Autumn Gold
I knew the crucians would be up for there pre winter feed up so I decided to have a dabble at the start of October for them. Temperatures had already dropped rapidly by now so I thought I may of missed the feeding spell but I was still keen to get out for a night to try my luck. Upon arrival I was greeted by a busy car park, before loading up my barrow I decided to have a wonder. I ended up dropping in a swim I hadn't fished before but the other Angler's weren't having much joy so I wasn't to phased and I remained optimistic. It didn't take me long to get both the feeders out onto an area I was confident in. Time went by and the rods remained motionless, as did the guys fishing down to my left. I noticed on the other bank the guys fishing there were getting into a few fish so I packed up and moved across to the other bank. This bank had deeper water out in front of it so I was a little more confident. Again my rods lay motionless and my confidence began to drop. My cousin dropped by for a social so it helped the time go by. Sadly my rods didn't kick into action! I sorted the rods and put out a bit of bait via a spomb for the evening. My mix consisted of hemp, maggot and caster and some fishmeal ground bait. I only put out a few spombs as the fishing was slow. With the rods set for the evening ahead I laid back and began to read a book. It didn't take long before I received an erratic bite! Certainly wasn't a crucian bite but I remained optimistic! I knew straight away by the feel of the fish it was either a Rudd or a roach and I was right it was a roach. As soon as the roach the other rod let out a few bleeps and again i was into another roach. This went on for a few hours and again the bites dried up. I couldn't sleep as I felt I needed to be on the other bank where I first set up. After tossing and turning for a few hours I packed up at 3am and by 4.30am I was set back up and fishing in the swim I stared in. I just cast out the feeders and waited for first light to get the rods spot on and to apply some bait around the area to. After a few teas the sun soon started rising over the trees. Keen and eager to get the rods bag on I didn't muck about and after an hour of fiddling about both rods were fishing perfectly. I put out about ten small spombs of bait over the top and sat back and enjoyed the autumnal sunrise. It was a slow morning and again there were no bites! My Mrs wanted me home for 1pm ish and it was about 10am now so the clock was ticking. I remained hopeful until a group of hungry tufted ducks drifted over my spot and began to feed smashing my confidence. I watched a tufty drop right down over my spot and a second later my bobin cracked the blank of the rod! I let out a few swear words under my breath as the tufty rose to the surface and my bobin dropped back down.. but the bobin hit the blank of my rod again! A bite? It was indeed! I picked up the rod and reeled down and instantly felt a heavy dead weight on the end, this is the usual behaviour of a crucian they like to give you the run around under the rod tip! Knowing what could be on the end I played the fish in very gingerly! It felt like a really good fish! After an intense fight the fish rolled on the surface and it was indeed a massive crucian! I was nervous by this point and wanted this crucian netted! After a hairy fight in the margin she finally graced my net! A huge framed fish indeed! I gave a good friend a call and we got her on the scales and took some lovely shots! She went 4.1lb making
It my third 4lb crucian from the venue, I was over the moon as was my Mrs as I got home in time and I even treated her to some chocolate!
