The annual, like father like son trip. (part 2)

In the first part (click here for the first part) of the article about the fishing vacation together with my father on the Ganzenkuil you could read that it was not all very easy. The carp were in full spawning season and it were mainly smaller fish that made it to the shore. Will we still manage to get one of the old stock into the water?

( Not only the carp are beautiful on The Goose Pit! The surrounding nature with its inhabitants also share in the beauty)

In the afternoon we turn in the rods and head for the local supermarket in picturesque Deest. It seems deserted, there is not a dog on the street. A short walk further on we do stumble upon a dog. The somewhat stolid man behind it finally managed to tell us where the supermarket is hidden. The supermarket, with a man’s staff, looked a bit like an AH XL. We were the only customers in the store and were personally helped by the owner himself. You don’t experience that easily in the AH XL. The man asked us what the village brought us and we told him about the water. He knew about it and told us that he gets the same fishermen as customers in his store every year. The friendly man filled a few more empty bottles with water for us and we left for the water again.

(The residents of The Goose Pit, were already waiting for us)

Back at the water we decide to put a second rod into the bay. Very carefully using the boat, the lower line is lowered to the edge of one of the strips. Same tactics, different spot. Just hope the weather can get their attention.

(The cuttings at low water)

Around four in the afternoon, the tactic proves itself again through a full whistle. With a bent rod, my father stands in the water. The carp is still full of energy and shoots from left to right. Miraculously it does not get stuck in the weeds and we can land it. A jam-packed, spawn-filled mirror lies on the mat.

We decide to lightly feed the strips of migratory routes with particles in the hope of getting the carp to feed. Spread over 2 strips, with a length of about 50 meters, half a bucket of particles goes into the water. The other sites are fished with bottom bait and are located in deeper parts of the water. The depths fished ranged from 4 to 7 meters. With the help of the depth chart and a Deeper we can quickly find the slopes and plateaus. We feed these spots a little coarser with a mix of sacked fishmeal boilies, particles and pellets. For that one fat bucket that has yet to come out, all hope lies here.

(Bom packed carp on the Goose Pit)

In the evening we sit outside until late, enjoying the peace and quiet. We drink a beer and fry a snack in the pan. Throughout the evening, no carp make their presence felt. Obviously, we didn’t expect this, but we are fine so we wait patiently.

As soon as we notice that the temperature is dropping, the first rod leaves very quickly. It is a somewhat smaller mirror and quickly the rod is put back in. Hoping that the carp are now fully feeding, we try to get some sleep.

(Nice little and recognizable carp!)

From under my brolly, I stare at the rods some more. Secretly, I hope one of the deeper rods leaves. The water has an old stock of carp including several weighing around 20 pounds. This in my mind I slowly fall asleep. Very soon my eyes open again and I am startled by a full whistle. It is the rod which is at a depth of four meters. The adrenaline is pumping through my body and I am shaking on my legs. Quickly I decide to get into the boat and slowly surface the fish. Fortunately, it has dived into the depths and is free of the weed. The fish stays deep for a long time and, not knowing if there are any obstacles on the bottom, I increase the pressure a bit. After several escape attempts, I get the carp to the surface. It looks big and I want to get it into the net as soon as possible. After that the boat makes a few more turns I can slide the net under it. A massive bare mirror lies in the boat between my legs. Happy as a child I row towards the shore, which is quite difficult in the pecking dark. As soon as I reach shore I wake my father. Sleep-drunk he comes out of his tent, but when he sees the carp lying around the mat he is quickly awake. Quickly we weigh the fish and take some pictures of it. Although it is not one of the old stock, we are still very happy with it.

(After several escape attempts, I get the carp to the surface.)

The next day we turn in all the rods and feed everything. Today we give the site some rest and visit the river Waal. Packed with two heavy feeder rods, we go in search of the Barbel. Both of us have absolutely no experience with fishing for this species, but with some tips from colleagues we go hunting. Soon it turns out that it is more difficult as thought and does not want to succeed. Almost all groynes have been lowered, this is done to give more room to the river. The only problem is that we constantly get stuck. After losing everything a few times we look for a restaurant. Overlooking a beautiful lake, lying in the floodplain of the river, we talk about the vacation and enjoy the food.

Returning to our own water, we put the rigs in place at dusk. The temperature goes down by about 10 degrees during the night and this can mean two things. They are going to bait like crazy or leave this part of the water. The whole night remains quiet and it is not until noon that another rod takes off. This mirror couldn’t resist the Toasted Almond pop-up either.

No carp are left in the shallow bay and it seems they have left the bay. In the afternoon some rods are moved to other deeper spots. This brings hope because soon a run follows and my father manages to catch a nice mirror. Unfortunately, the hope is false because this mirror turns out to be the last catch of the vacation.

The next morning, unfortunately, is already the last day and we start to pick up quietly. We have another cup of coffee and look back on the past few days. With four days staying on a beautiful water, plenty of sunshine almost every day and six carp caught to almost 15 kilos, it was a very successful vacation. Let’s see what the next fishing vacation will bring us.

Catch!
Jordy

• Experiences at the Goose Pit
• Fishing stories
• Pay water in the Netherlands
• Travelogue Goose Pit
• Vssen in Deest

Bert Altena

Van kinds af aan ben ik te vinden aan de waterkant. Vanaf een jaar of 12 heb ik het karpervissen geleerd. Wat het karpervissen voor mij leuk maakt is de ontspanning en de voorbereiding op de karpersessie in combinatie met een manier van vissen wat constant vernieuwing nodig heeft om de karper weer te kunnen verrassen!