Catch Reports
Hat-trick of thirties!
Posted in Catch Reports on 14th April 2011Having only been able to get the rods out twice in 5 months I'm trying to make the most of April before another long break to concentrate on more important issues (is there anything more important than fishing?) so you can imagine how keen I was to get back to the lake.
Well put it this way - I'm glad i did! The session started slowly and I moved twice within 24-hours as the wind switched around. Would you believe it, they then started to spawn!! I've never known that in early April!! It wasn't 'full on' but a few eggs were dropped and I knew it wouldn't be long before they would move back in to mop them up, so out went the B5 and it wasn't long before the first fish slipped into the net - a stunning 31lb 2oz mirror.
The following morning resulted in another cracking fish, one I'd caught many years ago but had now grown to 31lb 4oz. I was now buzzing but then suddenly realised I'd almost run out of bait, yet still had another night or two available! I knew Lee was on his way down after rolling another arctic full of bait, but he then informed me it had all gone out to customers!! (I need to get my priorities in order!)
Anyway, I knew I had 3kg of Black Snail tucked away in my personal freezer as a back up and with the lake heaving with natural food (including snails!) I knew this would be a good choice, even though the B5 has been well established and extremely successful on the lake.
Lee arrived with the bait and for the last night I decided to put all my eggs in one basket and put all 3 kilos of 'The Snail' over the rod where I'd seen most activity, closely followed by my baited rig. During the night I had a few liners so I knew they were in or around the area and it wasn't long before that rod was away. After a good scrap another sizeable fish graced my net, a lovely deep mahogany coloured common of 32lb to complete the hat-trick. I'm going to miss this fishing lark you know!!!
B-lucky
Mike Willmott
Boilie Paste
Mark Stubbles with yet another fine cold water carp. Mark is an extremely succesful and consistent angler and instinctively knows the rewards little edges can bring.
Many anglers tend to overlook the advantages that paste’s can give. Throughout the colder months I nearly always wrap a thin layer of paste around my hook bait. This not only gives the bait a better ‘leak off’ in terms of attraction as the paste slowly dissipates, but also gives the hook bait a completely different texture.
Paste is also an essential requirement if you prefer to make your own cork ball pop-ups or balanced baits. A 10mm cork ball with approx 3mm of paste wrapped around it will give you a nice balanced 16mm hook bait. To make pop-ups however, you will need to wrap a thinner layer of paste around the cork. I find that a 12mm cork ball with approx 1.5mm of paste wrapped around the outside creates pop-ups buoyant enough for most presentations.
Top Tip
We make the paste soft enough for most applications, but if you find the paste starting to dry out a little, just dampen it down with a ‘Bait Glug’ or a ‘Liquid Food’ and re-mould together. (Rinse hands in warm water first)
If you need to leave the paste standing for any length of time, make sure you wrap it up in cling film otherwise it can quickly dry up. It will be fine to wrap up in cling film and leave in the fridge for 24 hours if needed.
