February Update
February Update
Well after a great start to the month with that lovely 18lb
mirror things really did slow up. I was getting to the lake at least one night
a week as normal, but I just couldn’t seem to get onto the fish - they seemed
to disappear though I think that was mainly down to the cold weather. The temperature
really dropped over the course of a week or so and the fish were really affected.
I spent a couple of nights fishing a few different areas of
the lake using the same tactics as before - choddies or hinge stiff rigs as I was
fishing the weedy swims to see if that’s where they were finding sanctuary, but
nothing was happening.
I lost a race to a swim one Monday which I really went to regret
as one of the locals was walking around the lake earlier in the day and he had
seen fish showing close in. The wind was pushing into the corner and the
weather was set to get really cold that night so as this area was in the
shallows and I didn’t think the fish would stay there all night, I decided to
set up in the swim called the “royal box.” It’s a great swim that looks across
a big piece of open water and had the car park island in front so I had a
little lead about and decided to have two rods on one spot (both of these were
fished on the spinner/Ronnie rig.) I spodded about 10 medium fox spombs over
the spot so that there wasn’t a great deal of bait but enough to stop the fish
in their tracks if they came out of the shallows and started to head for the
deeper water.
I fished my left- hand
rod down the margins just in front of a snag tree - this came out into the
water quite a bit so I could fish off the end comfortably and not worry if it
was too shallow. Well, that night ended fishless for me but the other angler (the
one who beat me to the swim) had 2 before dark - both commons, one went 23lb if
I remember rightly, and the other was maybe 12lb at push but, none the less a
proper start to his session. I left early the next morning, packing up before
6:30am, so it wasn’t very comfortable as it was freezing cold and pitch black. I
went to work annoyed with myself as I knew if I had just gotten down the lake
sooner I could have had one, but I was determined to get back on asap.
Once I got home from work I went on Facebook to discover
that the guy fishing in the end swim, “the japs eye” had caught another small
common - this one was a lot smaller than the rest and believe it got placed
into the stock pond to grown on.
It was now getting on
the end of January and I was still without another fish. Moving into February the
weather had taken a cold turn again and, the night before my planned session,
the lake had slightly frozen. When I turned up there was still ice around some
of the edges but it was melting fast as the sun was really low and felt really
warm.
I decided to fish
right into where the sun was hitting - this is also where those 3 fish were
caught a few weeks before hand. I sat in the swim watching the water for long
periods, not even taking the kit off the barrow as I wasn’t sure if I was going
to fish the swim through the night. I believed if they were in the corner I would
have seen signs of the fish as I was up and down the trees all morning.
It was now early afternoon I decided to have a reel in and
have a wander around the lake to see if I could find anything. As I was walking
behind the islands I thought I found a new patch of gravel, one that I hadn’t seen
before, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be; It was actually a little baited area
where someone was either pre-baiting or someone had fished the swim recently. I
then went around the other side of the island to look over the edge and I could
see the hard spot I had caught my fish off back in early Jan had got a lot bigger
and was really shinning; It looked too good not to fish on. I placed a few handfuls
of small food items then I went around and settled in a swim called “the single.”
I had two rods on the hard spot and flicked my left-hand rod
off the front of the island. I thought I had a good chance but nothing happened!
The night went quickly and I was soon packing away. I knew I had another night
later in the week so I went around and baited up fairly heavily as I could see
all the way to the bottom. I didn’t mind baiting heavy as I could come down
each day to see if it had gone and I knew the birds would eat a lot of the bait
as well.
I couldn’t wait to get back down as I knew I had a great
chance - each day I went down the lake and each day the bait had gone, so I quickly
set up. I cast all 3 rods to the far bank and I then went around and, with my
net pole, I placed each rod. I felt
really confident. It was starting to get dark and I saw a fish jump further
down the bank so I whipped my middle rod in and flicked a single to the area. I
left it there for the night ahead. Believe it was 12:30 when I heard a single
bleep on the left-hand rod; I jumped out the bag as I could see the tip
bouncing and as I was fishing locked up I knew it would only take one bleep. I lifted into the fish and I ran back with the rod as I was fishing right next to an under-water snag. It didn’t take much pressure and it was away from the danger. It then tried to steam off down the bank, but again, a little bit of pressure and I was away from danger. As it got closer I knew it wasn’t a monster or a target fish but I didn’t care; After a month or so of blanking I just wanted to get it in and at the first attempt it hit the bank of the net and I punched the air. I was over the moon. I placed the fish into my new retainer sling while I sorted the camera out - a lovely mid double common 15lb 9oz, which was crazy as 15/09 was the date of birth of my dog who sadly passed away later that night after being very ill for a long time; It was a truly awful feeling as he was like a brother to me – some things are just meant to happen that way, so that one was for you Ossie! R.I.P boy you’ll always be missed!
I have also written up a blog which I will be uploading in a
couple of days that talks about my rigs as well as a bit of bait talk. So, till
then, tight lines and be lucky - it looks like the weather is getting worse
again so keep warm if you’re out!
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