A Snowy Mission.

 

 

                 After my return from a really good trip to France on the 11^th of January, the forecast showed that there was snow on the way, after a chat with a good friend, Dan Woods, we decided to go fishing in the snow to get a few snaps of us holding fish with a snowy backdrop, something we have both dreamt of. We arrived in Langford at 7:00am ready for the gates of Chestnut Pool to open at 7:30. The snow was slowly falling but we weren’t worried, we still wanted to get the rods out.

Rods Out in the First Swim, No Joy.

                We got into the car park with no cars so we were the only anglers to be on the lake which is another added bonus; if the fish were hungry they would soon get on the feed and stumble across us. Saying that as soon as we got set up it didn’t take long for Dan to hook into the first fish of the session only a small mirror but very welcome. We fished on the “hot peg” and one I can’t seem to get on as when I get there it is always occupied for reasons that will come about. The fish were taking quite well getting a good few bites which at times it was really hectic.

A Small Mirror to Kick Off the Day!

                I started off to the left of Dan with one rod in the margins, and one rod in between 2 bushes on the island, I was regularly recasting to keep a fresh bag or supply of bait on that specific zone. An hour or so passed and no fish for me so I decided to move to the right of Dan and had one rod just in the channel and one as tight as I could get it to the island which caused some confusion for me, around every 10-15 minutes I’d get a major drop back, thinking I was into a fish I’d lift the rod for nothing to be there so maybe I was getting to the rod too late, the next time I re-cast I got the bobbin tight so that when that specific rod dropped back I knew straight away, but same thing happened again, no resistance on the opposite end. As I was getting confused with this I decided to leave one rod there to see if I could overcome the problem but no more takes but tangled rigs were brought in so something was up? So I kept re-casting to that spot. I managed to start getting bites on from the opening of the island on my left hand rod which was relief for me.

Nice Small Mirror For the First Fish of
the Session.

                Dan was managing to get a good spell of bites at times getting pretty hectic, using bottom baits cast only just into the channel as it seemed the further you go into the channel the smaller the fish were getting. He got a good amount of fish casting the left hand rod onto the longer side of the island with a good few boilies put out over the top of both rods which seemed to hold fish, when the bait was gone they stopped feeding but as soon as more bait was introduced they came back and got on the feed again.

                One thing that I see is paramount is trying to get clipped up so you can cast to the clip to get everything sitting properly rather than casting and letting everything fall into a mess on the bottom of the lake bed. Dan was feathering the lead down to the bottom which is another good method of getting the rigs sitting properly. I prefer clipping up as I can sit in confidence of the rig being functional, this is the same as when I’m fishing for a high stock of fish on zigs so that there is 2 splashes, one being the lead and a light dimple from the zig foam as it hits the water, if the rod doesn’t go within 15 to 20 minutes I reel in and then recast the same rod back out hitting the clip slightly harder.

A Nice Small Brace When Pete Came Round For a Chat!

                A good steady flow of action carried on through the day seeing Dan catch into double figures, he added a good amount of fish to the tally up to around 11:00am catching 17 fish, to carry on catching throughout the session, I was slow behind as I feel I wasn’t completely prepared catching around 4 fish up to lunchtime, I was having problems hooking the drop backs from the island which for me was a nightmare! As the afternoon went on, Pete came round to see how we were doing for Dan to hook into a fish and then as I started talking to Pete to see my left rod scream off, he was a tad shocked as to how many fish we were catching, a better way to do it with both of us playing a fish as Pete was taking pictures to put onto Facebook. I had the bigger fish of the two but we were still smiling getting some snaps done in the snow.

                To start off with I was using small rigs around 4-5 inches as it seems to help hook the fish quicker but they didn’t seem to get any bites, I adjusted the size of the rig with adding a 8-9 inch hook link and I got much better bites coupled with a size 10 fang twister and a small orange popup nailed to the bottom on a running rig set up on one rod and a 14mm chocolate popup chopped down around 1cm off the bottom was another method that caught me some fish, they weren’t at all picky with what they were taking either being popups or bottom baits which was getting more bites.

Nice Shot of Both of Us Playing Fish At the Same Time! Happy days.

 

                Dan was using long hook links with inline leads which he said were his favourite bottom bait presentation, I could fall for the idea but instead of using the square pear leads, I would prefer to use the distance inline leads. He used long hook links around 9-10 inches and a bottom bait tipped off with a 10mm pink popup and a double 10mm presentation which was getting just as many bites as the other presentation, we also realised we weren’t being plagued by bream so they weren’t a problem trying to combat them or risk using 10mm baits which is what I was using.

                Dan proceeded to hook into the biggest fish of the session being a lovely 16lb common on the nose, I was really happy for him as we didn’t anticipate anything of that stature but it was a lovely common and made a brilliant picture in the snow, well done mate! As the session went on the snow got heavier and from various texts from friends and family, the snow was getting heavier and heavier so that was our cue to pack up. Between us we managed to land 35 fish up to 16lb and losing some along the way, Dan lost a few fish but I didn’t lose so many only 2 fish, that’s why I love using the Nash Fang Twister presentation as it is a wide gape hook and hooks the fish in the bottom lip or the scissors every time. 

Dans 16lb on the Nose Common! Well Done Mate.

                It was a good enjoyable session and to be bagging up in the snow made it so much better along with some footage which I shall try and upload very soon, with a good amount of bait ordered, I shall be fishing when the lids disappear on the lakes, may even be another trip to Chestnut in a few weeks’ time after a few sessions on the reservoir!

Thanks For Reading!

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