Mike’s Diary
A couple of chunks before winter sets in...
Posted in Mike’s Diary on 11th November 2010Well following our river trip to Belgium in September I was hoping to get some serious UK fishing done but unfortunately life at Springwood just got busier by the day. The plot where our new house is going was being occupied by Lee’s 35ft static caravan (Lee lives on site as our fishery manager) but this now had to be re-positioned on another part of the site before the autumn rains arrived!
I had to get the digger in and distribute 60-tons of stone, disconnect the static caravan from services such as water, sewage and electric and move it to the new area and re-connect all the services. If the rain fell it would have made the job impossible, but fortunately we had 3-weeks of dry weather. Anyway, enough of all that! By mid October this was finally completed and it was time to get the rods out on my Glos syndicate venue for the first time in five weeks.
The lake doesn’t give up its residents very easily so I was well pleased to bank a 22lb common and a 34lb 8oz mirror during a particularly barren spell. Unfortunately the loss of what felt like a very big fish put a slight dampener on the occasion, but three bites in one session on this venue was more than acceptable.
The following week I was back on the pit trying to take advantage of the low pressure front sweeping the country, but this time it was Lee who won top honours as he continued his remarkable season by banking a new UK personal best common of 35lb 12oz! What a cracking result and a very rare fish as well. A couple of nice early winter chunks was just what the doctor ordered before winter properly sets in and the lake closes down for its usual ‘winter rest-bite’.
It’s now time for me to start the building plans for the new house and finally get the new Essential website up and running. The launch date is December 1st and for the very first time, we will have full on-line ordering facilities and some fantastic winter deals, as well as the latest news on our latest new bait development. The next time I contribute to this section will be on the new site so I hope you will join us.
Balanced Dumbells
There are definitely times when standard round hook baits can lose their effectiveness and a switch to a different shape can often produce the goods. These pellet shaped hook baits offer a viable alternative to standard round hook baits and when mounted on a slightly longer hair and fished over a bed of pellets, they can often make the difference between success and failure!
Their shape not only makes them very difficult for the fish to eject, but coupled with their added buoyancy due to the inclusion of cork dust, they are also superb for fishing over the top of silt or weed. They are also very durable and will last for many hours without being nibbled away by nuisance fish, Crayfish or diving birds. Definitely worth considering when the going gets tough!
Top tip
Try mounting the dumbell on the hair long-ways. This will enter the carp's mouth easier, but will spin around on ejection thus making it more difficult for the carp to eject the hook.
