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?!