A magnificent 30+ surface caught common from Oakwood
The day felt close, overcast and hot, as I strolled around the lake I looked up and wondered when our next rainfall would arrive to bring to an end the constant dry weather, about 8 weeks now and still counting! When a shimmer of gold caught my eye just by the near margin next to a small group of lily pads. I slowly crept down to the lake taking care not to alert the fish of my presence, as I peered over into the clear water I came face to face with a large common. Normally I am happy to just watch the fish and their movements and not pursue them on the surface but this was different. The common looked big with good depth and width and I thought it could be a thirty! I observe mirrors of this size and much bigger nearly every day here at Oakwood Fisheries but there are not that many commons going over the magical mark.
I debated the thought of going to get my rod or just to observe the carp for all of 5 seconds and hastily retreated to the cabin to pick up the vital supplies which consisted of my rod, a packet of hooks, mat, net and the all important loaf of bread.
As I approached the lake my eyes were busy scanning the surface desperately looking for signs of the big common but she was gone! I scattered some bread in and around the lily pads and sat back and watched the kingfishers diving down into the lake to take small fish. Always a welcome sight to see such majestic birds in action.
15 minutes passed and then a large slurp disturbed the silence coming from the direction of a reed bed a little to my left. Not wanting to just cast at any fish and disturb the swim I waited. I wanted to get a visual so I knew it was the common, I didn’t have to wait long before a large submarine shaped carp rose to the surface and preceded to eat her way through the bread I had thrown in. The fish was now extremely confident and I knew the time was now right, I flicked a large piece of bread mounted directed onto the hook next to the reed bed. The common saw it directly and pushed straight through the reeds and engulfed the bait.
I knew all hell was about to break loose and readied myself for the battle ahead as I struck there was an eruption on the lake surface and the rod was soon bent in two with my prize common attached on the other end. A frantic battle followed trying to keep the fish away from the lily roots, many powerful runs were made by the fish trying to evade capture but the victor was my 1 ¼ lb test curve through action stalking rod and the magnificent common lay in front of me on the mat.
What a cracking fish every bit as beautiful as I had imagined she would be on the bank. The formality of weighing the fish was done and she did crack through the thirty barrier but I hate just referring to fish as numbers and will remember this carp before many other bigger fish that I have caught over the years simply because of her beauty.
Dan, Oakwood Bailiff
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