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Have A Break, Have A Kitkat

Posted: 28th Apr 2014

Another week comes to a close with high & lows along the way but the end result being another productive week. The weather has played the biggest role, being very similar to the week before with a frost one night and cold winds, then midweek absolutely roasting.

The fish seemed to be concentrated in Peg 1 which was the case for Rob the week before, and Dave capitalised on this early in the week. The water has remained quite clear and it's evident when you have a group of fish in your swim feeding.

Peg 1 produced a good dozen fish by Tuesday Morning for Dave, with the coolish weather holding them until the sun started to shine. Mike in Peg 3 was really only picking off the odd loner passing through with the centre part of the lake being void of fish. Darren in Peg 5 had managed a 43lb but was struggling for action until the Sun started shining midweek, and then the fish seemed to spread out from Peg 1 and all 3 anglers started to pick-up fish!!

The chaps this week fed like kings each night with a BBQ feast fit for Henry the 8th, and with the rods reeled the circus began. This leads me onto the way the lake is changing with the pressure over the years and a little thought goes a long way.  I still believe the fish are not hard to catch, but like all lakes you need them in front of you regardless of how you fish your swim.

We are not a runs water and are quiet happy to mention so, we have never advocated bucket loads of fish for every angler each week and there are plenty of waters that do provide this if that's your main requirement. But the essense of "The Sanctuary" has always been quality combined with a setting to make Mr Crabtree Smile. The average weights of the fish are very close to 40lb now and for this spring every other fish is around this weight, combined with the real chance of a 50lb+ fish for the week. I would really like each group who visits the fishery to "really stop and smell the roses" because the magic of the lake, Wildlife and total serenity is very hard to find in our modern world and all make for a special holiday.

Anyway enough of me waffling and back to the plan!!! With the rods in at Tea time and the spots re-baited the fish started hoofing out while the lads were eating tea, with Mike mentioning it was like the Kitkat advert with the chap at the Zoo trying to take pictures!!! You get the idea. On 3 seperate occasions Dave in Peg 3 had all 3 rods rattle off after an hour of recasting in the evening, telling me that the fish are visiting your spots to feed, and with lines out and free feed in the swim a pick-up can be quite quick after a recast. It's all about building confidence, they are big fish and need to feed, you just have to get them confidently picking bait up, thus lowering their guard and making a mistake. A single bait or pva bag will catch fish, but will start to spook the shoal after a few fish are hooked, without any other feeding stimulus in the swim. I had mentioned to all the groups this year about the Tench & Roach being removed allowing you to use smaller baits, crumbed, half baits and a few extra goodies as your free feed, to keep plenty of bait and feed stimulus in the swim without just having a bed of round boilies in you swim. This came into good effect over the last few weeks and played a big part in the catch rate this week.

The week ended on 39 with the best going 50lb 8oz for Dave on the Friday evening, which I was fortunate to weigh and photograph, along side a stunning low 30lb fish at the same time. The 50lb+ came to a rod only 5 minutes after being recast to a rested spot, say no more!!! 7 fish over 40lb+ (including another 49lb,47lb) & 11 fish over 30lb+ (including 3 x 39lb+ 5x 37lb+) The chaps had a lot of Grass carp this week which I think bait was the reason for. They were active and came to different baits but Mainlines New Grange & Hybrid caught 95 % of the 16 Grassies caught. On average they are 30lb+ with plenty in the 35lb-37lb bracket, The remaining 4 fish being 20lb+.

The average size of the fish at present is very good and if they are in front of you and all goes to plan, you could have a session of your life!!!

Plenty of Boilie and Sanctuary Pellet used this week and don't forget a mix of pop-ups in your bag for toppers, they can give you the edge.

Another regular group have arrived but once again the weather has taken a dip, it's very chilly this weekend with a cold westerly wind having an effect, but I did help John photograph a stunning mirror of 42lb 14oz after a 20 minute marathon fight, so helps hope more to follow.

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