Keep on Trying!

There is one key to successful carp fishing: to be in the right place at the right moment. Maybe this right moment comes after a couple of minutes, maybe it takes year, maybe a lifetime. Or maybe, it comes never. But we have to give it a try: We might not catch a fish when we are out there, but we will definitely not catch anything when we do not go in first place. So, when the carp are feeding, get out there!

Some time ago in fall, I attended a ball in Germany. On my way home, at around 4:00 o'clock in the morning, I thought of my fishing friends who were poised at a lake in France. A quick call on their cell phone revealed the magic: "Fish everywhere, about 500 of them in our bay. Most of them big, and all of them feeding. We already had plenty over 20kgs. Get your butt over here!" Sleep was postponed for the night. Dancing shoes were exchanged for waders, and the car was loaded soon. Work for the weekend was rescheduled with my workmates, and soon I whiled the time away behind the wheel. It was still morning when I arrived at the lake in central France. A fierce wind was blowing onto the bank, and my friends' camps were standing in a thick bed of mud. I had just been here a week before in bright sunshine, now it looked like a place from hell. Tree stumps were the only features that stuck out from the mud.

My friends did not even weigh carp of clearly less than 20kgs anymore because they had caught so many of them. As I arrived, they were just in the process of taking pictures of three fish of over 20kgs, one of them a splendid leather carp. But they had caught the last fish a a couple of hours ago, and since then all seemed silent. There were no more signs of fish. Had the carp moved on?

Getting settled in the ankle-deep mud was difficult, but soon I was rowing my baits out into the lake. At nightfall, I had still not had a take. During the night, the wind took up frighteningly. Waves of half a meter and more slashed against the bank, fierce gusts tore at my little shelter. At dawn, I checked the setup, and all traps were still fully set. But no fish - clearly the swarm had moved on. Two nights without proper sleep stretched endurance to a limit. I had no energy left to search for the fish now, so I started my journey back to Germany. It is not usual to go to France to fish for just a day or two. But sometimes, that is what it takes. I had given luck a chance, but it was not meant to be. Not this time.

For all you fishermen out there: Try your best to catch, but do not be depressed when you don't! Because failure is what it takes to get to the big one. It does not always come right. But load your dice and keep on trying! One day, it will happen.