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Daves Little Pinkies?

Posted: 22nd Sep 2013

What a huge change in the weather we have had this week with it turning much cooler along with some very heavy rain for the first 3 days of the week, with no less than 40mm of raining falling on the Saturday night and you guessed it, the back bay flooded once again!!! I have been pumping the water out and managed to get the digger back on the 15 acre lake bed on the Friday so I lost a complete week which is not ideal so late in the year when I just want to get the job completed asap. Anyway back to the fishing.

This week was almost the perfect example of how a baiting strategy can make all the difference, and how the week can end for an angler and it was clear from the results what can happen if the bait is not applied in the right amounts at the right time, but this is one of the finer art's of angling.

Graham dropped into Peg 1 with the fish still holding there from the week before,  he had caught 3 fish over 30lb+ and a 29lb on the first day by using just 30 baits over each rod but then because no bait was being applied increasing the confidence of the shoal and keeping them interested, I think they started to become a little spooky. The next 24hrs went a little quieter but then he had a further 3 fish over 30lb+ to 39lb and then it all changed. Dave in Peg 3 had a 32lb+ but the fish were not in front of him, so he hung off putting too much bait out. John in Peg 5 was having a mare with his Bivvy leaking like a sieve and trouble with work over the phone. After getting his rods out by late Monday evening he had a 40lb 12oz mirror, followed by a 26lb so he was out of the blocks and feeling much better. On the Tuesday night a very strong westly wind picked up pushing down the lake into Peg 5 and it was this change combined with Graham not giving the fish any bait , they started to crash and move down the lake. Dave in 3 being wide awake and on the ball said he could literally hear them coming from his left so he started to bait heavy in the night to try and stop the shoal in front of him. 4 kg of bait straight out over the rods and he also started baiting two other spots to his left and right as a back-up option. Well he started to catch almost straight away moving over to bright hookbaits over the top of his 15mm Odd XXX freebies. After each fish Dave was putting 1 kg of boilies back over the rod and this seemed to create competition and build the swim from midweek onwards. He also took 3 fish over 30lb+ from his right hand baited spot within a couple of hours after only putting a rig on it after 4 days of slow steady baiting, once the fish could be seen showing or bubbling over the spot Dave new it was primed and ready for a fish!!!

It also seemed evident that once the bigger fish had moved on it allowed the smaller stockies to move in and clean the swim of any left over bait, we normally see maybe 2 or 3 caught over a week with the fish between 12-18lb, being young 2010 fish and very pretty indeed. But this week we had a good 14 caught which is unusual and all I can think is they are feeding up before winter arrives. A little extra bait applied to your spots will feed them off with only 30 of these stockies being added in the winter of 2011.

The lads landed 31 fish this week not including the stockies, best was a lovely two tone mirror of 41lb+ followed by another 40lb+ fish and 18 fish over 30lb+ up to 39lb+. 11 fish over 20lb+ up to29lb finished the catch. A few jems graced the bank this week with a couple of fish being landed that I have not seen for a good couple of seasons, and all the fish are looking in great condition now, with those beautiful deep chesnut and golden hues of Autumn reflected in their flanks.

The full Moon slowed things down some what towards the backend of the week through the dark hours, and most of the fish switched to daytime feeding. The Equinox is now upon us and this has always been rumoured to be a big trigger for the fish to gain a few extra pounds for the hibernation ahead, let's hope a few big girls grace the bank before the season is out!!!

Bright pop-ups this week scoring, along with snail & shell, XXX & pellet doing the business.

We have two lads this week who have booked the lake, Dan came a couple of seasons ago and is all fired up for the week ahead. Joe has dropped into Peg 3 and took a mirror of 44lb+ on the first night from the centre area of the lake, followed by a 34lb+ today so they are out of the blocks. The weather looks set to be glorious right through the week so with the daytime temps in the upper 20oc lets hope those fish get moving and feeding.

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