I do have some trepidation about going there mainly due to the fact that it seems to attract the fishing commentators. From the angling point of view though it's a great fishery.
Anyway, I arose from my bed at the usual time and was loaded and on the road just before 6:30. The car seems to run on auto-pilot at times and this was borne out by the fact that I went the wrong way at the crossroads and ended up shooting past the bottom of Roodlands Lane! I quickly reversed the car and headed back in the right direction. This in fact worked out well for me as another angler arrived at the gate a few seconds before me meaning that I only had to get out of the car to lock it.
I drove slowly down the lane until I arrived at the car park. I knew, obviously I wasn't the first there but on arrival I discovered that I was actually the third!
I unloaded the car and made my way to my chosen swim which was on the far side of the lake behind the first island.
I chose this swim because since the island's vegetation had been cut back which means that you can easily cast tight into the far bank with a waggler or a small leger.
As the weather had been improving over the week I'd decided to use some ground bait on this session. I kept it pretty basic, brown crumb, some carp attractor, a few pellets, about a pint of hemp and a generous helping of corn. Once mixed I let it stand for 20 minutes or so before throwing 3 big balls in about 2 thirds of the way across. Next I set up my waggler rod. I normally use a 3bb waggler but today I chose to go up a weight for the extra casting distance so it was a 2aa that went on. I also went for a bigger hook (size 16) as a precaution.
The leger set up was the same as normal, size 16 hook to 6lb main line on my feeder rod.
As I was setting up one of the anglers who had arrived before me saw my match rod and remarked that "I was to be careful as there are some monsters in here, you can get them in but they will take you all round the lake first". I should have listened.
I made my first casts just before 8am. The leger rod was cast close to the island on my left hand side, the waggler was cast directly in front of me just past where I had fed the ground bait. For bait I used a monster crab and shellfish 10mm boillie and single maggot respectively.
I didn't have to wait long for my first bite. As the float disappeared I struck and in came my first skimmer of the day.
Buoyed by my instant success I re-cast and yet again the float went however this time it was a small roach that was responsible. I stayed on single maggot for the first few hours. Another roach and a few more skimmers made the virtual net before I decided to switch hook baits to corn.
The gamble paid off as soon after changing I was into another skimmer, this time it was one of the larger ones (see below).
At 9:15 the buzzer went off on the feeder rod and I was into my first carp of the day. There's a lot of room at Chittenden so I was able to walk down the bank to play the fish away from the other swim. A few minutes later this 7lb mirror was in the net.
A mere 15 minutes later, the buzzer went off again and I was into another fish. I could tell that this one was bigger than the previous one so I played it very carefully. Soon the fish, which I still hadn't seen was swimming directly beneath my feet in about 2 feet of water. Despite the pressure I was applying it still refused to come to the surface. Suddenly there was a loud crack and my feeder rod broke! With the broken rod in one hand I grabbed the line with the other and managed somehow to get the fish in the net! The culprit was a 9lb common (see below).
After returning the fish to the water I set up my Shimano rod as the leger rod and re-cast.
Back on the float rod the skimmers kept coming. I continued to feed the swim with ground bait every hour and loose fed corn every cast or so.
Around 2pm the float slid away and I struck. I knew straight away that this wasn't a skimmer. Round and round the fish went, I was playing the fish very carefully as I was only using my match rod and was a rod down on the day as it was! My patience was rewarded when this 7lb mirror was on the bank (see below).
The skimmers kept coming through the afternoon. The leger rod was quiet. This all changed at 5:30 when the buzzer went and I was into another carp. A small fight followed in which I came out victorious again. The victim this time was another 7lb mirror (see below).
I called it a day at 6:30 having had 16 bream, 4 roach and 4 carp at a cost of one Maver Abyss feeder rod! Still had an enjoyable day though especially as the commentators didn't show.
No comments:
Post a Comment