Learning Curve - 10th October 2015, Peg 5, Lookout Lake, Angel Of The North

Lookout Lake from peg 16

Back to the Angel again today and I'd headed for the island and Peg 5. The day wasn't forecast to be particularly warm but there hadn't been a frost overnight and now the early mist was burning off and this part of the lake was already in full sun, so hopefully the water temperature would climb during the day.

This Peg is usually one of the better ones in matches and has plenty of water to go at (assuming 4 and 6 aren't occupied). I had planned to fish similarly to my last trip here, pole and feeder/straight lead  but on arriving at the fishery I'd been told that the pellet waggler had been very productive of late, so I had to give it a go - especially as I couldn't see me getting another opportunity to fish it for 5 months +. 

Bridge To Paradise ?

 I really had no idea if the carp would want to play today as we are now in Autumn and the fish are beginning to group together more. I was also told  by Ann that I should stay until dusk around 6pm when the fishing improved - unfortunately I was only fishing until 3.30pm so would just have to take the fishing as it came.

Early morning sun on peg 5

I'd decided to go with a couple of options. For the waggler I'd started catapulting 4-5 8mm fishery pellets regularly as far towards the far bank reeds as I could, which was probably still a good 10 yards away from the bank in open water. A  small loaded Middy 6g float was sufficient to cast this distance, landing nicely with a small 'plop'.I'd set this up with a hair rig with a latex band to a 16 hook on a 12 inch 0.15 bottom. 

Drennan Combo

 As I continued to feed regularly as i set up my pole set up I continued to prime the line for when I started fishing as this would be my starting method. For the pole I'd  changed from my original plan again. I had planned on fishing a short pole only at the base of the near shelf about 6m out. However,  since my last session here the water was certainly a bit clearer. I decided to have my main pole line at a comfortable 11m putting a bit of distance between myself and the fish.

 Again, as I had no idea of what might feed today I'd decided to play things carefully. I potted in a small amount of chopped worm, casters and hemp in around 4.5 feet of water. I didnt intend to fish here for a good hour, so about every 10 minutes i catapulted in a decent pouch of casters and hemp but when actually fishing planned to tighten things up a bit through a cad pot as needed. I intended to start on worm but could also fish caster if needed.

A couple of options !

 I'd set up 2 rigs for this line, with there being little wind or tow Id gone for a DT Slim P. Nice and sensitive but with a decent bristle for worm and stable enough today as long as the conditions stayed calm (If this changed I would revert to a DT Open Water Tear). This was on 0.135 Matrix Power Micron to a 0.115 hooklength, pretty standard for an open water commercial swim. I'd also set up a shallow rig on a heavier line and elastic in case the fish did come up in the water. 

As a back up in case the fishing was really hard I did set up a line at the base of the near shelf but at 45 degrees to my right  where I would purely feed maggots. I'd chosen a more delicate setup here with a  DT Pencil but despite feeding here for most of the day I never actually fished it, so wont mention it again 

Ready To Go

I started fishing the pellet waggler and getting into a rhythm of feeding and casting and after a couple of little dinks on the float eventually hooked one after about 10 minutes fishing. It was great to play a fish on a float rod for a change (albeit a bit more pokey than my old 13 foot match rods) and after a typically spirited fight I had a golden 4lb common in the net.

 Recasting again didnt yield the non-stop action I'd hoped for, in fact I wasn't getting any indications at all. I'd started fishing about 18"  deep but tried playing with the depth. Going to 3 feet deep to search through the water. I also mixed things up on the feed front. Some casts I would not feed, others one bigger pouch or 2 smaller ones. It was probably another 15 minutes after the last fish when I hooked another. This fish made for the far bank reeds but I was able to turn it before making slow progress getting the fish towards me as it kept powering off on a few runs.It was obviously a lot bigger than it's smaller brother earlier. Once I got the fish to within about 10m of the me and the waiting net it decided that the nearside reeds would be its preffered destination. I couldnt stop it from getting into the reeds and when I got it back out it dived in again with my reel giving line. I did try and stop it with a bit more force when the hooklength gave way. I was obviously a bit gutted as the fish felt very good. I know its impossible to tell but it certainly felt like a double, however I wasnt too despondent as the fish seemed to be feeding, if not actually crawling up the rods . All I had to do was catch another big 'un !

However If this was the stamp of fish out there I had to step up the tackle - I didn't want to suffer any more breaks.

The trouble was I didnt have any heavier hair rigs and my reel line was only 4.5lbs b.s. (as I've read a thicker reel line will make casting the pellet waggler any distance much harder). A quick trip to the onsite shop and I was now using the same size hair rig but to an 0.18 hooklength. I also bought some bigger pellets - primarily for the hook whilst I continued to feed the 8mms. I had another carp about 20 minutes after the last one fishing a bigger 11mm hard pellet but this had come right at the back of my feed. I was still around 15m away from the far bank but fishing as far as I could get the 8mm pellets out to.. I decided to feed the bigger pellet in smaller quantities but to make the cast put on an 8g float. This put me far closer to the far bank but in truth the presentation seemed to suffer.This float was twice the size of the Middy and seemed to land like a bag of sh!te when hitting the water, even when trying to feather it down. It may not have made any difference but I had the feeling that the fish were backing off from the bigger float but weren`t too keen to come within range of the lighter float. I wasn't getting anywhere at all now but every time I decided to come off the line I would get a bite or on one more occasion a  fish, which convinced me to persevere. I'd now fished the waggler for 2 hours and had 4 fish. With only 3 hours of my fishing time left i went onto the pole probably an hour later than I should.

I shipped the pole out to 11m and lowered the worm hookbait in. The float had just settled when it went under and a sharp lift of the pole resulted in yards of white elastic streaming out. It was only now I realised that I'd set this rig up onto the wrong top kit. Firstly this was a 6-10 elastic but more importantly is on one of my match kits that doesnt have a puller. What did we do before pullers ? The fish wasn't particularly big but led me on a merry dance  and I felt I had no control, eventually netting the fish a bit ungainly with a top 4 stuck up in the air. I rectified the top kit issue and over the next 25 minutes had a fish every drop in, always as the float was settling or resettling following a lift of 6-8 inches. Typically,  stepping up the elastic meant a step down in the size of fish I was hooking

Although I did lose then land another carp, I started getting some clonking Ide. The Angel does have some really big ide in but I had 6 or 7 all over a pound and a half in this spell. The biggest at just under 2 and a half pounds easily my P.B. But then the fish seemed to switch off.

2lbs 7oz Ide

 Whether my feeding wasn't quite right, whether I'd plundered the line too much or simply time of day I dont know but now I was scratching for bites and picking up the occasional perch or roach on the worm or caster hookbait.

Instead of switching to the maggot line and hopefully keeping the fish coming, I kept persevering on the long pole, hoping I could get the fish back. Combined with this the carp had now moved into my feet and were starting to scoff bait in front of my fishing position. I baited up my margin rig and lowered the worm hookbait in. Obviously the carp at 11m hadnt been able to resist this hookbait so it was bound to be the same close in ? It wasnt. The fish continued to root around and ignore the juicy worm wafting in front  of them, bloody hell it looked so inviting, if I'd been in the water I'd have had a chomp of it ! (Probably). 

This is where I took another wrong turn. I just couldn't resist trying to catch these fish taunting me whilst they ignored bait after bait. Ive had plenty of success fishing this close in here before why should today have been any different. I must have spent over an hour trying to catch here and whilst I did drop onto the long pole line for a while, the top kit option was obsessing me a bit. I tried bunches of maggots, big pellets and corn to no avail - although it was hemp and maggot I'd fed

I even resorted to mixing up some groundbait to get some colour in the water and try and make them feed a bit more confidently but this didn't work either. Eventually I did get a bite and hooked a carp which tore off as usual. Using the right terminal tackle for once  (and the right top kit) meant I was always in control and I'd managed to land another common of around 4lbs to finish the day off.

So to finish off, I think I had a few valuable lessons today. The pellet waggler is a hugely enjoyable style of fishing but is simple to fish but perhaps takes a while to master and Ive only just started to scratch the surface. I also should have recognised it just wasn't happening today and tried something else far sooner. I look forward to fishing it some more next year.

I often spend too long 'flogging a dead horse' when I should make something happen. I realise I'm not fishing matches and the only person I'm up against is myself, but I'm still driven, even as a pleasure angler to have the best day's fishing possible.

Every carp I had today was a common, no mirrors and unusually not a single skimmer. Perhaps it was a bit too bright for bream.

Finally, I've got to try and ignore the fish close in if they're not prepared to be caught !( Ironically when I looked back at my own blog for a similar session this time last year, I found I was getting exactly the same happening and could only catch in the margins about 4m away while the fish at my feed were pretty unacatchable - obviously I need to heed my own advice)

As ever. To anyone who takes the time to read this, thank you.

Tight Lines

Robin

P.S. for once, no umbrellas were broken in bringing this session to you !

Review Daiwa 150 SB seatbox - UPDATED 23.9.15

On my return to fishing after a 3 year break I found my old Penrose Seatbox in a  slightly sorry condition. I tidied the box up but on using found the old niggles of wooden boxes (I.e sticking drawers when wet) made life a little harder than it could have been.

So a new box was needed ! I had a budget of £200 but found limited choice for my needs. Ive always used a base unit for reels, pole cups, etc.so I wanted similar. My old box had 5 drawers and I couldnt see me coping with much less (although I do admit I carry too much gear).

I looked online at the Ultimate boxes which seemed great value, but reviews seemed split between excellent/awful which seemed too risky. Matchbox also had a few options that appealed, but in the end after actually sitting on one I went for the Daiwa 150 SB, slightly above my price range at £220.

Shallow front drawers

Base Unit

The box has the requisite detachable base unit (15cm deep), with 2 shallow front drawers and 2 full length cross drawers plus underseat storage.

2 Cross Drawers

I went to B&Q and bought some black L-shaped plastic to make drawer dividers with and a cheap storage box from Poundland which, after removing the lid, gives a great divided area for underneath the seat.  I also added 2 spirit levels to assist with setting the box up.

Underseat Storage

The seat is brilliantly comfortable and I can open any drawer whilst sitting down. The box is rock-solid and coming from the Penrose where I could tighten the screws until they bit into the legs,  then still find it slipping during use, this is a revelation.

The legs have never moved once in use and that's with still not feeling like I need to over-tighten the knobs. The legs themselves are 25mm round ones so any accessory that can fit the Preston Off-Box Rive (green) insert or similar, works a treat.

The footplate being a cassette type stows away nicely for transport but in use is also perfect.  I thought id miss the adjustability of a folding system but the height is just right (for my legs at least) and I can stand on the footplate without it folding up too..

I can honestly say this is one if not the best item of tackle I have ever bought and I really cannot recommend this box any higher for the price. Whilst a good seatbox will not make you a better angler - it's just made my fishing that bit easier and more comfortable meaning I can concentrate on other aspects more.

Thanks

Robin

* 2ND UPDATE 23.09.15 *

Nearly a year on from my update regarding slipping leg blogs and I'm pleased to say the legs haven't slipped the slightest in use. When i look back at the issue I had with the faulty 2 blocks,  I now remember that at that time I had used a bike lubricant in the blocks. Where I keep my box is not a totally dry environment and I didnt want any of the threads to corrode. Perhaps the oils reacted with the plastic somehow  or more likely the extra ease of movement meant I had unknowingly overtightened the hand knobs. Of course it still could have been a fault but its strange how 2 blocks failed so suddenly and totally. 

Anyway the upshot is that I haven't heard of any seatbox that doesnt have some kind of niggles. I still think that if you shop around and get it for a good price that there is nothing out there better for its price and size. I think any upgrade would cost at least £350 while I paid £220. So it gets a reprieve and returns to being superb in my eyes. 

http://www.daiwasports.co.uk/product/accessories/seat-boxes-accessories/daiwa-150-seat-box

(Old) UPDATE - 1.11.2014

Earlier this year I posted a glowing review of the above seatbox. its been perfect over the last 11 months until my last trip, when 2 of the legs on the main box started slipping; to the point it would slip with the slightest pressure.

This has really disappointed me as the box has been used less than 12 times and I'm not exactly vast at 13 stone. 

The box was returned to Daiwa who have replaced 2 of the blocks but as its now out of warranty I can't have confidence that the other legs won't fail as well.

It's a pity as I hate to give bad reviews, but I cant now recommend a product with such a major potential flaw.

Robin

Nick Gilbert Hollow Elastic - Review

I first started pole fishing well over 20 years ago fishing local waters for roach, rudd, perch and tench if I was lucky. Carp were a mystical creature that you might hook for a few seconds before they inevitably snapped your line or elastic. In fact when i first started pole fishing it was really meant for fish under 2lbs; the elastic was all imported latex and IIRC a no.8 was the heaviest I could get.

Fast forward to 2015 and the pole is used to regularly land everything that swims and elastics range from natural (and double) latex to solids and hollows and most of the elastic I use now, starts at a No.8. In my opinion (and I know a lot of anglers prefer solids)  hollow elastic and more recently the addition of puller bungs has revitalised pole fishing. Having an elastic covering a range of grades and a puller to add some backbone has transformed fishing. I first discovered hollow elastics as Daiwa Hydro over 12 years ago and instantly it was an unbeatable upgrade for my fishing over what had gone before, now big fish could be specifically targeted and landed whilst the flexibility of a hollow meant smaller fish could also be caught on the same top kit.

However Hydro has always been at the top of the table for cost. This wasnt so important when I had 2-3 top kits and the elastic could easily last 2 years. But then I noticed a change. In certain grades Hydro seems to degrade quicker than at one time so the longevity now affects its cost. I have since been though virtually every mainstream brand of elastic in some form or another before a  few years ago deciding to try some of Nick Gilbert's hollows following lots of positive internet reviews. I have found them to be excellent both in performance and value for money and although i dont keep elastics in my top kits for years at a time now, Ive had no issues with the product degrading over time.

Most branded elastics seem to cost between £10 and £15 for 3m, while the NG hollow is available in specific lengths (to minimise paying extra for length you dont need) from £4 for 2m to £6 for 3m.TBH I'd rather pay more for the right product than get an inferior, cheaper replacement.

In this case I truly believe this product is equal to, if not better than the original. Hydro is the only elastic that can legally have a liquid in its core (as sold)  but in comparison I cant tell any difference in use.

Nick's elastic comes in a range of sizes as you'd expect but also some subtle variations :-


Amber Core - This elastic starts of quite soft but powers up quickly so has a wider rating than the                               other hollows. Nice to stop smaller fish splashing on the surface too easily.


Twin Core -    Soft but a more consistent stretch to give more control over a running fish.


Micro Bore -   Newest variation which as the name implies has a finer central hollow bore. This leads  to a much thinner elastic and helps alleviate any flattening of the elastic under pressure

Personally I like the micro bore blue (4-8) for winter silver fish on commercials; the twin core green 10-12 is absolutely gorgeous and soft but with a strong backbone and the new pink micro bore 6-10 seems great as an allrounder.

As I've said before - this review is my personal opinion. I haven't caught 300lb bags on this elastic (or any as you can tell from the blog !) but I believe it's outstanding. To elasticate 6 topkits costs me a maximum of £36 as opposed to £60 for most other products - that's a big difference. But as I said at the beginning of this post; if the elastic wasn't up to the job - price would be irrelevant.

Finally on my last trip to the Angel I was catching 3-8lb carp on a top kit using the Amber Core Black 12-16 for the first time. Last year fishing the same venue with a Middy 12-16 I lost over half the fish I hooked through pulls. This time using the same terminal tackle on the NG elastic I lost 1 out of over 20 carp. I need a bit more usage on the bank of course and maybe in the past I'd had a large amount of foul hooked fish - food for thought though ?


Thanks for reading

Tight Lines



website for Nick Gilbert Elastic


http://float-store.co.uk/NG-Twin-Core-Amber-Core-Hollow-Elastic

Under The Bridge - Sat 12th September 2015 - Lookout Lake, Angel Of The North,

After not being able to get on the bank since early July today I had my chance to wet a line and I was determined to just enjoy myself and catch some fish.

The Angel Of The North has become my 'home' fishing location as it right on my doorstep but more importantly it's a great fishery in my opinion; well-stocked with healthy hard-fighting fish and a mixture of species - somewhere that I would happily travel to if it was further afield. Luckily it's only 20 minutes from my front door. So apologies if this blog is becoming a bit  'Groundhog Day' but the only thing that would matter to be about today, would be actually fishing (and more importantly - catching !)

In previous blog entries I  haven't really described the layout of the fishery before in detail .Basically there are three lakes - Bassetts which is effectively pitched as a  training lake for beginners, then Bowes and my normal haunt..Lookout Lake.

The complex is far from the taunted 'hole in the ground' commercial fishery and is  very lush with plants and bushes but it is effectively built onto the side of a hill making it a bit open to the Elements at times. The small Bassett's Lake is at the lowest altitude followed by Bowes and finally Lookout Lake Which must be a good 50 feet higher again. However Lookout offers a more diverse stocking of species than Bowes,  so I find it more attractive.

Kitchen sink out of shot

Earlier in the week I'd spoken to Ann (the owner) to see if there were any restrictions for today and she'd said that the island pegs were off limits and with hindsight this was just as well, due to the strong (not forecast) wind that was ripping in from the east, which would have made pole fishing very difficult, even close in. It might sound a bit daft to say but with so long between my sessions I find that sometimes my fishing revolves about wanting to fish a particular method and fitting the day around that, rather than fishing the most suitable method for the day - reading that back now doesn't make much sense but I suppose what I mean is - for example,  I love fishing the pole, so perhaps on some days when a lead or waggler would be more suitable - I'll still look to fish a pole line; within reason of course - I'm not pig-headed enough to actually risk breaking gear if I can avoid it. 

I picked peg 24. Usually good in matches and situated immediately to the left of the low footbridge over to the island. I set up as the rain lashed down and decided on a few options.

I would start on the feeder tight across to the far reeds at the back of the island. It was about 30 yards and I could revisit my casting technique  with hopefully better results than my last attempt......i.e more time with the feeder in the water rather than in the bushes !

I'd also planned on 2 pole lines. A short 6m line just on the base of the main slope where i would aim for a bit of anything and at 13m across towards the footbridge where i was going to catapult 6mm fishery pellets every few minutes while fishing the feeder  to see if i could get the carp out from under the bridge. However this was already looking difficult as it would mean fishing directly into the wind. I potted in one ball of groundbait and a few pellets before starting to loose feed over the top. On the 6m line i cupped in a good size pot of particles. 2mm soaked micros with some hemp, casters and chopped worm. I wouldn't be fishing here for at least 45 minutes  so i wanted to get some bait down.

I also had a margin line to my left for later in the day whilst it was  possible the carp might come into my feet as is often the case here.

I'd set up a few different rigs for the pole. A DT pencil was nice and sensitive for the short line as it was a bit calmer here. The long pole was fished with a DT Open Water Tear to keep everything stable in the more choppier water and I did have a shallow pole rig (which I never used) plus a DT Margin Diamond for close in.

I picked a spot for the feeder and cast out 4 feeder loads of groundbait after clipping up before attaching a hooklength.

The feeder was slow on a 6mm hair-rigged pellet but I was getting a few liners before missing a bite. I tried alternating hookbaits but was having trouble hitting what seemed like unmissable pulls on the tip. I decided for some reason to try worm and 2 minutes later the tip flew round and stayed round. The fish was on but i quickly realised the clutch was on too tight and frantically tried to resolve this whilst the fish crashed towards the reeds. After rectifying my mistake i made some headway and the fish now swam towards me. This is where i started to realise that the carp in this peg were very used to their home. The fish headed towards the bridge stanchions and all i could do was try and steer it the opposite way. The fish certainly felt as big as anything I've had on a feeder rod before but as I tried to stop it from its intended target the hooklength gave way....gutted !

I'd started on a 0.15 bottom which obviously seemed too light now. So i tied on something a bit heavier and went again.

Next cast I had a slightly less savage take and had another decent fish on....for 30 Seconds before the hook pulled ! This wasnt part of the plan. I'd been fishing for 25 minutes now and had lost 2 fish and hadn't landed anything. There were fish in my swim but i couldn't get them out. I tried again  still using worm and this time when the tip went around I hooked and landed my first fish of the day, not one of the (presumed) carp from earlier but a 6oz skimmer. Small but I was off the mark.

 I stayed on the feeder for another half hour. Probably too long really as I continued getting tentative bites and liners but no fish. I tried different options through the feeder from just groundbait , to adding different particles but the result stayed pretty much constant. I'd now been on the feeder for about an hour with only a few small skimmers to show for it. Time for a change and a look on the pole lines.

I tried the long line first and put on a  banded 6mm pellet, again resulting in a small skimmer. This line was proving as difficult to fish as I'd anticipated  with the wind, although a few skimmers had made an appearance moving to the short line with worm was getting me a few more fish, some more skimmers again plus ide and a nice crucian. I decided to refeed another 3/4  pot and look in the margins as by now carp had moved into the water at my feet to hoover up any dropped bait.  I know from experience that these fish can be difficult to hook but it's so difficult to ignore them with their tails wafting in front of you. In the past I've tried pellets, paste and bunches of maggots with varying results. 

Worms have generally been a poor choice for me here on previous occasions but with the sporadic action on worm fishing the feeder I felt this would be worth a go close in. The water at my feet was around 10" deep so I threw in some hemp and casters to keep them occupied. I wasn't convinced the fish would be too happy to settle here once I'd  (hopefully) caught a few, so I also plumbed up a 2nd line at 6 sections to my left. This gave me a nice flat spot in about 18" - 2 feet of water. I again went for some heavier particles (hemp and caster) and some micros from a big pot.

 In my last blog entry the carp had definitely had the better of me and I'd realised that i was fishing too light both in terms of elastics and lines. I'd prepared a few rigs with 0.18 main line to 0.165 Hooklength and  a size 14 CS23 hook. I've always been a believer of using lighter elastics and taking my time to land fish using a puller as I've had plenty of  frustrating days with hook pulls on beefier gear here before  but this time I'd decided to step up to an NG Black hollow 12-16. Keeping with worm on the hook it didnt take long for the float to dance around before sailing away.A steady lift of the tip was enough to see the fish hooked and take off straight towards the bridge some 13m away.

This time I was able to keep the fish out of the potential snags and I had a 5 lbs (near) leather carp in the net.

I decided to drop in a little bait and try the left hand margin whilst it settled back down.  I didn't want to feed to heavily and send the fish into a frenzy. The same rig sat a bit longer in the new swim before missing a bite before the next drop saw a greedy 2oz perch take the whole worm. This was followed by a lovely roach probably a few ounces short of a pound. Nice to catch but someout out muscled on the gear I was fishing with.

 Back to the top kit and the next fish once again steamed towards the bridge and trying to stop it with the elastic at full stretch led to the hooklength parting. This time I re-rigged up straight through, as my quarry wasn't exactly being line shy. Losing this fish coincided with the day starting to unravel somewhat.

What I hadn't  mentioned so far was my usual nemesis....weather. it had rained constantly from before my arrival and with the aforementioned wind pushing in towards me it was a day for the umbrella. I'd already had problems most of the day as i had come woefully prepared with only a few pegs and a borrowed guy rope. I was using a new Preston off-box bracket to hold the brolly spike but the brolly was slowly spinning around over time and generally proving to be a right royal p.i.t.a.

I'd even resorted to using my trolley as an anchor but I made the ultimate schoolboy error. I got up off the box for some reason and didnt drop the umbrella. The resulting crack and the brolly lying at right angles to its (now considerably shorter) spike told me I wasn't going to fix this today. The central spike,  which was reinforced compared to the brolly's original had sheared completely above the bracket.

Shear Disaster ?

I would now have to fish for 2 hours+ without cover. I'm aware that a lot of anglers fish without any kind of umbrella but then I guess there are waterproofs and waterproofs. Mine are nowhere near top of the range and did their best for a while but i was pretty soaked when I packed up along with everything else !

Anyway - as the fishing conditions had got worse, the fishing was improving.  My next fish turned out to be my best of the day, a gorgeous bronzed common just under 8lbs. As usual this gave a great fight before I landed it but I now felt much more in control with the current setup.

I did try other baits but again worm seemed to be the best as i added another 20 carp or so, some good skimmers/bream and a few crucians to 1 1/2 lbs +.

 The strange thing about today compared to previous sessions catching carp close in, was I only had one hook pull all day (as against the last time I used this grade of elastic from another manufacturer) and none of the fish were foul hooked. Maybe I'd got the feeding right or maybe a heavy bait like worm just made everything less prone to being wafted about 

As i packed up I was soaked but had thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Loading my gear onto the trolley the rain stopped , the sun came out and bathed the lake as if to try and taunt me. If you ask me dry weather is overrated !

Sunshine After The Rain

Thanks for reading.

Tight lines

Robin

Wed 12th August 2015

Sadly i find myself unable to get onto the bank very much at the moment, so I've decided to highlight some fishing products that i have found to be great for me personally.

As I've stated elsewhere on the blog, i do not consider myself an expert or in any position to tell anyone which tackle to use or not use.

Simply, these items work in my opinion and help me to fish better when the opportunity arises !

Thanks

Robin

MAP Flexi Pole Pots Review - 12th August 2015

MAP Flexi Pots

Pole pots, CAD pots, toss pots call them what you want but basically a great idea for feeding your swim via the pole tip to ensure the loose feed is bang on your pole rig. Since starting fishing with a pole a long time ago I've tried them all, home made 'Blue Peter' specials with a 35mm film canister (google it if you're under 25 !) And araldited carbon sleeve, through to deodorant spray lids and moving onto the legendary Fox Toss Pots. I even remember buying Kinder eggs, just for the plastic 'eggs'; my wife still hasnt forgiven me after our (then) 4 year old son discovered and ate my Kinder egg stash on the way to my brother's wedding as i stayed stoically on bridegroom duty while she had to deal with a hyperactive toddler with a milk allergy !

I digress.  Basically I've tried them all. Now a pole mounted pot isn't the best option for feeding in every scenario but it is the method i use the most often. I'd  been using Frenzee's soft pots and thought they were perfect,  then i discovered these beauties from MAP.

The pots are made from a very soft plastic. This means that the fit is very forgiving for different diameter top kits. I still have some of the original Fox pots and ifyou had a variety of top kits you really had to have a selection of different diameter pots with you.

The pot slides onto the pole tip and the lid (either open or latticed for dripping in bait) locks the pot into position. Being flexible there's much more of an option as to how far up/down the kit you want to position them, without risking damage to the pole.

The thing that sways me the most with the MAP pots though is their balance. I did love the Frenzee soft pots when they first came out but as they clip on at their base and are quite tall, they are very susceptible to catching any wind blowing. This top heaviness also seems to mean that unless the pot is fitted on very tightly they seem to rotate with gravity to be upside down. The MAP pots dont have this issue. As the pole runs centrally through the pot they're much less obtrusive to the action of the pole and any wind. This also seems to mean less spillages due to bait bouncing out in my view as well.

To me these a simply the best pole mounted pots I've ever used and just seem to make the process of feeding easier and more precise which is surely our aim.

One last thing is currently they come in 3 sizes; small, medium and large. The small pots are tiny - as in a few micros dripped in during the winter months tiny. I'd recommend medium or large for the rest of the year.

MAP Flexi pots c. £3.99 for 2 

http://www.mapfishing.co.uk/video/6g7W82myv0Y

Matrix Power Micron

About 12 months ago i realised that the line I was using to make pole rigs and hooklengths from was a total mixture of different brands and types. For a few years I'd used a product that hadn't really let me down, but there was a lot of information on the net that this line was at least 0.02mm thicker than stated. "But fish don't read labels" is a common statement.

True, but I'm still a great believer (rightly or wrongly) that the thinner the line the more natural presentation with the way the hookbait acts, so I'll always err on the side of a lighter line than a heavier one (within reason of course) If i decide that a 0.12 hooklength is right for the conditions and size of fish I'm after, then I want to be fishing with something close to that diameter and not nearly at 0.15. It may not be that vital in the grand scheme of things but it gives me more confidence in my gear if i know its as described. Added to this I also wanted to try and stick to one make of line, so i could get used to its characteristics.

I tried a variety of lines and most of them were ok but some either just seemed to kink a bit easily when tying hooks or others a were a bit stiffer than I'd expected.

I decided to try Matrix Power Micron in a couple of sizes and have never really looked back since. In my opinion the line is very supple, strong and resilient and seems to resist kinking when I tie spade end hooks in my customary brusque manner.It seems as abrasion resistant as anything else I've used and has very low memory - Its nice to take a pole rig off a winder and see the line nice and straight and not looking like a big 'Z' shape ! I now use this line from 0.08 to 0.20 diameters which covers 95% of my fishing.

In fact i cant fault it at all. I did suffer a few breakages recently but this was my fault for fishing too fine a hooklength which snapped when the elastic bottomed out by an angry carp building up a head of steam in the opposite direction.

I use the line for pole rigs and hooklengths ( pole, float and feeder). Its usually priced around  £5 for a 100m spool which is par for the course.

The product doesn't seem to have a lot of a following at the moment which i find strange. However, I've never seen it in a tackle shop and have always purchased online which could explain things a bit if its not that common.

If you're looking to try a different rig line from your usual one then i really recommend this product from Matrix...highly recommended.

http://fishmatrix.co.uk/catalogues-products.php?section=1&product=183&catalogue=7

Robin

Outgunned - Wed 8th July 2015, Peg 15 Lookout Lake, Angel Of The North

I was back at the Angel for my session today as I fancied having another crack at fishing the pellet waggler. Something that I'd only tried last year for the first time and was keen to try again. However (as ever) the weather gods had seen me coming and the high temperatures of the last 2 weeks were forecast to come crashing down to a maximum 15°C with plenty of rain and a stiff northerly breeze. On the positive side I wouldnt need suncream and there should be plenty of 'ripple' on the water 

At the fishery there was a match on Bowes Lake and  a coaching session on the 1st 15 pegs of the main bank on Lookout. That was fine with me as i fancied the island anyway. The trip across the footbridge to it being slightly unnerving, as 2 swans roosting on the bank approach took extreme offence at my approach and blocked my path, hissing and generally giving the impression that me wanting to cross THEIR bridge was seriously p!ssing them off. I rounded them carefully ensuring that this was not the time for my trolley to tip over again, depositing a Daiwa seatbox on top of an irate bird  (when I was a kid there was a famous family tale about my granda having his arm broken by a swan for trying to steal its eggs....fair enough really but id always treated them with a healthy respect. Any bird the size of a small pterodactyl fully deserves its own space in my opinion !)

On the island the low peg numbers were taken, so I followed up on my loose plan by setting up on peg 15. Right on the southern end of the island, possibly a bit sheltered from the wind but also at the 'right' end of the lake if the fish followed the wind.

Peg 15

As nice a fishery as it is I'd normally avoid this area as its probably only 50-60m from the main road and a nasty roundabout that seems to have a permanent traffic queue around it. I think I'd counted 5 emergency vehicle sirens before I even started fishing.

Road to nowhere ?

 Perhaps not the ideal peg if you want some peace and tranquility.But as the road noise became white noise I tried to plan a strategy. The peg has a load of options as per my photos. In a match you'd have to fish straight in front of you but in theory when pleasure fishing I could have also cast a feeder or waggler over to the pegs on the far bank about 25m away at 90° to my seatbox,  however somebody could easily arrive and fish here later in the day, so after a good plumb around I decided on the following in the water in front of my platform :-

With a 6g pellet waggler i could get quite close to the far bank reeds. I'd been advised to fish 10mm Angel feed pellets so I had a hair rig with a 16 hook and a band tied in a knotless knot and started pinging about 3 pellets across towards the reeds every other minute or so whilst I continued to set up.

I had planned to fish a long pole line with the '5m' line as my main focus but the wind was rattling across me from left to right. As well as this the 5m line turned out to be 6 sections which i hoped would be far enough away from the bank to do everything as the longer line was going to be hard going in the wind.  I did though set up 2 lines both left and right to give me some options. There was about 2" difference in depth so i would use 2 rigs and feed in different ways. 

The left hand line was more into the breeze so i started with 1 good pot of bait, a mixture of chopped worm and casters with some micros and groundbait (sonubaits Bloodorm and Sensas IM5 mixed 70/30) in a slop, gently squeezed into a ball. I would give this time to settle and planned to top up as needed with a kinder pot. The right hand line was easier to feed by hand more often, so although i began by cupping in a 3rd of a pot of hemp and maggot, I was going to feed every 5 mins with about 30 grubs and go from there.  I would leave the margins for a while but the carp always seem to come in tight to the bank in summer, so I new this would be a main part of my focus later.

I started on the pellet waggler,  Alternating between feeding every cast, twice per cast  or nothing. It didn't work. Either the fish weren't interested at all or with the cold start it was just too early in the day. I'd given the method a good 45 mins without any kind of touch so shelved it for now. Back to plan B.

I tried the heavier fed LH short line with hard pellet in a band but there was quite a tow on the water. I had a DT Open Water Tear on this line  which meant the rig was nice and stable but the fish didn't seem too fussed about a moving bait and i didnt fancy fishing overdepth with a banded pellet. So i abandoned the pellet and deepened the rig to have about 2" on the bottom and keep it still. I started alternating between a worm head and double caster as I'd been firing in a combo of casters and 4mm pellets about every 5 minutes. At least i was now getting bites and fish; nothing big but some roach and skimmers started liking the bait. I decided to refeed with a MAP pot of chopped worm and leave the line for 10 minutes while i tried my RH maggot line. I'd opted for a DT Pencil for this line as the wind and tow was much decreased in this swim. With a strung out bulk over the bottom half of the rig to search through the water column.(I also had a top kit with a shallow rig on to go over both swims but this didnt really produce anything when i tried it), however most bites came after the rig had fully settled.

The fishing was definitely getting better and apart from some tiny perch, i was getting more roach with some better skimmers and a few spirited crucians but no carp. In fact it was now mid afternoon and I'd just started to notice fish moving and crashing about, something that had been totally absent so far today.  The temperature had lifted a few degrees and the sun had come out for a bit waking the fish up.

In spite of not fishing the pellet waggler I'd continued to feed regularly and with the wind dropping i decided to feed my margin lines and have some time on the waggler. Almost straight away I started  getting  indications before hooking an ide of about 1.5lbs. I could get plenty of bites but was only hitting a small percentage, so tried  shallowing up but the bites stopped. Fishing 2-3 feet deep seemed to be the best. I'd had another ide of around 2lbs but just had the feeling that the bait wasn't quite right. Ann in the fishery tackle shop had recommended fishing 10mm hard pellets on the pellet waggler but as there were no carp showing i couldnt help wonder if a 8mm or even 6mm would have been better on the day (unfortunately i didnt have any of these 2 try on this occasion). But the method of fishing the pellet waggler was really enjoyable. Feed, cast, strike or twitch the rig and feed again. Its an ultra positive and active way of fishing that would be brilliant on the right day.

By now I had hungry carp tails up in my swim. I'd fed groundbait and hemp in front of my platform and on my RH margin cupped in less groundbait but a pot of dead maggots. For both lines i was fishing a DT Margin Diamond on 0.165 mainline to 0.135 hooklength and a Maver CS23 size 14. I started on the right hand swim with 6 maggots on the hook.  The float settled and bobbed before burying. My strike was met by me netting a shocked looking 4oz roach, quickly followed by its twin....obviously these fish were not aware that they were supposed to be chubby carp !

I fed another 1/3 pot of maggots and went to the other margin line. In previous summers I'd caught well on paste so tried this again. I had fed 4 pots of groundbait earlier with the hemp so used a blob of groundbait on the hook. As usual the float danced around in front of me for a few minutes before burying. This time i lifted into a fish which took off towards the far bank,  a few seconds later the hook pulled. Despite how little i fish I'm still fairly used to losing fish here when fishing on a top kit, so undaunted, baited up and went out again. This time when i hooked another fish i felt better prepared but this time after a more determined fight the line went slack and i brought the rig back with a large scale attached to the hook ! Id hoped by fishing paste and not having the point visible that I'd be able to reduce foul hooking. I was getting a bit frustrated and this got worse as the next fish i hooked smashed the hooklength when the elastic bottomed out. I'd waited all day for the bigger fish to show up and now I'd lost 3 in a row. I refed the swim with more groundbait which brought the carp back in front of me within a minute. I decided to give them a few minutes to settle and went back to my RH line with maggots. This time a quick battle led to a lovely tench of about 1lb in the net.

I always tend to bring a small tin of corn with me on any commercials and fancied giving this a go as a hookbait. Corn is banned (along with meat) as a feed at The Angel but its just so visible. I put 2 grains on the hook and this time a thumping bite was followed up by a good 7 minute fight as i treated this fish with real kid gloves. At long last I had my carp and at about 7lbs was a welcome sight. 

Common Courtesy ?

I now was in a bit of a dilemma. I had planned to fish until 4pm, it was now 3.50pm and the fish were feeding in both my margin swims. Time to re-evaluate my finish time i think !  I started to slowly pick off more carp, not quite to the size of my last fish but between 2 and 6 lbs.

Tanned Leather (sorry !)

I swapped between paste and double corn and whilst bites were not instant it was fun. Until I got broken again. Stupidly the rig I was using was the heaviest i had and id ordered some heavier elastic too which hadn't arrived in time for me to use. I caught another 8 carp or so before i packed up but did get broken a third time. 

Not the best angling in the world because i just wasn't prepared correctly.

So packing up I'd had an enjoyable day really. I'd caught some really nice fish and the carp ahowing towards the end had made it. I know that a lot of people turn their noses up at carp for some reason but i love them and like something that gives the tackle and elastic a work out. The valuable lesson learned though was to have heavier rigs/hooklengths available. The fish that snapped me may well have all been foul hooked but i think i didn't give myself the best option of getting them out today. I will be back with a bit more fire power next time. If the carp are showing it'll be interesting to see who wins !

Also seeing the queues of traffic going to and from work and the emergency sirens sounding regularly during the day,  reminded me why this sport is a distraction from the stress and pace of our working lives. 

Thanks for reading. Tight Lines.

Robin

Round And Round The Garden - Lookout Lake, Angel Of The North, 13th May 2015

A midweek day off and a chance to give some new pole rigs a dip. I'd decided to stay local and go to The Angel for the first time this year. I quite fancied a go at Bowes Lake but with the open match on I headed back to Lookout.

Water Craft ? Life jacket preferable

I picked peg 22 in the lee of the island. The water here was a bit more sheltered than the rest of the lake and I had at least 2 spare pegs either side for some room. The far bank to the island was about 35m away and my peg had a cutback section between reed beds that looked carpy  !

Lookout Peg 22

Plumbing around the swim gave me a nice even depth around 5.5 ft past the near shelf. There wasn't a traditional margin as the reeds meant fishing at 45° from me and it was quite deep at around 3ft but id leave that for later in the day.

As usual I tried to cover as many options as possible. I would have a line straight in front of me on 5m. This was fed with around  50 maggots and the same quantity of hemp.I would feed here by hand every 5 mins or so. I then had 2 lines at 13m at 10 and 2 o'clock angles. I fed one quite positively with a big pot of groundbait with some 4mm fishery pellets. The other side was fed a bit more negatively with chopped worm and caster. As the depth was virtually the same in my different swims I could fish the same rigs on each line but I still gave myself a few choices. The water temperature had dropped over the previous few days so I wanted to cover all bases. I had set up a DT Pencil - primarily for the shorter line but if the water didnt tow too much I could use it longer. For the 13m line I had probably my favourite most versatile pattern; a DT Open Water Tear with a bulk and 2 droppers for fishing near/on the deck with a bit of stability and lastly for the open water lines another DT Floats pattern, this time the Slim P with strung out shotting for searching through the water column. 

Pole Floats Left To Right :All from DT-Floats -  Pencil, Slim P;Open Water Tear; Margin Diamonds

With all lead rigs having to be free running and a minimum hooklength length of 12", that rules the method/pellet feeder out. I could fish the straight lead and feed 4-5 6mm pellets over the top by catapult. Id clipped up about 18" off the island and planned to fire bait in every few minutes for at least an hour before fishing, to let the fish settle.

Despite being cool first thing the sun was out and it was turning into  a lovely spring day and I really fancied the lead line for some fish as it warmed up. I started on the groundbait 13mm line and after about 10 minutes had my first fish, a 4oz skimmer on double maggot, (I did try banded pellet here but it didnt really work). The bites weren't prolific but were all coming after the bait had fully settled on the bottom. After another 3 fish I fed some more pellets through a kinder pot (well MAP but you get the idea).

I moved to the chopped worm swim and had some nice ide up to 1lb on a worm head. Again the action was sporadic but enjoyable and after an hour I'd had 12 nice 'silvers.'

The short maggot line gave me a few roach and a small ide but by now I was itching to fish across. I put an 8mm bloodworm pellet in a band and hit the line clip. 10 mins later and I hadnt had a touch or any liners so fired across about 10 pellets and went again.  

This is where the wheels came off ! I hit the line clip but a few feet to the left into reeds. The only option was to pull for a break, losing the entire rig in the process ( Island 1, Robin 0). Never mind, re-rig, rebait and re-cast. This time I was far too cautious and dropped way short.  So another cast, another excursion in the bushes and a lost hooklength (Island 2, Robin 0). Combined with this the line on the reel was now under the spool and in the gears. I'd never got on with this reel line and had wanted to change it. Now I was experiencing tangles like I hadn't had for 30 years of fishing ! The frustration and language levels were through the roof. To add insult to injury the wind had sprung up out of nowhere from the north and from a warm spring day getting a slight tan was now turning into a really cold one.

The real issue though was the strength of the wind. I now couldn't hit the island with catapulted pellets and the 13m lines were pretty much unfishable as I didnt want my pole back in pieces. I'd now started to lose my head a bit and easily lost an hour fishing time. I needed to stop and take stock, I'd been cupping in groundbait and hemp every 30 minutes from midday into my margin, about 6 sections out on top of the shelf. I decided to add a big cup of chopped worm and maggots and go for a walk.

 Bank Walkers

Bowes Lake sits downhill from Lookout and the open was well underway here. Watching for 15 mins the fishing seemed very slow here too. A few guys were catching carp but generally most were saying it was dire. The way around my feeding issue on the lead was shown by one of my mates fishing the match,  using a PVA bag of pellets meant getting bait accurately near your hookbait, but that wasnt something I had the option to try. Plus I'd decided that today wasn't the day to persevere with the feeder rod ! I need some new line and plenty of casting practice in case I started catching mammals.

Going onto the margin swim with a 0.2G DT Margin Diamond and a whole worm caught me my first tench of the year.Only about 14 oz but is there a more stunning looking coarse fish  ? Eventually a carp took the worm bait. It plodded about a bit before trying to dive into the reeds.To try and stop it I used the puller and gave it too much stick and the hooklength snapped. It probably wasn't bigger than 5lbs but it would have been a nice fish to net. 

That was it on the carp front for the day. I continued fishing the margin line and tried a variety of baits but worm was the best.  I managed a few more chunky ide and skimmers to 2lbs along with a load of small roach, before my last fish of the day, a golden flanked crucian carp of about 1lbs.

So a steep learning curve again. A day of extreme frustration at times, but when I did have a bait in the water, I caught some beautiful and healthy fish.( Its funny how fishing has changed since I started over 30 years ago. C.25lbs of 'silvers' and its a hard day ! )

Onwards and upwards then.  With a bit of luck my next blog will come around a lot sooner this time and im going to give a different venue a go for some variety.

Until then, tight lines

Robin

P.S. No squirrels were harmed in the making of this blog ☺

Four Seasons In One Day - 31st March 2015 - The Oaks Sessay, Cedar Lake

First I feel the need to apologise in advance to anyone who's read any of my blogs. After re-reading previous entries i noticed just how much I mention the weather not being what I wanted/expected. Ive unwittingly picked up the British trait of  finding it too hot, too cold, too wet etc.  In the UK our weather is what it is and we all have to accept it and adapt. This blog was meant to be about fishing, not about meteorological observations. However in saying that today the weather really was the show stopper !

I'd earmarked today as my best chance to get back on the bank for another few weeks at least but the weather  Over the previous few days the weather forecast had warned of very strong winds (30mph+) with gusts of over 50mph but I was hopeful that with a bit of thought I'd be able to find somewhere sheltered for the day. After all as the saying goes "There's no such thing as bad weather, just unsuitable clothing" (although I'd be amazed if it was a coarse angler who coined the phrase !) I decided to head back to the Oaks at Sessay in North Yorkshire as a lot of the lakes are ringed by trees and vegetation offering some cover (theoretically !)

The day didn't start well with traffic jams caused by blown over HGVs and me realising I'd left all my reels at home. This pretty much guaranteed I'd be heading for one of the snake lakes at the complex as it would be pole only today. To be honest this was where I'd fancied anyway, as I hoped the F1s would feed despite the temperature dropping again from the weekend. I drove round the 3 snake lakes looking at potential spots and only saw 3 other hardy (crazy ?) Souls fishing. The trees didnt offer as much respite from the wind as I'd expected but peg 36 on Cedar was the calmest I could find, so although the conifers behind me were buffeted and dancing in the wind, the peg in front was virtually untouched.

Cedar Peg 36 - North West of complex

The Eye Of The Storm ?

I'd expected pellets or maggots to be the best options so my bait tray was relatively uncluttered (by my standards !)   on arrival I'd wetted some fishery feed pellets in both micros and 4mm, 2 pints of red/white maggots, some corn for bigger carp/F1s and a little groundbait (Sonubaits F1/Sensas Lake)

I set up my tackle and plumbed up around the peg. The far bank was just about 13m straight out, so I could fish 2 lines at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock at bang on 13m with the same depth each side, on a nice flat area down the far bank slope. As the gradient was quiet shallow I had the options of starting at 3' deep but my adding or removing a section I could search the different depths if required. I  planned to fish one line negatively with a few micros and a banded 4mm over the top, whilst the other long swim would get 4mm feed pellets with an expander on the hook. I'd fed another line with some corn and a little groundbait down the track in 5 feet of water about 8m out but at the same 13m distance from my position, to try and leave for a few hours to offer a safe area for the (bigger) fish to back off into. However as things transpired i didn't fish this line at all. Lastly I would throw a few maggots in by hand  every few minutes down the base of the near shelf at 3-4m  with the intention of not fishing for at least an hour to build up the fish's confidence and really just catch anything with fins.

After the late start it was nearly midday when I started actually fishing an almost inevitably the wind had changed direction. One minute it was directly behond me coming through the gap in the trees, then it would veer and come across and seemed to generally swirl around.  Even with a longer line and backshot the presentation on the long lines was awful. After persevering for far too long with only a small skimmer to show I had to admit defeat and abandon fishing past 5m otherwise my pride and joy pole would soon come in far more than its official 9 sections ! A brief hailstorm and rain didn't brighten my mood and I had really decided to quit but then I dropped on the short line for the first time and had a small roach. The sun came out and I could actually feel the warmth on my face. I started catching small roach and after gradually increasing the feed had a good F1. It wasnt fast or furious but I was getting bites. As id fed over a larger area I could try different depths as I'd intended on the far side. Most of the skimmers came directly at the base of the shelf but I had a few F1s right on top of the near shelf in about 2.5 feet of water but perhaps unsurprisingly they didn't settle.I got a bit ahead of myself and fed a small golf ball of groundbait but this seemed to put the fish right off. When they did come back after a bit more careful loose feeding it was skimmers and the biggest probably went a pound before I had a few more F1s every now and then. I could have tried a few things to make something happen such as a longer margin line but by now the heavens opened again, except this time it turned into a full-on blizzard of wet snow. There was no way a brolly could survive this wind so I just had to grit my teeth and bear it. I'll admit at one point when i could no longer feel my fingers,  I retreated to the car for 15 mins to defrost before fishing again.

The next rain storm made me decide that descretion was the better part of valour and after all this was a pleasure session not a match. I'd only fished for 2.5 hours but had had 4 F1s up to 2.5lbs , 20+ roach and a few good Skimmers, all from a top kit + 1 or 2 length. I decided to call it quits before I broke anything and had a blustery return up the A19.

So i managed some really nice fish and whilst I could have caught a lot more,  I felt quite satisfied with what I did have in the time I actually had a float in the water.

My final word about the weather.....I  wonder if people in other countries where the weather is warm all year round get bored ? Maybe they should experience some British Springtime !

Tight lines

Robin

Every Cloud Has A Silver(s) Lining - The Oaks, Oaks Lake - Feb 14th 2015

After a multitude of reasons conspiring to keep me off the bank I was at last able to make my first outing of the year. 

The ice that had affected a lot of northern lakes had melted and the mercury above freezing and a day at The Oaks in North Yorkshire was my choice.

Id planned to fish for a bit of everything and anything on one of the 3 snake lakes on site, probably F1s (if they would play ball) but also skimmers and possibly Ide. However on arrival at the tackle shop I was informed these lakes had been rock hard, with good weights possible if you hit lucky and were on fish. If not there was real chances of a blank. The recommended method was to dob bread around the swim without feeding - a method that wouldnt rank highly on my list of preferred methods.  I consider myself to be an active angler and really like to make something happen.  The other alternative was fishing for roach on Willows (the specimen lake). I'd always prefer to fish with bites so decided to go for the roach and leave carp and F1s for another time.

Willows lake is a few acres and has a few small islands centrally. There were about 3 carp boys bivvied up on the left side of the lake and one on my immediate left fishing 2 rods. He wasnt in a bivvy but was actually parked behind his rods sitting in his car (!).

My peg was at the rhs of an island about 30m away but the pole was my only choice out of the holdall. As I tend to fish "standard" commercials most of my pole rigs are for 4-6' deep, so I was surprised to see 7-8' at from the bottom of the near shelf in front of me; perhaps not a bad thing at this time of year. The bottom was relatively flat and the lake still had a good bit of colour so along with a bit of advice from the shop I picked 3 options.

At 6 sections to my left I would feed pinkies in case the fish would settle close in. This was just about as far as I could get to throwing by hand but was fortunate that the wind was pretty much none existent. My expected main line was straight out at 11m. Here I fed  2 tangerine-sized balls of Sensas Lake Black with a few micros and maggots. At 45° to the right on the same length of pole I cupped in some finely chopped worm and caster with the intention of leaving this for a few hours before looking for some bonus roach or perch, then threw in about 10 pinkies to the short pole line every 5 mins. I also toyed with the thought of a feeder next to the island. However if this was to be a roach day I'd much prefer to catch on a float rather than the tip so didnt even rig this up.

Rig wise I was a bit undergunned for the depth.  However the lack of wind and tow meant the .30/.40G Floats I used were fine for and stability wasn't a problem. I'm a great believer in fining down so had my 2 main rigs on .105 mainline to .08/.09 hooklengths with ES43 hooks.  I had an DT Winter Wire for the pinkie swim for extra sensitivity and a DT Pencil dotted down on the 11m swim. For the worm swim I opted for a DT Tear so I had the option of laying some line on the deck if I wanted and could read the bristle a bit more.

DT Winter Wire

I started with double pinkies short and had a few roach of about 1oz but quite slow. After 30 mins I went over the long line and had a few more slightly bigger fish on maggot before that line went quiet 2. By swapping  lines I could catch a few but the bites were very slight dips on the float. It was a nice change catching these lovely fish on light elastics and every now and then I'd pick up a slightly better dumpy roach but despite playing with the shotting pattern and trying shallower rigs, every bite came with the rig set at full depth and after at least 20 seconds after settling. Every now and then I'd have a quiet spell of 10-20 mins, on the first occasion I gambled by refeeding a golf ball size of groundbait but this didnt seem to bring the fish back until they were ready, as the pinkie swim had gone quiet as well.

I did try the chopped worm line varying between small pieces of worm and caster but it was very sporadic - although id did lead to my 2 biggest roach about 6oz each. 

Trying a larger piece of worm didnt get a touch and apart from 2 micro perch it just didn't work today for the bigger stripeys.

By now the carp boys had gone and after a longer quiet spell the fish seemed to switch on. It was never hectic but I made the most of the time coming back with a fish most drops. It seemed best to feed every 5 mins with about a dozen maggots by catapult, then using a kinder pot dropping half this amount again directly onto the float.

One thing about The Oaks is the resident bird life have the anglers' sussed out and after feeding my namesake (a Robin) for some time, a Wren joined me for about 1.5 hours and must have scoffed its own body weight in maggots and pinkies ! If I stopped feeding it for long it would jump around between my net bag and holdall until it caught my attention. ...very cheeky.

I finished the session with about 7-8lbs of roach, with the 2  6oz fish the biggest. All pristine fish that were fun to catch using the appropriate tackle and light elastics. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day fishing for and catching something totally different from what I'd intended when I left home. 

The new DT Floats were superb, particularly the Winter Wires which were the right tool for the day.

It was good to finally give these floats a practical test and they were as good as I'd hoped for. I will review them further in detail after a few more sessions. 

DT Tears & Pencils

I also found my Maver Enigma "Carp" pole also excellent for lifting into roach bites so IMO the carp moniker does it a disservice,  possibly why its been left off the 2015 Enigmas.

To anyone who's taken time to read my ramblings, thank you. Hopefully we can meet on the bank someday.

Tight Lines

Robin