68 acres pt 1

I was given an insight and and opportunity of a ticket on very large northern mere some years back, having decided it was too good an opportunity to miss i made the necessary arrangements to meet up and be given a tour of the lake. Arriving at the car park next to a sailing club I set eyes on what could only be described as a vast expanse of water surrounded by dense woodland and grassy banks, my first impressions left me feeling a little daunted to say the least.

As we could see the main body of the lake from the roadside bank we chose to walk to the left and around the boatyard. The first area we came to that was fish able was a long man made point of land that nearly joins up to the wooded bank. This area realistically gave one swim a lot of water to yourself although you were on view to everyone who sailed or came to the boatyard.  Beyond this area was what in effect was a separate lake adjoining onto the lake with a narrow channel joining the 2 bodies of water. The left side of the channel was snaggy and the right side being clay and grasses to the waters edge giving in effect an island margin. Beyond this 3 acre bay was the most stunning ancient woodland, untouched for decades. In these woods there were 3 spots giving access to the main body of water with marginal alders and rhododendrons lining the banks. The water was clear and the sandy silty substrate of the lake was very visible. This area looked highly promising to say the least. The layout of the lake means that a full lap could not be achieved due to a long expanse of "out of bounds" water, so we headed back round to the boatyard to start the opposite route. The banks here were grassy right to the edge and offered comfortable bank space with a full view of the lake but was very exposed in comparison with the wooded area. To the right of the corner was a long high bank that ran the length of the lake to the far car park. As interesting as this bank was to me the banks were extremely steep with only one or two areas being accommodating enough for me to consider spending time in.

The first session couldn't come round quick enough and i arrived on the Friday morning as dawn was creeping in. Parking up i shouldered the kit for the long walk to the woods. I had completely underestimated the distance, i would later find out the walk is a best part of a mile and a half. I felt it was safe enough to drop some kit and come back for it and after a return journey i got everything into the woods, now it was decision time as to where to drop in.

Choosing the farthest swim, mainly due to it giving me a rod on this side of the entrance to the other pool, decisions were made and i got the first rod out, a small bag of pellet with a 21mm pellet on the hair. Flicking this out the 40 yards or so and setting it on the rests it was time for the waders and a bit of marker work. At around 10 yards out there was a slight drop off limiting the range i could wade about, but whilst i was out there i was noticing clear areas around the size of a bin lid amongst the silt. Could these be from the fish ? I felt no resistance from weed or any other feature to go at with the marker rod and was finding a constant 6 ft of water so opted to drop a couple of kilo of pellet around a marker float at around 40 yards and put 2 rods over it. I was just finishing off when i heard an alarm screaming, looking back to my kit i realised it was the right hand rod, id completely forgotten about it for the last half hour while I'd been out in the waders. Half wading, half trying to run i got a hand on the rod to find the fish had very kindly bolted out into the lake and not decided to go around the corner in the small bay. Banking a fantastic common of just over 21lbs I was elated, What a start. A few self takes and she went back bowing off up the margin to my left. Rod back out on the spot and it must be time for a brew up and to build my home for next 2 nights.

That night the tench moved in. Although the tench were averaging around 5-6lb, after a night being plagued with them i had moved the 2 rods away from the bed of bait, i had banked over 70lb of the green slimeys during the darkness and first light saw me looking for different options. I went out wading and found that if i fished a rod out in the lake on long bank sticks i could safely fish toward a rather large and ancient fallen tree, some 90 yards up the bank. A rod was placed with just a small hand full of big pellets and then waded back. The day passed quietly then on the second evening the tench started to come to the rod over the baited patch again, but the other two rods had been silent without so much as rattle on the bobbins.

the fallen tree rod

With a full night ahead of me i re baited the fallen tree rod and the point rod and settled in. By midnight i had brought the rod in off the bait as the tench were queueing up for my hook bait. I had finally settled off to sleep when i was dragged out of bed by the screech of an alarm. The left hand rod was giving line at a rate. I left the waders and went straight in, under the cover of darkness it seemed to take an age to get out to the rod but when I tightened down and leaned into a power full fish , the wetting seemed worth it. The fish had left the area of the snag tree and was out in open water, it turned and kited across me and powered up the right hand margin, i locked down on it and it was soon in the folds of the net. A matching pair, a second 21lb+ common. With less than an hour untill daylight i sacked the fish up around the bank sticks and re baited the rod, I was tired and in my laziness i cast the rod back to the area on a single hook bait, set the rod and went back to bed.

With the dawn chorus bringing me out of deep sleep time had ran out. A quick couple of shots of the 2nd common and back she went. I had little choice but to wrap the kit and make the walk back to the car. Even without the weight of food and water the walk near killed me, Collapsing at the car i just knew a serious rethink of the kit was in serious order!