Its well known that one of Terry Hearn’s main attributes is an acute sense of watercraft gleaned from years of observation and learning. A key element to this is watching the lake around dawn – painfully early at this time of year but well worth that little bit of extra effort. Here’s Tel’s two penneth:
‘Get out of bed early in the mornings! If your behind on sleep you can always catch up by having a snooze in the afternoon, but make it your mission to never miss a dawn as this is nearly always the best time in the day for seeing the signs. Find them in the afternoon and you’ve found where they like to sun themselves, but find them at first light and you’ve found where they are feeding…whats most important?
A few years back I fished a fifteen acre pit with a reputation for being rock hard, hardly surprising considering it had less than ten carp swimming about within its depths. Rather than fishing blindly I got into the habit of driving to the lake and walking its banks at first light as often as I could, and in mid-April I finally saw the sign I’d been hoping for, when a big mirror poked its head out in a little fished area of the lake.
Up until this point I’d barely wet a line and had spent far more time walking and watching without my kit than I had actually fishing, but that one sighting was enough to swing the odds in my favour. While others were happy watching the low stock of carp in the snags in the afternoons, I’d gained knowledge of where they were when it mattered most, and over the following two trips I got lucky enough to catch both of the lakes known big ones.
Without walking and watching the lake at dawn it could have turned into a very long campaign, but that one sighting meant everything. Besides, dawn is the most magical time in the day, why miss it?
The only time I’d sacrifice being up at first light for another time in the day is mid-winter, particularly through periods of frosty high pressure, as when its like that the signs often come during the evening and first half of the night.
Tel