As for the humble "potato"......well.....this particular photograph was of a large double I caught from Hunstrete ("Lackeys Leap" to those familiar with Walker and the Carp Catchers Club) which in those days was most certainly a lake of absolute beauty and dreams.......weeds....willows.....extensive lily beds......silt......silent dawns......utter magic.......although sadly somewhat changed now.....
We spent a couple of nights with a few tins of potato choosing the smaller ones and popped one or two around each lily bed toward the Western end of the 3 acre lake ensuring no-one saw what we were doing........we couldn't afford many tins in those days of course so the pre baiting was somewhat sparse and the areas chosen with care to ensure we could actually cast to them from the "other" bank.....
We arrived on the night of 23 July.......deliberately rather late.....parked the old battered car "up the lane" away from the Keeper's Cottage....very quietly took our rods and rucksacks out......quietly closed the car doors......then crept down to a very spooky Hunstrete through the woods as the sun was settling over the hills and the light fading as the lake slowly transformed into a still and, increasingly dark, mirror reflecting the rising moon.
A Mitchell 300 with 8 lbs line.....a size 4 Au Lion D'or hook and a free-lined tinned potato held in place with a small piece of grass.....an overhead cast to the far bank and....somehow in the moonlight reflection the resounding "splosh" and ripples reflected that my bait had magically landed in the one gap in the lily bed some 50 metres away.....oh how I remember the feeling of incredulity that in the moonlight my bait had landed there.....place the carp rod in the wire "U" stick rod rest.....open the bail arm....place the rolled up piece of silver paper on the line and through the now pitch black night.....quietly then put up the "Efgeeco" umbrella against the base of an old tree.......scoop up the fallen leaf litter into a pile and place the old Army "Great Coat" on the ground and sit quietly intending to stay awake throughout the haunted night........I had forgotten how the pre dawn hours are very very cold..........then.....in the early hours of the morning before the sun had risen........a "rustle" and then a "hiss" as the silver paper rose up.........was it a dream.......I had of course fallen asleep..............no........I am now awake.........scrabble up from the leafy mold "bed" and place a hand under the Mitchell spool....the line was still going out.....close the bail arm and strike.......a very very solid weight on the end....umoveable ! Oh well.....I have hooked the lily bed !
Kneel down and try and see the rod silhouetted in the night sky.....a very pronounced bend and then suddenly "thump" "thump" "thump" and the very solid weight started to move.....a fish.....Aaaaarrghh......a fish from Hunstrete on free lined potato.....Aaaaarrgghhhh......a whispered "shout" to my cousin who was still asleep.......heart pumping....Adrenalin coursing throughout my body........a depth charge explosion somewhere in the dark........another crash.......ripples now lapping the water on my bank........"thump" "thump" "thump".........no impression made by the hooped rod or regaining line on the Mitchell......."Splash"........"thump" "thump".......then "kiting to my left"..........is it getting closer........"Splash"......after what seemed like eternity it seemed close.......a whispered "Richard get the torch I can't see a thing".......a muffled response....."But what if someone sees the light ? We aren't supposed to be here until sunrise"........"I don't care. Get the torch".........with fingers spread across the torch beam to diffuse the light and the Efgeeco "Specimen Net" that seemed to weigh a ton in the water.....one of Hunstrete's fabled fish was revealed in the clear water.........................unbelievable...............we had never seen such a broad back..................safely in the net and my legs and arms were shaking..........
We waited until sunrise then walked through the wood and knocked on the Keeper's Cottage back up the lane to the lake. Thankfully he was already up with his mug of steaming tea and toasted muffins..............."Um....sorry to disturb you but I wonder if you have any scales as I have caught a rather large carp?"........"You haven't been here all night have you ?"......."Um......no....we only got here ten minutes ago. A stroke of luck really. It just took a bait almost immediately". Fingers crossed behind the back......
Anyway...there you go. We had followed Walker's advice and my first "Twenty". A beautiful Mirror from historic Hunstrete and on free-lined tinned potato. They certainly did work. 24 July 1974......
