What's the strangest experience you've had on the bank?

Question: I’m guessing you’ve spent quite a lot time watching and feeding fish at close quarters, so have you got any strange experiences you’d share with us and how has this knowledge aided your angling?

This is definitely one of the most interesting questions I’ve been asked. There are loads I can think of but I’ll the two that I think are the craziest, and due to word count I’ll go straight into it!

Many years ago I waded a rig onto a spot, next to a bush where I had seen a group of fish; they’d left the area so when they did so I waded the rig out. They’d been sitting tight under a little bush, and the spot was on the shelf, at the front of the bush. I’d clouded the water up big time, but had seen them attracted to the cloud in the past so wasn’t too bothered. With the rig in the game, I jumped up a tree nearby so that I could watch for them to return – everything had gone out sweet.

They did return about 15 minutes later and a shoal of about 12 fish passed along the reeds, which were in front of the tree I was up. The group was led by the biggest in the lake, and there were fish of all sizes with him, following him almost. As they came level with me, they slowed up and stopped, the big ‘un then made his way a further two rod lengths or so down the margin towards the bush, and clouded water. He slowed right up as he got the near the cloud, and then turned round before re-joining the pack. Five to ten minutes later, he moved off from the pack again, along the margin, investigated the cloud and then turned back around to join the pack.

The same time passed and then for the third time, the big daddy moved along the edge and up to the cloud, which by now had pretty much settled right down. As you may have guessed, the fish turned again and swam back to join the pack, which were still sat just in front of the reeds in front of me. This time was different though, and as the big ‘un reached the other fish, he turned and headed back towards the bush, at which point they all followed him. They ended up swimming straight in under the bush and I caught nothing. There’s no doubt in mind that the big ‘un had almost completely dictated the movement of the other fish. It was mental to watch and highlighted just how pressured, on guard, and almost scared the fish were in there at the time.

The best response I see towards bait in the edges is always when using bits and pieces

The second instance was a couple of years ago – I was at a work party and had baited a spot in the morning.

I checked it again a couple of hours later and the bait was all gone. I didn’t know if it was birds or fish responsible as I’d been busy with the work party. Not wanting to miss any opportunities, I ran round, grabbed my bucket and then baited it again.

An hour or so later I checked it again, and just like before, it looked like the bait was gone. I was a little more intrigued by now as I’d been keeping a relatively close eye on the area when I could, albeit from the opposite bank, but I’d not seen any birds out. With this in mind I decided to have a look in a snag, which was very close by. Straight away I saw a big mirror, and immediately I turned around, before hopping back up the tree. I waited a few minutes and then the big mirror came out from under the snag and started to feed again, he was quite clearly the bait robber. It was a truly remarkable sight, and I watched for at least 10 minutes as he went to town over the bait, before moving off under the snag again. It appeared to all have gone so I climbed out the tree, ran round to explain the situation and then grabbed a rod. The plan was to get back up the tree, check the coast was clear, and then get the rig in, followed by a handful of bait.

As I stepped into the tree, there he was again, feeding, and luckily for me, he was facing the other way – facing away from me. I did my absolute best to hide my body, and only my hands, feet and half of my head would be visible, as I stayed as well hidden as physically possible behind the trunk as I could. I was in exactly the same place as before, only this time, as the fish fed, he ended up facing me again, and as he did so, his pecks flared out to the side and he tilted up off the spot, staring what looked like right at me. I was convinced that somehow he had clocked me, but he didn’t bolt as I would expect. Instead, the fish faced my way for about ten seconds, and then I kid you not, he swam very slowly up the shelf, into shallower water and then made his way the short distance along the margin until he reached the base of the tree I was stood only six feet up. The fish stopped beneath me, and by now I was in plain view, then he turned and swam slowly along the surface and out of the bay.

A golden oldie. The lake’s biggest original, back in the camo days, and from the venue where the spot clouded up – caught right out the edge, not too far away from where the story took place

There’s no doubt in my mind that this carp clocked my presence, and then came right up to me in order to check, before moving away, and not returning I’ll add. Despite facing the other way as I entered the tree, he knew that when he started feeding I wasn’t there, whereas the first time, when I watched him feed happily, I was in position before he arrived.

Everything you watch aids your angling, but these two stories highlight how sometimes, and I emphasise the sometimes, they can be clever – they’re masters of their environment. Even the biggest fish in the pond, which are supposed to be the greedy ones, can have the ability to outwit us too from time to time. Never give them too much credit, but don’t treat them like fools either…