I'm intrigued, mostly by which water you were on. I doubt that I'd have recognised such a thing for what you're suggesting it is. I'd also be very wary of melting plastic if it were my ingenious implement. I doubt that it's something I'll see on the waters I frequent. But at least I don't have to give fumes from such substances a very wide berth any longer, no danger of a random drugs test these days.
It's a council-run water in the middle of a dog rough sink estate, Sam.
I've fished the place, on and off, for the best part of 30 years. The locals can be a bit, err........
interesting, but for the most part, they don't bother you. Most of them are reasonably friendly, if you take the time to chat to them. Just normal people, a vast proportion of whom have fallen by the wayside through no real fault of their own. If you bother to ingratiate yourself with the decent ones, they sort of shield you from the nutters.
The real draw for me is the whopping crucians that live there; remnants of a larger population that used to average half a pound back in the 80s.
It's now rare to see one under 2lbs - my best is currently 3.6. The week after I caught it, I banked another from the same swim which made it look like a tiddler, but, sick of lugging a ton of gear to the bankside, I'd trimmed it right down and managed to leave out the scales. What a
dummkopf!
I'm reluctant to guess the weight, but if I was put on the spot.... at least 4.8, maybe even 5: it was colossal. And yes, having caught thousands of them through the years, I'm pretty sure it was a true cru.
Sadly, the place has repeatedly been stocked with common-or-garden carp, so they're now almost impossible to target, bearing in mind that the numbers are so low. This year, I've not had one at all.
No pics, I'm afraid. it's the sort of place where you wouldn't take a camera of any value, or even flash your mobile phone around, but I'm determined to get a pic of the next one that falls to my rods, come what may. They really are the most magnificent creatures; even more so, for being this far North.