Kingsmead is one of the lakes near us that we
fish. It's a lovely spot to do overnighters. It's located quite near
Heathrow Airport; during the day the planes taking off are so low you can
literally wave to the pilots. The noise can be deafening, but you
learn to ignore it. At night it is peaceful, though, as Heathrow is
not allowed flights between something like midnight and six in the
morning.
We set up in the evening of the 19th, putting
out beds of carp bait and setting up the rods after the bivvy
(tent) was in place. Alas, no one was catching and no bait
alarms went off during the night anywhere on the lake.
Next morning we were treated to a nice
sunrise. Since it is so close to the summer solstice, the night was
actually quite short.
We sat most of the early morning hoping for the
carp to bite. But, nada... not even a nibble. So I decided to
photograph the damselflies that were about. They seemed very passionate
this particular day.
There were also some interesting looking flowers
so, while waiting on his Lordship the Mighty Carp, I snapped a few of them
too. This was something in a glorious shade of yellow.
... and this looked like something from another
planet....
There were other interesting plants and flowers,
but by then Steve had switched one rod over to a float and was catching
Roach. The first one he landed was the nicest, a fair size for a
Roach.
The day wore on, the skies over Kingsmead
were beautiful....
There were plenty of waterbirds around, dotted
all over the lake, grebe, swans, ducks, herons, gulls and terns. However
none of them seemed to like our side of the lake. I'd almost given up on
getting any bird pics when this Great Crested Grebe popped up in front of
me. I managed to snap him before he dove out of sight.
Steve caught a nice little perch. These
guys are like Orcas, they travel in small groups and then dive into a shoal of
silver fish (roach, rudd and the like) creating panic. The water literally
'boils' as the prey, in panic, scatter in all directions, including into the
air. Steve calls them little bullies.
Still no carp, but after a few more Roach he
landed a larger perch. This one was feisty so I didn't get a decent
picture of it as it kept wriggling.
Meanwhile, I snapped more bugs. A Damselfly amid
bait debris on the peg.
A Dragonfly....
... and more flowers... such as they were...
these aren't dandelion seeds, they were smaller and the leaves were different...
I don't know what they are.
We finally pulled up stakes late in the day....
carp-less... as was everyone else on the lake. Ah well, some days you
catch and other days you just fish. The small fish were going well... it
was the carp who were laughing at us. Catching them is not
easy... but that's what makes carp fishing so much
fun.