This year they'd brought in a close season and the lake was due to close mid April. I booked a few days off of work and planned my 48 hour session. I knew it was still early but there were the odd days which were warm but the temperature was still dropping through the night. Not phased by this I still looked forward to my first session. The time had come and I'd finally arrived at the lake. On this trip I'd also be targeting the big crucians so both my rods were set up the same as both the tench and crucians loved my chosen set up. My chosen set up consisted of two 12ft Drennan Avon 1 1/2 test curve rods coupled with two little daiwa ss1600 reels loaded with 6lb mono. Rig wise I use a Drennan inline 25g flat method feeder and four inches of 7lb Drennan micro braid with a size 16 Drennan super Specailist hook. For the hook bait I use a single white buoyant caster which sits proud over the feed and will shoot into the fishes mouth with ease increasing your bites! I've used this set up time and time again and caught lots of tench and lots of big crucians to 4.2lb it's always good to have confidence in what you use as personally I feel confidence plays a big factor in your angling. On this particular lake I like to attack the swim with plenty of bite via spombing regularly. I use the smallest spomb as I don't like to over do it. For my spomb mix I use a mixture of hemp, sticky baits krill active mix and sticky baits micro krill pellets and some casters added for good measure! I want the fish to stay feeding on my spot for as long as possible so these food items will hold the fish in your swim. For bait around the feeder I simply just use a krill ground bait as when the fish find your feeder the only food item they encounter is your critically balanced hook bait again increasing the chances of a bite.
I always spend time leading my swim trying to find firmer spots within the silt or gravel spots if there is so. I found a lovely spot at around 30 yards I clipped both rods up and both went out lovely and introduced 10 spombs to start the session off. I ended up fishing a swim with not a lot of depth as I thought with increasing temperature the fish might move around the area I was fishing. Sadly I didn't have a bite that day so as the sun moved behind the tree line i to moved swims into an area with a bit of depth. I got into the swim at around 9pm and calmly went about sorting the rods and finding a spot! It didn't take long and the rods were both out fishing. And it didn't take long for the tench to insterupt the silence of the night sending my little micron m bite alarms into melt down! The culprit was a 4lb male tench! Promising and goes to show how moving swims can be valuable after blanking all day! I went on to land thirteen more tench through the night to 8.1lb! It was a very restless night indeed but a enjoyable one!
First light I topped the swim up with ten or so spombs and the action began right from the off! I ended up landing two crucians to 2.8lb and a total of twenty seven tench to 8.1lb! What a 48 hour session that was!
Sadly the fishing had come to an end on that water due to the close and I doubt I'll be returning until late August early September to have a proper go for crucians! A bit lost as where to fish for the tench I began doing some more research when a savour came to call my call! A good mate of mine txt me inviting me to have a go for the tench on his syndicate! After a few texts I was buzzing as it seemed the low numbered syndicate held some cracking tench and are never targeting by the carp anglers only caught by mistake whilst targeting the carp! And some lumps have been caught to! The session was a few weeks away and time seemed like it stopped! But gave me plenty of time to ask as many questions about the water as possible so I could make a mental map of the place and have a plan! I always have to have a plan in my head or I go to bits on the bank and make mistake after mistake so I like to think my angling as methodical ha ha! A bit Ocd if you like? But every one has there ways and methods! Gathering that the lake was very very weedy gravel pit I decided to pack inline maggot feeders and block other feeders so on the day I could lead about and take course of action from there. Slowly but surely the day arrived and I was buzzing! Better than any Christmas! What a lucky git I am I thought! We arrived at the lake and I was taken back! What a epic epic lake! Heaven! Was i in it? After a quick walk and some observations we decided to drop at one of the lake which had some depth as the temp had dropped a bit and the wind had picked up. But I'd seen a few tinca so I was happy! I went about leading trying to find a clear spot. After a while I found a lovely hard spot behind a weed bed! I clipped up and introduced ten big spombs of hemp mixed with sticky baits krill active mix, sticky baits krill pellets and some red maggot!
Next I set up the rods! As I knew the lake was weedy and snaggy I didn't want to take any risks and loose fish or worse case scenario get cut off by snags I used light 2lb test curve carp rods, rods which had enough back bone to keep control of the fish and hopefully land them! Reels I used my trusty ss1600 this time coupled with a 10lb mono! Again to withstand the casting of the 2oz maggot feeders I was going to use and of course to withstand the tench possibly carp and the weed! Rig wise I used the 2oz inline maggot feeder with a four inch 10lb Drennan supplex hook link with a size 8 super Specailist barbel hook, hook bait again I used three plastic casters. Again for confidence knowing I could leave the rig out there until I get a bite and to stay in the rig to evade the other smaller species of fish.
With both the rods set up and a genurous bed of bait out there it was time to cast out! Both rods went out sweet! I was fishing! Finally! It was time to sit back take it all in and have some teas with my mate! And it wasn't long before my left rod went into melt down and I was into a fish! After a hairy fight I landed a very weeded up 4.8lb male tench! A great start!
I was more than happy that I caught my intended target! I re did both the rods. I like to cast every hour when tench fishing just to keep the swim topped up! You don't want them feeding and moving off! Sadly the wind picked up and the temperature dropped with it! And so did the signs of activity! I knew the odds were against me now! Time went on and I finally got my head down to be awoken by liner after liner at 3.30am! I woke up and just sat drinking tea awaiting for one of the rods to rip off but it didn't happen! I waited for first light to re clip up the rods and refil the feeders with Maggots as I was sure there were fish out there! Tench to! So I re did both rods and got them both out with no drama! I sat down with a tea feeling much more confident! The Bobin on the left rod cracked the blank and the line pinged out of the clip! Here we go! Again the fish weeded me up and luckily I got the fish out and half way in it must or shrugged the weed off its head and started really going for it! I knew this was a decent tench so I hung on for dear life and prayed I landed it! The tench rolled over the net and she was a big girl! I composed myself and got out my Mat and other weighing bits and bobs! Awoke my mate and weighed the beautiful tench!
The needle rolled over to 9.8lb a new personal best for me! I was overwhelmed by the big framed beauty! Such a epic epic tinca! My mate took a few shots for me and I released her back to her home with a big grin on my face!
Sadly We had to pack up, and every one hates packing up! But I didn't that morning! Buzzed by what I caught I was in love with the place! I knew I probably wouldn't get a ticket for the special syndicate so I didn't even think about! But whilst at work I received a call from my mate offering me a ticket!?! You can all guess what my answer was! My fishing won't start on there until June 16th which is when the new members can fish but I'm allowed to squeez in another guest session before hand! So I'm eager to get back! Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog I hope you enjoyed it and didn't get to bored.
Be lucky out there
