The Black Water session 3

With an early arrival to get settled in with a couple of hours darkness and with home built and the kettle fired up 2 rods were cast to the clipped up spots on the plateau i fished the previous session, i used small tangerine sized bags of crumbed B1 with the ever consistent B1 scud combo on the business end of the simple blow back rigs. The 3rd rod was walked down to the little bay and cast underarm out into 3 feet of water around 12ft out on a Scud fished on a simple pop up rig.
At first light the previously forecast south westerly sprang up and put a heavy chop on the surface making fish spotting nigh on impossible, with only seeing one or two possible shows  among all the jack pike strikes it was time to get some free offerings in on top of the rigs and to sit on the hands and be patient to see if the fish would come to the rigs.
The day passed with little attention to any of the rods and my thoughts were turning to the change in wind and if that had affected the fish behaviour, the decision to move was bouncing around in my head, i had planned to try and stay put on each session, with it being limited time compared to my normal style of angling. By early evening id decided a night on the plateau was the right thing to do so i stayed put and refreshed the rods in readiness for darkness.
Soon after dark the wind dropped off and the lake was still, a superb time for seeing and hearing the fish but to no avail, i heard nothing and saw nothing show. Having had such an early start, tiredness was creeping in and an early venture to the sleeping bag was made, with the expectancy of a rude awakening at any time. To my surprise i woke a little after first light to a misty lake but a day promising pleasant weather.
With daylight had come the south westerly again, pushing passed me from left to right. I was soon to be surprised by two other young anglers arriving in pursuit of the carp in the lake, previously i had only seen the occasional pike angler. They set up on the high bank opposite and proceeded to cast 3 rods tight into the island with the other lad casting 2 rods tight to the left hand end. Around 40 minutes later the elder of the two young anglers came round to see what bait i was using and if i had caught anything, I impolitely asked him why he had left his rods unattended over such a large distance I made it obvious i was not impressed and tried to explain to him the lack of respect he had for the residents in the lake. He was uncaring so i made it quite obvious i was not going to continue with any conversation with him and he left me.
Mid afternoon came around and the lad received a take off his right hand margin rod and proceeded to play the fish for a very long time, eventually he managed to land it and hauled the fish up onto the bank and to his waiting mat. After a few minutes my friend and i were starting to worry about the fish as the lad still hadn't dealt with it and it had been out of water for some time with no moisture, my friend ran round to give some help, the lad was struggling to get the hook out. In seconds it was unhooked and the fish was lifted in the net, the lad then proceeded to clamber down 5 ft of steep bank when he slipped and fell landing on the fish. After he sorted himself out and stood precariously above 7 ft of deep water he wet the fish again and clambered back up the bank. As he was trying to lift the fish for his trophy shot the lad dropped the fish and it flapped its way off the mat, bouncing down the 5 ft of bramble and rocky bank side to slap back into the lake. I couldn't believe what i was witnessing. Once my mate was back round we chatted about it and both of us were in shock, sadly  it was the pristine common i had banked a couple of weeks earlier.
Late afternoon and the two lads were just leaving the lake when 2 other anglers arrived and proceeded to question us about the session, we kept pretty quiet and i don't actually think i spoke to either of them. 20 minutes later would see them setting up, malleting bivvy pegs into a bank of 45 degrees, leaving them a near sheer drop to the water and their rods.They were soon joined by a 2nd pair of lads who set up adjacent to the others but one swim down, out came the mallets again. Just before dark the party kicked in with half a dozen guests gathering around the 2 bivvies and with lights flashing and screaming giggly girls our session came to an abrupt end.
Having had the first 2 sessions to ourselves on the lake this was a real shock to the system, this is not the sort of place i would ever fish, the dilemma is to shift the session to a midweek or give it another couple of sessions as arranged and see how it pans out. I'm sure autumn is due to hit us in a big way soon and hopefully it will sort out the true anglers from the party anglers.

The Black Water session 2

With an early start in order for Friday morning, inevitably sleep was never going to come easy, i spent the night clock watching till just before 3 am when i had had enough of trying to get some sleep so sneaking out of the bedroom and straight to the kettle and coffee jar. While waiting for the kettle the kit was loaded up and it was soon time for the off.
Crossing over the border at around 3.30 am i knew there was going to be more than enough time to get into position under cover of darkness, i was just hoping i could find the plateau id felt on the previous session. By 4.30 the rods were lowered into some nearby margin spots for the time being  on single hook baits, it was then i realised id forgotten the marker rod ! Setting up a separate rod with a marker set up, i made a few casts out towards the are i knew the bar was but was not able to feel it. I had really wanted to pick up the sensations of the lead passing over the fine gravel on the plateau but with mono instead of braid i could only receive an occasional tap of a larger stone, the plan had been to find it then walk the marker and rigs out along the bank, clip them up and flick them out onto the spot, a textbook error forgetting the braid rod.
With not wanting to cause any more disturbance i chose to leave the rods on the margin spots till first light then try again to find the plateau.
As dawn started to break through and with light levels on the rise, i soon came to realise i had been casting to the right of the plateau as i had lined up with the wrong tree silhouette, with this error corrected i found the area i wanted to present my baits on with just a single cast, then a second to ensure my marker was at the far side of it so i could cast slightly shorter to ensure accurate placement of the rigs. The 3rd rod was to be fished on a single pop up and would be treated as a roving rod, cast about to any signs of fish but as a starting point i whacked it down to the far corner off the snag tree 90 yards away.
With the rods in position and a scattering of SAE bacteria baits around the rigs on the plateau a small quantity of pellets was spodded over each of the two rigs and i felt i could finally relax.
After the heavy gales we had received all week the gentle westerly was pushing in towards me but the forecast was for a change to a southerly the coming night. With the sessions on this lake being only around 36 hrs max I've decided not to chase around the lake but stick with whichever swim i choose for the duration and to pre bait when I'm leaving. This swim was pretty much in the middle of the lake and gives me a view of the whole water with the exception of the back of the island.
Having found this plateau late on in the last session i had been keen to give it a try as its such a pronounced feature among all the inky black, stinky silt everywhere else in the lake. I was 100% sure the fish must visit this area. By mid morning all was quiet, i had refrained from adding bait to the swim throughout the day, preferring to sit on the small pockets of food clustered around the hook baits. With the stock being low I'm trying to fish for a fish at a time but by evening it was time for fresh baits for the oncoming dark hours. Bringing the 2 rods in of the plateau i was pleased that they hadn't absorbed the silt and still smelt fresh, within an hour of fishing into silt the baits the previous session had smelled rancid.
Dropping them back onto the plateau i added a small amount of bait over each rig and settled back for the evening. Tired out from the lack of sleep i soon dropped off into a deep sleep and woke the following morning at around 8, I was totally surprised and quite disappointed not to have been up in the night with a fish. Even the dawn chorus hadn't roused me from my slumber.
With missing first light i felt like i had wasted the chance of learning more about the venue and was quite disappointed with myself for sleeping through. With the kettle on i wound in the range rod to find the bait completely masked by the stench of the silt and replaced the two 10mm Scuds and flicked it back down to the snag tree again. The other 2 rods were left in place till after breakfast and a cuppa.
By mid morning id seen a few shows down in "cow bay" and had moved the pop up rig around according but to no avail, but by adapting the rig and setting it at 2 inches off the bottom i was now able to present a bait and avoid it taking on the oily silt.
With the other 2 rods re baited and recast into the same spots on the plateau I settled back to watch for shows or any other signs of fish to go at, this session was a going to be a quiet one that was for sure, and with the southerly wind causing quite a ripple, spotting fish was always going to be tough.
Out of know where the left hand plateau rod went off, pouncing on it and leaning on the fish i knew this was a good one, it was going off at a rate of knots , stripping line from the reel and heading to the bottom end of the lake, applying pressure i leaned to my right to slow it and i felt the fish hit a weed bed and go solid, after a few seconds it passed through the loose Canadian pond weed and out the other side, feeling the line grating and cutting its way through, the fish was soon back under control and in open water, ploughing up and down the left margin in the deeper water. This fish just did not want to give up, and i was nervous, knowing it was a good fish that i really didnt want to lose, i was shaking ! After what seemed like an eternity and a few more dives and lunges it seemed ready for the net and started to come towards me, until it got a sighting of the net and it was off again, this time it was tired and was soon turned and under control again and into the folds of the waiting net it went.

a new welsh pb mirror for me

Onto the wet mat and up on the scales she went, pulling them round to 19lb3oz I was rather chuffed, a new welsh Pb for me and a known character fish too. After a series of photographs she was slipped back to give me a good soaking in thanks for dragging her out of her watery home.
With the fish returned and the rig back in place on the plateau it was time for a celebratory cuppa and a well earned smoke.
The afternoon passed quite quickly after that and it wouldn't be long before id be packing up, i had promised my self that if the weather was fine, at the end of each session i would spend an hour marking out and leaning as much as i can about the lake bed and it wasn't long before i found another area that was 2 ft shallower than the surrounding areas and very gravelly, this spot will definatley be used for the 3rd rod next session if i decide to fish this same area.

Time was up and other than pre baiting with a load of B1 boilies onto the plateaus and in the surrounding areas it was time to shoulder the kit and head to the car for the journey home. Roll on next friday !

The Black Water session 1

Having pre baited the lake the previous Tuesday, Friday morning couldn't come quick enough. With an hour of darkness left upon arriving, the kit was dropped onto the island swim and by first light the home was built and the rods were baited, as light levels rose 2 rods were dropped into place on the island plateau with a 3rd flicked out into one of the deeper bays. Kettle on and it was lake watching time.
With a northwesterly picking within an hour of dawn chances of sightings were drastically reduced but it wouldn't be long before a good fish was spotted lumping out among the waves at the far end of the lake. With it being the first session and a short 36 hour one at that, i decided id refrain from moving and stay put in the shallower water surrounding the island. By lunchtime the clouds had gathered and the rain had arrived.

Having baited up with a couple of kg of SAE bacteria B1's a few days earlier i had decided to fish 3 bait stringers for the day to get a feel for whether fish were present and on the area before i applied any more, but i did trickle some of the B1 pellet in over the course of the morning. By late afternoon id been plagued by coot chicks diving on the pellet and occasionally grabbing the hook bait, keeping me on my toes!

Darkness came early with the heavy cloud and rain and i could finally get some pellet out onto the areas without the coots cleaning me out all the time, finally the swim settled down. With the rods re baited and positioned a little further off the island but still up on the plateau it was time to eat and settle down with a book. It wasn't long before the eyes were heavy and id drifted off into a light snooze when the left hand rod was away, fishing locked up, i lifted the rod into what felt like a solid fish.

With the clutch locked up the fish had kindly kited away into open water and i could finally let it take some line. After a few powerfull lunges and dives the fish was starting to tire and was soon wallowing off the end of the net in the shallow water and after one final run it was nestling in the folds of the mesh. The sense of elation hit home, overriding the fear of dread at possibly losing the first take from the lake. A quick peek at the fish and i was elated..a good one !
Once on the mat and in the sling the common settled the scales round to 18lb 2oz and was soon photographed and released back into its watery home.
With it being so dark now it was a leap of faith to cast the rig back to the edge of the island and hearing an audible plop i was content not have clipped the island canopy. With a cuppa in hand i sat and enjoyed the successful start to the unknown water.
At around 2am the same rod went off, again with it being locked up tight the fish couldn't take line so kited way from the island, i lifted into what felt again like a good fish , within seconds the hook popped out and all my highs fell away. Gutted to say the least. Back out to the spot the rod went.
It would be mid day on the Saturday when again the same rod went off, this fish managed to get under the canopy and leaning into it to steer it out from under the branches i felt a small fish scrapping on the end. It was soon subdued and resting in the bottom of the net. The result being a 13lb common.

The rest of the soon day passed away with just a handful of sightings among the heavy waves in other areas of the lake and a few fish seen just off the back of the island.
Packing down it was time to leave and pre bait a few areas in preparation for the following session

The Black Water

A month or so ago i became privy to a little bit of information regarding a pool around 35 miles from home, I instantly took an interest in it but as is often the case things get put on the back burner and even more often forgotten about. After being given a memory jog i decided to get on the web to do some research, i was soon in possession of an overhead map and a route, but no matter what i couldn't find out anything about the stock of fish, Ive seen a few shots of some beautiful black commons and they had been enough to whet my appetite
I finally got round to taking a drive up with a friend, a pad, a marker rod set up and a bucket of bait.  Over the course of the evening we would get a pretty definitive topographical map of the underwater features and a strong urge to give the lake a go.
The first sighting grabbed my attention mainly due to the color of the water, black as ink! I fully expected to have found deep water but it wouldnt be long before we would find out to the contrary.

First impressions were of a tatty old farm pool of around an acre and a half with a sunken island around 35 yards out, It has a comfy bank on one side and an un-fishable bank on the opposite, this being due to the sheer drop to the water making landing fish a potential accident waiting to happen, especially under darkness.

After marking out the high bank and towards the far end, we were finding a slight variation in depths but generally ranging between 6 - 7 feet deep with scraggly Canadian pond weed and silk weed.  After getting to the far end of the lake there is a pair of dead trees sunken and after a few casts around it, it is certainly snaggy under the water around them. Turning towards the comfy bank stretch i found a raised plateau of what feels like gravel/stones, this area measures out at approx 12ft by 10ft with around 3 ft of water above it when all around it i was finding 6ft, certainly an area not to be overlooked !

Around the sunken island is what appears to be the slopes of the island with trees jutting out of the water. Whilst marking around this area we were lucky to see a few fish roll out in the heavy ripple and a couple of crashes among the sunken trees. The water in this area is averaging at 3ft and with the light at the right angle the clay bottom could be made out

Having actually witnessed some fish we were beaming and made the decision to get on at the end of the coming week therefore i  primed some spots up with the SAE B1's  and left for home, totally excited about fishing a bit of the unknown. Its been some time since i felt this way about a new water and its nice to be fishing close to home enabling me to pre bait before each session

The rods are set up to accommodate the patchy weed and the rigs are made and balanced ...Roll on Friday morning !

Midweek session on Meadows Syndicate

Arriving to an empty lake i did the first of many laps i would do over the next few days searching for the elusive carp in this lake, the first area i was interested in was up on the high bank, its an area I've often found the fish visiting but after a short viewing i had seen no evidence of the carp being present, i wandered to the bottom bay to find a few fish bubbling up in the area and after finishing the lap i decided to start the session down there. The swim gives a great view of much of the lake so contented, i set up home as i decided where to place the baits.
With a rod being fished a yard or so off the old jetty over 20 or so B1 baits a second rod into the opposite corner on corn over a light scattering of grains and a third rod 10 yards out directly in front of me in line with a treeline mark on the island again on the Bacteria B1 bait. This rod would also receive 20 pouches of the B1 pellet at the start, with the plan to top up if i was to see any evidence that the fish were present.The remainder of the afternoon passed quickly but the fish appeared to be absent. Those i had seen fizzing up earlier appeared to have left the area. Tired from the journey down i headed for an early night after applying a little more bait to the spots. I woke soon after first light quite shocked not to have recieved a fish through the darkness. Having a quick look at the bay i could see a few spots with fish bubbling away but not near any of the baited areas. Seeing a large fizz patch near to the island a rod was gently plopped a yard off the area.
With a brew in my hand and breakfast sank i decided to give a waggler set up a try over the pellet area, there were the occasional bubbles coming up from the area and things looked good for a fish. Mounting a couple of grains of corn on a size 6 hook i flicked the float long and gently drew it back into the swim. Typically as i took a slurp of coffee the float rose and dipped, i struck into thin air completely missing the bite. Re baiting i followed the same procedure and the float settled among the pellets again. With the rod in hand i was fully ready for the next dip of the float, connecting with a fish that felt very uncarp like, it rolled and i knew it was one of the very elusive bream that we had stocked a couple of seasons back. Once in the net it was weighed up at 2lbs 9oz, a great leap forward since the last capture of one at round 1lb 2 years back.
Try as i might i couldn't get another bite from them or anything else for that matter. The day passed with only one or 2 sightings of fish at the far end of the lake. After a lap i came to realise that the fish were certainly more prominent at the shallower end of the lake. I decided to stay put but promised myself the move come morning if id not had any signs of fish the coming night.
Re baiting with over an hour to spare before darkness gave me time for another dabble with the waggler rod but to no avail. Again the night passed without disturbance and the following morning saw the lake shrouded in mist and everything soaked through. By mid morning the move to the shallows was on. I packed the gear and shuttled it down to the main shallows peg. Priority was to get baits in position and in no time i was sitting back with a cuppa watching the water. There were certainly fish present and quite a few were fizzing up along the old reed bed line. Sitting expectantly but with the day moving on a pace it wasn't long before the evening crept up on me. I was still bite less.
Throughout the night i would hear fish starting to crash out in the middle area of the lake. After hearing a particularly loud crash i went for a quick run down the bank to see where the action was happening. Seeing the waves hitting the near bank and seeing a fish pop its head out i decided come morning i would probably make a second move into this area. By 1am i was settled in to the bag and dropping off to sleep.
Shortly before 6am i was dragged out of deep sleep by the left hand rod to the island, going into overdrive, leaning into a fish i was a bit disappointed to feel a small carp on the end. Id been praying this would be one of the better ones. But hey i was off the mark with a stocky of 8lb.

sunset over the meadows 

A quick scan of the middle of the lake and the fish that had spent the evening crashing about seemed to still be present so the 2nd move was made into the deeps swim. Again the rods went out with priority over the rest of the kit, one rod to the reeds on my right a 2nd off the left hand island end and the left hand rod tight to the overhanging dogwood bushes. As i was sorting the home out this left hand rod went off. Pouncing on it, i managed to turn the fish out of the bushes and into open water. It bolted out into the main body of water and was doing its best to reach the far margins, knowing i had to turn it before it got there i leaned to my left and applied pressure, the fish turned and came back at me, passing me and heading down the channel between the island and the bank. It was tiring and i was starting to win and gain control. It went into the net first time and i knew i had a better fish. Peeling back the net i was shocked to see a low double, this fish had given me the runaround and was punching well above its weight. I recognised it as one of the priory stock from the initial stocking of the lake a few years previously. The fish had been around 3lb when stocked but was now weighing in at 11lb 3oz...fantastic growth considering the previous few hard winters and poor summers.

chunky mirror stocked 3 seasons ago

 With the rod back in it was time to get the home together and settle down to watch the water looking for signs to go at. Other than a few light liners off the island rods all was pretty quiet, the fish had stopped showing in the area and after a mooch around the lake it looked like there wasn't a fish in the lake!
With a good curry done and dusted it was time to re do the rods and apply some bait ready for hte oncoming night.Again the dark hours produced no activity to the baits  and first light tried to creep its way through the early morning mists. By mid morning the sun had fought its way through  and burnt the mist way leaving me with a superb early Autumn day. Blasted out of my daydreams by a take on the left hand rod again i felt a good fish, it was trying to battle its way into the bottom bay and my angle was restricted, leaning out over the water to try and keep in contact i felt the hook pull out and the line slacken. Gutted i wound in and re baited the rig and out it went back on the spot. The afternoon passed away quietly with just a few liners off the island and with my head in a book i heard the "peep" of a kingfisher. Looking out it wouldn't be long before i got my first view of it. Over the next two days i would be lucky to get a hand-full of sightings of the magnificent creature. With baits refreshed for the night and a little top up of freebies it was soon time to settle back for some much needed sleep. Again i woke to a very misty lake having had no action on the rods again. It would be just after dark before a run was to be had, this time it was the rod on the reed bed on the B1 bait that would drag me to life. The fish was doing its damnedest to get into the reed bed and it very nearly succeeded,  i extracted it from the edge of the reeds and it went to my left staying very low in the water again like the last fish that i had lost, this one was trying to get into the channel between the island and the bank, i managed to turn it again and it powered passed me and made a second attempt at getting into the reeds, it was starting to tire and after one final dive at my feet it rolled over the net-cord and was mine. After zeroing up the scales they settled on a weight of 11lb 4oz ,

this one gave an unbelievable scrap

with a few shots done she went back to her watery home. I was pretty sure this was the first visit to the bank for this fish and the scrap it gave was something else !
With the rod back out on the productive spot it was time to pack away as much of the kit as possible in readiness for an early departure the following morning. Sleep was sadly un-interupted and after getting up at first light it wasn't long before the kit was packed and the journey home had to begin.