I turned up to my second home Hardwick and Smiths at linear fisheries to find a fair few anglers on Hardwick side of the lake. With only one angler on the Smiths side of the lake, it soon became apparent why so many anglers were favouring Hardwick end. After standing in one of the middle area swims and seeing five fish top out within ten minutes in the middle zone of Hardwick, I knew I had to try and get somewhere I could hit the middle of the lake.

Gardner flat pear inline lead, 15lb Trickster camo green hooklink and a size 8 Covert Mugga hook..” alt=”My rig consisted of feet of Plummet leadcore, 2.5oz Gardner flat pear inline lead, 15lb Trickster camo green hooklink and a size 8 Covert Mugga hook.” width=”776″ height=”582″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-11917″ />

I decided to set up on the conveyer bank as I knew this area of the lake really well, so I didn’t need to use a marker and potentially spook any fish any fish in the area. I went straight out with the spod at 97 yards to a clear clay hump in fourteen feet, which runs straight down the centre of the lake. I started by putting about 25 spods of mixed particle and LH1 boilies from West Country Baits on the spot. Within a couple of hours the fish had started to push down more towards my end of the lake and I was rewarded by having two doubles straight away. As darkness was looming I decided to top up the swim with another six spods before the light faded.

I had very little action that night but awoke up to the sound of a screaming alarm at 6am. The fish had moved back over me and the following four hours were prime time and I managed to land another six fish to 28lb. After the bite time had passed, the swim had gone quite I decided to have a walk around. I soon found a few fish down in the deep corner, so I decided to chuck out a couple of mini solid bags. This proved a great decision as twenty five minutes later, one of the rods was away and I landed a stunning 27lb common. Understandably I was well chuffed and after that though the fish slowly dwindled out so I decided to head back to base camp.

The fish moved back over me and the following four hours were prime time and I managed to land another six fish to 28lb.

There wasn’t a great deal showing, so I decided to put a bit more bait out in hope it might draw the fish back into the area. The ploy worked and I had another four fish, only doubles but with not much coming out I was well happy! I managed a total of thirteen fish during the session and my rig that I nailed all of the fish on consisted of feet of Plummet leadcore, 2.5oz Gardner flat pear inline lead, 15lb Trickster camo green hooklink and a size 8 Covert Mugga hook.
I soon found a few fish down in the deep corner, so I decided to chuck out a couple of mini solid bags. This proved a great decision as twenty five minutes later, one of the rods was away and I landed a stunning 27lb common.