Return to the hills

With the opportunity to get out for 4 nights coming, up my mind was set on getting out and banking some fish, times have been tough recently with just one take in the last 7 or 8 nights of angling on the Black water, which resulted in a loss, i wanted to go somewhere where my confidence would be high and with good chances of fish coming to the rods so decided a trip up into the hills was in order. I feel i understand the fish in this lake somewhat and its been very kind to me over the last few visits up there. Its no walk in the park mind you, but the fish do like bait and when presented in certain areas they just cant help but get on it !

Not wanting to get stuck in traffic on the Wednesday morning i decided to wait for the morning rush to pass and set off from home at 9.30am and arrived at the lake for around 11.30 having had a mellow untroubled drive up there. Upon opening the gate my hand slipped off the bar and i ripped the back of my hand open in a few places, peeling back a nice flap of skin, this erupted in blood and i wasn't sure quite how bad it was. Rinsing it ff with some water from the car i realised it wasn't as bad as i initially thought, so wrapping it in a bundle of loo roll i started to shift the kit to the area i had planned to fish. It not often i arrive with a preconceived idea but i know the fish have to pass me to move out of the bay into the main body of water and back again, so my plan was rather preformed.

The wind was pushing from the northwest into the bay and it looked perfect although it was really cold. Once the kit was sorted the rods were positioned, one deep into the bay towards the far corner, one off the point and one rod out to the island, these areas have been productive for me each time I've fished the venue so confidence was riding high. Each rod was fished with a lead core leader as protection from the many sunken boulders along the edge of the bay and fitted out with 6 inch Gardner Sink Skin coated braid hook links set up in a blow back style with long hairs, onto each was placed a 16mm SAE Bacteria B1 and a 10mm Scud pop up to balance the bottom bait out. The hook links were threaded through bags of crumbed B1's and 1mm fry pellets with a couple of pva nuggets in each to encourage the bags to blow part once they hit the bottom. Once they blow the pva pops to the surface giving me a good marker to get some freebies out in the vicinity. The rod covering the point was given a liberal covering with around 30 baits spread out around it, the other two rods i left as single bags as i wanted to present a main area of high density bait, allowing me to move the other 2 rods about, searching for the fish.

At 1.30 i had just lit the stove under the kettle when the rod off the point erupted into life, lifting into a fish i leaned on the rod to bully it away from the rocks that make up the point and once into open water it rose to the surface and gave a pretty good scrap to the waiting net, odd but at no time during the fight did the fish try to dive. Once banked and photographed it was weighed in at 13lb exactly and it was certainly a fish i had not had previously. Then came the rain, sleet, snow then hail. Tucked up in the shelter wasn't too bad but once outside any heat was wicked away by the cold wind.

Over the moon to be off the mark so early the rod was re baited and dropped the 30 yards back onto the spot. Brew in hand i had a little wander up the bank to the bay to see if there were any signs of the fish tucked up under the trees, but no signs of them at all, great news as they must be moving around. By the time id wandered my way back to the bivvy i was chilled to the bone and in need of another brew!

With a visit from one of the regular anglers we were sat having a coffee at around 4.30 when the same rod went off again. I hit it and ducked back into the front of the shelter of the bivvy to get out of the rain and played the fish out, once nearing the margins it was netted for me, and we lifted a cracking 14lb mirror to the mat. This session was turning out quite productive!

With shots done she was slid back to her watery home non the worse for her ordeal. By this time it was pitch black and once Keith had left it was time to get a curry on the go. By 8pm it had been dark for what seemed like forever and it was time to turn in, for the warmth of the bag more than sleep. The rain was still hammering down and eventually i drifted off to the sound of it beating on the winter skin.Waking to a couple of bleeps i swung my feet out to feel for my boots, only to put them into 2 inches of water that was flooding in from the back of the bivvy, peeling off the wet socks i got into my boots and flicked the light on to see my groundsheet was completely flooded. With curses galore i wrapped the sleeping kit into its waterproof bag, covered the bed with my poncho and hauled the kit up onto the high bank behind me, it was probably the fastest move ever made and within a few minutes i was setting up home albeit 3 ft above the rods. After a brew and much needed smoke i was back in the bag and fast asleep with a pair of very muddy soggy socks dumped outside the doorway.

Waking on first light to freezing cold wind and driving rain, hammering into my bivvy, i realised it had turned to a wet north easterly, if id though the previous day to be cold, jeez this was icy . After topping up the main spot with another 30 baits i  flicked the kettle on and rolled a smoke. I made the decision to drop back down to the level of the rods but on the opposite side to the previous evening the moment the rain stopped. Out of nowhere the middle rod ripped off again and i had to clamber the few feet down the bank to get onto the thumping rod. The fish was soon in the folds of the net and was a small but very well scaled mirror carp of 8lb.

 As i slipped it back i realised i should have moved the fish into the stock pond but it was too late now. The rain was easing and it was time to get back to ground level, i didn't like having to get down the high bank with having rods near snags. So a third set up was made in less that 24 hours, but at least the wind was off my back and the rods just outside the doorway. Time for some breakfast.

Once that was out the way it was time to rethink the 2 rods that had been silent, The rod from the bay was brought up onto the bed of bait near the point and the island rod was brought back to the sunken rocks off the front of the point, after a few trial casts with just a lead, to find the edge of the rocks, the rig was re attached and positioned a yard short to give me confidence to get the fish away from the underwater dangers. Mid afternoon came about and after a hearty lunch i was treated to another screaming take off the same rod again, resulting in a stunning scaley mirror weighing in at 15lb that gave me a pretty good tussle for the temperatures and time of year.

 The daylight soon passed into darkness and the temperatures dropped out again. With being alone up on the lake it wasn't long before id grown bored of my own company and it was time to settle into the bag with a book and some tunes playing quietly in the bivvy.

Waking to broad daylight, id slept through undisturbed again, the night had been cold and the frost was still clinging to the trees and bushes, the mats and weighing kit was frozen solid but the sun was up in the sky and it felt so good to feel its rays on me. By mid morning the point and the island were receiving the full benefit from the sun and i had seen what i was sure to be a fish moving tight to the island so without giving it a thought i reached for a rod and flicked it out to within a yard of the rocks. It hadn't been out there more than an hour when it ripped off, lifting into what felt like another low double, i bullied it away from the island only for it to head to the point, having no option but to lean on it to stop it going round the point itself, it turned easily and headed towards me, keeping the line tight i crouched to prepare the net and the line went slack, it was off...gutted. A few curses exploded out of my mouth and i sulked back to the comfort of the bivvy. Getting the rod re baited and on the spot was easy enough , but by the time id done it i was frozen to the core and shivering violently. I banged the kettle on and jumped into the bag to defrost.
Evening came round quickly as it does at this time of the year and it was soon dark. The clouds had stayed away and the wind was dropping off nicely, the stars were out and very impressive with little light pollution this high up in the hills but it was too cold to appreciate them really. Again another night passed with no interruptions and by morning, looking out to see the lake frozen and the muddy banks hard as iron. reality hit as to how cold it must have dropped to. The new sleep system standing the test nicely as i hadn't had a cold night in it as yet and it had really dipped down. With the thermometer reading -6 and with clear sky's the following night was likely to be similar or worse. By 2pm the ice had pretty much disappeared but id already made the decision to call the session to an end. I was happy and contented to have banked 4 from 5 takes and the craving to feel fish fighting me was fed.

The Black Water session 5

Managing an early start to the session due to the poor weather conditions, i managed to arrive at the lake with a couple of hours daylight to spare giving me an extra night on the bank. With the coots still being present in numbers i opted to fish large bags of crumbed Bacteria B1's and the areas were peppered with 20 baits close to the areas of the hook baits. By dark i was fully organised and had the rods settled on some areas of hard substrate away from the stinking silty pockets and as the light was fading the sky cleared, giving way to a very starry sky. The temperatures plummeted soon after dark and the evening had closed in, by around 5 it was completely dark,

After a good hot meal and a fair few cuppas it wasn't long before the temperatures had me settling into the bag for a warm up and a read.
Throughout the night the wind swung around and when the cloud came in the pressure dropped and the rain started. Friday morning came and went without so much as an indication on the alarms and by lunchtime i was ready to re bait and re position them onto the same spots, once done the coots were on me in a flash and the annoying little gits just wouldn't leave me alone. Throughout the day, eyes were on the water looking for signs of the fish holding up or moving about but nothing was seen.
As evening approached it was time to re organise the rods and once done i waited for the lower light levels before trying to apply some freebies into the spots.
Again an uneventful night passed with a hand full of serious rainstorms coming my way and waking at first light would see me paddling around in a flooded mud bath. Ive never been one to clean and look after my kit, but this place was starting to make even me look bad !

With the last night coming up i moved one of the rods off the clay plateau i had been fishing and opted to fish this rod on the far margin, flicking the marker out over there i was finding a couple of extra foot of water but no underwater features to go at so it was more a case of just banging it out into the silt and seeing what would come of it. Mid afternoon and the bobbin on the right hand rod kissed the carbon and dropped back, i hit it to feel and lose a fish in a fraction of a second. Reeling in, i soon saw that the hook had folded back on itself and set the point into the coating on the braided hook length. A freaky random occurrence that Ive never had happen before and hopefully never will again.

The evening passed in good company and with one of the lads banking a mirror that we've had previously at an ounce under 19lb at least we got to set eyes on a carp !
The lake is now starting to fill up and is probably sat at around 3 1/2 acres currently. I'm sure we've only a hand full of sessions left on it before the venue becomes around 16 acres of flood land and impossible to fish due to the bank sides flooding and the volume of water it contains in the winter months, but being optimistic i think we have a few weeks left yet !