19-06-08 Lake Ekete Lithuania

[Wandering_Angler]

Last time I fished Lake Ekete at the ‘Swimming Spot’ the Lilly pads were just starting to peek above the surface, but that was back over a month ago so wasn’t at all surprised to find the venue to now be in all its summer glory.



When you fish this swim the first hour is always crazy with silvers, it is not unusual to catch 60 or more to kick the session off. When the first hour is through, usually the shoal of what is mainly Rudd moves away or is fed off and you are then able to get at the other fish on the deck. This is how sessions at the ‘swimming Spot’ always take shape so when banging in my crumb mixed with crushed hemp and sweet corn I immediately saw Rudd on the surface I wasn’t at all surprised.

The first few casts also didn’t raise an eyebrow as it was a Rudd with every swing out to the pads using a size 18 barbless hook on 2LB line straight through and my usual waggler set full depth. I was using only two small droppers so to have some fun on the drop early on and was baited with single maggot died and flavored using strawberry powder.

Then something very odd happened, with only 5 or 6 fish in the net the bites stopped and no matter what I did, apart from the odd nice Roach, I couldn’t get them feeding again. Out came the feeder, a tactic I have had very little success with at this particular venue but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained.

I normally don’t fish further than about 6 meters in this swim, mainly due to the snags and tight nature of the venue but using 8LB line straight through I had the confidence to put the feeder two thirds of the way across.

I started with a worm but they didn’t want to know so then it was sweet corn followed by luncheon meatb again all with no result. A little worried about being troubled by smaller fish but with no other options left open I then switched to 2 maggots and one caster as a cocktail. First cast, the bobbin shot up and I was into a nice Skimmer.



I didn’t have to wait long for the next one, I had barely finished setting the bobbin and away it went again. I missed a few after that but these may have been smaller fish or line bites but the Skimmers did continue to come to hand and so the session went, the odd nice Roach to about 8oz on the float and nice Skimmers on the feeder to around 1 and a half pounds.



An odd session for this venue, only 61 fish (my last trip here on May 5th saw 225 in the net and that’s about par for this lake) but I was pleased, not so much because I managed to get amongst the Skimmers but more because I felt I had worked hard to scratch a reasonable bag of fish together when the water was fishing hard… very satisfying!





So I was very happy as I cycled across the open meadows with the sun setting over distant forest on my journey back to Green Valley and home.



A big thank you to Badget and her Mum who came to take some photos at the end of the session :)

[Banana Steve]

Nice One, Great Report, the venue looks fantastic. Well done on the skimmers/bream

[Wandering_Angler]

Cheers Steve, it was an enjoyable if a little hard session :)

[blackwater]

Great report and some cracking fish. Lithuania looks a lovely country i never imagined it to be quite like that.

[Wandering_Angler]

Thanks blackwater. Lithuania is a fantastic country, very modern but with a lot of unspoiled sceneray and the nature is amazing. Best of all there are miles and miles of water and very few anglers ;) 3 pounds a year to fish almost any of the waters and no close season :)

[John Marshall]

As always great pics and report,

[Norfolkboy]

Good going mate

[blackwater]

Originally Posted by Wandering_Angler

Thanks blackwater. Lithuania is a fantastic country, very modern but with a lot of unspoiled sceneray and the nature is amazing. Best of all there are miles and miles of water and very few anglers ;) 3 pounds a year to fish almost any of the waters and no close season :)

Sounds a bit like Northern Ireland about 15-20 years ago, but i dont no what has happened the place???