Report from Molyneux carp lake

With the Moore party breakfasted, showered and ready for the off, I set off down to the gate to open it for their departure. I was surprised to see a small convoy of three vehicles sat outside waiting patiently. It was the following weeks guests who having travelled down, mostly from Liverpool and across to us overnight had arrived early that morning. Rather than phone they had decided to wait until we let out the previous guests. I waved Steve, Colin, and Dave off down the track and welcomed the new guys in with a Bonjour. Helen stuck the kettle  on and the guys climbed out of the cars and vans and stretched out their weary limbs. As they gazed out over the lake I could see that they were impressed with what they saw. We had a chat about their journey and the previous weeks fishing, and again they seemed pleased to hear the lake was fishing well. After an initial walk round the guys had a quick wander round themselves to decide upon which swims they wanted.

Sid, chose the Barn swim, Paul and Mark decided to pair up in the Double swim with Dave to their left in the Pines swim. Dodge, the only non Liverpudlian and who was from Essex asked if he could fish the Lodge swim, he had seen fish moving out at approx 60yd’s from the bank, and despite the light weed that still hung around in the swim was confident of catching.

With swims chosen and bait readied and delivered, we managed to sit and grab a bite to eat and a quick cuppa, before the next task of the day. The guys set up and after a  quick chat with them all about their swims, they decided on their spots to start baiting.

Paul’s 26lb Grass carp

At breakfast on Sunday it was good to hear that some action had been had during the night. Sid had taken a mirror of 28lb’s. After blanking on the guys annual trip last year he was over the moon, to be off the mark. Paul in the double swim had done well landing a 27lb mirror during the night, and a 26lb Grass carp at first light.

Early that afternoon, Sid added to his joy with a lovely fish of 33lb. He was really pleased and the pressure was well and truly off. Little did he know that things were to get better and better over the next 24hrs.

At 2.30am on Monday morning, he landed a 34lb Mirror, followed at 7.30am with a 34lb 7oz mirror, and at breakfast was surprised to find he was the only one of the group to have caught during the night.
At lunchtime he landed yet another lump of a mirror at a weight of  33lb 8oz. He had certainly made up for the disappointment of last year. The next night saw the fish being a little harder to come by, with both Mark and Dodge catching only small catfish each.

Dave with his 32lb Mirror

Later on Tuesday Dave got in on the action with a 31lb 12oz Mirror, and whilst weighing and posing for the trophy shots his middle rod also roared off. Strange isnt it, you can sit there for almost four days with no action, and then have two fish on the bank in less than half an hour. The second mirror weighed a little less at 26lb 8oz but was a lovely fish.

Midnight  saw Paul land a mid double Catfish. Followed by Dave at 2,30am with a 30lb 6oz Catfish. With both the air pressure and the temperatures rising, the weather was definitely on the turn from what we had been experiencing over the last two weeks, this was reflected both in the lack of numbers of fish caught, and also the number of cats which were now making an appearance.

Wednesday saw Sid catch his first fish for over 36 hrs a 27lb 3oz mirror being happily held up for a picture. A short while later Dave was repeating the process with another cracking mirror of 33lb 8oz.

That night saw another warm one, and as a result the cats moved in on the bait once more, with Mark landing two at weights of 15lb and 32lb within a couple of hours of each other.

Sid 34lb 7oz Mirror

Breakfast saw Dave land another nice big mirror of 32lb. The weather was now well and truly beautiful, with warm weather, blue skies and as a result the fishing slowed dramatically. With no more fish caught either that day or the following night. The guys decided for various personal reasons, illness in the family , missing small children etc to make a move on Friday giving them the weekend at home with their family, before they had to set off again to work. As contract scaffolders they travelled to various parts of the country to earn their money.

The guys slowly started to pack down, and Dodge having struggled all week, despite moving swims on Tuesday to Stones, after the fish had moved out of the cabin swim, packed up quickly and wandered round to socialise with his mates. He was actually sat talking to Dave when one of Dave’s alarms went into meltdown. Dave very kindly let Dodge have the run, and he was very pleased indeed to land a corking mirror of 21lbs, not a monster, but a lovely looking fish. As Dodge said at the time, a sign of a true mate, realising how hard Dodge had worked for a fish, Dave had decided to let him land what was to be the final fish of the trip.

I was sorry the guys had not caught as many as I had hoped for, although they were very pleased with the stamp and condition of fish they had taken. The weather which had been so good recently had certainly turned against them around the middle of the week. They were a really nice bunch of guys and Helen and I thoroughly enjoyed their company, and the banter between them was hilarious at times. A true sign of good mates enjoying themselves. It was an absolute pleasure lads, and we hope you decide to come back and have another go for the Molyneux Fish.

Helen and I would also like to convey Our very Best wishes to Dave’s dad who was not well just prior to and during their stay. We hope he is feeling better and has recovered well from his illness.

Thanks guys. It is a group like yourselves that make this job the joy it is.