Price Change for 2017
Posted: 20th Apr 2016
Well another great weeks fishing and the 3rd week of the season has now come to a close, made up of a mixed group, but all regulars and they have fished together before. The lake is really coming into its own and I really hope this season continues, if we get a good steady season weather wise it could be one of our best.
The lake produced 2 x 50s this week with a fish of 55lb for Lee in peg 1, along with Chris taking a 54lb 8oz on the last evening from Peg 3. Along with the 2 big fish Mick down in Peg 5 had 3 fish over 49lb+ on the bounce one after the other on the Sunday which is incredible, and not leaving Ray out of the equation he landed a mirror of 48lb from Peg 2. Besides all the lads having big fish the lake gave up a few of its prizes with fish that rarely see the bank, including one of the better "fullies" of 32lb for Lee in Peg 1......stunning.
I have seen a pattern over the last few weeks regarding the fishes behaviour and the main factor regarding good hits is your baiting strategy.....it's simple but resting the swim, working out bite time and feeding once per day and then topping up with 20-30 baits each hour is the key. A reduction in the bait or how it's applied has had the fish moving on mass to other areas of the lake and this happened with Lee this week and has just happened again this week with the new group. I wonder if some of the anglers think I trying to convince them to pile bait in to make the fish fat...but the truth is far from that...the stock is balanced and with plenty of naturals the fish are not starving, but it's April pre-spawning time and not mid summer when the fish have slowed down with their feeding. They are actively looking for food right now, being programmed to gain a few extra pounds bringing themselves into condition for spawning and if the food is not there, they will go looking for it, simple as that. That does'nt mean sticking out kilos of boilies over each rod and sitting there all day behind quiet rods, but building the swim little and often along with approx a couple of kilos over the rods once per day seems to be the winning method. Plenty of chops, crumb and pellet along with a few plops from the catapult or throwing stick has the fish returning little and often, combined with effective rigs and being in touch with what's going on in front of you will bring success. So there's the big secret to success, no secret bait or tactic and it's then down to yourselves to apply the knowledge and fish with confidence, I want all the groups to have a good week so please take it on board, I live by the lake and see what does and does'nt work, my aim is to pass the info on so the next group enjoy their week....when the day comes when a single boilie or pva bag with nothing else works I will let you know, but for now that's not the case!!
The fish seemed to be held up both ends of the lake again but Ray in Peg 2 stuck with the plan above and kept feeding steady until Wednesday when it all kicked off with him catching multiple fish on the Thursday & Friday. Lee & Mike had plenty of fish in their swims, but that's only part of the puzzle, they fished well and rested the swim and both had a great weeks fishing, Chris worked hard with little in front of him but with a pb of Monday of 43lb the pressured eased, then with myself saying on the Friday we all like a happy ending....the next fish being a 54lb 8oz on the Friday evening!!! happy days. The total for the week was 49 fish with 2 over 50lb, 13 fish over 40lb+ including 45,46,47,48, 3x49lb stacks of 30s to 39lb 20s and a few stunning scaley stockies (SSS)
This week we have had bouts of very heavy rain again with the lakes and land brimming....I managed to get the digger of the lake bed on the 15 acre lake and she is now blocked off and filling up at long last. I will start to landscape around the lake when the weather permits but for now I will gather my strength its been a long winter indeed and thank my lucky stars the lake itself is complete:)
This week is on fire as well but I will update at the weekend.
Just to clarify no KORDA CURVE SHANKED HOOKS Allowed....I have witnessed some very bad hook slips once again and I'm now more than 100% that the shape of the pattern lends itself to tearing and bad. I have been very unsure about this hook pattern last year with seeing lots of hook pulls, when a change of hook was made,the hook pulls stopped which had me thinking. But this year I have seen the fish on the bank and I'm not happy with the damage they are causing so they are banned from now.
We have not changed our price for 7 years, we have always thought of our regulars and have been as fair as possible swallowing rising costs in everything from our very small profit each year to make sure the customer gets value for money. But for 2017 the price will be £300 per angler instead of £275. Its a rise of £25 just to cover basic costs of the fishery and we think for what we offer in terms of fishing, surroundings, minimal anglers, customer serice and faclities we are still cheap in relation to other fisheries. I hope you all understand and agree it's more than fair for what we offer.
Back soon
Team Sanctuary