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.