It was a week or 2 later that I did my first overnighter, a very cold one at that! I blanked and didn’t even hear a fish show, let alone anyone else’s bite alarms go off. It had seemed that the lake had fished well after the thaw (just as I couldn’t get there, typically!) but this had put a stop to any early season action. I persevered however, racking up 10 nights in 3 weeks, before my first action. I was fishing a swim called the Annexe, which controls a large bay that groups of fish can patrol when the sun is up. At around 3am I had a bream-like take and struck into it to be met with a little resistance. However as it got under the rod tip it put up a bit more of a scrap and I knew then it was a carp! It was only a small stocky of about 12lb, and was quickly put back. But this gave me a bit of a confidence boost as I knew my tactics were working; it was just a case of getting on some fish that were feeding!

The next week I managed to do 2 overnighters as I wouldn’t be fishing the weekend, and while I was there heard a lot of fish moving at very long range from the “River ank”. This was a good sign as this is often where the fish are held up, and it’s when they start to move out that the action begins! However both nights were blank, so I was more than a little downhearted. I wouldn’t be returning for a bit as the Easter holidays were scheduled to be practicing for the BYCAC on Brasenose 2 on the Linear Complex. I fished really hard there and emptied the lake, but it wasn’t quite were my heart was – I wanted to be back on the lake! With a bit of persuading of mum and dad, they said I could do 3 nights over the royal wedding weekend- I was really anticipating some action in that time!

The rods out in Peg 9- I was very confident with the big bed of bait I had put out- but would it produce?

The rods out in Peg 9- I was very confident with the big bed of bait I had put out- but would it produce?

I spent all week thinking about what the session could hold, as I knew a few fish were coming out, including “The Pink One” at 48lb – which was a little down-heartening as it may not be on the feed again, but I was just searching for my first proper one of the year! I had airdried 5kg of Shellfish B5 rolled by Kent Particles and planned to put the majority of this out if I got the right swim. I arrived late Thursday afternoon and managed to get into my favourite swim on the lake “Peg 9” and soon saw a few fish showing at range – but it was a just get the rods out before it was dark job.

I was up at first light to sort out a spot, and get my rods sorted in hope of some action. A couple of casts with the marker float confirmed what I knew about the swim, pretty much featureless – making it perfect for the bait to be the main feature of the swim. A few fish were showing underneath the canopy of the trees on the island at about 150 yards, but this spot would be very hard to hit with the crosswind I was faced with! I decided to fish at a range of 135 yards, over a big bed of bait, with the rods staggered across this bait coming away from the snaggy island at intervals of about 20 yards – hoping any fish coming through the swim would be stopped by the bait, and be near a hookbait!

I decided on fairly simple rigs, on a helicopter lead set up to help gain the extra yards to be able to hit the spot at long range. I used a bait of a 20mm Shellfish B5 bottom bait tipped with a 15mm Kent Particles Pineapple Hawaiian pop-up, mounted on a size 8 Gardner Covert Mugga, with a bit of silicone on the hook to help it flip and for the hooklink, 25lb Gardner Disruption in camo brown. I also put a small piece of putty in the middle of the hooklink to keep it pinned down.

My rig was simple, but I had 100% faith in it, not just in hooking fish but also to sit out in the lake for 48 hours knowing it wasn’t tangled.

My rig was simple, but I had 100% faith in it, not just in hooking fish but also to sit out in the lake for 48 hours knowing it wasn’t tangled.

I soon had all the rods set up and cast to the clips and all went down with a “donk” so I was happy I was in with a chance if the fish fancied a feed. The next job was to spod out the bait, this went fairly smoothly despite the heavy crosswind, and I was soon sat with a brew to watch for any fish activity. I soon realised that the fish were active, with many shows at 180+ yards’ range and under the trees on the island, but speaking to a few people who wandered past, the fish had spawned a few weeks before and it seemed that it was only the odd captures at the moment. But the Pink One had been out twice in 2 weeks so was on the munch!