was event filled. I packed up the bivvy and decided to take some of the gear to the car, so did just that, left the rods in the water, and took some items to the car. on the way back to the swim, i heard a beep from the right hand rod, i ran down the steep path with my wheel barrow, watched the bobbin as the line tightened. having missed 2 or 3 runs by striking too soon i gently picked up rod number 2 from the rest at first i wasnt sure, but then i tightened up the line in the darkness, and felt a weight on the other end. this was it i was into a fish. I had waited 24hours in this spot, tried several rig options, cast many times, baited up with maybe 30 boilies, lost 2 brand new fox leads in the tree, and had freezing feet in the night! the day was uneventful a real scorcher, the 1st March the days were definitely warming up and i was into a big fish which was proof a. that i was fishing in the right spot and b that the carp were begining to wake up.

the fish was big i knew it, as it decided to take the line from my spool, i was very careful and gently eased the fish towards me, although having got it close to the bank once i had to adjust the clutch on the back of the reel as the line starte peeling off once again. Applying gentle pressure after the carp had made a run for it, i managed to turn the fish around and again started the process of gentle pressure on the rod tip, keeping the rod tip loow to the water surface and reeling in very gently, finally after what seemed ages maybe 10 minutes i saw an eye reflect in the moonlight. I had packed the landing net pole away , so whilst fighting the fish i managed with one hand to get the pole out of the bag , pick up the net and screw the net into the pole , it was in , and after 2 attempts the carps head was visible in the moonlight, and i made 1 final attempt to steer the beast into the direction of my landing net, i picked up the pole, and it was in, i could see it was a big fish, over the moon was an understatement. After a couple of mintutes well earned rest, the weighing and photos commenced, in the darkness i might add. the rig = braid hooklink 15lb, 2 peices rig putty, korda kurv shank hook, KD style rig, 1 single glo green sweetcorn by enterprise. I will be experimenting more with plastic on this water, as it seems to be the most effective thing!. GET IN!