The early bird catches the fish

The bright sunny conditions predicted for this weekend were going to make fishing something of a grueller especially on the clear water lakes I've been targeting of late. My wife had taken the kids away to visit family in Scotland for the weekend which meant I had a totally free couple of days fishing in front of me. With the weather in mind I planned a couple of early morning sessions to try and snag a few fish before the sun got to high.

My first trip was to the Bream lake and although it wasn't quite first light when I arrived (I overslept) I was still early enough to witness the morning rollers. Great big black backs silently broke the glasslike surface of the lake in front of me and I feverishly setup in anticipation of some lumps. After last weeks pest control episode would today be the day I landed amongst the big girls?

Within minutes of the groundbait bombardment I had fish showing over the baited area and I began to get liners practically from the off. A solid bite after around half an hour saw me land a small male Bream of 7lb, not a bad start. A lost fish shortly afterwards seemed to quieten things down a bit.

Time was starting to get on a bit and the sun was beginning to burn, the fish had long stopped rolling and I thought my chance had gone. Another bite suddenly occurred and I landed a slightly larger Bream of 8lb, nice but where were the doubles I saw the pictures off and indeed what i saw rolling in front of me earlier?

 

At least I can catch em now!

 

Another carbon copy came to the bank within minutes of the previous fish and that seemed to signal the end of the days action. I packed up just before lunch and as I made my way around the pit back to the car I came upon a small group of very large Bream in the shallows which looked like they were thinking about spawning. They were easy doubles and were a timely reminder of why I was there, I resolved to return once the spawning was done.........

On the way home I had a sudden urge to catch a Tench and after much thought I decided upon a dawn assault on another club water which, despite being fairly prolific for the species is very much underfished. There's nothing huge in there and they average around 3-5lb but they are lovely dark coloured fish due to the water being quite peaty. It's the kind of water where all the fishing is at close range due to the thick weed and, being shallow it really lends itself to the classic swim raking and lift method approach. I was hoping to give my centrepin a good workout as I haven't used it for over a year and this place was ideal for it.

 

Wtf??

 

I set off mega early in order to get setup and fishing for first light, I looked down at the clock in the car and realised that I really need to get my head tested at some point cos going fishing at half three in the morning can't be right surely? I got to the lake and assembled my kit, it was still too dark to see my float but I was itching to get started as fish were splashing everywhere!

Eventually I got set up, plumbed up and baited up and all was good, I just needed some Tench now. It didn't take long for the bubbles to start appearing over my bait and my float began to bob about all over the place as the fish brushed the line as they fed. The float suddenly slid away and I struck and bumped something, a little green scale on the hook told me I'd just struck a liner.

 

Bubbles.....

It quietened off a little and suddenly I was plagued by tiny Rudd, every time the maggot hit the water it was gone in seconds so I quickly switched to corn and this seemed to solve the problem. After around twenty minutes the float lifted and lay flat, I didn't give it chance to slide away and hit into my first Tinca of the day. It was only small but it was very well proportioned and a great sign that the species is spawning well in the pool.

Miniature perfection

 

A couple of missed bites which I suspect were liners followed before I struck into a proper Tench. The centrepin hissed as the fish made for some trees to my right before shooting out into a weedbed in front of me. What a great battle I thought as I netted it. Again it wasn't huge but it's fighting prowess on the light gear certainly brought a smile to my face.

Another day, another awful pic.......

That pretty much brought the session to a close, after about 7am I couldn't buy another bite on corn and I didn't fancy sitting there catching 2-3oz Rudd all day on the maggots so I packed up and headed home for brekky. It was a really enjoyable trip because my whole approach was different to what I normally do and it's a water I've rarely fished in the past. I'll certainly fish it again in the near future though.

 

Posted with Blogsy