Bats, Prat's & Tiny Cats
The completion of the 52 species has still been sinking in and following my leg operation its been nice to spend the weekend recuperating and spending time with the family. Having promised to take them out for a slap up meal upon completion of the challenge, it was only right I honoured that agreement. I decided to let my daughter pick somewhere to go seeing as it was also a celebration for her doing so well at University for the last two years, fortunately she knows what a fuss arse I am and picked somewhere with little chance of me complaining. Absurd Bird, a new American style chicken restaurant based in Exeter, all things chicken that's a safe bet where I am concerned. It turned out to be a popular eatery so good job we booked, and if I had to moan about something I would say that the prices are probably on the top end of the chicken scale, however it was extremely good. The other thing that Absurd Bird highlighted to me was that there's not enough chicken in a glass meals, the chicken in a glass is the modern version of chicken in a basket!
With my statutory duty completed I could once again think about the next species as my new target is 62 species ,although I am not getting new merchandise to reflect this. Angling mate Sam James and I had planned to have a night targeting Wels Catfish, a fish I have spent many years home and abroad targeting. Sam was keen to catch his first to get some experience with them before a trip to France in 2019 where his path will cross with some bigger ones. The venue we chose was Milemead near Tavistock, I had eel fished it many times when I was younger but had not fished it since catfish were introduced. Sam who loves his carp fishing had gone down earlier and spent a couple of nights on the carp lake, landing some nice fish to 26lb. My session was limited to a short overnighter and I had to be gone at first light to start work at 8.00am, Sam also had a near 2 hour journey to get back for work. I arrived at the complex around 6.30pm and setup in the swim next to Sam, this was also the outlet point of the lake and the deepest water.
The lakes have matured lovely over the years and the owners have done a cracking job of providing comfortable quality fishing, I cant say I am surprised they have always been working hard to create their vision. Sam had been pre-baiting a central area with pellet and with a live bait ban on the fishery I had decided to fish large bunches of worms suspended on my Dyson Rig variation over beds of pellet. This method is pretty good on commercials as it tends to dissuade unwanted species from picking up the baits and with 300 carp in the lake and only 30 catfish you really want to avoid Carp. I set up my two rods and gave Sam a spare rig to try for himself, I placed one bait in the right hand margin and one out towards the middle next to a thick bed of water lily's. I baited both areas with a mixture of 10mm and 20mm pellets and within minutes the areas were bubbling as the numerous carp raided the free larder. We appeared to be the only anglers on the whole complex but Sam informed me the large double swim next to him had been booked by a couple of anglers. It was then my margin rod was indicating some interest as the bobbin pulled up sharply, this was repeated a few times but upon striking I missed, the only evidence being the ravaged worms. The hook was re-baited and dropped into the same spot, whereby the same thing occurred including the missed strike, more missing worms, was this some over zealous silver fish? I stuck with it and once again the indicator rose but this time line peeled steadily from the reel, I struck and hooked the little culprit. The 3lb test curve rod hardly indicated the battle of the little fish, but as soon as I saw the tiny whiskers I knew that despite its small stature it was indeed a big deal being the catfish we were after.
What is incredible is how a small kitten like this can grow to over 9 feet in length and several hundred pounds in weight, they do not seem to get stunted by smaller waters and are governed by food source and water temperature's. I have myself, landed Wels Catfish at the other end of the scale from this little predator to nearly 200lbs, and at that size they fear nothing.
We needed a catfish for Sam now and at least it proved the choice of rig was working and kittens like this normally come in groups, so surely its just a case of when not if. With the rod back into position and another scattering of pellet it was time to sit back with a cuppa and enjoy the ambience. Then the silence was shattered as Wayne and Waynetta Slob appeared over the grassy knowle, him carrying a naff tent and her holding an Aldi bag with one hand, while holding up her pink jogging bottoms up with the other. I quickly tried to dissolve into the camouflage of my Nash Bivvy but they spotted me, " caught anything mate"? my answer was as limited as possible "nope", they then proceeded to tell me they had booked the double swim and had 20 kilos of the right stuff! I can only surmise that the right stuff, was either something home grown or tins of cheap beer. They moved along to Sam realising that they would be neighbours, I knew for anyone else this would be a nightmare but Sam has two things to help him with these sorts of people. The first, his laid back attitude where nothing really phases him and secondly hearing aids which he can simply switch off!. The pair of Prat's then returned to fetch their car, parking it directly behind me and just past the bloody big," no cars past this point sign"! If that wasn't enough, they then proceeded to blow up a double size inflatable bed with the loudest pump you can get, sounding like a Hornet with a migraine shut in a tin, for 30 minutes! With the bouncy castle of a bed blown up, they then decided to argue about the firmness, each taking turns to bounce on the flippin thing, I was tempted to go and have a go myself. Finally with the bed firmness agreed and all of their shopping bags delivered they were out of my section of the lake, I could however still hear them arguing about what flavour pot noodle should be for tea and breakfast.
I think fishing should be accessible to anglers of all abilities and backgrounds, accept maybe those two, peg banging, bed blowing, carpark flouting, noodle munching Prats! There, rant over and to be honest I am not even sure they cast out, maybe they assumed it was a camp site. With some degree of normality returning to my swim I refreshed the baits with more worms and added a few more pellets to keep things bubbling, the night had now well and truly started to pull in and the witching hour was upon us.
With the twilight came the Bats and I love bats, they go about, busy flitting around ridding us of all the insects that were previously hassling us. The amount of bats though, resembled the Scooby Doo opening sequence as dozens and dozens filled the air above the waters surface. There must have been a significant roost somewhere nearby, a cave or old barn but they are incredible creatures that we are lucky to have. The margin rod was away again but this time it was an Eel of around a pound, nicely lip hooked though, which made for an easy release. This was followed shortly after by another Eel a bit bigger, then the rod in the middle tore off as a better fish headed out towards the gap between the islands. This could be the Catfish I was after and once I struck line continued to come from the clutch, I shouted to Sam that I might have a better one. He was ready with the net as the fish swam towards us then rolled, a darn carp, I couldn't believe it, especially as I had called Sam to come over. I was so disgusted I let Sam unhook the pesky thing which was probably a scraper double, so disappointing when you think you have what your after and it turns out to be an imposter. I put the rod out and got under my cover, quickly falling asleep, I awoke somewhat confused as to my location and in total darkness. As my eyes strained into the inky blackness, two red eyes glared back at me like the legendary sasquatch, but only 2 feet tall, I then realised it was the Delkim Alarm lights that remain illuminated to show you where to place your rod.
The other alarm burst into life making the blue lights flash like the approach of a tiny emergency vehicle, time to move as the line was disappearing rapidly!
The fish was on and this turned out to be Eel number 5 for the night, probably the biggest of the bunch being around 2lb, like all the rest perfectly lip hooked, looks like the Dyson / Baitrunner system is effective with worm baits for the eels. I decided to try a change of method for the rest of the night as the eels were clearly not bothered by the Cats, I now put out large catfish pellets on both rods in the hope that it may attract one of the better catfish. Sadly it wasn't to be and the final act of the session was to make a brew and watch the dawn unfold over the lake, its always a special experience.
Gutted for mate Sam, he has been so instrumental in helping me get many of the species in my challenge, I feel like I failed him a bit on this trip, I do know about catfish and we really should have had a couple. Next time I will be better prepared and spend a bit longer in scoping out the various swims, of course it could have been down to the Munster's emptying 20 kilos of the real stuff into the lake! So next Sunday I shall be out with Sicknote Chris and the Happy Danglers trying to hunt down a Greater Weaver fish or if I am really lucky a Megrim, one thing is for sure, Chris will get a Dogfish!
