Fisherman`s Blues - Friday 5th September 2014 - Angel Of The North Lakes, Lookout Lake

After a long 6 weeks without fishing, I was going to get back onto the bank again. Due to illness in the family I would have to be home early so somewhere close to home was the order of business.

I decided to go back to the Angel and enjoy being out in the late summer weather but was greeted by a real 'pea-souper' fog on arrival at the fishery.

The day was cool but there wasn't a breath of wind on the lake - a total reversal of my last trip here ! It was forecast to get up into the low 20's when/if the fog lifted.

As I was the first angler on the lake I could choose where I wanted to fish. Initially I would have liked to be on the island on the far side but some of the fishery lads were going to spend the day cutting the vegetation back which I thought would scatter the fish away from it, so I headed to the nearside main bank and peg 32.

I had a longish chuck to the island if things settled down over there later in the day, but had been advised to fish close in and this area had some form for crucians which I hadn't caught since last summer.

I decided to fish 2 lines, the 1st one at the bottom of the near shelf on a top 2 + 1 section in around 4 feet of water. The 2nd one at the bottom of the next shelf about a foot deeper but on 6 sections at 45° to my box.

I had been told the fish were hungry and to feed heavily and this was where I think I made my first mistake. Usually I'll try and have one more 'negatively' fed line but this time I was a bit gung-ho.

I still wasnt sure if the carp would feed today so I decided to go for a particle attack on the near swim. I fed 2 big pots with a combo of hemp, micro pellets and dead maggots - I tried to spread the bait over a wider area than usual so some would land up the slope. This was to give me a chance to hopefully find the fish if they wanted to come shallower. 

On the longer swim I again went for it ! 2 pots of groundbait with some chopped worm and a few dead maggots and pellets added.

I would also look at the margin on my right but not feed this for a few hours or sooner if I saw fish moving about.

I started on the 6m line with a banded pellet  fishing dead depth, but didnt get an indication for 15 mins or so. My plan was to try and fish this line out before refeeding but kinder potting on the close in line.

By now the fog had lifted and it was suddenly hot, bright and windless. I had a small skimmer from the groundbait line but it was very slow. I tried the close in particle line and this was much the same, occasional bites leading to small skimmers or roach. I tried mixing the hookbaits and as time passed I had some better skimmers up to 1.5lbs and a nice crucian with either worm or a banded fluro dumbbell pellet seeming the best.

As usual on this lake carp would come right at my feet to vacuum up any dropped bait but they were very spooky and would bow-wave out of the swim very easily. Although the water is very coloured I suspect it was a bit clearer than my last visit here which could account for their actions.By now  things were getting slower if anything and the sun was now burning hot. This was reflected by carp swimming about in the top layers of the water. I tried a spot of mugging and had a nice common of about 3lbs before getting snapped off a few minutes later.

Normally id try to make something happen - like start a new line on the pole further out or fish lead/feeder to the island  but with only 2 hours left and feeling very despondent with the way the day had gone,  I just continued to plod away. I'd eventually managed to get fishing and it was rock hard.

This would be my last session before the weather was fully autumnal probably and I couldnt get away from the feeling id destroyed my peg - rather than the fish switching off.

A slight breeze had sprung up putting a bit of a ripple on the water but this didnt seem to improve the fishing. It was now time to look at the margins. 1.5 hrs ago id cupped in 4 pots of loose groundbait and some dead maggots. Then an hour later another pot which id left for 30 mins. The margin here was around 2 feet deep and when I lowered the rig in I had an immediate bite, from an 1 oz roach which in truth hadn't been my intended quarry !

I continued to rotate swims picking up a few fish including some more crucians. I felt more aggrieved that I was wasting my time - although my 'bad day' was put into context by the guy who managed to tip his lorry onto it's side on the roundabout,  just visible from my position about 200 yds away. A fleet of police cars, fire engines and an ambulance arrived very quickly. Hopefully nobody was badly hurt. 

Back to the fishing and I realised the wind had got up and now was straight in my face. As if by magic the margin was peppered with carp slurping off the surface. They still weren't really on my bait but I found in the last 45 mins that by pushing all the shot to the float base I could catch them. The best way seemed a regular feeding of particles whilst I fished a corn skin on the drop. This led to another 4 carp to 5lbs and one that snagged me in the reeds on my last cast ( also destroying one of my favourite Nick Gilbert floats in the process !).

I packed up just after 3pm with the carp typically now continuing to feed. On the walk back to the car a few more anglers had arrived and there seemed to be a few carp coming out.

I left seriously pondering if I should continue fishing anymore. I dont need or expect to catch a100lbs of fish every trip. But as I get out so infrequently I put pressure on myself to do the day justice and im sure I didnt do that. I'd love to be the type of angler who just enjoys being on the bank, but that's not me. I think I have to force myself to simplify my approach. Im sure that if I'd kinder fed maggots or pellets on one line with a feeder back up or straight lead that I could have felt my way into the session and built the peg up gradually. The only option is to get out again and actually put this into practice. I'm also wanting to get out on the bank with some good match anglers I know.  I know I'll pick up loads of tips and advice if I can manage it.

On a more positive note I had converted 2 of my puller kits to the Maver Easy Flow puller bung and they seem to operate even more smoothly than the standard slot version. More time will tell.,

Thanks for reading

Tight Lines

Robin


P.S. After reading other forums it seems other anglers struggled this weekend in some parts of the country. Perhaps the fish are not knowing quite how to react with the changeable weather although I still feel I ruined the peg with feeding too heavily. I`ll learn from this though hopefully and not put all my eggs in one basket.

Anyone have any views and comments either about my blog or my fishing experience please share. I`d like to hear your opinions.

Thanks Again.

Robin