Empty Handed

Hmm, OK, so I’m what, 46 days late posting this, but I had HUGE problems with my PC over Xmas and the new year, and by the time I’d got them fixed and had ready access to my blog again, I’d forgotten about blogging all together…

What can I remember about this..?

Well, it was the first fish on the first day of the year during my usual trip to Forrest Hills on New Years Morning prior to going up to the Not-In-Laws for lunch.

The weather was a big contrast to the experience of last year’s trip, it was very still and clear, but I didn’t see any fish AT ALL, ALL DAY, which is rather unusual, you usually see some topping.

I had a rather late start this year, too, being absolutely wasted and up very late the night before might have had something to do with that – oh, yeah, that’s right – also it was pissing down early on, which wouldn’t usually have been a problem, but combined with the banging head and blurry vision, I decided to leave it a bit.

Early on, some guy turned up in a Porsche and we chatted for a few minutes – he asked what I was fishing, and was surprised when I responded “buzzer”, but didn’t have a bung on. We chatted about the fact that few, at least on the waters I fish regularly, fish any floating line methods which don’t involve the bung. He seemed like a decent chap, and off he went to fish his intermediate and cat’s whisker. Oh, and he told me that the water had been stocked just before xmas with 250lb of fish – somehow, he’d seen the invoice or delivery note or something – so we fancied our chances, I guess.

Did the usual for a bit, then I switched to a yellow apps on the point, with a black spider on the dropper, and moved around to the back of the island. Chucked this combo out a few times (still no bung) and just used a static retrieve, when on something like the 3rd or 4th cast I thought I’d hooked the bottom, and the line was sinking toward the snag as I drew the line in. Luck was with me for a change, as the snag started moving around – fish on! Anyway, long story short, the fight was the weirdest ever, as the fish barely seemed to be alive, but I couldn’t do a damn thing with it, every time it got near, it just swam off, dead slowly, but really hard to stop. Then, as I got it ready, the net broke – one of the screws attaching the head fell off and it collapsed. It was then that I realised why the fish was hard to handle – it was pretty big, was why. The first pass I made with the broken net saw the apps bloodworm catch in the net (the fish was on the dropper) and the line broke at the dropper! Shit! But the fish was still on! I somehow, eventually, scooped it into the broken net and staggered up the bank with it, barely believing my luck.

The fish weighed in at “exactly” 5lbs (as exact as you get with a spring balance), and was, I think, blind in one eye. I don’t know for sure, but the eye was covered in the same mottled skin that surrounded it. At first I thought it had no eye, but I could see the eye beneath the skin. Very odd. The other eye was perfectly normal. There’s a close up of the affected eye on my Flickr stream, if you’re interested.

So, I got very lucky with that one I think. Not only did I catch a fish in my fairly short session, thus continuing the “first day of the year, first fish” thing for another year when the lake looked just as dead as you like (and I don’t think the other guy even had a pull), but it was a decent size, didn’t get away when the knot failed at the dropper, didn’t get away because of the broken net, and I caught it on the spider on the dropper, which made me happier than if it had taken the big flashy bauble on the point. I even found the screw from the net in the gravel and mud, and fixed that up, too.

It was the only fish of the day, but who cares!

Result!