The Swan Lady of Bath Pool

Ok I apologise I know it's been a long time since the last post and I have done a lot of patient carping in pursuit of my personal best but nothing major so far,and it gets frustrating sometimes blanking or getting a stocky from a water where you know there's some big fish.So here's a tale for all you fellow hunter gatherers out there the much maligned patient carper.
The scene is 5am dragging my self out of a warm bed to Bath Pool,spending the last of my money on diesel and bait,walking with a stripped down carp kit,the long walk to the spot I'm fishing from the car park, I've been told not to leave my car here at night because of the kidsgrove hoodies,using up the last official day of my summer's holidays.So I'm there Friday morning,I'm set up with two rods,a tiger on one and pineapple pop up on the other.I'm there alone or so I think,there are signs of carp and one of my bobbins is twitching,possible liners or shy early bites.Seems like a good time to introduce some bait.Now as much as I appreciate our feathered friends a pair of swans lurking in the background have spotted me throwing in bait cruise up to the spot by the island I've been baiting up obviously fairly shallow as both of them are up ended eating the lot scaring of any carp in a half mile radius.Is this why I got up so early used a day's holiday from a much loved warehouse job spent good money on equipment licenses and bait, well maybe not.It's now crept around to 7.15am the bites have stopped all fish have fled from the long white necks grabbing my bait,yes and if I don't do something soon I'll end up reeling in one of the swans.Now I'm standing up waving my arms making myself tall but they're not bothered maybe some of my bait is still leaft they've missed.It's not going to do my fishing any good to throw bricks so I'm throwing stiff balls of paste at them to try to shoo them away from picking up one of my hooks,good it's working, maybe a few more to send them well away.Enter the only other person daft enough to walk this far round the lake at 7 in the morning,an old woman in a red coat with a dog,"The Swan lady of Bath Pool" I haven't spotted her "Don't throw at the swans,it's illegal,don't throw at the swans!"she crows in a posher than council house voice, Well I thought about explaining I wasn't throwing bricks just balls of paste trieing to shoo them away from swallowing a barbless hook or two,but why bother probably get a lecture on how cruel fishing is.Well it didn't stop there she stood around the other side of the lake telling any fellow dog sh**ters,he's throwing at the swans,one of them came up with the idea I was fishing and trieing to maybe shoo them away(very perceptive).Well no! I thought I'd get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and throw at some swans,what fun for a grown man of 48, why didn't I think of it earlier.I'm thinking she's now on the phone to the council or the police,after all anglers have been lead poisoning swans for years,even though lead has been banned in fishing for twenty years and you haven't been able to buy it for as long,yes we still get the blame.Still the swan lady of Bath pool's life now has purpose,she has met the swan nutter of bath pool and is now lobbying politicians to ban angling,they dont need money from fishing or the environmental authority. People who walk there dogs for a sh*t around the lake are going to buy special charity poop bags which are going to pay for conservation of the lake yes they'd all use them of cause."Bravo I say"Well the swan is regally protected and from the medieval times it was farmed and upwards of fifty or more at a time were consumed at banquets,indeed it was this farming and regal protection which insured it's survival.I'm told it tastes better than turkey.If there was a food shortage I wonder how long it would take before people remembered this.
So a big thank you to the Swan lady of bath pool who made me realise that patience,perseverance and skill were all that was needed to wait for my feathered friends to get there fill,they would be smart enough not to eat my hook baits, then the carp would then return from the other side of the pool in only four hours or so.After all the licenses I'd bought went towards conservation of the area including the swans.Thanks to all these liberal minded people the world is a much better place.Smokers/Immigrants and asylum seekers stand on the corner together by closed pubs and working mens clubs discussing the credit crunch and global warming. Well done swan lady hope they don't close your local post office but with all that healthy walking miles around a lake in the early hours I'm sure you won't mind walking the extra five miles to the city center to pick up your pension.
Good Day Shaun.