Day Out With Trevor (Crabtree Lake)

My old mate Trevor and I hooked up for an afternoon session after work on Crabtree Lake in Thorpe today in search of big Roach, we both caught and while I managed a new personal best neither of us were able to tempt any of the real monsters.

Trev fished the pole using maggot and corn, on the bottom to start with but when he switched to 'on the drop' the bites became a lot more frequent with corn tempting the slightly bigger fish.

I gave my new Avon rod a work out using a small feeder packed with hemp and corn plugged at both ends with liquidised bread, a single grain of corn on the hook and a quivertip for bite indication, I was getting good solid bites from the off but they were so fast I couldn't hit them! Assuming these were small Roach snatching at the hook bait I ignored the lightning fast bites and only hit the slower pulls and slight drop backs, which worked and I ended up with five or six half decent fish, the two largest of which weighed a healthy 7 ounces, a whole one ounce over my previous PB.

Roach - 7oz

Crabtree is absolutely teeming with Roach, most likely a result of there being no predatory fish present, and are rumoured to go bigger than 2lbs. 

It isn't a big water so locating them shouldn't (famous last words) be too much of a challenge, it's a lovely looking water as well and I'm really looking forward to paying it another visit.

Prawns, they're the future! (Lyne Lake)

I had another go at Lyne today, it was one of the warmest days of the year so far and the plan was to to fish from mid afternoon until dark in the hope that the Perch might show in the last few hours as the light faded.....they didn't!

The approach was much the same as before, two rods (one ledger one float), worm/maggot cocktail and prawn hook baits fished over a bed of seed compost and chopped prawn groundbait. The only changes I made were to scale down the hook sizes to a 12 on the float, a 10 on the ledger and fish a straight lead as opposed to a feeder on the ledger rod and fished less than a rod length out in a swim on the opposite bank to which I fished before.

Unlike my previous visit the bites were few and far between, the first coming to the prawn baited float rod after over three hours, I played whatever its was (and it wasn't huge) for just a few seconds before it managed to shed the hook. Ten minutes later saw an exact repeat, same rod, same bait and same outcome.

It was after 6pm and with the light fading noticeably that the ledger rod sprang into life, a few moments later I was guiding a skimmer Bream that went 1lb 9oz into the net, another species that had succumbed to a prawn.

1lb 9oz

An hour and a half later the float lifted slightly before slowly disappearing and I struck into something a lot bigger that made a couple of brief lunges for safety before rolling over and giving up, a typical Bream bite followed by a typical Bream fight. The last time I'd landed one of this size was from a Kennet weir pool back in the 80's and while this one was considerably paler than it's lovely bronze coloured river cousins it was a good fish nonetheless.

Onto the scales and around they went....5lb 8oz

That'll do, another target achieved!

5lb 8oz

I fished on for an another hour or so until I could barely see my float in the dark but that was it as far as fish were concerned and I headed home, wondering where my elusive big Perch will eventually be caught from? 

And if there's anything that won't fall for a prawn?!

We're off.....but no Perch! (Lyne Lake)

I took the opportunity to have a go at Lyne for Perch this afternoon and while I did land the one it was just a few ounces and well below my target, disappointing but the Tench and Carp more than made up for it.

When I met up with Tony, the CSAS Fishery Manager who'd recommended the place to me he handed me a permit, gate key and went on to say that Pegs 11 and 3 were probably best if it was Perch I was after, it was but I opted for 10 so as not to disturb any of the small number of anglers who were already fishing.

With platforms in every swim and any bankside growth cut back hard it had the look and feel of a commercial, there was one very small man made island but that aside it appeared featureless and I could feel my confidence sapping from the moment I first saw it.

Lyne Lake Peg 10

Still, I was there and so were the Perch so I set up my usual two rods, put out some groundbait and settled down for what I was sure was going to be another blank session.

On one rod a waggler set around 4 inches over depth and placed half way down the nearside margin shelf, line was 4lb straight through to a size 8 hook. The ledger rig was a small blockend feeder with 8lb straight through to a size 8. Bait in both cases was either a two worm halves/single red maggot cocktail or single large prawn.

With both baits out I glanced at my watch, it was 2 o'clock and with the sun still quite high in I wasn't expecting anything to happen for another four or five hours when the light would start failing. I did have a few knocks on the float early on and the odd bleep on the ledger but nothing that I felt I could strike at, particularly in view of the size of baits I was using.

4lb 1oz

Just before 5pm that all changed, the float lifted slightly before sailing away and I struck into a lump of a fish that had fallen for a prawn and while it dug deep and fought well a few minutes later I was sliding the net under a beautifully conditioned Tench that went 4lb 1oz.....my first of the season and a whole ounce over my target for the species, one down, ten to go!

A little while later I landed a second at 2lb 12oz, again on the float but this time to the worm and maggot cocktail.

7lb 9oz

That was followed by a prolonged spell of quiet, broken only by Tony who'd walked round to let me know he was leaving. We stood chatting for a minute or two before being interrupted by the alarm on the second rod, striking at distance I was relieved to feel a good solid resistance on the line.

I was then taken here, there and just about everywhere by something that felt a lot bigger than the Tench I'd had earlier, Tony's guess that it was a Carp was eventually proved right, a 7lb 9oz Common that again was in near perfect condition and had been tempted by a prawn. It was also more than 2lb over my target weight....two down, nine to go! 

As the light continued to fade into near darkness I continued to get knocks on the float but nothing that developed into a fully fledged bite until just before 8 o'clock when I finally struck into a Perch....all 6 ounces of it, not that I bothered weighing it.

I may not have achieved what I'd set out to but to get not one but two of my targets for the season in one session was amazing, although it did have me wondering if I'd set them too low? Nope, they were good then and they're good now, they won't all be as easy as these two proved to be, not least the Perch one which is already beginning to frustrate me.

Lyne Lake looking west from Peg 10

One thing I always try to gain from a session is learning something that might improve my fishing in the future and having given it some thought there are one or two things I can take with me from today.

Firstly not to be put off by the look of a water, it's what's in it not around it that ultimately matters, secondly I need to make more of an effort to make small changes to my rigs now and again, hook lengths for instance, shotting patterns, depths, nothing major but changes that just might improve my catch rate.

All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable session....but still no big Perch?!

Asking Around

I've contacted the Fisheries Managers of both my target Perch waters, to enquire about parking and took the opportunity to ask if they had any tips, not only was I pleasantly surprised at the speed of their replies but the information they provided was priceless.

While the club handbook states a qualifying specimen weight for Crabtree of 2lb it turns out this is an error and there aren't any Perch in there! That's the bad news, the good news is that the Fishery Manager administers the club's water sharing scheme and there's a water in nearby Lyne that has them in numbers and up to 4lb, the water belongs to another club but one that my own has a sharing agreement with....guess where I'm heading next?!

I also discovered that the Roach in Crabtree go to 2lb so I've tucked that snippet of info away too.

As regards Littleton the Fishery Manager was able to confirm that 2lb 8oz fish have been recorded albeit by anglers fishing from boats in the main (Ellis) lake, which makes me wonder if there is deeper water but a lot further out?

There's a moral here....it pays to ask around, I hadn't intended to but I'm so glad I did and as the season progresses it's something I plan doing a lot more.

First Perch Session (Littleton)

The first session of this new campaign saw me at Littleton today, the huge club gravel pit, with Perch in my sights....and despite doing everything I set out to do I blanked, not so much as a bite!

Admittedly I dropped into the first swim I came to but it was disappointing nonetheless, the only positives being that I learnt a few things.

The first being the water itself and the area I fished, on the southern most side, was devoid of any features with depths of just 4' in the margins and 7' at 30 yards, a lot shallower than I'd expected and away from the margins the whole area appeared covered by a low layer of weed. Looking at the map the western most edge, in and around the sailing club, could be interesting as the moored boats themselves are a feature and of the kind that Perch are known to frequent?

Most of what I learnt though was tackle related, nothing major just a few small tweaks that are needed.....

Marker float - the bottom of which is occasionally sticking in the large ring, a button or circular piece of cork could be the solution here.

Bobbins - the fitted chains on the two I have are too short, swapping one for a length of braid should suffice.

Reels - one of the two I use has developed a problem with the winding mechanism that results in the handle loosening, it may have to go back to the manufacturer but fingers crossed I can fix it.

Bait wise the prawns held up well, I did intend to zap the hook baits in the microwave for a few seconds to harden them up a little but as it was they stayed on the hook without a problem; the compost ground bait base also performed well creating a nice cloud and held the loose feed of maggot, liquidised bread and chopped worm better than I'd expected.

Easter's coming up and I've got six days off work, time to start planning the next trip out.

First up.....Perch

The Lagoon

With a few days off work between now and the end of the Easter Bank Holiday I'm planning to get out for a few Perch sessions and with the close season now in effect on the rivers the two club venues that remain open are the Littleton complex in Shepperton which comprises Ellis Water, an 86 acre mature gravel pit linked by a narrow causeway to a smaller lake known as The Lagoon, and Crabtree lake in nearby Thorpe.

Having fished the Lagoon for Pike a few times last season I've a fairly good knowledge of it's layout, which swims are most likely to produce and at a mere 6 acres it's a lot less imposing than it's much larger and somewhat featureless neighbour.

Crabtree lake I've not fished before and I'm looking forward to paying it a first visit.

The minimum qualifying weight for the clubs specimen trophy for Perch from Littleton is 2lb 8oz with 2lb for Crabtree and as my target's 2lb they seem a good place to start.

Why Perch? Well it's a little bit too early for Tench in my book which I prefer to fish for during the first weeks of a new season and while there are also Roach and Bream present in the Lagoon being a lover of rivers I'd prefer to target both of these on the Thames. 

Now from what I've read about Perch the consensus seems to be that they hate resistance, dropping the bait at the first sign of it so the plan is to fish a low resistance running ledger rig with a decent hook link length on one rod and a float on the second with the bait set 3-4 inches or more overdepth.

For hook baits I'll be starting with prawn on one rod with one or two worm halves tipped with a single red maggot (to stop the worms wriggling free) on a second, the aim of using worm halves is to use their juices as an attractor.

Groundbait will be seedling compost laced with chopped worm, prawn, liquidised bread and squashed up red maggot which I'll be feeding in small balls over a quite a tight area. The plan is to also loose feed a few red maggots on and off in an attempt to attract small prey fish into the swim.

As Perch are known to feed more actively during periods of low light the intention is begin each session during the early afternoon and fish through until dark...which also means no getting up early on my days off!

Setting The Bar High (but not too high!)

I like targets, having something to aim for helps to keep my mind focused, the tricky bit is setting them at the right level, too high and they risk being unachievable, too low and there's little or no sense of achievement in meeting them.

As it is I enjoy my fishing the old fashioned way using simple tackle, traditional baits and on venues that keep travelling time and costs to a minimum, which means restricting the waters I'll be targeting to those controlled by the club I belong to. Thankfully though my club, the Civil Service Angling Society (CSAS) have the rights to some great stretches of the Thames and a good mix of lakes, all within easy reach of home.

My starting point was the CSAS club handbook, which has a section detailing specimen weights for each water and it's these I first considered before eventually scaling all of them down to weights that are challenging but achievable nonetheless. One added bonus of setting them this way was that it's given me a good idea of which waters each species target is likely to come from, Bream from the Thames at Windsor for example and Crucian Carp from the lake at East Whipley.

With targets set the one thing left was the timescale and as some of the CSAS waters are open all year round I finally settled on from now until March 15th 2015, the end of next season.

It won't be easy but working towards each of the targets I've set myself is going to improve my fishing considerably and more importantly it's going to be great fun!