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 !