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Story 2005 ATC aftermath

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years ago

ATC 2005: the aftermath

When	May 27th to 29th, 2005
Where	Town Lake, TX
Who	Fishing with Iain Murray
See also	Story 2005 ATC event

Picasa albums


Sunday	Monday	Tuesday

The story

ATC day 1 in short: I get a double, Iain lands this beautiful 27lb mirror.

ATC day 2 in short: Iain extracts a 29lb from an impossible swim, and I have great fun witnessing again & again Jim and Moses catch carp after carp, including their two 35+ PBs. Me? Oh, I got a double again.

We had planned to stay a few more days and catch some biggies. Well...

Day 3 in short: ZIP. Iain caught a nice 20+.

Day 4 in short: I caught a double in the morning. We went buffalo fishing at Lake Austin, ZIP.

Morale was LOW as this point. What's wrong with me? I can't even catch a twenty out of Town Lake in 4 days? Without even speaking of a buffalo?

But day 4 had an evening... A VERY SPECIAL evening...

First run, fish not properly hooked, got away. AAAARG.

Second run. Hooked. Oooohhh.... HEAVY-DUTY ! Quite some time later emerged this 35-8lb, which is my new PB. And I had bet at work that I'd come back from Austin with a 35+ ! YYYYYEEEESSSS!

And my signature pic with this beautiful fish. It was THICK!

I was feeling much better! I recast the same rod, same spot, same bait (pinapple boilie, of course). And 40 minutes later, BEEEPPPP. Another nice run, hey, this one was a bit weird... Seemed quite heavy as well, but sometimes it seemed to behave like a smaller fish. Still, I don't know who said that buffalo don't give a great fight, but this one fought like a pro.

A few minutes later emerged this wonderful surprise, my very first buffalo. At 32 pounds and change. And I had bet at work that I'd also come back with my first buffalo! YYYYYEEEEESSSSS!

PS for Scott O: a 20lb buffalo is called a baby buffalo. Doesn't count.

I wanted to do my signature pic with it, but that thing isn't easy to handle, a buffalo clearly doesn't behave like a carp whether while fighting or on the bank. I almost dropped it, but no, my PRECIOUS buffalo, you are NOT going away.

Day 4 wasn't too fun for Iain watching me catch two 30+ including a buffalo. He never caught a 30+ in the US, nor a buffalo. And we're pretty sure that he had a buff for the last run of the day, but alas, the fish unhooked itself.

So we were back at work on day 5 in another spot. Iain caught a 21 pounder, and we couldn't get anything else moving in our swim. Then Iain, always the skilled angler, cast at the horizon. Yeah, well, nothing for an hour. Then "lucky charm" Neil called on my cell, and the ring made the carp bite, I swear!

Quite a few minutes later (remember the cast at the horizon? A lot of line to reel in with a heavy fish at the other end), and Iain finally got his first thirty in the US (his PB in Europe is 37lb), more precisely a 32+ beauty.

Then we moved to our magic spot where I had my brace of 30s the day before. And after a while, guess what Iain caught? His second 30+ of the day! A very fat 31 pounder.

And I finished the day with my first twenty of the trip! Finally! A very nice bar of gold (24lb) which gave me a fantastic run against the current!

When we left the swim after 2 hours of inactivity, we were almost completly packed up, all remaining boilies thrown in the water, and guess what? Carp started to jump like crazy around us!

Well, enjoy the free lunch while you can, carp & buffs, because we'll be back next year, and this time, our goal will no longer be a brace of 30+, but a brace of 40+ (common and buffalo)! Ouch, we'll have to work hard on this. Only Missy can line up a 40+ carp by just coming at the ATC and acting pretty.

When we were driving back from our magic swim, I noticed a sign with a pic of Abraham Lincoln which said "Failure... Failure... Failure... Persistence... and Success", or something like that. Quite a nice summary of our trip. Abraham was probably a fisherman.

Neil & Jackie, I hereby name you "lucky charms" for all eternity of carp fishing...

A few more notable pics from the ATC'05

On ATC day 1, Iain Murray (my partner) landed the only mirror of the day, I believe. A 27-12 beauty which I had the privilege to net. Beating by 10lb the (only) common I caught... We think this is the same as the one Moses caught last year, but this remains to be checked. (yes, it was, the fish is dubbed "Pearl").

On ATC day 2, I caught this catfish which actually gave me a nice run. I almost never catch cats, so I was pleasantly surprised. It's probably a PB catfish for me, actually! I didn't weigh it though. I believe somebody caught a 12lb cat during the event, but I don't know the details.

Now that I finally got access to the (formerly wet but now dry) memory card of my (still wet) camera, here is the 29-8 lb Iain landed on ATC Day 2. This was really quite an achievement. Iain located an underwater trench at something over 120 yards out. Found a way to cast in there. Played the fish among many snags. Landed it without any help (I was busy witnessing Jim & Moses numerous catches). And had to climb a few yards of slippery and muddy steep bank with this fish in the net. Then I finally walked back, just in time for the picture!