Syndicate 25.08.13

A few days before my 34th birthday I had been invited to fish the syndicate lake again (thanks Scott). We arrived at the lake around 5.30pm, the lake had been closed for a few days due to an air show on the adjacent field, due to the planes taking off & landing so close to the lake Scott thought it be wise to close it for a few days. We pulled up slightly early and managed to catch a few of the planes landing. After watching them for half an hour or so they all took off into the sky and we were free to start fishing!
First of all we took a walk around the lake to see if we could see any signs of fish movement/feeding and unusually for this lake we couldn't see any clear signs. I once again decided to hit the same spot, which wasn't a bad thing I think too many anglers fish the same spot a couple of times and after not hitting into anything big they decide not to fish there again this however is not the case for me.
It was 8pm before anything happened, Lee's rod screamed off and after a 15 minute battle (which we have become accustomed to on this lake) the first fish was on the bank a cracking 17lb 10 common.

Once again the nut spod mix had worked. After a few quick photos and slipping it back we decided to get some food down us. It was 10.30pm before any more action, again Lee's rod went screaming off but unfortunately it snagged him up in some weed and the hook pulled. After that it was time for us to get our heads down and hopefully be woken up by the bite alarms.
Morning came with no action over night but knowing the swim was generally good for a bite I decided to pull my rods in check my rigs and put a fresh lot of bait out on all 3 spots. After chucking back out it was time for breakfast, like always Lee had brought a fee pounds of sausage meat with him for us to have a hearty breakfast to keep us going through the day. The morning and early afternoon passed with no action until 3:30pm when I had a drop back on the left hand rod(nut mix) I lifted into it whilst walking backwards and reeling at the same time to take up the slack,with in seconds I could tell it was no carp but a snotty bream,not what we wanted but at least I knew my rigs were working. After slipping it back I decided to put 2 rods on that spot ,one on the new boilies I'm testing and the other one would stay on the pop-up corn. After re-casting I put 10 more spods over the top and about 50 or so boillies. With the conditions not being very good with a cold north-easterly howling down the lake it was early evening before the next take,the new boilie's had done the trick.I could tell instantly that this was a better fish,it dragged me all over the lake even picking up my other line which could of been a problem but lee came to lend a hand, 20 min later I had my biggest fish of the lake to date,a cracking looking common at 17lb 8 needless to say I was over the moon after a few pics

I slipped her back,I took a few minutes to calm down and gather my thoughts then went though my routine of walking all 3 rods out to my mark,clipping up putting new rigs on and getting them back on the spots with more bait over the top. Although I was confident of another bite nothing happened till 6:30 the following morning when I had a take but lost it in the weed(gutted). Later that morning we were just sitting down to eat breakfast when the new boilie rod screamed off,10 min later my second fish of the set was on the bank a stunning mirror.

After slipping it back I went back to get my breakfast,which the Mrs had eaten most of(thanks Kelly).
Shortly after that it was time to leave,the wind had picked up and we were out off bait but it will not be long before I'm back,the hunt for a big girl continues!!!

The Syndicate 18.08.13

Early Sunday morning I got a phone call off lee asking if I wanted to drop onto the syndicate again for a quick over-nighter. After the success of the last set on there I could hardly refuse,so I packed the car and headed over to Lee's.
We arrived at the lake a little after midday after having a quick walk around and knowing we were only here for a quick over night session I decided to fish the same spots.
After going through my routine of casting out,clipping up,marking my line etc it was time to choose the rigs. Over the left hand rod (which was going to be the particle rod again) I fished a combi rig with 2 popped up bits of corn. The other 2 rods would go across the far margin, both were on standard bottom bait rigs with a pva stick on to mask the hook in case of snagging the tree during the cast, as the 2 boilie spots were tight into the tree line.
The first couple of hours past without any interest,conditions weren't brilliant with a cold easterly wind howling down the lake. Half past 3 came and I started to get a few indications on the particle rod,the bobbin lifting up and down ,the usual indications you get when a few fish are in the swim, 20 minutes later it roared off.The lead ejected on the take causing the fish to come up above the weed, 5 minutes later there was a lovely common on the bank, another really pretty clean fish. After slipping it back I re-cast to the same spot and put a few more spods out over the top, hoping to snag another quick fish.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be. After having some food and discussing the options with Lee, I decided to re-cast the 2 boilie rods. Whilst walking up to the rods from Lee's camp (which wasn't far away from mine) the right hand boilie rod didn't scream off, but rather plodded away quite gradually as if the fish didn't know it was hooked! Until I lifted up into it and then all hell broke loose. After what can only be described as a 20 minute battle from weed bed to weed bed, snag to snag, the 2nd fish of the set was on the bank. A stunning common and my biggest off the lake so far. Although still not one of the monsters that are in this lake, slowly but surely they were getting bigger for me!

 By the time I slipped this one back it was early evening the wind had picked up, so I decided to pull all the rods back and put some bait on the spots for the night to come,I then had a quick cup of tea and a chat with Lee. Lee wasn't feeling the peg he was in and didn't think it would produce a bite, so he decided to move to a peg further down the lake. After helping Lee move I headed back to my camp,the reason I didn't put the rods straight back out onto the spots was to let any fish come and have a free feed to build their confidence. After getting the rods back on the spot a couple of hours later and making sure I had rigs ready for the night I decided to get in my bivvy and get my head down.
The next thing I knew it was 7am and I crawled out my bivvy to see Lee landing his first fish of the set, another beautiful fish as they all have been out of here,just showing that being able to read the swim and having the confidence to move pegs during a short set can pay off. Well played Lee.

After battling the elements for the next few hours with no success I decided to call it a day whilst Lee decided to carry on and stay until early evening, to see if he could nick another bite but unfortunately this wasn't to be.
Although the hunt for the bigger ones still continues it was nice to bag a couple if fish in conditions that weren't perfect.

The syndicate video

Here is a video from the last set on the new syndicate i hope you enjoy.

The Syndicate 06-08-2013

It’s Tuesday morning and all the gear is ready to go for a two night session on a new lake. Lee turned up around midday and we were off. I have never seen this lake before apart from on goggle maps and friends photos. To say I was excited is an understatement. The first impression of the lake was a good one. We both had a walk around and spoke to a couple of members who were after the big Tench. After spying a couple of fish mulling around on the top on the west bank we made our way back to car to get the Floater kit out. My rod was already set-up with a Controller Float so I started to feed Floaters which the fish reacted to instantly. As soon as they started taking them Pac Man style i made the first cast. It was looking great for a take when Lee shouts “am in lad” he had got one out the margin Free-Lining bread. His fish crashed up the swim so I reeled in to help out. First fish I see on the bank is a lovely little Common. After that the wind got up so we decided to set-up camp on the south bank half way up the lake. After having a feel round with a lead for an hour I decided to fish a clear gravel spot i found in the middle of the lake in about 17 foot of water. The lake is very weedy and the water is gin clear so I couldn’t ignore this spot for the first night.  I put two rods on this spot fishing both with Krill Bottom Baits; the third rod will be on a spot one of the old boys told me he had raked out under a tree. This would be perfect for the new Nut Particle mix I would be testing for Soar Tackle. Unfortunately the old boy was fishing his lines over the spot so I had to wait till early evening to get the bait and rod on there.

 

 It was slow up until the early hours of the morning when I was woken by I one toner off the Nut mix. I nice little Mirror to start me off.

The next fish fell to Lee early morning on his Nut mix spot a nice little Common. After that it was time for breakfast, Lee cooked up a pound of sausage meat with bacon eggs and beans just what we needed to get the day started. With nothing happening on the two Boilie rods I got the Marker out again and had feel round on the opposite bank. There is a big tree over hanging the margin and I found two nice silt spots about two rod lengths apart. Accuracy was key with these spots as they were tight into the tree line. I put the two rods on the spots and fired in half a kilo of Krill Boilies on them.  A couple of hours later I had a take-off one of the Boilie rods which I lost in the weed. Proof the change of spots was a good move. Minutes later the Nut mix rod was off and i was bent into my third take.

On the bank was a lovely Common only a small one but a great looking fish. Throughout the day the Nut mix spot keep me busy with a couple more takes first from another Common and then a stunning Mirror with white tips on its fins similar to the Common Lee had at the beginning of the session.

The next fish was on Lee’s Krill Boilie rod another nice Common. Things went quite after this so I took the time to tie more rigs and make sure am all ready for the night.  I am glad I did this as from nine till four in the morning I had six more takes. Each one ran from weed bed to weed bed causing me to lose two out the six even though I was dropping the lead on each take. Although the fish landed where all singles the battles I had were like none I had landed before, they fought hard then any of the 20s I’ve had this year so far. That is a true testament to the fish and the quality of the water.

 

 I didn’t get much sleep so I kept on top of the rigs, re-sharpening the hooks and tie a new one if necessary. I think this is where a lot of anglers go wrong with not spending the time making sure everything is in perfect working order even through the night. The other key point to getting these takes is being able to hit the spot in the dark. I do this by clipping my rods up in the day to the spot using a reference point on the top of the tree which will be visible at night and marking my line. Then at night I walk the rod out on the bank to the marker and clip the rod up. This way I insure I hit the right spot every time. Effort equals reward. The next couple of hours passed without a take until Lees rod ripped off with a upper double Common. Soon after this the wind changed direction and the pressure started rising and no matter how hard we tried the fish were just not playing ball. It was early evening before the next take falling to Lee`s rod another lovely little Mirror. As Lee was returning the fish one of my rods ripped off.

 As I was about to net the fish I had another take which Lee hit into for me. Lee passed me the rod moments later but after a couple more minutes the hook pulled first one of the session gutted. That was the end of the set for me. A busy two nights on the bank although these fish were not the biggest in the lake but size doesn’t matter when they fight so hard and look so good. I look forward to returning soon.