17-07-08 Ekete Overflow Drain

[Wandering_Angler]

Like many people reading this report, I remember as a youngster, sitting amongst the long grass on the banks of a canal and feeling a sense of adventure. Often, for me at least, it is the feeling of not being quite certain of what is going to happen next that makes fishing such an attraction.

Yesterday Marius and I decided to have a short 3 hour evening session and while driving in the general direction of the Ekete system but with no specific destination we decided to try a venue we had often spoken of but as yet had not tried.

Lake Ekete was formed by a damn wall being built over the western end of the River a short distance before it meets the River Dane. An overflow drops the water about 20 meters into a manmade drain on the opposite side of the damn wall. The drain itself, lined with concrete on one side and choked with weed on the other, is very short, perhaps only 200 meters, and has a width of less than 8 meters. The drain then releases into a stream that runs to the Dane river but during the summer this is only a few inches deep.



Because it is impossible to fish the far bank, partly due to access, partly due to the dense weed, it is necessary to sit on the concrete that forms the near bank, running from the track behind to the bottom of the drain. The bank is steep, running at a 45 degree angle making it impossible to seat a box or chair. So forgoing the usual comforts, it was that I revisited my childhood and perched myself on a clump of grass growing through a crack in the cold hard surface that molded the whole of the near side.



To be honest we didn’t have very much confidence, on plumbing the depth we had less than 30 inches of water, even in the middle. The bites came very slow and the fish we caught were a mixture of small Rudd and Bleak. Soon after starting some more ‘anglers’ arrived although their intent seemed more to drink, swear and listen to loud music than actually catch any fish. It is always a mystery to me how, in a country with 2800 lakes and 722 rivers, that with only a handful of anglers to fill them I so often have another angler decide to sit next to me.

As sport was not at a premium we decided to move the full length of the drain and fish at the opposite end, that being the furthest point from the damn wall from which fishing is actually possible. At the same time I decided to teach Marius how to make ground bait. The water here has no flow and not deep with colour so I elected for a sweet, light fluffy mixture of breadcrumb with casters and molasses. The mixture exploded on impact coloring the water with clouds that slowly drifted downward and out of our range of site.

Soon after the stamp of fish improved, with skimmers, Roach and Perch now all coming to hand. This wasn’t so bad, the rain was holding off, the bites were regular and the fish were reasonable. Then, without warning and completely to our surprise, Marius struck into something much bigger… “what’s this” came his excited cry, we didn’t have to wait long to find out as a few minutes later he was landing his first ever Crucian Carp.

A short time later I was into one of my own, but lost it at the net. But there was now a great feeling of anticipation, this little drain was actually surpassing expectations and with every cast came the possibility that maybe, just maybe you would feel the resistance of a larger fish. I was not to be disappointed as before the end of the session I managed to land 2 Crucians of my own, my first of 2008 and as always with wild Carp of any kind, I was filled with a feeling of achievement that ensured a beaming a smile.



Later, after the session we spoke with a local who fishes the venue regularly. He and his son were using very small live baits, apparently for Perch. He told us that while the venue is small and with no apparent way for fish to get there, it is in fact packed with Crucians and Perch to a very good size.



Considering this was a short session on a new and apparently unpromising water, I went home happy with my 66 fish that included 2 Crucians and one very good Roach. We are now planning to fish a night session here on Saturday.

[blackwater]

Great Report again as always and well done with the nice carp



BW

[Twiddler]

I can only ditto the above, great report again as always and some lovely Cruician. It's amazing what venues where you don't expect a lot can come up with.

[Wandering_Angler]

Cheers Guys, the Crucians were an unexpected but very welcome surprise :)