I returned to The Other Pool yesterday, to find that most swims were a tangle of briar and bindweed, as no one, it seems, has fished the pool this summer. Water has been taken off,
to irrigate the berry fields, and in the bay the sunken, blackened tree stumps were above surface, and they looked very menacing. But fish were by these snags; and I hooked a good fish close to one of those stumps. I was prepared for this. I was using 12lb
line and my SU carp rod; - I managed to get the mid-double common away from the danger areas, and I had it rolling in front of me, when the hook pulled! On some pools you are just not lucky, and I'm not really lucky on this pool. For the smaller carp,
it's not really difficult - I caught 14, all off the top on floating crust and flake, usually at considerable range - but only 8 were over 5lb or so. My largest, on a day of humid head, was a tad under 8lbs. This said, the pool is generally avoided like
the plague by local anglers. It could be the overgrown banks that put them off - I returned with hands and arms badly scratched again. Only ten people, the bailiff tells me, have taken up the option of a season ticket, which gives them access to the pool.
Of those ten, nine go to another pool where the fishing is notoriously easy. All this makes me realise, as the fishing can be fast and furious on The Other Pool too, that most modern anglers just want comfort when they fish. That's never been a factor
with me, however.
I fish The Other Pool - more on and off these days - because there are a handful of large carp in there which I have failed to land over the past four years.
Yes, I've had a good run of doubles there, but the bigger ones still elude me. Part of me wants to say goodbye to the pool; and I'm sure that if I manage just one of the "big three", I'll be tempted to move on at once. As it is, the pool remains "mission unaccomplished"
for me.
The problem is, there are so many small carp in there, I'm really not sure how to avoid them, unless spotting individual carp and casting to them is the answer.
I have tried this, but the small carp still get there quickly - and even the smaller inhabitants of the pool will happily wolf down a large bait. I'm starting to think that autumn and winter sessions might be the answer. In early spring, the smaller carp were
not so much in evidence, which means they may be affected more by lower temperatures. This could give the me chance I need to get to grips with the larger inhabitants.