Today I went fishing! This may not be a big thing for most of you but this was my first time. Never before have I drowned so many maggots and caught so many fish - Yes you heard correctly, I caught some fish!
The original plan was to make an early start, well that was the plan, but a few e-mails and phone calls put pay to that, but work does come first. In the end we managed to get the car packed and got away by about 10:30 am. The up side of this was that we missed the worst of the traffic and got to Bax Farm an hour later, after a stop off for some anti-bacterial hand gel.
 |
| Now, that bit goes through here... |
This was it, time to take up the rod, man (me!) against fish! I tentatively threaded the line through the eyelets of the rod, added the float, a no.16 hook line and then a plummet. Picked a position to fish and plumbed the depth. I threw a handful of maggots at the float and sat down. As I did so the float disappeared and - bang! I had caught something. MY! (or words to that effect...) I had caught a fish!
Now panic set in as Sue raced for the landing net and I battled with what felt like a whale! You will have to excuse me but I was so surprised by the way the fish fought and the size of it. I was expecting to catch something the size of a sardine not a sea monster! We managed to land it and got it in my hands. luckily it was hooked in the lip and the hook came straight out. Having never handled a live fish before I was not expecting it to be so slippery. I was just about to turn around so Sue could get a picture of my first fish when it wriggle out of my hands and straight back into the pond. Luckily, Sue managed to get a shot of it just as it left my hands...
 |
| My first fish... |
|
Great! missed it. So my very first fish is the one that got away. No photograph but it was huge, it was T H I S big!
Thinking I had lost my big chance to get a photograph I was a little despondent but stuck with it for a while until lunch. After a couple of sandwiches and coffee, I was ready to have another go. A few catapulted maggots hit the spot I was aiming at and I cast into the same place. A few seconds later the float disappeared and I struck. Here we go again. This one fought like mad it must have been about four feet long and weighed at least 28lb. I can't show you because just as I was getting excited the line went slack and the float reappeared. Fish number two had stolen my hook length and a single shot.
Now I am an expert... I can catch fish! And I did, next came number three and not only did I land it but Sue managed to photograph me holding it.
 |
| Ta-Dah! How's that for a fish then? |
Now I know this may seem like a little one to you guys but to me it is fantastic. I never thought I would catch anything like this on my first day out and it didn't stop there. After a bit of a lull, I caught another one about the same size.
 |
| ...and another one, the last fish of the day |
Great fun! can't wait to do it again. This was supposed to be a two-man thing but Tim could not make it today so Sue came along a rode shotgun for the day as well as taking the photographs.
 |
| Sue was keeping Tim's chair warm for the day |
Time to go home. We had a fun few hours here at Bax Farm. The people in the shop were very helpful and friendly, especially when they were selling bait! I used a pint and a half of Maggots today. I have no idea if that is too many or too few but I had a good time. I even managed to master the catapult by the time we were going home.
 |
| Maggots on target! |
|
Now I really can't wait to get back and have another go. I plan to try out some different baits next time. The best way to learn is to have a go, and today, I did both, I had a go and I learnt a lot. Now I have caught a few fish I feel I can now try and modify my technique and I think I might invest in a new float with an inserted tip to see if it makes any difference.
Ralph.
