Website Updated 11 May 2012

Written by Geoff Rauf

The past 4 weekends, and 8 nights spent at my club water have so far drawn a blank. I’ve become accustomed to plenty of blanks during the previous 5 years on here but this 6th year I’ve said ‘enough is enough’. The past two years have been terrible; 2009 being a blank, and 2008 providing just 2 fish. I’ve had a lot of personal problems over those periods so I will blame that instead of my lack of fishing skill!

In 2010 I am now firmly labelled as a ‘Pub Chucker’ by the locals down at the lake, and my objective this season is to remove this stain from my Carpy CV. It has to be mentioned although I am not exactly hauling them out I feel I am coming closer to the fish. 3 Sessions out of the 4 I have had runs (not that type), but lost them in the heavy weed, so having stepped up my end tackle this week I was back to do battle once again.

The weather this week has been a mixed bag seeing temperatures into the late twenties alongside some heavy rain. I’d decided last week I was not going to follow the wind this weekend, besides I knew the locals would have sown up all the swims towards the end of the lake – nothing new. It was dull and overcast as I made my way down the gravel path towards the swims I had wanted. It looked like wet stuff was imminent.

Those who have cracked this water in the past have formulated a ‘baiting team’ and concentrating on 2 or 3 swims from which they have baited heavily during the closed seasons. Its against the rules pre-baiting in the closed season, however there is nothing to stop them from feeding the ducks…

The majority of other successful anglers have fished the end swims into a strong south westerly wind, but once again this requires beefed up tackle and very long casting. I didn’t want to follow the norm and am pleased that all the fish I have had have come through my own bait and strategies.

After finding many of the early swims occupied I settled for the big double swim called the ‘copses’. This stretch of water allows access to the end of a bird island and its drop off. It also covers the entrance to a large bay which is fairly uniform around 7ft but full of weed. To stand a chance you have to find the clear patches in the heavy channels. I’d fished it twice this season already and it was from this swim that both Jason and I were kept awake all through the night with liners.

Once ‘camp blanker’ was operational I went about finding some spots, and this was no easy task. The clear areas from a few weeks back had now vanished and were solid with weed. In the end I found clear ground at the back of a channel of thick weed at 70 yrds. The 4oz lead skipped and bounced in that manner that means clear gravel. Once clipped up a few more casts revealed this was a long channel as either side was also clear 20 yards across.

My plan was to fish two Chod rigs (I know everyone is on Chods but they are effective in weed). The third rod would be cast with a single snowman towards the corner of the Bird Island drop off – this is at around 90yrds.

60 or so baits were fired over the clear patch and beyond using my throwing stick– I never bait tightly as I think this can spook these fish. Both rods were fished using bright pop ups to the left and right of the marker around 20 yrds apart.

Once the third rod was in place I sat back and took a photo of the angry looking clouds – surely it was going to chuck it down any minute – see photo 1. Later into the evening I received a drop back which didn’t amount to anything.

Saturday morning I was talking to my girlfriend around 6am when the right hand rod screamed off. Upon striking into the fish it started coming straight towards me and I immediately cursed at the thought of another Pike, or even worse a Bream!

After a few minutes the fish decided to fight harder close in and not wanting to lose this I played it out until the head of a Tench popped up. I couldn’t believe it as I really thought this was a Carp, but hey this was my first ever Tench from this water and it wasn’t a bad size either. At least I knew the rigs were working.

The fish went just over 8Ib – see Photo 2, and I was quite pleased with that. Once recast to the same spot I fired a few more baits out but I think most of these were grabbed by the large flock of Seagulls attracted by the flick of the Throwing stick.

Saturday ticked by with nothing showing and although the weather had warmed up, the wind had dropped off too. Around 1pm I had a visit from an old friend who I used to fish with. Since he had been away from the lake for around 4 years I set about filing him in on all the latest news, and the rigs that were doing the business.

By around 5pm I was back on my own and contemplating a move of swim when two fish crashed over my baited spot in quick succession so I decided a recast was in order. Quickly tying up some PVA sticks I recast well past the spots and dragged the baits back creating a trial of smashed up boilie. This has worked for me in the past and can result in a quick take where fish are present. The trick here is to ensure the cast is well past the showing fish to avoid spooking them.

By the time Saturday evening came it was notably cooler, (photo 3) with a red sky bringing a stunning end to another day. This was to be my 10th night, and 5th Weekend. Would this be the night?

Sunday morning came and I was sitting there having yet another cuppa staring at motionless rods. Yet another session had come to an end. The ‘Pub Chucker’ had at least caught the Tench, but those Carp were still evading me.

Next weekend throws a new dimension to my session because I’m being joined by my girlfriend. She is coming down from Scotland and wants to see what all the fuss is about. Things will have to change slightly though because she is extremely healthy. Gone will be the Donor Kebabs, and the junk food. Instead we shall be dining on Salad I expect. Hope you will join me on yet another session. Surely the blanking can’t carry on much longer? I’m using the right bait, which I have full confidence in. The rigs are simple, and I’m not baiting too heavily. Everything is kept as simple as possible but right now it’s the boys on the end of that wind who are producing fish. There is no chance of me reaching where they are casting let alone trying to get in these swims before they get down. I just have to carry on doing what I can and hoping that my luck will change.

Have a good week.

The Pub Chucker       Click Here to visit Geoffs Website

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