World Carp Classic - Offical Global Website
Lake Bolsena 3rd - 9th September 2012
| Return to Madine (part 1) |
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 Steve Howard’s WCC blog (no6)Remembering the specific angling conditions of my previous trip, three colleagues and myself decided to spend a week fishing on Madine in preparation for the WCC with the intention of learning something new about the lake. We had heard from other sources that the fishing was going okay and that several good fish had been banked including three 50’s, so we could perhaps be forgiven if our expectations had been raised somewhat! Upon arrival, we took a long tour of the lake, investigating all areas, and finally decided to set up in a small, quiet bay that looked decidedly carpy. The following day I had a small carp of just 14lb, but size was not an issue here as I had banked my first Madine carp and I was delighted. Not only had I banked a carp, but most importantly, my tactics had now been tried, tested and had worked. Game on! A lost fish on the following evening to the same tactic didn’t unduly concern me, however, it did require attention and a slight adjustment to the presentation. We had intended to move from this initial swim if we were successful in overcoming the problems it posed, and although the arrival of that first fish had gotten us off to a positive start, things weren’t quite as they first appeared. Two more lost fish in the copious weed sent alarm bells ringing, and we decided that we should remain in the swim to determine ways around the problem should we be faced with a similar situuation in the WCC in September.  Meanwhile, news came in from our comrades on the north bank that they had enjoyed their first success and had banked a 15lb carp - hang on a minute, 15lb? First a 14lb and now a 15? What is going on here, this is Madine and small fish of this stature are a bit of a rarity! Not long after, they informed us that another carp had graced their net, this time with a 17lb fish.… Something wasn’t quite right here, surely?We did a bit of bankside research and discovered that three days before we arrived, almost the entire population of Madines carp had been frantically spawning but, then the weather had very suddenly and quite drastically changed – the water temperature had dropped due to the entirely sunless skies and it appeared that our highly charged friends had had their tails clipped and were now a bit sulky. We lost a further two fish due to unfortunate circumstances, but our friends on the north bank had been more fortunate and had added to their tally with a much more impressive 37.04 mirror, and yet another small fish of 15.5lb. The weather condition deteriorated still further, with almost constant rain and changeable winds making life extremely difficult on the fishing front. We were now in a situation where we couldn’t really move from where we were for two reasons – one, we hadn’t yet resolved the problems we had encountered and two, believe it or not, there was now little choice in where to go. Unfortunately for us, there had been an influx of anglers and they had now taken up residence in all of our preferred swims, and what was now available to us of the official night zones, offered nothing different to what we already had. We were stuck with it! More to follow! Tight Lines Steve Howard |
