Woodlands

Woodlands

After having a scout around Denhall fisheries a little earlier in the week and finding the specimen pool to my liking  I decided to have a day session on it.Arriving at the gates by 5.45 to try and ensure id have pick of the swims it wasn't long before the owner was unlocking the gates. My fears of racing to a swim was unfounded as i was alone in the queue. A quick viewing of the area we fancied revealed a few fish present and with 2 lad’s set up on one bank from the night before i was still a little limited. Rods were flicked out on singles into areas of clean clay amongst the silt in the margins and it was time to sit back.

It wasn’t long before I was getting itchy feet and with a few fish showing in the corner to my left I sneaked down with a pocket full of mixers and a pack of size 10s. The swim, if it can be called that, must be one of the tightest I’ve ever fished,

The tightest swim, in the daylight !

and by the time id settled the fish had buggered off. At best I could swing around 2ft of line off the rod tip and flick it out under the tree canopy. It wouldn't be long before the fish turned up again though and they seemed up for a few mixers. Cagey wasn't the word, I lost count of the amount of refusals my baited hook received before finally over an hour later I got the inevitable slurp and I bent the rod round and hit into a decent fighting fish.

After a scary battle under the trees and in less than 2 ft of water a lovely common was dragged under sufferance over the net cord. Elation, off the mark on here already, weighing in at 16lb 2oz, she was in fine fettle and an absolute beauty.

16lb 2oz 

A few shots and I slipped her back a few swims further down the bank, and got back to it under the trees, but to no avail.

Later in the afternoon I would receive a second take on the opposite bank fishing the mixer in amongst the floating Canadian rafts, initially I wasn’t going to angle for the fish as I could see it was only around a few pound but the urge got the better of me and I plopped a mixer nearby and tweaked it back towards it ever so slowly. Slurp and all hell broke loose. The fish was a bit bigger than id first thought but seeing as the scales and camera were on the far bank I just slipped him back. Having had a pleasurable time on the venue i decided a return was in order the following weekend. 

I got on at 6am and was soon set up in the area I fished last time, rods out and kettle on. A lot of fish were moving all around the lake and I just couldn’t settle behind the alarms and was soon off stalking under the snag trees. At just after 8am I got my first take on the mixer, a brief struggle followed by a hook pull, gutting as it felt a decent fish and wasn’t particularly trying to do me into the snags. That would be the last sighting of any fish under this set of trees for the whole session.  

The trees to my right from where id set up appears to be a regular visiting spot to the fish in here, there’s rarely a fish not on the spot. Id been trying to tease a few fish with a mixer but to no avail, I tried free lined corn boilie and flaked bread, lowering it into the area so carefully so as not to spook them, each time id lower a bait the fish would approach and waft with their pecs and turn away, id just about had enough of sitting in the darkness getting bitten to buggery and decided to try one last mixer. Burying the hook deeply I lowered it gently to the surface only for it to sink, as it fell to the sandy bottom I could see it and the fish reacted and came to waft it, and again they moved away a few feet. From nowhere a big pale mirror appeared in the swim and waddled straight to the mixer and sucked it in I struck and all hell broke loose, I had to give line so buried the rod deep under the margins and let the fish head out into the lake, now all I had to do was stop it and get it back under the canopy and into the net. As it rolled over the cord I noted this was a good fish. At 21lb1oz  the two-tone mirror, according to the owner, hadn't been out for a year or more.

21lb 1oz of mirror carp

 I would later hook and land a small ghost common of around 8lb from the opposite end of the lake using the same sinking mixer technique, definitely something to think about. One thing I noticed today was that once a take had come from a set of snags the fish just didn't seem to turn up at that spot again! and once again come 2pm when the weekenders start dropping on and setting up crashing leads and bait everywhere, the fish totally disappear, they cant be found under any snags which means they have to be in the Canadian weed beds. I was enjoying my time on the lake and over the following 2 sessions I was lucky enough to hook and land a fair few smaller residents from the lake, mostly stalking them off the surface with mixers, one or two stalked off the bottom on single grains of corn, under the trees in the “hole” 2 commons in particular stood out and these were quickly photographed before being slipped back, both fish were really dark and fought like pit bulls. Now I'm happy that I can pretty much fish selectively around the lake when it’s quiet, I feel it’s the only way to fish it without playing the numbers game, which I dislike as a way to catch the bigger fish. 

Having banked 17 fish in 5 sessions, now I plan to only put a stalked bait out for the better fish. I’ve been seeing a long torpedo shaped common about, often in an unapproachable spot,  It would be wrong to hook it where I keep finding it as it’s too dangerous for the fish, simple as that! It must come out to feed at some point. The following weekend arrived and  I made my way to the left side of the lake, the fish appear here first and I think it’s to do with the sunlight lighting up this area first. I found fish in no time and slipped rigs amongst them, within an hour sightings were down to a minimum so I got off stalking, setting up with sunken mixers, a bag of corn and a "rami" sausage in my pocket. After lapping the lake id deposited about 1/2kg of corn dispersed onto all the regular areas, by the time i had lapped the lake, fish were starting to arrive on the spots, some of which are now so clean there is gravel appearing in the bottoms of them. Determined I wasn’t going to place a bait until there was a 'better' fish in the area I had put in 4 laps before finding what I was after, I had found a big mirror tucked in with a few small commons. I got myself into a better vantage point and recognised the fish as the two tone mirror id already banked. Decision made I moved away and went on my wanders again, adding more corn if the spots had been visited, it would be a few hours later before I would come across another better fish, this was a common that looked a bit tatty but well worth a dabble.

Lowering a pair of free lined, golden grains onto the spot, it was deeper than I thought and I could barely make out the hook bait, the fish stayed put, game on. Heart pumping the fish finally made a turn towards the bait, pecks wafting and gills working overtime, but it just wouldn’t pick the bait up , its mouth was an inch from it, out of nowhere a small common charged into the swim and the big common bolted out into the lake, game over. Furious I dropped a small handful of corn under the conifer branch and moved off, time for a brew, I did the longer route back to my kit to ensure there was still plenty of corn on the spots, all had been visited and the long trees area was devoid of any grains at all and a handful of small commons sat in the hollow, frustrated at my run of poor luck I thought what the hell, I dropped a pair of grains in and they settled on the clay, the first common to approach dropped onto it and moved off with the bait, I struck and managed to keep the fish under control although the others bolted out when they realised what’s happening. The result was a 15lb common, off the mark and it was fingers crossed now that I could start getting into the spots a little ahead of the fish. It was time for a couple of coffees and a spot of lunch. 

15lb on 2 grains of corn

Finding a very large mirror under a tree with 3 small commons and a low double mirror, stopped me in my tracks, this is the fish I think I hooked and lost a few weeks ago, it’s certainly got a frame to match. From my vantage point I could see it’s quite a plain fish with a large single scale near its gill on the left flank, and its massive when sat amongst these small single figure fish. How to do this? I positioned my corn suspended over a twig and about 3 inches above the water, poised to lower it at a decent opportunity. I sat for over 2 hrs with the fish, rolling the occasional smoke, not even lowering bait once. During this time various fish would arrive and leave, the smaller fish had long since disappeared but the big-un stayed put.

It edged forwards a few inches, now coming to within a foot of where I could lower to, I released the line and the corn plopped down, the fish turned towards it and continued the turn until its back was to the bait. A few minutes later and no apparent reason the fish suddenly bolted out of the area leaving a wake and the trees rocking. Chance blown.

The rest of the day would see me finding very little to go at in the way of size able fish. Having now spent a decent amount of time on the lake I'm pretty sure I have seen all the stock as i’m now starting to recognise many of the smaller commons and the rarer mirrors . At the end of the session I deposited another few kilos of corn on all the spots I’ve been preparing, at least this session I’ve seen them actually eating it, confidence is high that soon a big fish will make a mistake, its getting closer I can feel it in my bones