Like most anglers I had been waiting for the no travel rule to be lifted (early Spring) and I knew exactly what I would be fishing for. The 5 day forecast was predicting temperatures in the mid teens and Crucian were hopefully be waking up from their Winter slumber.
I got to the lake just before first light and I was surprised how cold it was. There was a strong wind which made it feel cooler than it was. I knew it was going to warm up so chose a swim on the end of the wind hoping the Crucian would arrive when it warmed up.
I was fishing the method feeder loaded with Dynamite Baits green lipped muscle method mix with a trimmed down pineapple and banana pop up as hookbait. I cast the feeders every 15 minutes to build attraction in the swim.
By lunchtime I had seen no fish activity at all let alone had a bite. I was starting to think my chance had gone when all of a sudden one of my rods absolutely ripped off! I thought it would be a Tench but the fight told me it was a good Crucian. I gingerly played it to the net and sure enough a big Crucian was soon netted! At 3lb 8oz I was over the moon. It was also a personal best which was the icing on the cake.
I had a few spare hours one Spring evening, so headed to a gravel pit that holds big Rudd. I knew bite time was just after dark so arrived a short time before this. I cast out the method feeder several times to get some attraction on the spots.
Just on dark the first bite came and it was a chunky Rudd on a method feeder loaded with green lipped muscle method mix with a trimmed down pineapple and banana pop up as hookbait.. I placed it in a keepnet as the feeding spells can be hectic. I cast the rod out straight away and it was off again maybe one minute later! It was a short but productive feeding spell and six 2lb plus Rudd were the result. The best two weighing 2lb 8oz!
The Rudd were great action for short evening sessions. But I fancied a longer day session or two and try for the Bream and Tench. I knew the Bream would be catchable during the day, especially when a good amount of bait had been put out for them.
I spodded out a mix of frenzied mixed particle, margin mix groundbait, source pellets and 12mm source boilies. I fished one rod on a cage feeder loaded with the spod mix. The other rod was a method feeder loaded with the green lipped muscle method groundbait and a yellow washter hookbait.
It took some time for the first bite to occur as hookbait colour was very specific. I tried white and red but yellow was what they wanted. When the bites started they were steady all day with around 10 Bream, Tench and an interesting hybrid too. The Bream were a great average size ranging from 6lb to 8lb plus. The biggest and best looking was a striking two tone specimen.
Well I did just that and one evening I hooked into a heavy fish at close range. It instantly tried to snag me in the cabbages in the near margin and I tried to keep it out without putting too much pressure on the hook and line. I lost a big fish that did the same thing the week before! After some very strong surges I finally bundled it into the net!
The river carp fishing had been really slow. Just the one small common came along over a few weeks. The Tench were definitely there as they were boshing in the swim most evenings and mornings. I decided to fish for what was there and put a method feeder out to try and catch them. I was using the silver x carp method mix with the F1 groundbait added to it. Hookbait was a white wowser.
That evening I had a take and a strong fish managed to bury itself in the prolific weed. After steady pressure was applied for a few minutes a ball of weed popped up and soon scooped into the net. As I peeled the weed away a gnarly old looking Tench was looking at me with its red eyes. I did not weigh it but took a few pictures as it was an interesting old character!
After dark the Bream took over and several chunky fish were netted. They averaged a good 5lb with the biggest around 7lb. I reeled in and got some sleep before casting out again at first light. It did not take long and I was playing another feisty fish that was almost certainly another Tench. It was indeed and after I netted it I could see it was a bigger and lovely looking fish around the 5lb mark. Again it was an interesting character with a strange white fin. Something I have never seen before on a Tench.
I enjoyed this session so much and plan to target the river Tench properly next season. And who knows, the Carp might turn up too?!
