0 ...I was doing battle with what was clearly another big fish...
RIck Golder: My Fishing Year 2024 - Part Two
My Fishing Year 2024 Part 2
Come April I was keen to get back on to the big pit, especially as the previous year I had given the entire spring a miss, fearing it would be busy, which it wasn’t! I carried on where I’d left off, fishing the snaggy areas using the Green Beast. Not in massive quantities, just enough to get a bite at a time. On that first trip I had 5, including 2 decent fish over 30 lbs
However, it was heart in your mouth stuff, hit and hold using braided mainlines, and although it was good for bites, I grew tired of that sort of fishing. I’d lost a couple too, the nature of this type of fishing unfortunately, plus this area seemed to house a lot of small fish. It was time to get out onto the bigger areas of the lake, and I had a place in mind to start this.
There is an area at the bottom end which is like a lake within the lake, and I’d fished it a bit the year before. It’s tricky though, as its very deep and silty, a lot of the bottom being stinky and very soft, plus a lot of the fish that show in there do so at very long range. I had caught from a couple of spots in there, but after packing up from the other end one day, I took my boat down and spent several hours with a donking rod. This was invaluable, as I found a lovely firm area at the bottom of a drop off. The following week I was back and giving it a go. The conditions were poor, with a biting NE wind and high pressure, but I had a single bite and another 30 lb mirror, off the new spot.
This was especially pleasing in such tough conditions, and I hoped I had found something to build on. I put several handfuls of green beast on it before I headed home. I did two more sessions in there, having fish on each, and every bite came from this new spot, the areas I had fished the year before giving me nothing. It was clear I had found something good, and it proved the case the week after when at first light I had a ripping take and an arm aching battle with a stunning old looking common that went 39 lbs.
This was spawned out, and indeed later that same week, with the weather warming up at last, they were all at it.
Around this time, I had been chatting to Fenton at DT about a summer fishmeal. I’ve always used fishmeal’s in summer and autumn, but the range at DT had made it harder and harder! I had caught well on the N blend every time I’d used it, and I was tempted to use this, but in the end, I went with the pukka fish. Now this base mix is special, a proper old school colour, and a blend of top-quality ingredients. What I like is its coarse make up allows oils and liquids to penetrate it, and in warm water temperatures this soaking process gives off extra attraction, as well as resisting nasty silty odours. I also liked how it broke down over time and washed out slightly, all of which increased its effectiveness.
With the big lake closed for spawning, I headed over to a club lake which I hadn’t fished since the spring before. I arrived at first light, and headed around the lake armed with a bucket should I find a swim to secure. It’s a stunning lake, old and established, with narrow paths and huge willows that overhang the margins. I hadn’t got far from the car park when I saw a fish show in a shallow bay, followed by several patches of frothy bubbles. I had never fished this end before, and although I did a full lap, this looked the place to start. It was very shallow, and incredibly weedy too, and I had no choice but to spend far longer than I would have liked with a bare lead on the braid, trying to find a drop. Eventually I found a small sandy strip, that was just about big enough for two rods, and another clear area out to the right for a third. I had seen several more show, but the clear areas I had were nowhere near these, I had to hope the bait would work its magic and bring them to me. It was good though, as it was within easy catapult range, which after all the leading noise I had made, at least meant baiting up was a bit stealthier. There was still some bubbling going on, and almost at once I had a take on my left-hand rod. It was clear it wasn’t a carp, and I was soon netting a huge tench, together with 4 more of his mates over the following few hours. It was clear they were ravenous, and I had to change something in the hope of avoiding any more. I put all 3 rods onto big blatant hinge stiff rigs, with a good 2-inch hook section popped up and thick 25 lb fluorocarbon booms hoping the crudeness would put the tench off. Later that afternoon I had another bite, but this felt different and left me in doubt that I was attached to a carp, that ran from weed bed to weed bed as I attempted to keep it moving by piling on heavy pressure. It was a good tackle test, but with the strong gear and big hook I pulled over the net cord a cracking 34 lb dark mirror with a huge ball of weed.
I did some self takes, and repositioned the rod, which wasn’t easy, the spot being so narrow, I had to clip the weed at the back and then hold it on a tight light to fall onto the clear area. The night was quiet and I was up at dawn watching, as the odd fished showed around me. I had another bite that afternoon, landing a second 30 lb mirror, thankfully the tench seemed to have left too, as I had no more. That evening it was clear the fish were here, as on dark I heard several massive splashes all around me, and time and again waves hit the bank beneath my rods as fish after fish launched themselves completely clear of the water. It was exciting, and I simply knew something was going to happen. Two bites came quickly, one on each rod on the thin clear strip, both mirrors over 30 lb, and with the fish there I didn’t recast. I was down to a single rod when just on first light that last one tore off, and I was doing battle with what was clearly another big fish. It was too, at 38 lbs the biggest, but also the best, a fully scaled beast that was probably one of the best-looking fish I’ve ever caught! I popped it back in the landing net and staked that out, while I hurriedly prepared my self take kit. Once everything was framed up and ready, I picked up the net only to find the fish had jumped out, and was gone! Five bites and five 30’s, no losses in heavy weed and a massive confidence boost with the pukka fish bait!
With the big lake open I was back there in mid-June. The fish were well spawned out, and I began concentrating on a small swim on one of the islands. I had done well in here, and it fished a channel that was a pathway for the fish between two parts of the lake. I took several fish from here over the next few weeks, enjoying the solitude this swim gave, and having some BBQ feasts in the warm sun on my little island.
All the fish were well down, but I wasn’t worried it was nice to have bites, and gave me time to plan my autumn campaign. Around the end of August, I knew I wanted to start preparing an area which I felt gave me a good chance at one of the two biggest fish. They both had form for this part of the lake, and up until now it had been mostly ignored. I didn’t want to go straight in there, knowing some bait would only help for a while first. It was important as by now much of the bottom was covered in dying weed, the result of several weeks of thick algae growth. This weed made the silt smell pretty rancid, and unless I fished on the hard gravel I wasn’t confident that I was presenting well. Luckily a good friend made me up a big bucket of particle, and I began introducing this in an effort to clear the spots off. I also used the Crustazia stick mix, coupled with some DNA liquid and lake water, and balled up into cannonball sized lumps that I put in with the particle. These balls made a satisfying sound as they went in from the boat, and I’d watch as they free falled to the dark depths below. If I hung around, within minutes I could see roach and tench topping on it, everything loved it! My little island swim gave me a nice send off in the shape of a 39 lb mirror, one of the mid 40s spawned out, and I began the covert baiting in earnest.
It was all coming together nicely, and I concentrated in a different area for those weeks while I gave the baiting a chance.
After two weeks it was ready to go, and I couldn’t wait to get underway. However, the lake gave me another result just before the move, I’ll let you know in part 3.
Rick Golder.