a full house of preds

[baitmaster]

well with the decorators in it was just the excuse i needed to get away for a couple of nights zedding on the fens .
so get a coffee and settle downas this is not a short report .
i set off around mid morning and took a leasurely drive to the fens i soon was looking at the drain i was going to fish .
i decided to walk the drain and find a nice fishy looking swim where i could catch some bait fish and then hopefully some zeds after dark .
there was a couple fishing up the drain so i stopped and had a quick chat to them and decided to fish well away from them as i did not want to encroach on there fishing .
i soon found a good looking spot and set up base camp and got the kettle on for a welcome brew before i got down to bait catching .
the banks are quite high here as you can see as i,m standing at the bottom .

i was catching bait fish of all species and i was really enjoying it and did not want to stop but i caught enough baits so i tranfer these into my specially adapted bucket and sunk it in to the water in my swim this keeps my bait fresh at all times but the buckets must be sunk well into the water and staked out .

the afternoon was uneventful so i done myself some tea and then got down to getting ready for the serious stuff .
i was using really simple tactics which were a running ledger rig and two bouyant ledger stem rigs .
two were place to my left and right margins and the third was sent over to the far margin .
as dusk fell i was excited with the prospect of a couple of runs and all was quiet and at around 8 pm i got a real tentative pick up on the far bank, i waited and was not sure whether it was my livebait or a pick up at first, but then i knew it was a take and leant into the fish it was a strange battle as it did not fight at all and came up to the surface to my now waiting net it was very lightly hooked but it looked an old zed .
i weighed it at excactly 7lb to a couple of shots and allowed it to recover before i released it .

it was really quiet and there was a little drizzle in the air so i sat in my bivvy i got a nother gently pick up on my in side rod and struck and played it to the surface where it let go of my bait .
this was sent down the margin again and i returned to my bivvy another 45 minutes past and my other margin rod gave me a gentle pick up this was soon brought to the surface were the zed let go again .
at this point i decided to get my head down but i was not in my bed long because the margin rod spurted into life i again connected with the zed and it again put up no fight and soon was in the net this time i brought it up to the top and turned my head light on and could see it was the same zed i caught about three hours earlier .
again i took a picture from the other side but did not weigh it as i knew it was 7lb

this got me thinking about the other two i had dropped both looked around the sam size .
the runs were identical and was thinking whether these zeds were infact the same one .
i soon was a sleep and was awoken by a one tooner at 6 am but i missed it on the strike .
once breakfast was out of the way i reeled in and went for a walk about as i think with how it fished last night and was pretty sure i pestered by the same zed on no fewer than for occassion but i know two were the same , that a swim move was in order .
by dinner time the move to the new swim was done and with lunch out of the way i spent a nother couple of hours catching some bait for that night .
again with this done the rodswere put out to there now new locations .
i was glad to see the wind ease of a bit as it was playing havoc with my bobbins .
i soon had a steady rise on the rod near to the lillies and as i got to it every thing went slack, i quickly wound down and struck and the fish i was attached too was trying its hardest to get in the lillies under my feet i had the rod out at arms length trying to keep it out but it manage to get in them.
i applied more pressure and finally i got it out all thoughts were going on in my mind as i battled it but soon my suspicions were confirmed when it surfaced and i could see it was a nice looking pike .
it was doing itself proud and fought well and also was nice to see it tail walk (shame i could not get a pic )
soon it was in the net and i carried it up to the top of the bank and unhooked it it went 10lb on weighing it but it was long an lean

still was a nice change to catch a pike and it was soon released to go back and sulk in the depth some where .
a fresh bait was hung on the hooks and sent down the side of the lillies again .
nothing happen for a couple of hours and at around 6.30pm i got a steady pick up on my far margin rod i was soon down to the rod and struck and was met with a steady resistance .
i brough it across the drain thinking this feels a good fish, then it woke up as it was near this bank and i applied a lot of pressure and it was having none of it and stayed deep.
i had a full bend in my 2lb test balista,s and it was hanging deep i thought to my self this is a decent zed a further couple of minute of the zed walking the dog so to speak as i could do nothing and it was in control i finally got it to surface and surfaced an the surfaced boiled and i could make out the zed in all the spray it kicked up and it looked a very good fish indeed .
it tried on two more occassion top get free and dived hard i had to give it line again oi applied pressure and it resurfaced to be met but my net.
i relieved it was in and i wanted to see this fish i gathered up the net and carried it excited to the top of the bank and on parting of the net was met by a magnificent zander .
it was soon unhooked and weighed and then i staked it out in my landing net to recover and myself also .
i went to get shaun who was fishing up the drain with his good lady as i wanted to get some good pics of the fish and also as he had not seen a zed it was a good one to show him.
i have to thank his wife for doing the pics for me as i hope you agree have come out really well .
12lb

i was really happy now its all way nice to bank your first double of the season and did not really care if i had nothing else .
i chilled out with a coffee outside the bivvy thinking of the capture and what else the night could bring.
soon the moon was rising up into the sky and making it easy to see .

suddenly my other margin rod wasoff and i struck into another good fish it too battle hard and i was thinking is this another double ? i applied again alot of pressure and it stayed deep i adjusted the clutch as i did not want to make any mistake when it tried make a sudden dive .but sadly after a hgard battle it slipped the hooks and made its escape i was gutted and breifly thoughts of how big ? came the mind but i hsad to dismiss them and carry on .
it was sent back out and all most straight away the rod by the liilies shot up i quick struck and felt a wieght but no fight and then the vibration came up through the rod and i knew i had an eel of about two pound on.
now i,m not the biggest fan of eels unless i,m using a chunk a zander bait as they tend to mess and tangle every thing up ,and sure enough this one was no different .
i had to cut it free as it twisted every thing up and it was released with out a pic but here is the remains of my rig

a new rig and bait was put on and this was again put down by the lillies .
i retired to my bag and i had been asleep for about an hour and my far rod alerted me to some activity .i struck and soon had a little zed in the net i quickly took a pic for the album well they can,t all be big

this was realeased a fresh bait attached and sent back over to the far side .
this was the last action i had and after my early morning coffeee i packed down and headed home very happy indeed .
its nice to get the full set of predators as i even had some very nice perch while catching baits .


tightlines
kevin

[Norfolkboy]

Wow, great catches Kev. Sounds like you had a lot more luck than when we fished last time.

Great report and pictures too

[pingu]

excellant report and pics there kev
almost like being there
sounded a great session
well done



(bet your the only bloke whos glad when the painters are in at home )

[Rob M]

Cracking report as usual Kev and well done on the fish! Catch you on Skype sometime this week

Rob

[eljeffo]

WOW! Nice Walleye! Is that other fish a Muskellunge? Looks like it! Very nice indeed!!! Congrats to you!

[fishypaul]

well done kev,love the report,
what on earth is that you have on your head ?
whatever it is,i think its dead !

[Drew]

Hi all,

Excellent report and pictures, well done.

I must admit to being envious of you course fishermen, I just wish that I could have a go myself.

Cheers

Drew

[BaggieRich]

First double in the first week of Sept then Kev. You can almost smell the 15lb already eh?

Sounds like a nice couple of days you had there mate.

Good report & cracking pics..

Nice one.



Rich.

[baitmaster]

that is my lucky hat paul its even got a little zander badge on it look

i bet you have one aswell for your your fishing


tightlines
kevin

[fishypaul]

yes i have mate,i would be lost without it