Carp and Coincidence. By Alan Tomkins Carp fishing seems always to have been surrounded by a certain aura of magic and mystery, particularly on the more secluded and intimate waters. It's sad that much of this has been dispelled with the carp boom of the last few years. The hair-rig started the rot, and the ready made boilie finished it off! But reading through many angler's experiences, especially on Redmire, one wonders if, at times, there are other influences at work. I don't know why there should be, or why it would seem to apply only to carp fishing. Perhaps because, of all the angling methods, the pursuit of carp gives more time for contemplation, more time for outside forces to get into the mind. Or maybe these strange happenings are …show more content…
just coincidence. Let me tell you about some of the odd things that have happened to me over the years. The first strange experience happened many years ago, in 1967, (Christ - that was a few years ago!) when I was fishing an Oxfordshire pit which has since become well known for species other than carp (I wonder what happened to the carp?). It was a very wild night, with clouds racing across the face of a full and bright moon, only occasionally allowing a glimpse of silver light. I was fishing just one rod (I could only afford one then) baited with a piece of crust suspended about 6 inches from the bottom. The bite alarm was based on Walker's original, and consisted of a doorbell complete with battery, and a light switch so it could be switched off while a fish was being played. This was all fitted onto a half inch thick plywood board. It was massive, and weighed a ton. Due to the almost permanently run down state of the battery, when a fish did pull the line from the contacts, it sort of staggered into life, then rapidly petered out as the effort to keep up with the fish became too much! The water wasn't prolific, not for me anyway, though I had taken a few single figure fish from it.
The goal in those days was to catch a double. (God! don't times change - now you're nobody until you've had a 40!) I was being pestered by bream that night, and had already landed two of quite reasonable size. What with that, the full moon, and the wind rattling the trees and bushes, I was having great difficulty in getting any sleep - which was crucial as I had to go to work the next day. It was one of those spooky nights, and each time I closed my eyes I was forced to open them again to investigate a sound which just may have been something nasty! But virtually on the stroke of midnight the wind suddenly dropped, and all the clouds cleared away from the moon. The lake went flat calm, and it was obvious something was about to happen. I sat up on the bedchair a little frightened. Out in the lake a carp rolled over the bait. It was so light I could tell it was a common, and it looked quite big. The whole scene was so weird and dreamlike I really did pinch myself to see if I was awake. I was, and became even more so when I heard the slight click of the contacts coming together on the bite alarm, followed by the weary buzzing of the bell - a noise both horrible and exciting. I struck with little enthusiasm, expecting another bream. It soon became apparent that this was not a bream, and after a long and thrilling fight on my old cane Sealey octofloat I was opening the folds of the …show more content…
landing net to reveal my first double figure carp - a lovely common of 11lbs 3oz. I had no camera with me, as at that time I rarely took a camera fishing, considering it to be a jinx! Whenever I took the camera I didn't catch anything - each time I left it at home I did catch! (I had the same feeling about landing nets, and though I always took one, I used to hide it so the Gods that preside over our presumptuousness couldn't see it!) So I was unable to photograph the fish, and as I was alone, unable to tell anyone. I felt like packing up there and then, and rushing home to break the news - "Tomkins has caught a double!" I sat looking at the fish for so long I eventually began to fear for it's welfare! I carefully slipped it back, and after a little while it glided from the cradle I had made for it with my hands, and pushed out into the lake making little silver crested ripples in the moonlight. I sat down on the bedchair, and as I did a cloud slid across the face of the moon. As it did so, the wind again picked up, and within seconds the wild night had returned. It continued through 'til the following morning, and I never slept at all. I just lay there wondering if it had all really happened. It was as if someone had deliberately set the scene, then given me the carp. And not just any carp - my first double - a highly significant fish. After the next couple of years of coarse fishing, I became thoroughly engrossed in fly fishing for trout, salmon and sea-trout. I was also doing a great deal of game shooting, and could find no time for carp. It was nearly 10 years before I returned to the fold. I had some catching up to do! I joined a club that had a couple of delightful lakes, both of which contained a few carp, mostly doubles, but with one or two bigger fish. My first carp from the lakes was a good fish going just over 19lbs. I had started fishing in late autumn that year, and only fished for a few weeks. It was the only carp I caught that season. The following season I started in June. I didn't catch anything until the beginning of July, when out of the 40 or so carp in the lake, I caught the 19 pounder I'd caught the previous season. I fished the lake for 2 summers, and at the end of my last day there, I caught the very same fish again - my last carp from the water. Probably coincidence, but I know many people have similar experiences. Another time, while fishing during a September evening, I landed a nice double of around 15lbs. I never saw this fish again until, on the exact same day, and almost the exact same time the following season, I caught it again! I've never seen it since. Perhaps I should have gone back the following year, just for that day! A friend of mine, who is a very good carp angler, and much more perceptive in terms of metaphysical events than I am, had, some years ago located a very big carp in a lake that was not fished. He tried for some time to catch that fish. But though the carp was obviously eating well, as it was growing larger and larger, he could not catch it. Then one day, sitting at home he felt a sudden depression come over him. He could not explain it, but after a couple of days feeling this way, he was convinced that something was wrong at the lake. He went down to see, and there in the margins was his big carp, dead. It took him some time to get over it, and he is convinced that he felt that carp dying. Why this link between man and fish should exist I don't know, but I am convinced that it does, even if it is only detected by a minority of anglers. I very rarely get "that feeling" as some anglers describe it.
Funnily enough though, I do get it when pike fishing, when an unexplainable urge to move a bait has often resulted in a take. I could do with it working more often when I'm carp fishing. One incident does come to mind though. I was fishing a reedy lake, and had one bait positioned at the right hand end of a big reed- bed. I had picked up quite a few fish from this particular spot, and though I'd tried other positions around the reed bed, this was the only place I'd had a take, or seen a fish. Until one day I had this irresistable urge to put a bait at the opposite end, a place where I'd never seen a fish, or known one to be caught from. It seemed ridiculous, but the urge was so strong I just had to reel in one of my rods and re-cast to the spot that was attracting my attention. Because of over-hanging trees, I couldn't cast from where I was, and had to walk down the lake, past the trees and cast from there. This I did, then walked back to the rods, paying out line by letting the reel backwind. It did seem that the reel was backwinding rather quickly, but I dismissed it as imagination. Until I stopped walking, and the reel kept backwinding. I struck and the water at the far end of the reeds erupted as a surprised carp tried to put distance between himself and an equally surprised carp angler! It turned out to be a nice leather, around 16lbs. I never had another take in that
spot. I can remember another occasion, when I was fishing with my son. I had 2 carp rods out, and he was float fishing. The water we were on rarely produced during the day, and all was quiet. I walked the few yards to his swim, and sat with him watching his float. I'd been there for about half an hour when I got this strange, and to my mind then, totally illogical feeling that I was about to catch a fish. I have a very vivid imagination, and thought it was my mind playing tricks on me. But the feeling became so strong I told my son about it, and said that I had to go and stand by my rods. In less then a minute I had a run - and landed a fat mirror carp! I often take my son fishing with me, particularly if the session is not too serious! I haven't let him go straight into carp fishing, rather encouraged him to become proficient with all kinds of tackle before settling down behind buzzers and bolt rigs. I tend to fish a lot of early morning sessions, and he had accompanied me on several of these. But it was during a difficult period, and I was only catching the lake's small carp, single figure fish. I had been going through a bad spell where I was losing many good fish, and was anxious to have one stay on. During one of our morning's fishing, I noticed him writing something on the matchbox which I had left by the side of the stove after making some tea. I thought no more of it, and when we packed up just put the matches in my pocket without looking at them. Two days later I was back on the lake, this time on my own, my son having gone back to his mothers (I'll leave you to work that one out!). It was a very hot day, and though I had taken one of the smaller carp in the early morning, during the heat of the day nothing stirred. Evening brought a welcome drop in temperature, and just as it was getting dark I had a take. At last I had ended my run of small carp, as an obviously big fish tried to get into an adjacent bed of reed-mace. But the old cane MK IV buffered it well, the fish stayed on, and at last I landed one of the lakes bigger fish. It was a nice mirror carp of 19lbs 3oz. I photographed it off the tripod, and returned it. As darkness came I packed up. The following evening I returned, intending to fish until dark. After a couple of uneventful hours I decided to occupy myself by going through the pockets of my fishing jacket, to see if I could find something to play with. One of the first things I came across was the box of matches my son had written on the previous week. I wondered what child-like message I might find inscribed there. When I looked I was amazed. Clearly written on the match-box were these words - "you will catch a 19lb 3oz carp". He was equally surprised when I phoned to tell him, and had no idea why he had written it. Of course, all these things could be coincidence. They do however seem to crop up frequently, not just for me, but for many other anglers. Personally, I like to think there is something else involved, something perhaps we shall all know about one day. Alan Tomkins
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shrimp on the hook, crack open a Red Bull and reach the point of relaxation. Fishing is all about
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Fishing tests your patience; if you want to catch a fish, you’re going to have to wait. I dip my feet into the icy water of the river and wait, wait, wait. I feel relaxed, surrounded by nature, but the air around me is also buzzing with the excitement. Goats graze on the grass that grows atop the rocky cliff across from me, and a gentle breeze whispers through the ivy that drapes over it. My hands are gripped tightly around my rod, ready to reel up my first catch, ready for the weight of a monster fish, ready for anything. Out of nowhere, I feel the slightest tug on my line and see a flash of rainbow scales beneath the water. I see my fishing rod bending with weight, which could mean only one thing: FISH ON! I begin to reel it in, inch by inch. The trout flies out of the water, glistening as the setting sun reflects off of its scales. The sky is ablaze, full of different shades of magenta, orange, and scarlet. It was as if an artist had painted the sky with the skillful strokes of their paintbrush. I hear my parents gasp with awe behind me. The first