Keep Trying Expect Results

Keep Trying Expect Results.

I know I have been a bit under the radar recently with my fishing but it's all part and parcel of trying to get that momentum and drive back to get some fish on the bank, which is exactly what I have done. After one night and three desperate visits to various venues, I had a blank spell where I couldn't buy a bite, one thing that's come into it's own in my fishing is not getting lazy and if your not on the fish then move, it's a lot more satisfying moving a dozen times to places where I think the fish are held up but to no avail than sit in the same swim for twelve hours and not catch if anyone agrees with what I'm saying, I know everyone hates a blank but what goes wrong only comes back to make you 10x stronger which is what had happened.

Solid Bags Have Been On My Winter Tactic List. 

A few weeks ago I ventured to the north of London with good friend Rob Burgess for a social on Walthamstow pit 1, rob progressed onto bagging some scaley originals which was satisfying to see!

Mid to Upper Double Stow Common 

Then onto the local club lake where I fished a bitterly cold night but the Snooze+ kept me toasty warm whilst I looked across the water hoping an elusive common of the 30lb barrier would turn up, fishing till early hours of the morning on a quick overnighter as I had to get to work only baiting minimally didn't prove any success.

Three Rods On Low Stocked Lakes Are the Way Forward

This is where it gets better, my third session I got to a local day ticket lake where I had had a lot of success on the surface in the past. I tried the method of zig fishing all rods on with different foam, popup and cork arrangements, I even moved a couple of times finding some fish but they seemed to be preoccupied on other items and not picking up a small pinhead of colour which has tripped up a lot of fish for me in the past.

Had This Whole Bay To Myself To Flick Zigs Around.

After a week of more or less solid work and only a two hour surface fishing session resulting in a scaley mirror and two other smaller fish a session on Drayton is on the cards, I had thought about it for ages and really wanted to get up there, it's a nice big lake with plenty of spaces for a lot of anglers and specially now, some really dark stunning fish which is always a bonus in my eyes! I managed to have a few fish to upper doubles, first peg I started in took me a bucket  and a half of spod mix for one take which wasn't satisfying for me, I went for a walk to a least pressured area of the lake where no one was fishing, so I decided to grab minimal gear and have a go down there, I only put one rod out because of a cone out in mid water, I didn't fancy getting a second take snagged up, although one of the fish I hooked got round it and fishing 8-9ft zigs I got cut off which I was gutted as it was a decent fish!

The Drayton Fish Are Suckers for Yellow Foam, These
Rigs Were The Going Method On The Day. Tied up
In Advance. 

The evening moved on, fishing one rod out in the zone and one set up on the bank this allowed me to get the fish in the net and get the already set up rod back out with the chances of a bonus take which proved successful. I saw a few people wondering around and talking to anglers, one of which was Mark Bartlett carp hauling master, he came down into my swim and I asked if he'd mind doing the honors of taking some snaps of a fish in the net, I just folded the net down when the bobbin started creeping forward to which Bart had said your in on that one mate, hooking into the fish I managed to steer it round the cone and into open water, Bart happily slid the net under the fish with a fish already unhooked in the net. I was over the moon to land 2 double figure fish literally minutes after each other and to have the pics taken by a top angler had me buzzing.

Everyone Loves A Double Hookup! One in the Net and
Another Take. 

I was using small Avid Zig Lites on zigs which I had tied up by hand to try something different, a size 8 Nash Fang X hook did the trick. I used a small piece of silicone shrink tube to create a massively aggressive angle on the hook, as soon as the fish touches the back of the shank it spins and catches hold however far back they took it in, I've used the zig alignas for a while now but this method seems to work just as well, just need to have a sharp hook every time and possibly a bigger hook still?

The spod mix contained - 1 tub of Velocity Baits V-Cloud, Brown Crumb ground bait to bulk it up a little, 2 tins of rice pudding, 2 tins of condensed milk, half a bottle of prepared blitzed particle, 2 tins of corn and a helping of Raspberry Plume Goo for a halo around the spodded area. Little and often seemed to be the proven method, when I moved peg and started catching, I would cast the zig out and then drop 5-10 spods every fifteen or so minutes to keep the fish interested but not preoccupied which is what I think helped the bigger mid to upper doubles to come back for more.

Zigs are a method that I have loved using on high stocked waters, I have used them all over the place but for me fishing at range, or should I say a comfortable range and spodding a sloppy mix over the top is what I have enjoyment in. Specially as spring is knocking on the door it is more of a productive method for me.

Finally another amount of bank time came around for me and fishing on the Linear Fisheries complex a two hour drive for me, of which sees me preparing bait and tackle a week before hand. I managed to set off pretty early with the gate opening time in sight and concentrating on getting to the fishery, I made it onto the A1(M) for about 10 miles only to break down and be seen standing at the side of the motorway for the next three quarters of an hour. Finally I get recovered to a local garage, as you can tell this completely scarpered the plans of my weekends fishing. Turns out my car was firing on two cylinders and needs a new cylinder which is another story.

A Rare Weekend Overnighter for Me.

After a short phone all from a mate of mine, he offered me to come down to my local pit for the night and chill with them, after all no car = no work which is the killer of being a driver. But anyway, I get down to the lake and put the rods out on simple methods on a few random spots and set about the social, tea, sweets and the like and had a good laugh. Finally a time to unwind for a day or so.

The night drew on and the temperature slowly dropping and a steak baguette devoured and it's first light, woken by the sun beaming into my brolly and 2 beeps on the alarm.. IM IN!! Problem being, the fish had kited on a tight line and only gave me two beeps, no screamer at all, luckily I hooked into the fish settling the scales at 18lb 2oz, what a way to end a real terrible weekend.

Catching a Common Like This on a Quick Overnighter on a
Low Stocked Pit Was A Good Start to the Week. 

This fish was caught from a low stocked water with some amazing characters in there depths, it made it so much nicer catching from a lake with no more than 20 odd decent fish or so I assume. The fish fell to a really simple rig which I decided to cast to a light silt patch in deep water, the rig consisted of 15lb N-Trap and a Size 6 Wide Gape Hook and a small piece of shrink tubing just for added hooking efficiency, this was coupled with a small bag of crushed Velocity Baits AK4-R boilies. 

Sorry it's been a long one this time round, just bad so much to try and squeeze in, my next blog will be a bit more about my recent rigs and more technical talk, but until next time.

Ross