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Pretty Green

Posted: 30th Jun 2013

A great week has been had by all with the fish playing ball and a laugh a minute with the new group. Picture Tom, 10 stone wet through and looking like a skinned Rabbit sunning his body in the summer sun down at the lake!!! You could not meet a more cheeky chap modelling himself on Liam Gallagher but looking more like Steptoe and Son!!!!!What a Legend.  Well he played the dangerous game of moving swims after a few days when he was catching!!!!! Some times you win and sometimes you lose, but on this occasion Tom went from Peg 5 to 3, giving Steve the option to move from 4 into 5, well as I said in the previous post he took 4 fish on the first evening but to finish the week with a brace of 40lb+ fish off Tom's spot left him "Pretty Green"

Joking aside it was a great week all round, and all the lads caught fish from every swim on the lake, finishing with 30 fish in total and a handful of stockies not counted. The 3 fish over 40lb+ all came in the last 24 hrs which pointed towards the bigger fish spawning last, and taking a little longer to get feeding again. Some of the larger fish have still not spawned yet so I would not be surprised if there is another bout of spawning over the next month, which is good if they get it all out of their system. Apart from the fish landed 16 fish were lost this week to hookpulls which is not good enough to be honest, and that's what has prompted me to post the next blog about rigs.

Largest fish was 42lb 8oz to Warren in Peg 1 followed by the 2 low 40lb+ fish to Steve in Peg 5. 15 fish over 30lb+ to 39lb+ and 12 x 20lb+ (6 between 28-29lb+) the fish are fighting well and in good condition apart from a few bumps and bruises from their efforts.

I don't advocate piling bait in here but more of a slow steady building of your swim over the week to create competition between the fish and hopefully inturn produce a good hit, but this week and over the next month bait will play a big role in the catch rates. Pva bags and 10 baits over a rod will catch fish but will never produce a big hit, once a couple of fish are hooked and with no other bait in the swim to keep the other fish in the shoal intrested, they spook off looking for an area to rest up or feed in peace. For me baiting a swim is one of the finer parts of angling and knowing when to put it in and how much can make all the difference between success & failure, but sometimes we have to appeal to their greedy nature.

Winning bait this week has been the B5, New Grange and Odd XXX. The B5 did seem to produce the better fish and even though it's not cheap you get what you pay for!! A quality bait that would catch fish anywere in the world.

The next post about rigs will explain what I have managed to learn from running the fishery. There are traits that seem to emerge on a regular basis with some patterns of hooks causing hookpulls, and others rarely failing, this is not just my own personal opinion but something that has been observed and recorded on a weekly basis with the hard facts speaking for themselves.

Another new group of 4 lads from Sunny manchester are pitting their wits this week, and it has been a good start with Phil smashing his Pb with a 41lb 11oz stunning Mirror from Peg 3 on his first day, followed by Paul in 4 landing a 37lb and Keith in Peg 1 landing a 29lb+ today too, so hopefully the lads can keep it going and produce another good week. All the fish are coming out in the daylight at the moment which makes it even more enjoyable.

On the wildlife front there seems to be a couple of Fox cubs working the land at the moment looking for the rabbits on the fresh cut field and working the far bay for swan mussels on the drying lake bed. A Pine Martin ran across my path today which seems to happen only in the months of June & July, they must have young now, so are working hard even in the daylight hours to provide food for the growing family, and having to push their luck feeding on the ground, just such a fantastic creature to watch in hunting mode and a real pleasure to see at close quarters. Also a few Eagles have been spending time around the valley of late, but without my binoculars they are hard to identify, more than likely they are Booted Eagles hunting Snakes and Lizards along the forest bank.

Along with all the activity down at the lakes it is also lovely weather with day temps of 23-25oc with cool westly winds pushing into Peg 5, fresh cut hay meadows and the birds singing, does it get any better? Not for me!!

Pictured is one of Steves 40lb+ fish from Peg 5.

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