The secret mere. Part 3.

The weather remained settled and after banking the two commons i was gagging to get back and try for the monster tinca.
I had to come up with a game plan, i decided that i would continue to target the margins and only fish when i could find and encourage the tench too feed on its own. Two weeks passed by without a sighting of the Tench i was averaging three trips a week too the mere and on most cases i could get one or two of the resident carp to feed but they where mainly small and i refrained from angling for them in fear of alerting the Tench to the possible danger of my carefully cultivated margin traps.
Had i dreamt that i had seen the Tench? Was it merely a figment of my imagination? No! i had seen this fish clearly feed along side a carp which was caught and weighed. This beast was fact and not fiction and i vowed that it would be mine. The one thing that did perplex me is that no other Tench seemed to be present in the mere, was this the reason why this Tench had attained such an impressive size? I could only second guess as to the reasons for this but it only helped to fuel the mystery that surrounded the mere.

It was dark as i picked my way through the wood, eerily quiet, not a sound. I emerged by the banks of the mere as the faint light of dawn crept in from the east, it wasn't a classic anglers sunrise, no mist clad lake, steaming and glowing in the rising sun. Instead the lake was calm, slate grey in colour and the skies laden with cloud. However the air was warm and the atmosphere was expectant.
With the settled conditions the water clarity had returned, five margin spots where primed with a liberal helping of hemp and a pinch of corn. I sett-up a "base camp" where i would keep my tackle, every 40mins i would do a circuit of the mere and check my baited spots. The trip would last from dawn until dusk i began my lonely vigil in the only way possible and fired up my stove for the first brew of the day.
Morning turned too afternoon and the light values had changed little almost like a perpetual dawn. Afternoon slowly melted into the grey of the evening the skies changing little. The mere and surrounding woodland and pasture had remained unnaturally quiet not a bird or animal stirred, no fish rolled or jumped not a breath of wind ruffled the surface of the mere. The atmosphere was oppressive yet expectant it was as if the place held its breath.

I sett off on what seemed like the hundredth circuit of the mere more in hope than expectation. The first spot i had baited was just off the edge of a small shrub growing in the margins, as i approached the spot i dropped to my knees and inched closer peering into the waters edge and there it was the Tench! Its huge paddle tail tilted up wafting and furling its mouth buried to the gills as it searched and sifted through the silt for the shiny black seeds. Classic pin prick bubbles slowly rose from its gills and burst on the calm waters surface. This was it, my hands trembled and my temples pounded with the beating of my heart. Baiting the hook i made an extra long cast beyond the fish and drew back the small crystal float. I watched as the corn sank agonisingly slow towards the feeding fish. The Tench carried on busily feeding unaware of my presence the first battle was won. The fish righted itself and its beady red eye focussed on the corn and in one movement tilted down and sucked in the hookbait. I stuck but instead of the expected power driving run the tench turned on its side and wallowed up to the surface in one swift movement it was engulfed in the net. The fight was an anti-climax but the sight that greeted me when i peered into the net took my breath away. No words could ever give this creature justice or convey to the reader how immense this tinca was. Its flanks where unblemished, fin perfect never before touched by the hands of man. Its huge stone protruded from it belly, a male! On the scales it weighed in at eleven and a half pounds. A PB never likely to be bettered, i took the pictures at that moment i felt like the proudest angler on the planet.
With respect i released the creature, packed up and left the mere never to return.