Imberhorne - 30/07/09

I had planned to arrive at Imberhorne by 08:00 but after struggling to drag my butt out of bed it was closer to 09:30 by the time I got to the lake so it was no surprise to see my favourite swim already occupied. After a quick walk round the lake I opted to fish the far bank corner swim which looks down the length of the lake, it was the perfect swim to put my new quiver tip rod through it's paces with a bit of method feeder fishing.

I reached straight for my new Korum Neoteric and as the Carp don't run huge here I opted for the lightest of the three tips (2 oz). I'm rapidly becoming a big fan of the method feeder and part of that is down to how quick and easy the setup is, tie a quick double overhand loop knot in your mainline (I was using 8lb mono), thread the loop through the tail rubber of your feeder, clip the loop in your line onto the the feeder and secure the tail rubber in place. At the business end I was using a size 12 barbless Preston Innovations 4" method feeder hair rig that was secured in place by a simple loop to loop knot. The feeder itself was one of the new 24 gram Guru x-safe elasticated feeders that only hit the shelves a few weeks prior so it would be interesting to see the results. The bait of choice for the day was two Sonubait 11mm halibut soft hooker pellets, these things absolutely ooze oil so I had no doubt the Carp would be on them as soon as they hit the water, the method mix I had chosen was the new Bait Tech Envy hemp and halibut mix.

I cast out to the middle of the lake and within 30 seconds of setting the tip it wrapped completely round and I was into my first Carp of the day, it was only a few pounds but I don't think I've ever seen such a pristine fully scaled Mirror.

By now the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was well into the 80s, I almost felt sorry for all the people stuck at work, almost, thankfully for me the giant pine tree in my swim was providing me with plenty of protection or so I thought (more on that later.....).

Around about lunchtime I was joined by quite possibly the cutest and fluffiest baby fox that I've ever seen, he come bounding along the bank without a care in the world and got to within ten feet of where I was sitting before clocking me, freezing in his tracks and then slowly slinking off. The little scamp would return a further two more times throughout the day no doubt looking for a free meal.

The fishing itself was pretty relentless and after six hours and 15 Carp I decided to call it a day, I didn't manage any fish over 4lbs but when you consider the glorious weather and picturesque surroundings to ask for anything more would just be greedy.

It was only when I went to pack up that I noticed that the shade the tree provided had come at a price as my rod bag and rucksack were completely covered in bird droppings, when I got home I noticed my back and shoulders were covered too, oh well, I suppose it is meant to be lucky.