Thinking Anglers News - Tom Andrassy's Kentish tale

Tom Andrassy – A Kentish Tale

28th August 2018

Tom Andrassy tells a Kentish tale in his own words…

I had started off the year on a new water but had struggled for most of the spring. Life had got in the way a bit with starting a new job and buying my first home. Knowing that I was getting the keys in the next few weeks, I decided to have a venue change, more to enjoy some fishing with mates for those last few weeks. So, I had a walk round Conningbrook and in the third swim I walked into, I found a mid twenty common feeding in the margin.That got me fired up straight away and after a few hours looking I was already planning a trip later on that week.

I arrived mid-week to an empty lake, so once again, I walked the lake for a few hours trying to find carp to do the overnighter. Found a small carp in the weed on the marginal shelf at the windward end of the pit. That’s all I found, so, of course, I decided to fish up that end of the lake.

I found three very clean hard spots amongst the weed and silty bottom and catapulted 100 Sticky Krill baits over each. The rod I eventually had the bites on, I actually moved closer to what I thought was fizzing up in the choppy water and got an absolute crack down on the cast.

At 5am the rod I had moved was away and after a short and very ‘tenchy’ sort of fight, I slipped the net under the Pretty One, my first Conningbrook carp and a fairly rare visitor to the bank. I was stoked with the capture and it fired me up – a perfect hook hold and a perfect mirror!

Buzzed up after that short trip and with carp nutting out I baited with 2kg of Krill for a return trip after work that night. I blanked that night, but proceeded with the same process in the morning and came back down for the weekend trip after work.

On the Friday morning I was watching the water when the rod melted off. I pulled into it and was immediately flat rodded, the fish stripped untold yards of line before finally I gained control! After that it was a slow and ponderous fight in which the fish managed to bury into a big weed bed. It was solid, but eventually, I got my prize! It was actually a fish I had my eye on from a couple of years previous. The Chilham Resident lay in the bottom of my net.

Before I knew it, I had received the keys to my new flat and my focus instantly turned to this new project which has pushed my fishing to one side for now, but two amazing Conningbrook carp have honestly made my whole year complete!

Rig wise, I’ve been using the forthcoming TA C-Clips on a rotary set up. From there, I’ve been using the Tungskin in 25lb, a TA size 5 curve point test hook, TA test shrink tube, TA hook bead and putty, to help the mechanics of the rig. The hair is a on a slip D style mounting the hookbait on a TA hook ring swivel. The bait was a snowman consisting of a Krill boilie with a small pop up to balance it out, or where rules allow their use, I tip off with a drilled out tiger nut plugged with cork.

Tom Andrassy – A Kentish Tale

28th August 2018

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