new spot unsettles me

[baitmaster]

well we are well into january and with the season ending in a few weeks i will start to reflex on a how the season has gone but i like this time of year because the fish start to pack on extra weight for spawning time so with this in mind and another physio session done i made my way home and loaded up the car and headed up to the fens .
on arrival i met up with barrie had a brief chat but as time was going to be against as my first job was to catch a few bait for the session .
so i popped down to my favourite catching spot and soon had a bucket of baits in no time at all .
i had a spot in mind that i looked a couple of weeks ago but had not actually fished it so i did not know whether it would produce but it certainly looked the business as far as i was concerned .
it was now getting dark and i just got my gear set up and had the south westerly wind blowing into my face which was surprisinly cold but i did not really mind as long as it did not get any stronger with the barometer dropping to below 1000mbs i was confident that the zeds if about would feed well and couple this with the water coloured and the wind chopping the surface i felt good that i might do well .
tactics were to fish two ledger paternoster rigs one close in and one tow the middle and a bouyant ledger stem rig over to the far side with a fresh dead bait .
once these were all out i got myself in a comfortable position as the wind was quite uncomfortable
i was a bit on edge this evening this is normally due to fishing a new area and i never can seem to settle till i,ve had some action so i was up and down the steep bank twitching and moving the rods more than normal
my rod to my left bleeped a couple of times and my attention was drawn to it it bleeped a bit my nervously and then with out warning the bobbin shot straight up to the top and started to strip line of the baitrunner i scramble down to it and struck quickly and sure enough i felt the resistance ,i got myself in a better position to land it as it was steep here and a wrong move or a slip would see me fallling in so care really has to be taken .
soon i had it landed and made my way back up to the top which was not the easiest of jobs carrying a landing net and rod .i unhooked it quickly but did not weight and took a quick pic then released iti estimated it about 7lb

i was pleased that the swim had produced .
i checked the trace changed it and baited up again .
after casting it down the the inside i scramble to the other rods and twitched them in a few feet hoping to provoke a response from another zed .
a was keeping an eye on the weather as some time during the evening or night its meant to whip up a storm and the fens drains are no place to be if it get really bad .
now my bait into the centre of the drain had been quiet all evening but suddenly the bait was giving me reason to move towards the rod i sat just back watching the the isotope in the bobbin it started to rise gently then stopped then more quickly i waited my moment then struck only to feel it letting go on reeling in the bait i checked it and the distinctive puncture marks that a zed some times leave in a bait werre evident another chance missed .
i changed the bait and got it back into the middle hoping the fish would have another go but als it did not .
i fished on but no further action came and i felt the best time had been and gone then the drain started to be pulled and it was not long before the baits were being pulled out of position so it was time to leave as i did not fancy just fishing them all close in .
it was hard going this evening but still i was not going to complain as i had not blanked here .

tightlines
kevin

[pingu]

well done kev , managed another little gem from those drains

dead jealous of exmouth
dave

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Sounds hard work mate but you got a zander and as dave says you have just given me for one a kick up the a++ to get out there no matter how hard the going is

[fishypaul]

nice one kev

[Charter Skipper]

Great read as always Kev,your the man when it comes to the Zander....

[maghouse]

Another great read & a great fish - well done !

[BaggieRich]

Well done Kev. Good report mate.

[robm]

Well done Kev another interesting write up.Good start to the new area that you tried.
Im itching to get out again this weekend but not sure where to go i usualy leave friday nights open to fishing for Bream on my local water but really am keen to have another go at the Zander but cant decide where.
Trouble is the more i read your articles and see your pics i,m wondering wether i should be looking to travel a bit further afield than the Coventry canal for the chance of a bigger fish.

robm

[Norfolkboy]

Well done Kev, nice zed.

[baitmaster]

just think that traveling is no garuntee of a bigger fish you got to remember that i,m traveling 120 miles round trip per evening when i go in serch of my rainbows end (15lb+).


tightlines
kevin