Into the Valley, Pioneering? Part 4

Into the Valley, Pioneering? Part 4

I suppose those of you still following this experience of mine think, “He’s gone quiet; is he into some massive fish and not telling us, so that we can’t send the scouts out?”

Well, no.

I’ve been down 3 or 4 times since the last update but, when it comes to discovering what lies beneath the surface, I’m still not quite certain.

I’ve tried stepping up my gear and used my 1.75 Barbel rod and hit into an immovable object – well it moved at first, stopped and I couldn’t budge it, resulting in a hook pull! So I stepped up to my 2.75 rod and, no surprises, I was back to catching the normal stamp of fish.

So, to reiterate, this, so far, is what I’ve discovered in my lake:

• Rudd, thousands of them, none so far above 8ozs.
• Roach, not so many, up to 8ozs.
• Crucian carp, plenty all around the pound mark, no more, no less!
• Common/mirror carp, 8ozs to my best so far 10lb 14ozs.
• One tench!

I am pretty certain there are, or is, a predator of some kind, although a legered sprat went ignored for six hours. It marauds through the surface scattering the rudd in all directions, maybe a rogue trout from the ponds. No sign of Perch.

Cruising under the surface

During my other free time I’ve been down to the middle and tidal Trent, hunting out the barbel and chub. I’ve caught a few of each, but what is noticeable is that they all need a good feed. My most recent capture was a chub at 4lb 10ozs, it was longer and deeper than my PB of 6lb 12ozs but was very empty. Roll on winter.

My latest visit to my lake yesterday (8th August), came about as a last minute thought. I’d been in the garden all day pottering backwards and forwards looking at the site and the question of swim hogging. So, at 6 o’clock, after asking the bosses permission I was off to lake hog!

I packed up everything I thought I would need, and headed for the lake. On arrival, when I opening the hatchback I noticed that in my rush to get out (before the boss had time to answer) I’d left my bag of kit on the garage floor. So, I had my seat, landing net, rod, pellets and nothing else. No choice then, back home I had to go.

I sneaked in and out without being spotted, and was back at the lake in 15 minutes.

Whilst I had been planning my getaway, I had decided to float fish.So my kit was the Hyperloop 420FA, the SuperAero 4000 loaded with 8lb Suffix and a hook length of 4lb 1oz Fluorotec. Once again, because of the surface ripple and wind, I decided to use a wire stemmed stick float and finished it off with a size 12 Drennan Super Specialist.

My hookbait was to be the Enterprise plastic caster and maggot. There is no real way to get through the rudd with natural baits.

Loose feed was 3mm BFW pellets – the hempseed was still frozen!

This feed certainly attracts the crucians and the commons, and I was soon into the usual size of fish, my first being a stunning fin perfect common of 9lb 4ozs.

9lb 4ozs

I’ll digress here for a moment, I’ve seen on this water, for the first time anywhere in my fishing life, on a few occasions, commons tail walking, if that’s the right expression. Just rising out of the water with only their tail below, and moving along for some time. Too quick for my digital camera though; amazing power.

Anyway, back to the fishing, no break-offs this time, and my best common from the lake is fin perfect and weighing 10lb 14ozs, along with two at around 9lb which could have been twins. Also, a dozen or so crucian carp.

10lb 14ozs

The dominant species is, apart from the rudd, common carp, I am certain there are bigger fish, but I’m not too interested in them at the moment.

I know there are more tench than the one I have caught; I’ve seen them porpoise. Perhaps they are being bullied by the carp?

No doubt a different groundbait is required before it’s too late in the season. So, I’m going to think about this and try for them specifically on my next trip down.

I am also going to have a go for eels, as soon as I can get a decent stock of lobworms.

Perhaps I should say that I haven’t yet reported to George, the owner, in fact I’ve not seen him in the pub or by the Trout lakes, too busy with the harvest probably.

Oh yes, and the geese have reappeared out of the fields, they’ve had a great year by the looks of it, many, many youngsters and therefore more crap to slip on!

See you next time.