Last minute social resulting in a red eyed monster!

It had been on the agenda for a long time for me and my best mate brad to have a social but having busy family schedules and working all the time it's hard to fit it all in! But we finally pencilled in a date and we stuck to it! The chosen venue was a private syndicate I'm a member of and brad would be fishing as guest. Brad wanted to have a go for the carp and I was undecided, carp or tench? Being later in the year I knew the tench would be empty but still on the feed! I decided to have a go for the tench. The night before the session I prepared a small bucket of fresh hemp. And got out a kilo of 12mm sticky baits krill boilies from the freezer to defrost, my tactics were to rake a couple of areas and fish open end feeders on the spot with krill Wafters as hook baits, usually I'd use maggot or caster but the eels in this venue are a nightmare so any maggot or caster would result in a very slimy session! I arrived at the venue at first light and secured two swims close to each other. My swim had a large set of pads in the left margin and that was were one of my rods would be positioned the other two further out in the lake. I began to rake the margin spot close to the pads but having done this previously on a work party it didn't take me long and the spot was nice and Clear ready to present a rig onto the area. 

I mixed some hemp in with some sticky baits krill active mix and added some whole and chopped krill boilie, i mixed this up and balled out 10 tennis ball sized ground bait balls onto the spot,my set up for my tench fishing on this paticular venue is three ESP 2 1/2 test curve carp rods. There old rods and I believe the test curve is probably around the 2lb mark now! Perfect for dealing with big tench and possible carp! The venue is berg weedy and snaggy so I don't want to be putting the fish at risk by being under gunned! I use three bait runner reels loaded with 10lb ESP synchro XT mono, again a line which can handle the heat if the push comes to the shuv. Tackle wise on all three rods I used a 2ft length of ESP lead corse and  I fished a open end Drennan 2.5oz feeders helicopter style  with a short 6" 10lb supple hook links with a size 10 super specialist barbel hooks, realible tackle which will help me land tench and maybe carp if I were to hook one. I opted to use krill Wafters on all three rods as the carp Angler's have been catching all there tench on boilie. I postioned the first rod in the margin beside the pads on the spot I raked. For the other two I fished a small gravel patch big enough for two rods, this spot was about 30 yards range so I spombed the bait out over this area. It was a very slow day with only a few fish moving about but I wasn't to fussed as I knew the bite times were around first light usually. Having boilies on I didn't opt to res cast regularly, something I would usually do when using maggot feeders. I simply re cast the rods before dark, replenishing hook baits and re filling the feeders. 

It was a beautiful evening and me and brad and my other mate had a good social! I fell a sleep thinking and hoping of  dawn and what suprises it could bring? I had a few liners through the night but nothing happened. It wasn't long and I was peeling my sleeping bag off of my face and I looked out over the water.. Usually I'd wake up for first light but with having a young daughter and working long hours I got lazy this time around and dozed back off which felt like a etinity before being awoken by an absolute churner! I was out and on the rod instantly! It was the margin rod! The rod I knew which would go off!! The fish kited rapidly out towards the main area of the lake! Peeling line and flat rodding me !! I thought it was a small carp at first! But the classic head shake gave the game away! But this was no small tench! The fight was intense and I didn't want to loose this tench! It fort so hard under the rod tip! Eventually I swooped the net under the fish like a mad man! And it was in the net! Brad heard all the comotion and came over to help with the weighing and photos! I was over the moon with the tench! And the epic photos Brad took for me! A true green monster! 

Catching this beautiful tench made me realise I'd neglected targeting the species this year, but my they'd be getting my full attention come spring and early summer that's for sure! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog I hope you've enjoyed it. Be lucky out there 

In search of summer gold

Summer is one of my favourite times of year to fish, as long as it's not to hot I'm in my element sat out In a pair of shorts and t shirt loving life, there's a few species I like to target in the summer months and crucians are one of them. My first summer crucian session was due to take place at the end of June just before my ticket run out on club lake I was going to target. Marked in the calander in bold writing so I could count down the days to my session! It wasn't long before I was finishing up at work and I was sorting my kit for the session. Having previously fished the water a few times before hand a had plan in my head on which tactics to use, swim choice would be dependant on the wind and availability. I was up early to arrive at the venue at first light. I wondered the banks and found an area on the end of the wind and it didn't take me long to see some crucians rolling amongst tench and Rudd to. I set up base camp and started to prepare my spomb mix. 

My spomb mix is a pretty simple one. It consists of a F1 groundbait mixed with sticky baits krill active mix, hemp, caster and maggot. I like to put small feed items in the mix to keep the fish rooting around the baited area which in turn also holds the fish in the swim for longer. I'm not bothered about the smaller fish which will be attracted by the maggot, caster and hemp I want the swim to be active attracting all sorts of species as I found this method works really well for me on this particular venue! Once the mix was mixed I began to have a lead about as this time of year the venue can be very weedy. I was suprised by the amount of weed this year, it took me quite a long time to find a spot I was confident on fishing on. But I'd rather take my time to find a fish able spot with good line lay then waste a session fishing a bad spot. With the spot noted down, I clipped up my spomb to mark and introduced several spombs to get the spot rocking whilst I fiddled around with the rods. My standard set up for this style of crucian angling consists of two 12ft 1.25TV Drennan series 7 specialist Avon rods, coupled with two small reels loaded with 6lb Drennan method and feeder mono. You want something to take the strain of the cast and something strong to withstand the strain from big fish also. The Buisness end consists of two Drennan 35g inline flat method feeders, short 3" 6lb Drennan micro braid hooklinks with size 16 Drennan super specialist wide gape hooks. For the hook bait I want something which withstand the nusance fish and will always be fishing after aborted takes maximising your chances for take. So I opt to use a single buoyant caster. With the rods all set up I clipped them up to the same mark and mixed up my ground bait mix to be moulded around the feeder. This is the same mix as the spomb mix just with no free offerings so they home in on your hook bait. 

Both rods went out smoothly and it didn't take me long to receive the first bite resulting in a tench! 

The tench were relentless at the start! I was getting double takes at times but I knew it wouldn't be long for the crucians to turn up so I persisted with the constant tench! It really is relentless angling but it has to be done, constantly recasting the feeders and topping the swim up with spombs to hold the fish in your swim. It's a full on approach but it works. After wading through the tench the bites stopped so I left the feeders out knowing that the crucians could be feeding next, the bobbin pulled up slower and I was into my first crucian of the session. After a short spirited fight under the rod tip the lovely crucian was in the net. And I didn't have time to unhook it as the other rod was away also! Another crucian, with both fish safely in the net my friend fishing next door did the honours and took the photos for me. Photo quality is paramount to me so I'm always careful on who I chose to take my photos for me on my camera as I always want the best out of my shots and my mate Alex is very handy behind the lens and did all the photos of that session more than justice so thanks Alex mate! After a few snaps the bars of gold were slipped back to there home. 

Knowing the crucians were in the area I topped the swim back up with a few more spombs to hold the fish in the area. Like I said its active fishing! Tight baiting and accuracy is my key to my specimen angling and it certainly works. The bites kept coming, by this time it was just after 1pm and I'd landed five crucians all over the 3lb mark! 

I was buzzing how the session was going! The fish just kept feeding with tench and Rudd being behind Many of the bites but the crucians moved in when the other fish had there fill! I had another savage take which I was dead certain it had to be a tench! But it was a crucian, this fish was holding deep and was fighting a lot harder than the previous crucians caught from this session! I was playing this one with my heart in my mouth knowing the potential the lake holds! I eased the crucian in the net and she looked big! The scales swung round to a couple of ounces short of the magical 4lb Mark! Overwhelmed with this magnifecent specimen! 

I didn't even have time to do the shots before the other rod was away and I was into another hard fighting crucian! This session was turning out to be a blinder!

Again my friend took some lovely photos for me and the pair of specimens were returned to there home! I carried on topping the swim up regularly with the odd spomb and continued to re cast my feeders every so often, again very accurate to the spot! Probably a rod length apart from each other. The tench moved in once again causing mayhem! Double takes the lot! One particular tench gave a really good account for itself weeding me up a few times and really putting a bend in the 1.25test curve rods! The fight seemed like it lasted forever and eventually the tench was in the net! And what a beauty she was to! 

 

It was my biggest tench from the venue so I was happy with that! I went on to catch more crucians and more tench that day before getting my head down to get up at first light and start fishing again! It was time for some well deserved rest! 

I awoke just before first light, I made some fresh spomb mix up to re introduce to the swim and rested the area before fishing again. 

It was a beautiful morning! After some breakfast and a few cups of tea to get some caffeine into my system it was time to get the rods back out onto the spot. Again it didn't take me long to getting bites! This time for soap bar sized tench, these were relentless for the first hour but it didn't take long for the crucians to turn up! I landed a further three crucians all weighing over 3lb! 

It brought my tally to twelve crucians landed ten being over 3lb to 3.14lb and two being over 2lb, and over forty tench landed. I decided to call it a day and I left the venue with a smile on my face! I'm still undecided whether to renew my ticket to the club lake, I expect I will as its to much fun angling there, and these magnifecent bars of gold won't be around forever. The venue always pulls some negative comments but to me personally true crucians are hard on the ground to find these days and I didn't want to miss out on the opptunity of sharing there time In this life with us! I'm grateful I've been lucky enough to hold some of these special specimens! I hope you've enjoyed reading my latest blog entry, thanks again for taking the time to read it. Be lucky out there...