Sunday morning at Corn Hill

[northern eye]

Sunday morning saw me visiting Corn Hill Course Fishery for a short session, a beautiful little 2 lake hideaway near East Cowton, North Yorks. I have been coming here on and off for a few years now and it really is a nice place to fish. The lakes are very established and in summer you are fishing amongst bull rush lined banks and casting to islands surrounded by lily pads. The fishing here has always been a good mixed bag of Carp, Tench, Roach, Rudd and Perch but there are some surprises hidden in these deep lakes such as double figure Koi and Golden Tench. A fantastic treat if hooked on a summers evening. The lakes have fared well over the harsh winter with only 2 carp of a about 5 pounds being lost to the chill.

I chose to fish the second, smaller lake which is more sheltered from the elements that, although not storm conditions, were still a little wintery. A side wind and cold rain throughout the session meant the umbrella was up and hot tea from the flask was a regular and welcome treat.

Having mainly fished these waters in spring/summer I took a frugal approach with bait, only packing 1/2 pint of bronze and a pint of red maggots, some corn and a little hemp mixed into my groundbait for the feeder.

I set up a light Drennan Feeder rod for the maggotfeeder coupled with a Drennan Series 7 Reel. Mainline was 5 pound Series 7 with a 4 pound hooklink approx 18 inches long to a size 16 Super Specialist Hook. For the corn rig I used my ever faithful Ron Thompson feeder rod teamed with an Okuma mini baitrunner reel (great reel for the price)and a slightly heavier Series 7 mainline at 8 pounds to a 6 pound hair rigged hook length. I attached a standard Drennan Cage feeder to this rig using small Preston innovations Snap Links with a small rubber bead. Both rigs were set up as simple sliding rigs, ideal for the shy bites in the cool February water.

As it was a short session I threw all eggs in one basket and went for the 2 rod option, although somewhat hard on the eyes flicking between 2 quiver tips, I was hopeful of a good carp but also wanted to attract some silvers to keep me going.

I loaded up the groundbait feeder with a mixture of hemp,shrimp crazybait and Sensas Lake mixed active as some colour has been lost from the water. I only placed 3 or 4 bits of corn in the feeder each time. On the hair was a medium sized niblet and also a bit of fake floating corn to lift the rig slightly and let it feel as natural as possible if there are any takers. A cast out into the deepest area of the lake seemed as good a place as any and this rig was left alone only to be recast every half hour or so.

Next I started on the red maggots, chucking in a few feeders full over to an overhanging evergreen on the island. I nicked 2 red wrigglers on the hook and cast out again, the feeder hit the water lightly and as it hit bottom, I tightened up the line, slightly curving the quivertip to show up any tiny bites.

Bang! Bang! Immediately the maggot rig was attacked and 2 sharp jerks on the tip made me spring into action. I had missed these but would be ready for the next ones. Again 2 sharp jerks and I struck on the second. Fish On!! A lovely small roach with fins of the deepest red skipped across the surface and into the net. I quickly returned the little silver beauty and recast. Again the same happened. Another pristine roach. This continued for some time and I was happy to be catching after such a bleak & near blank winter.

The corn rig remained quiet for the first few hours, two guys behind me on the other lake had managed to fool a couple of small carp so confidence was high and warmed by the constant roach action I reeled in the maggot rig and gave the swim a break to concentrate on any small knocks I could have been missing on the corn rig. During this time I lightly baited a new area with a few bronze maggots in the hope of something different.

As the next warming cuppa was poured I noticed a slight movement on the quiver tip. Something was interested in my corn feast but whatever it was, they were feeling wary. Again the light quiver tip gently arched and then sprung back into place. I let a little line out in case the fish was feeling some resistance. Nothing! I reeled in and checked the rig. The niblet was gone!! Somebody was hungry. I quickly refilled the feeder, threaded another piece of corn on the hair and recast to the left of the last spot. It was some time before anything happened then a sharp tug on the tip, then another, made my hand hover in anticipation over the rod handle but it was not to be, again the rod fell still.

I decided to continue with my quest for something different so loaded up the maggot feeder with bronze grubs and cast into the new swim. It wasn't long before the tip began to show signs of an interested fish but this time, the bites were more intense, sharp rattling hits which were hard to strike at. It must be a perch I thought and with a quick strike my thoughts were proved correct as a nice perch of about 1/2 pound hit the net. The perch continued to show and were in fantastic condition, deep green with wonderful red tips on the fins. My corn rig was being gently investigated every now and then, but still no positive takes.

A strike on a tiny bite gave me a nice surprise when a gudgeon about 6 inches long fell to the bronze maggots. This little fish was definitely the biggest gudgeon I've ever caught so was a nice first on a cold day. I decided that the carp were not going to show today, but as I reeled in I was happy that something had definitely shown an interest in my ‘carp style’ corn rig and this filled me with confidence that they will be feeding and biting soon.

My final treat of the day came in the form of a splendid roach, perhaps 3/4 of a pound or more, taken when I made a final switch back to red maggots to use up the last of the tub. A big hit on the tip after a quiet period nearly made me jump out my seat as I struck and felt that this, was definitely something a little better, it even had a bit of resistance on my light tackle but it was soon in the net and what a wonderful looking roach it was.
As I slipped the silver ingot back into the water I smiled and chuckled, thinking about my mini conquest on this 'nippy' Sunday morning.

Packing up the gear, thoughts were of Roast beef and Yorkshire Puds and a lazy Sunday afternoon with the family, but also, I was already planning my next trip to this magical corner of North Yorkshire known, as Corn Hill.