For those that don't know the Blue Pool is a Cemex water that can be booked for £125 a day which allows up to ten anglers to fish it. The lake is about four acres in size with gin clear water but is weedy and unlike anything I have fished before and with it's big head of Carp which have an average size of 15lb+ and numerous 20lb+ fish I probably wouldn't have a better chance to catch a twenty this season.
As previously mentioned I'm not really a Carp angler so I spent the majority of the week frantically trawling the internet searching for info and also working with one of the guys I was fishing with to try and learn how to tie my own rigs. After taking advice I planned to fish short bolt rigs (size 8 hooks) with my three Free Spirit X.S.E 3.25lb TC rods and 15lb line. Upon arrival and after drawing number four out of the hat I opted for swim number one which was probably my first critical mistake.
Maybe it was the Pike angler in me but I was convinced the shallow bay at the end of the lake complete with two small islands, overhanging trees and clear patches of gravel amongst the weed would be a magnet for the Carp. I wanted to try and cover as many options as possible so opted for 15mm real fish boilies combined with 10mm pineapple popups fished snowman style on two rods and a single 15mm Dynamite Baits spicy tuna and sweet chilli boilie on the other, each rod also had a small PVA bag of pellets attached prior to casting. I cast one rod towards the open water, one rod in the margins to my right and one rod between the two small islands dropping my bait on a clear patch of gravel a foot away from the overhanging trees which meant it was a simple case of walking around the other side and literally dropping some freebies on top, all that was left to do was to sit back and wait.
Within an hour of putting my rods out I had my first touch on the rod with the single bait near the overhanging trees, it wasn't a good enough bite/run to hit but it was still an encouraging sign especially when this was a completely new way of fishing to me. Another hour later I had my first proper run as my screaming reel indicated that a Carp had made off with my tuna and chillie boilie near the overhanging trees but the fight was over as quickly as it had begun as the hook pulled and I contemplated what could have been. By the time evening had rolled around I'd had no further action but three of the five anglers on the lake had banked fish including a couple of twenties, all I could do was retreat to my bivvy for the night and have something to eat (my second critical mistake).
Just as I tucked into a cereal bar I felt a crack on my tooth as one of my fillings gave way and pain ensued. The combination of tooth ache (plus the migraine it caused), the drop in temperature, increased wind, lack of fish and lack of sleep due to everyone else catching made for one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life so by the time morning rolled around I decided to call it a day and get my tooth sorted but not before I was woken by a goose trying to get in my bivvy and then walking underneath my rods lifting them off the rests causing my alarms to go mental.
To cap it all off whilst I was packing up I had another screaming run on the single bait by the trees and yep you guessed it, just as I was getting the fish away from the snags and under control my hook pulled yet again. What with the tooth, scraping up my car on the Friday, losing most likely new personal best fish and Boro getting beat by Newcastle on the Monday the weekend was rapidly turning into one to forget.It was an epic failure for me but the other guys ended up with 40+ fish between them which included numerous twenties, hopefully I'll get another chance to fish this water again someday as I'd definitely like another crack at it.
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