After grappling with challenging gardening conditions over the past couple of days, Wednesday seemed poised to be utterly unfavorable for gardening but exceptionally promising for fishing. A massive weather front was on the horizon, with rain anticipated to arrive around 0930. My goal was to have everything set up and all the rods in position before the rain commenced.

Every facet of the weather seemed perfectly aligned, and my confidence was riding higher than on any of my previous trips, especially compared to last week’s outing. Setting my alarm for 0600 hours, I efficiently loaded everything into the car and hit the road by 0645. I arrived around 0715, passed through the gate, and veered right along the track.

For the past couple of days, I had been contemplating my approach for this week’s trip, knowing I needed to position myself somewhere along the North/East bank. The only drawback was that the wind was expected to shift on my final night. Still, I remained hopeful that the carp would linger in that area for the last 24 hours.

My heart was set on securing the first Badger Island swim, despite the challenge of being exposed to the strong wind. It offered a sense of seclusion, nestled among the wooded surroundings, making it an enticing choice.

Luck would have it that it was free, I don’t believe anyone else was about on the north part of the complex.

I’m currently located in the spot marked with the blue dot on the map. My next objective was to quickly set up the bivvy, cast out with the spomb, and have all the rods in position before the rain started in approximately two hours. While the time frame was adequate, I knew I wouldn’t have much opportunity for shooting videos; my primary focus needed to be on completing these essential tasks at hand..

By 1000hrs, it was raining and actually looking like I would be missing a great deal of the heavy stuff. The wind was due to drop to below 20mph around 1600 hrs, which would be helpful, as it’s never fun being in a bivvy at night in a storm. It’s generally a very sleepless night.

I had to adjust my Delkim sensitivity way down because of the strong winds.

It didn’t last much past lunchtime when the really heavy rain arrived and strong winds.

Looking at the radar, I’m right in the middle of it all. It will be much more peaceful once the wind dies down, but it’s looking like the heavy rain will continue for some hours.

This is the time when I’m anticipating the carp to become more active and start feeding. Tomorrow’s forecast does include a few showers, albeit with only a 40% chance, so there might be some luck on my side.

After patiently waiting for the rain to cease, I had hoped for some action. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, despite hearing the occasional splash from a carp during the dark hours and at first light.

This morning, I didn’t feel the need to rush out of my sleeping bag. I dozed off a few times and eventually decided to rise from my slumber just before 0900 hours.

It was nice to feel the heat of the sun. After all that rain yesterday, there are heavy showers forecast today, dotted around everywhere, and I may be lucky or not.

I made up my mind to relocate the left-hand rod to that challenging spot on my left, where I’ve had frustratingly lost carp before. Simply watching them swim by without attempting something different to conquer that obstacle felt like a missed opportunity. On top of that, I’ve replaced the bait on my right-hand rod and added a stringer of drilled halibut pellets, a tactic I’ve also adopted for the left-hand rod.

One of these heavy showers finally arrived but didn’t last too long, thankfully, we had enough rain yesterday.

As the day progressed, the showers mostly missed me, and I was able to bait up and pop over for a chat with Ian on the other side of the lake for a few hours before it was time to get those rods back out onto the spots.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon, the pressure was still low, and a good blow was still on the lake and looking very carpy, I was surprised I didn’t get a bite after moving the left-hand rod to that closer spot.

The evening was truly beautiful, with the tranquil lake, the sun’s warm reflection on the clouds, and the ever-quickening approach of dusk as autumn settles in. I can’t help but hope that tonight will bring me the success I’ve been striving for, especially since this year has proven to be quite challenging on this lake.

It’s a breathtaking morning, with even a kingfisher perched on the rods. It’s a pity the carp seem to be quite uncooperative lately; it feels like I can’t even catch a nibble. I spot them, hear them, but they’re elusive. I sense a need for a tactical shift tonight; something must entice them to my baits.

Last September, I managed to land 18 carp from the Airfield Lake, but this year is a completely different story. Something has definitely shifted, and I need to unravel the mystery sooner rather than later.

I’ve taken a look at my captures from October last year and realized I had managed to land 12 carp in the first half of the month before COVID interrupted my fishing. That’s more carp than I’ve caught so far this year between September and now. It goes to show that some years can be more challenging than others. With three months left in the season, I’m determined to turn things around. Wish me luck, but as they say, stranger things have happened, and it’s all about that elusive monster, the unknown carp.

Ian joined me for lunch and a chat. Unfortunately, he had the misfortune of losing a carp due to a hookpull around 11 a.m. It’s intriguing to note that he’s getting pick-ups near the weed but not in open water. I believe I’ll be on the lookout for some weed on my next trip.

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Following my conversation with Ian, I’ve decided to extend the casting distance of the right-hand rod and maintain focus on the baited area with the other rod. It wouldn’t be wise to stray from this productive spot. I briefly contemplated changing my swim, but in the larger scheme of things, I don’t believe it would have made a significant difference. I recognize the importance of spending several more nights in this location to gain a complete understanding of the situation, and I’m also eager to see how Ian fares over the upcoming nights.

It was another lovely misty morning over the lake, unfortunately, with the exception of two bleeps just after dusk, that was it for me. These carp are certainly not playing ball in the areas that used to be fantastic spots to get in.

In the days ahead, I will dedicate considerable time to carefully strategize my approach and decide on the ideal destination for my next fishing expedition.

Until then

Richard

P.S. Ian was finally rewarded for his efforts with the lovely 21lber.