A day of carp fishing on beautiful Lake Bled

It's the same almost every year. At the end of August, the really hot weather goes away for the first time – at least for a few days. And it's precisely these days that the carp are really hitting their stride, because the water is still warm, their metabolism is in full swing and the low-pressure weather plus an extra dose of oxygen from the falling temperatures is exactly what fish and fishermen have been waiting for for many weeks.

The year 2020 seemed to be a bit delayed in terms of weather and so this change in the weather only became apparent on August 31st. Which didn't make me any less excited about fishing, on the contrary. At that time I was visiting my friend Matija in Slovenia, who lives less than an hour away from Lake Bled. And as luck would have it, Jakob, who has a not uninteresting German-Slovenian cocktail running through his veins, was also in the mountains of Slovenia and I was able to convince him that the moment had come for a great fishing session together. However, he didn't want to afford more than one day given the horrendous day ticket prices that are usual there, so we decided the evening before to walk around the 145 hectare lake, observe, feel and feed, and then go somewhere to sleep in the cart and effectively fish in the expected rain the next day.

It was still dark when we headed towards the water. The rods were quickly cast and the waiting on the park bench began. Admittedly, I personally have never been a fan of Lake Bled. I completely missed the adventure factor there. Until last year – as a spontaneous decision – I went fishing there for the first time. The place really has something special, the majestic natural lake radiates peace and beauty. The old trees, beautifully landscaped parks, the island with the magical ringing bell, the clouds from the mountains and the special lighting conditions can really enchant you - as long as you can cope with the mass of tourists. And the carp? They are some of the strongest I've ever caught. In addition, almost every carp looks different and there are a lot of fish with very special characteristics - and of course real fat ones too. So we waited on a comfortable bench in a beautiful park for beautiful carp from a beautiful lake. A little bit of “wellness” is allowed every now and then.

You know how it is: When you're waiting for a bite, with your rods in sight, hours can sometimes become long. And that's how it was that day too. The first bite came after what felt like an eternity with the rain starting at half past four in the afternoon. On Jakob's rod was a small mirror fish, which was relatively slim for Lake Bled and weighed around ten kilos. The beginning had been made and we knew that a lot was still possible until eleven o'clock in the evening (the end of day fishing). In fact, we only had to wait another hour until my Carp Sounder responded. For me too, the day started small and, untypically for Bled, flaky.

Now it was raining cats and dogs and while we had to hide under the umbrella, Matija and Luka came over for a visit with four pizzas. However, I couldn't really enjoy my pizza because I immediately took the next bite. A promising fight came to an end when a particularly colored and scaled mirror weighing in the mid-twenties slipped into the landing net. That was just before seven. Thanks to a pre-tied and baited leader, the rod was quickly back on the spot and I could finally devote myself to my pizza. As soon as this was eaten, I had the next bite at a quarter past seven. A tough fight suggested a larger fish and indeed a long and powerful fish of around 30 pounds emerged. The mood was really good now!

But when we stopped eating, the carp seemed to be hungry again. We had to wait almost three hours for the next bite. But it was really worth it. We had made ourselves comfortable again under the umbrella when, shortly after ten, Jakob heard a slow, continuous tone. In the pouring rain he kept saying that it was just a bream or something small. I could go back to “dry land,” he said. Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that! After a short and really unspectacular drill, it was a big surprise when the much hoped for Bled bull came up at the end of the day. It was a really old two-tone mirror weighing 47 pounds, which is so typical for this lake. That's exactly what we wanted! What a day!