Metaphorically or actually, I have one of each, so where have you run from

1st 140 acre lake, very low stock, fancied a challange

Turned up on my first trip. Theres loads of silver fish and bream as well so I just used tiger nuts in a shallow bay. 3 hours after casting out there was a massive bang on the rod with a few yards of line taken. reeled in and the hook point had turned over, I could have cried.
Anyway that fired my enthusiasm massively, fished another 40 nights over the next year for absolultey nothing. That 40th night I hit the wall and ran for the hills
Too big a water to tackle with a full time job fishing predominanlty mid week overnighters, maybe visit again in the future under different circumstances.

2nd 15 acre (approx) estate lake with a large country house on one side

Georgous place with lots of atmosphere. This was back in the early 90's in the winter and I was pike fishing. I always fished an hour into darkness before heading home as dusk was the major bite time.
I dont spook at all when I'm fishing, fished alone for the most part for the past 35 years in as remote a lake as I can find.
This one particular evening it was prettty cold but as dusk fell the temperature rose and the atmosphere became very close and more and more oppressive as the minutes passed. In can laugh at it now but at the time I had an overwhelming sense of impending doom.
Never packed up so quick, literaly ran with kit back to the car and never fished the place again

Time passes, forgot about the place and 15 or so years later and with young family in tow we were away for a long weekend and went for a walk round a natural trust place I think it was. as we left the house I could see a lake and then it all came rushing back, fortunately without the sense of impending doom coincidentally the same place and it still looked lovely, not sure I'd fish it again though

In reply to Post #1
Both of those examples have the hallmarks of a book chapter, made me want to hear more.
On topic, I've run from commercial waters and busy waters.

In reply to Post #2

There wasn't much to report from the first lake, but that said I always feel you learn more from failure than success

The biggest thing I hooked at the lake was a sailing dingy whose keel picked up my braid at range.
It was the best run ever
The sailors looked very very confused when I wound down to them and their boat stopped even though it was quite windy A very funny sight

Neil.

In reply to Post #1
Linear fisheries . . .ran away 20yrs ago and have never been back since. Shame cos there are some nice fish in there - just some of the other anglers that were / are / will be the issue . . .

In reply to Post #1
Only ever physically ran away from one lake about 12 years ago. Was in my early 20s and was fishing 2 over nights between work, 6pm to 6am. It was late September, early October time so the nights were drawing in and i was starting to set up and pack down in the dark. The lake itself was a small pond really, acre and half maybe but some lovely fish in, kind of lake where if someone catches a fish the lake shuts up for a while or there's more than 3 people on, the fish all turn invisible. You have to cross a field, and through a little wood to get to the pond, surrounded by trees and no light pollution what so ever!
So I get to the lake, set up and having a brew. Alls fne as usual. Around 8pm I hear a strange noise I hadn't heard before. It was in the distance so wasn't to worried at this point. Over the next half hour, this noise was getting closer, louder and was really starting to put the willys up me! I got in the bivvy and hid under the sleeping bag of invincibility. Nothing can hurt you when it's over your head right haha
So I'm hearing this noise and I've got a Teddy bears foot in my pants now and I think 'I've got to get out of here!' It's at this point that I should mention I had been reading up about big cats in the UK a few weeks before. My minds telling me it's a panther and I'm dinner! I literally threw everything in my bag, collapsed the bivvy and threw it on the barrow, rods folded on top. I literally ran all the way back to the car, not looking back once as I could still hear it. Got to the car, threw everything in and I was gone! It was only after a few weeks trying to find out what that noise was that I realised it was a stag mating call!
Luckily it didn't put me off for long as I was soon back, but only for the days to start

Late 80s..this was ..

Picture in your minds eye a small elongated pool containing some very hard fighting ferals ,across the field was and still is a huge dairy ,..this big old shed houses lots of cattle ..

Behind me,the barren fields,normally with sheep in them sometimes..
On this occasion, that field had a single double muscled Belguim blue bovine,this creature is truly huge ,massive..and very strong..

I set up for a night under my old Nash stormside ,even catching a few fish ,loving it ,really chilled out..I remember I had wired a third rod,on a BJ alarm into the sounder box.

Anyway,as I remember, the night came clear,looking up all i could see was the plough,..

In the dairy over the stream,the cows started to moo,this fired up the big Belgium blue behind me,it also started to moo,

I wasn't bothered,country stuff at night I'm right at home..

Until the bovine 'lost it' and gently smashed the barbed wire fence behind me and started prancing around..with part of the fence still attached to its huge body..

At that point ,I packed up ASAP,and shoved the lot into my 360.glt ...

I have been shot at,shot over,red dots on me and my bivvy,had the beast at least twice behind me,seen drug deals/change overs in the quietest places,dogging,illegal green laning,cars set light to in fishery car parks,experienced an earthquake,caught rewilders doing their covert stuff..

But the most prominent thing ever was the strangulation dreams and waking up suddenly and punching out ,at....nothing,this was next to a old family crypt,the same experience Sam,had when I put him on the pool

People think it quiet in the countryside...

Yeah,right..!!!

In reply to Post #6

love the reminiscences

Madi , yours reminds me of another lake not long after I joined over near Peterborough but I didn't run this time.

Dusk again of course, just dark enough not to have good night sight. I started to hear a creature making a racket coming slowly around the lake towards me.
It was noisy , slowly crashing through the undergrowth, bit like the invisible creature that crashed through the jungle in the tv series "Lost". there was no doubt we were going to meet as it was following the edge of the small pool towards me.

When it rounded the corner and came into sight, woh, it was massive.
It stopped abrubtly about 10 feet away as i slowly but no quietly enough reached for my camera.

It was a wild boar must have been an escapee from a local farm and now inhabiting the lake.

When it heard me it just changed direction subtly and trotted on by

Great sight

In reply to Post #1
Have seen this on a park lake in the middle of a housing estate. As soon as the EA turned up to check licenses, you'd see about 3 blokes reel in and run off

"Tell 'em i've had a family emergency"

I think one time it was only me and "Brian the B@stard" left (Brian was a copper, don't think he knew the nickname people had for him)

In reply to Post #1
When I lived in Southampton I done a few hours at a lake up the road from me,it was small and intimate not far from airport been there few hours with my staffy and had a horrible feeling something not right like being watched packed up not long after,fished it many times after never happened again but it was hard to explain.
Another time same lake same swim November time with my dog there for a week and long story short young man around 25 got stuck in some swamp water by tree trunks and in the end police,ambulance and fire brigade turned up to free him.......police came back hours later to do statement which I had to do on car park in a police car with my dog there and my receiver he had died of hypothermia,I will say after seeing him stuck which I didn't know at time he was he said he was fine and I thought he was looking for something or hiding something in the water,was a shame as I heard he had kids too all he had on was a t-shirt and trousers I asked him do you need help like ambulance and fire brigade he said no.

In reply to Post #1
Anymore Metaphorical runways?
For me thats really interesting as I feel theres a lot more to be learned from that (experience/failure/fulfilment).
I have one more similar to my first 140 acre lake. Fished another the same size coincidentaly but as is my want, struggled for ages (I always do that with new lakes, takes me a long time to tune in).
Finally caught one and that felt enough, even though it was one of the smallest in that massive lake.
That was enough for me at that time (work etc. overnighters again etc.)

I did a spring, summer and autumn season on a huge Cornish reservoir. Fished it hard and long for one dropped fish and one weeded up, wich I lost eventually. I didn't so much as run as slunk away tail between my legs and thoroughly disheartened.

In reply to Post #11
A lake in the middle of my town has depths upto 50' even the sides average 10' and it's a public park very dodgy especially the summer time and everyone wants to talk to you when they see a bivvy up.
Just gave up fishing it for the Carp

In reply to Post #12
I used to fish a similar lake back in the 80s, possibly the same one, does it have a ski ramp in the middle? . I was fishing for eels in those days and it was an extremely rough place then. Saw some right dodgy goings on. A few years later when I heard it now held some good carp I went back for a look and I admit I bottled it.. No way was I going to take my carp gear down there!

In reply to Post #13
No mate duck feeding station that's it it's the Walsall arboretum

A local park lake I pointed out to a 'drunken gentleman' that fishing in the snags was not a good idea, in his state, or any state at all. Him and his mate started threatening me, so I walked away.
A couple of months later they were bivvied up again, and as I walked round, the abuse from them started.

The lake has also been used by a drug dealer to dump a body in, him and his girlfriend were apparently 'owed money' by a user so they got payment another way.

Another person has died in the lake, drugged up and drunk, fell in and drowned.
Then it became an Eastern Europeans paradise and fish of all species went missing.

Now the local council, EA VB's and Rural Crimes Police do pretty regular patrols.

In terms of waters I fished, I felt way out of my depth on one Suffolk lake, a year for a total of 3 runs, albeit 1 personal best, my first 20, and 2 lost fish to the gravel bars. I was unable to compete with the amount of bait that a well known angler was putting in, and he would threaten people who were fishing where he wanted to, and cast over them.

In reply to Post #15
Fished a lake in Southampton that had a 40 in you could fish it on a day ticket but to night fish it cost me £120 a year I fished it twice mainly because I couldn't take my dogs with me for safety even though it's a public park and people walked round with dogs,they also tackle thefts there and fighting as the drunks from a nearby pub would cut through.

In reply to Post #15
Known angler, lots of bait, bit of a whopper, in Suffolk, wonder who that was

The warren. only fished it on days but the bailiffs had no clue what they was doing and also the members were all punishers.. chafrod gorge, joined it, did 1 night then left.. got fed up at the do as ya likeys shooting air rifles at anyone..

In reply to Post #18
Harefield at its height , people loved it , did one night , joined blind , hated it .

In reply to Post #18
I have only given up on one lake. Grendon lakes northants. I waited for years to fish it and it finally came up. I fished it for I think 7 short sessions and only once was I remotely able to actually move and get on fish. It was rotated by the same group of anglers every week and I soon realised that I would have to stay there far too long to catch what I needed.......so I gave up in July!!
Scary lakes........oh the big old estate lake near me........I have seen 6 foot 6 men of Steele totally shat their pants there after dark.
Those eyes........they just disappeared 😉😉😉

In reply to Post #20
Some of these stories are just wow

In reply to Post #20
Some of these stories are just wow

Little syndicate in the fens, old gravel pit surrounded by trees and open fields, absolutely destroyed by mossies, never attempted to do a night, covered up as best I could, sprays the lot, bitten through trousers and shirts, on the hands and face, and every bite was an angry red swelling, two day sessions never to return.

In reply to Post #20
Like the predator reference

In reply to Post #20
Oh the big estate lake near me.......please go on.....

There is a lake in Suffolk that has had some stories about it.
Some of the fish were absolutely gorgeous, proper crackers, real Leney looking fish. I have a feeling it is the water mentioned in Chris Yates book The Secret Carp.
There are some monster snags in there, whole tree stumps in the middle of the lake.

It is a couple of miles away from a rich burial Hoo, and is apparently where the common folk were buried.

A local tackle dealer was fishing into dark to try to catch bream it was supposed to hold. He reached down for the torch he had been using but couldn't find it. He packed up and walked back to his car, and his torch was switched on on the passenger seat in a locked car.

Another angler was under his brolly late in the evening when he heard footsteps approaching. When he looked out no-one was there. A bit later this happened again, no-one. As he sat there slightly spooked, his brolly storm sides made the noise when someone is rubbing them and the brolly shook.

In reply to Post #26
Have a listen to the following (on Max volume), recorded from my phone.

The noise was from about 10 yards away at 3am in the morning , even freaked the Owls out later in the clip

The 3am Sound

I know what it was but even so, the loudness, so close to me, on a quiet autumn night was quite something

Neil.

In reply to Post #27
I haven't ran away from a water but have a few interesting experiences.

Fished some park lakes in Liverpool which make you keep you're eyes and ears open. Some of the locals fished the nights, which made me more concerned about them than anyone else frequenting the parks at night 😁😁

I had a very similar run in with a bull on an old estate lake....I was bivvied up right next to the fence and he really didn't like it. I didn't fancy the chances of the fence holding him back, so thought it would be wise to move.

Probably the occasion that got me most, was fishing a mere in Cheshire. It was October and so the nights were drawing in early. Lots of people walked dogs here and it was totally normal to have plenty passing you by. On this night a dense fog descended on the lake and everyone disappeared. About an hr had passed since the last light had slipped away and there hadn't been anyone round the lake in ages. All of a sudden on the far side of the lake a bright torch came on. I couldn't see anything but a light penetrating the fog, it just came closer and closer. It was very eerie. I got out of my bivvy and stood to the side, I positioned a storm pole out of sight, but ready just in case... and watched. As the light got closer I thought I should announce my presence and so put on my head torch and made some obvious noise. The light kept coming, when they were about 15 yards away and with my heart rate raised, I saw a proper old couple of dears out walking their dogs, a pair of little lap dogs....this was in dense fog in pitch black in the middle of the countryside. I said a few pleasantries and got back in the bivvy...not another sole passed by until the morning

I've never ran away from any water.

I find that the harder a water is, even if I blank for months or even a year, the more I enjoy it. Its that feeling as you leave after a session, pondering on what was wrong etc and the thought of returning as soon as you can and trying harder and full of excitement to be back on the bank etc, not that I do get excited these days about whether I catch or not, those feelings went in the late 80's. Its being on the bank that counts, watching the clouds go by, the Sun and Moon rise daily and the seasons come and go.

If I was to be catching on a regular basis, I think I would become bored as there would be no challenge.

In the 60's where everything was word of mouth and information hard to come by, I fished many a water, that just screamed "unseen monsters" lurking in its environs, and blanked repeatedly for months, creeping round with rods in hand looking for there haunts and never see one, let alone see one crash out, only to find out eventually that there is no carp in the pond.

Soon it will be that time of year, when all the new syndicate members start showing there faces, blank a few times and never be seen again.

In reply to Post #27
What was that noise Neil ???

In reply to Post #30
I thought it was foxes
But I had the exact same noise out of my bedroom window last week

In reply to Post #31
Muntjack deer possibly ?

In reply to Post #31
Next door neighbour getting naughty perhaps 😂😂

In reply to Post #32
Agree, sounds like a young/small deer call.

In reply to Post #34
Same as framey I think it's a fox call

It's a Muntjac

In reply to Post #36
Yes Muntjac is correct.
https://bds.org.uk/information-advice/about-deer/deer-species/muntjac-deer/

loads of them round here, make good eating, [I should add, I am licenced to stalk them, with full permissions]


I have a story to tell.
when I was about 17 I found a small water local to me that was reputed to hold carp of a considerable size, day ticket place, just turn up and fish, bailiff would be along couple of times daily to collect money and issue ticket,
so I settled in for the week and offered to pay all in one go, he said "best to pay daily, as you might want to leave early", ok fair enough, I said,
had a few nice tench in the first couple of days and a small but nice looking double carp on the third night, he would arrive every day and collect a bit more money, have a chat, cuppa, etc, even offered to bring fresh milk.
on the friday night I had the rods on a couple of good spots and settled down on the ex wd bed in the surplus mummy bag.
that night I was woken by the sound of horses hooves on the adjacent road, this went on for some time, I got a bit concerned someones horses had got out and were likely to get hit by a car or cause a crash, so I decided to take a look, see if I could return them or at least find out what they were doing roaming in the early hours.
I climbed through the hedge,, no sign of any horses? no more noise of hooves, went back to the rods and made a cuppa, nothing further was heard.
bailiff arrived as usual mid morning, and I told him about it, he went white!!
drank his tea and left.
he returned two hours later, and this was his tale,

In ww2 a local lad due to be wed was sent to war and became a pilot, at some time later on a mission he was shot down, somewhere in europe it was believed,
the air ministry broke the news to the waiting bride to be, naturally she was distraught, and probably to help her cope with such devastating news, refused to accept she would never see him again, [no remains were ever found]
at the end of the war an american serviceman had been a patient companion of hers took a chance and asked her to marry him, after a good deal of thought and the blessing of all concerned she accepted.
had children and was happy.
several years later there was a knock on the door,,, she barely recognised what stood before her, a broken man with terrible scarring and healed injuries.
it was the missing fiance! he had been found by resistance fighters in Europe and nursed back to health, albeit scarred badly, he had regained a lot of memories including his bride to be. he made his way back home.
I don't know what was said upon that return home.
but I don't suppose it was what he wanted to hear,
later that night he stole a horse and cart from the local pub and drove it into the lake.
on this exact day all those years ago.
"your not the first to hear that horse" he said. "but you're the first one that ever stayed here after hearing it".

I told him "I have no fear of the dead,, it's the living you have to watch out for sometimes".!

In reply to Post #37
Sometimes I hear them calling from the woods on the other side of the valley, usually in the early hours. Sounds a bit like a dog barking but not exactly the same and carries a lot further for some reason.

In reply to Post #36
With Owls in the back ground ?

In reply to Post #39
yes Tawny owls,and
I f you listen carefully you can hear a second muntjac answering the first, this can often go on for quite some time.

One of the worst things to hear on a night is the blood curdling scream of a rabbit being caught by a stoat or a weasel. It used happen a lot on one pond I used to fish in the 60's and 70's. I never got used to it and my hair would stand on end especially when it was close to the swim your in.

It's supposed to be the only time rabbits make a sound is when they are scared or attacked and they sure let the World know.

In reply to Post #41
mimicking it is quite useful for calling in foxes.

In reply to Post #30
yep Muntjac, quite a few around the lake.
nice to see this thread surface again, good time of year for stories when the lakes have lids on
cheers
Neil.

In reply to Post #43
anyone else got any mysteries or folk tales.

In reply to Post #44
I have one more...but no running away for me this time

Fishing a new complex Peterborough way, 10-15 years ago I setup on the small front pit just under an open Brolly for the night so I had a good view of everything. I was the only one on this small pit.
It was getting dark as with all the best stories.
As I was sat there looking out I heard something coming slowly but noisily through the undergrowth from the far corner. It was following the edge of the pit and not being quiet about it. I had no clue what it was, person or animal.
Light levels too low to see what it was
It was just following the edge of the lake and there was an air of inevitability that our paths would cross. By this time it was getting close and it was really noisy, something big.

It got to about a rods length from me along the bank before I could make out what it was, a bloody great escapee wild boar . I had been stock still for the whole time as I was desperate to know what it was.
I slowly reached down to get my camera and then it heard me, they're eyesight is poor but their hearing is sharp. It changed its direction and trotted off behind me , probably for the best, it was massive

Happy Christmas all
Cheers
Neil

In reply to Post #44
Just read this lot link

In reply to Post #45
you were wise not to get in its way, a big sow with piglets will open you up quicker than a glasgow street gang, a lone boar can be formidable, but the sows rule the sounder.
I won't post a link for the benefit of those of a sensitive nature, but a quick search will show you what happens when it goes bad with boar.

In reply to Post #45
You told that story in post 7.....

In reply to Post #48
There was two of them

In reply to Post #48
Apologies, 10 months ago, I'm aging so forgive me

In reply to Post #50
I'm aging too, probably why I don't remember from first time round.

Ok, not a fishing story,, but earlier in my life a group of us would organise parties[usually in a derelict house miles from anywhere,] and we got pretty good at hooking up the power, and often had a band and a decent bar, I remember there was always this guy who turned up uninvited, never brought any food for the bbq but ate everyone elses, same with the booze, and wasn't averse to chatting up all the girlfriends, who clearly made him and his attentions unwelcome.
but still he would keep turning up, until one particular night.
we had let slip,, purposely of course that we had found an old haunted hall and planned the mother of all parties the following week, great efforts were made to "accidentally" reveal its location.

and a dozen of us procured those glasses you can get with the lights on each side, [they later became common with dj,s at raves etc]
we arrived early and having left a trail of carefully placed candles guiding our victim to the cellar, and sat in darkness waiting, glasses at the ready facing away from the door until we heard his motorbike arrive, he made his way to the cellar, every now and then he would nervously say,,"hello" or "where is everybody", we remained silent, eventually he came to the cellar door and opened it,,,, we all slowly turn around am all he could see were a dozen pairs of "eerie" eyes in the otherwise pitch blackness,,, and we all said in unison in our best low scary voices,,"WRONG HOUSE"

I'v to this day never heard anyone scream like he did that night, and he rode that old bike away like the devil himself was after him. we had many parties after that,, he never turned up at any of them.

Ormsgill reservoir

If you know, you know.....

In reply to Post #53
Please tell if you have time

In reply to Post #54
It's located next to a cemetery....presumably that's got something to do with it

In reply to Post #53
Scozza was caught flashing but let off due to lack of evidence

In reply to Post #55
Ah ok really spooky going ons then