Woodland Waters Ancaster
I arrived to the lake at around 5:45pm Friday Evening after a hard day at work. When I got there I had a quick mooch around the lake to see if there were any signs of fish and to chat to a couple of the locals. This particular time I didn't see anything so I decided to jump in a peg on the grass bank around the far side of the lake.
The minute I pulled up I saw a fish bob his head out of the water, this made me confident that there would be something about and maybe a chance of a quick bite. So wasting no time I got the rods out the back of the truck and got them set up. With my left hand rod I fished a simple snowman rig with a pva stringer; I casted this rig out to open water where I had seen signs of fish. With my right hand rod I was fishing a stiff hinge rig and casting over to the right to an over hanging tree. This was the first time using the stiff hinge so preparation was key, checking it in the margins to make sure it sank slowly. The boom section was around 6 inches and the pop up section at around 1 inch. My plan was to mess about with different lengths etc till I found out what way I liked to fish the rig. I put around 20 boilies on the spot and left it while I got the house up and everything sorted! Once everything was set up I recasted both rods and introduced a little more bait ready for the evening!.
It wasn't long before I was laid on my bed-chair nodding off, so I decided to get my head down for the night and get an early start in the morning. A fair few hours later I was awoken by the beautiful sound of my left hand rod tearing off. It took me a second to gain my composure then 'bang' I had struck into the fish! It tore off then a couple of second later 'ting' it had come off I was gutted. I quickly retrieved the rig to check it to see what had happened and by the looks of it, it had just spat the hook out. Not one to beaten, I got it straight back out and then got back to bed!
Morning soon rolled around and I got both rods rebaited and back out on the spots. The day passed fairly quickly with fish showing all over but unfortunately the rods were motionless. Late afternoon I decided to grab a quick shower using the onsite facility's. Before I did I introduced around a kilo of boilies on both spots. I thought the fish might feel a bit more keen to feed with no lines in the water.
I then went of for my shower, (I would highly recommend the shower block it was very clean and the shower was powerful and the water steaming hot), this made me feel refreshed after a hot day. I was on my way back and I stopped to take a quick look under the over hanging tree were I had my right hand rod positioned. It was clear to see fish had been visiting the spot because the water was all murky from were they had been kicking up the silt. I got back round to my swim and got the rods straight back out. I sat back and watched the water while cooking my tea, fish were showing all over and I was confident for a bite throughout the night, and boy was I right! 3.30pm my right hand rod melted off and I was hooked into another fish. It fought like a demon but as I got it in closer 'ting' yet again the hook had come out, you can imagine how destrought I was! To be honest I was that mad I retrieved the rig and put my rod to one side for the rest of the night and got my head down for a couple of hours.
I awoke around 6 and got the rods back out again for a couple of hours as I was leaving at around 9. While I was sat there the thought of losing two fish was going through my mind and I was already planning my next trip. The hours soon went by and all was quiet so I packed up and went home with my tail between my legs.
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| keeping guard! |
When I was pottering around at home on the Sunday the thought of losing two was again still in my mind and I planned to come down for a quick overnighter between work on Tuesday.
I manged to finish work at 4pm, I already had my stuff sorted and packed into my truck so it was straight to the lake! I got there just before 5 and jumped into a swim called sandy corner which is close the island, it is a sandy area which goes out about 20 yards then just drops. I fished the same tactics as the weekend but with the stiff hinge rig I had heightened the pop up part to around 2 inches. I fished my left hand rod to the island and my right hand rod on the bottom of the drop off, I introduced around half a kilo between both the spots and sat back and watched the water. Fish were showing all over I was confident of a bite as another angler who was on the other side of the lake was fishing a rod to the island and had several runs.
Darkness was coming in fast so a mate who had joined me got the BBQ struck up. As we was stood there chatting waiting for it to get warm my right hand rod melted off I have never moved so quick in my life. I struck into it this time it was nailed. It went on a mad run taking about 30 yards on its first run! I managed to gain control and it was coming in with ease, as it got closer it made a sharp left for a tree and I had no choice but to jump in so I could get a better angle to bring it back round. I managed to stop it from snagging me up in the tree and I got it close enough for my mate to net it! He lifted the net up to see what it was like and it looked a nice mid double, we let him rest in the margin while we got the mat and everything sorted out. Once sorted I went over to lift him out the water as I did I couldn't believe my eyes it was stonking. I knew straight away it was beating my PB that's when the shakes kicked in! I laid him on the mat and took a look at the hook hold it was about 2 inches back and nailed in the bottom lip, there was no way he was getting off! I got him in the sling and lifted him up to get a weight, I couldn't believe it when my mate told me it was 25.5llbs I actually made him lift it so I could see for my self, I was absolutely buzzing! I had got a new PB and managed to get my revenge from the weekend! After getting pictures I jumped back into the water to let this shear beast go back to the depths shaking like mad I let him go and what a moment it was.
Knowing I had work early again in the morning I got the rod back out closely followed by some more bait to top the swim up. While I was sorting my rod my mate had got the food all sorted and it was time to eat and get to bed so we could be up early and packed away to get off in the morning. I can certainly say I went to bed with a big smile on my face and it just goes to prove a quick overnighter can produce the goods just as much if not more than a weekend on the bank!
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| new PB 25.5 of angry common! |
