A very pleasant place to eat your sandwiches

[Vagabond]

Looking for a change from flyfishing my High Wealden streams, I thought a restful day at a managed lake would be nice. So armed with a stack of corned beef and piccalilli sandwiches, a favourable weather forecast, and a couple of split-bamboo rods, I set off for one of my syndicate waters.

The water is renowned for its carp, but I am a member because there are big tench in there, and that’s what I am after. On arrival, I am somewhat surprised to find only one other angler there – Fred – also seeking tench – hmmmm, is the end of the “big carp” craze in sight?

Normally one fishes for the tench with feeders and pellets or meat, and that means heavy-ish gear because of the danger of hooking a big carp – so 8lb line is the minimum that is sensible. So with 11 swims to choose from, I choose this one – I have had a couple of tench over 8lb from it in the past.



Its ten feet deep close to the margin, and shelves out from there to 12 feet and a sunken tree. So out with the Vitalin and molasses groundbait, laced up with bits of meat, some fresh sweet corn, maggots and a few pellets. Fished three hours, no bites, but a few tench bubbles showed. This lake is stiff with bloodworm, and it looks as if the tench are preocccupied with them today. Fred came round for a chat. Fred is one of the best big-fish anglers I know (Two carp over 40, several double-figure tench, eels to 6 lb and no fewer than 11 perch over 4 lb) so anything he says about fishing is worth listening to. Not much useful advice this time though – he had been there two days and nights and just a 3 lb eel to show for it.

After Fred went back to his swim I decided on a complete change of tactics. Although I had come here set up for feeder fishing, I opted to rig up some float tackle and fish the lift method. This is normally very effective for tench, but at this particular venue there is a downside - stacks of roach of just over half a pound (a few run to one pound plus) all of which are under the impression they are really tench, and give perfect “lift” bites to prove it.

…and so it proves – lift bite after lift bite, but roach on every bait I offer - lobworms, eight maggots crammed on a size 6, four grains of maize, and the biggest halibut pellets I have with me. The only bait that is ignored is meat cubes – but I had already found that out with my feeder rigs.

Because the tench seem to be working the bottom for bloodworms, I lace my swim with several handfuls of maggots – those that make it to the bottom past the voracious roach shoals might just get the tench onto maggot instead of bloodworm. Put bunches of maggot on the hook, and hope for the best. The roach are still busy though – must have had over 50 by now.

Time for lunch, and as you can see, it’s a very pleasant place to eat your sandwiches, and whilst eating, you get a lift bite from another roa…….No it bl**dy isn’t ! This is a good fish! Its storming for the gap between bank and island – ah, turned it! Now thumping away deep down and its just a matter of time. So the maggot bashing idea seems to have worked.



The tench is quite a good one, but not one of the real monsters which are in here. At 7-12 it equals the forum record I set in 2006 and is a good start.

A start – and a finish. All of a sudden the sun comes out, the bubbles stop coming up, and apart from the odd priming roach, the lake goes dead. Clearly tench fishing is at an end for the day. So what to do next?

Get the carp going in dogbiscuit corner?



…or see if I can top the lake’s best roach ?



Well, the dogbiscuits are in the Landie, but I have stacks of maggots still, so I elect for the latter, and soon get the roach up in the water with a continuous loose feed of maggot. Once they are up and feeding well, I change to a bigger bait – two grains of corn on a size 10, that should winkle out some bigger fish. It does - plenty of roach, some close to the pound mark – but I forgot to take any roach pictures – still, you all know what a 15oz roach looks like, don’t you?

Suddenly WALLOP! and something gobbles a roach I was bringing in – a pike, not entirely unexpected here. A surge or two and the expected bite-off doesn’t happen. Get him near enough to see, and the line is coming out of the angle of the jaw. He’s off again, out of sight now and deep down, but I stop him. BLIMEY! He’s suddenly got the strength of fifty pike and is plugging away for the far end. Then he stops, and reverses direction towards me. I wind, and something big becomes visible down there – a great creamy flank, four times as long as the pike! What the…?

Then, all of a sudden the monster lets go, and I reel in a pike looking very sorry for itself, with a huge chunk of skin and flesh missing from the tail root. Just for a while, I had been playing three fish at once on a size 10 hook.



Yes, I forgot to tell you about the huge catfish that lurk here, for whom a jack pike is just a snack between meals. Talking of which, there are no more sandwiches left – time to go home.

[pingu]

fantastic report dave
sounds a top day

dave

[KABBYCHRIS]

Nice fish, sounds a cracking place well done. I do like the sound of corned beef and piccalilli sandwiches.

[Michael1992]

Amazing report there
Never heard of a cat fish taking fish of that size though? Thats fishing!
Tight lines
Michael!

[Vagabond]

Originally Posted by Michael1992

Amazing report there
Never heard of a cat fish taking fish of that size though?

I hear that on the Ebro they regularly livebait with 5lb carp

[the_ bandit]

nice tench!!! whats was the weight approx and was it caught using meat? ? nice spot !

ps those are cracking looking rods you were using !!

[Michael1992]

Originally Posted by Vagabond

I hear that on the Ebro they regularly livebait with 5lb carp

Thats amazing Lol, I happily bag up on carp to 5lb, Would be shocked if i saw something take a carp of that size :P
I did see once though on the ebro of them using a tench of around a pound and a half being used as live bait.
Also, when they checked the contents of the catfish's stomach, there was no end of course fish there, Some slightly digested! . . .
Michael!

[fishypaul]

great report vagabond,thats one water i would love to fish

[the_ bandit]

so was the pike on a size 10 with the sweetcorn??

[Twiddler]

Another superb report/pics Dave and a really nice looking tinca.

Sounds like the lake can be a challenge, I like that, it makes you think more about your fishing tactics, rather then sitting at an over stocked lake pulling one fish out after the other.