Introduction
"Where are you off today then?" Enquired Mrs P
"The forgotten lakes," I replied
"Really?.........Can you remember where they are?"
Tale of the unexpected
With the rivers out of bounds due to the close season it had to be a stillwater venue. Now the forgotten lakes are only two miles from my house............ or should I say old house because I am writing this from my new abode some fifteen miles from the lakes. In the middle of the month my house move was imminent so I decided to have one last crack at them while I was still just around the corner. On my next free day I headed off early in the afternoon. It would also be the first time I had been down in my new car. Not new exactly but undoubtedly the best car I have ever owned so I approached the turn off with some trepidation. I needn't have worried because I was soon parking up at the side of the top lake.
Looking out onto the top lake I wondered if those pesky Cormorants from last summer had eaten all the Roach. After a couple of minutes I saw an area where small fish were dimpling on the surface which restored a bit of faith that at least some of the stocks had survived. I picked a likely looking spot and threw in half a can of corn to fish over later and wandered off with my kit to the bottom lake.
After making my way through some brambles I settled in a spot by an overhanging tree. My ubiquitous tip rod was set up and I cast a worm out alongside the sunken branches. I kept a close eye on this while I set up my pole. Regulars will remember I'm not a massive pole fan but I do have a margin pole that I am quite happy to use. It's a Shimano Beastmaster 850B. A birthday present from Mrs P, I believe they are about a hundred and fifty pounds which is more than enough for a bit of fishing kit. Anyway I was soon watching both my tip and my pole float for any signs of life.
The tip was first to go and a savage bite resulted in this unexpected but very welcome Perch of 2lb 3oz...
I popped the angry stripey in the net and carried on fishing. A few very skinny Roach came to hand from the pole line before I struck into something far more substantial. I knew what it was straight away and it gave me runaround for a bit before I slid the net under it. Half an hour later one of its mates gave me a repeat performance. Two Cruician hybrids of 4lb 9oz and 4lb 11oz.......
I was turning into quite a session but I had planned to have a crack at the top lake where I had baited earlier so I reluctantly dragged myself away with about half an hour of daylight left. The top lake is really rather strange. The water is dark and deep, the banks massively overgrown. The island is probably actually half the size it looks such is the extent of the foliage. I always feel like it holds something special but have never really managed to catch anything of any note from it. And so it was, although I did have a couple of bites on corn I missed both of them, probably (hopefully) just small Roach.
Over the next week or so I had another couple of short visits to the lakes but the weather had turned cold again and it was slim pickings as bites were very hard to come by. In fact I didn't have a bite at all in the top lake despite a couple of days of pre-baiting with corn. I did hear a big Carp crash though, maybe the really big one I have seen there before. The bottom lake gave up a few of its Roach and Rudd along with this stocky little fella............
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Supercup
With the house move underway and an inordinate amount of DIY and decorating to do I had no chance of just going fishing for the sake of it. Luckily (sort of) I couldn't get out of my commitment to Spilsby AS to fish in the Angling Times Supercup at the Woodlands complex. Having not match fished for six months or so I wasn't really looking forward to it but I found myself in the car park at 8am after having only four hours of sleep due to a late night at work. We were due to fish against another team of eight anglers from Lincoln and sure enough they turned up in full force. How embarrassing then that we were a man short due to a no-show. That put us under pressure straight away. Another annoyance was that someone had mapped the areas where each peg could and could not fish. What a waste of time. Haven't these people got anything better to do? If they aren't tying bloody rigs they are drawing pictures. After wandering about all winter on all manner of natural venues I felt like a bloody caged animal. Surely it is common sense where you can and can't fish. Strange breed these 'serious' match types.
How did you do Phil? Rubbish is the reply but the team won so that is the main thing. To be fair my peg demanded an approach I was totally unprepared for. It had lots of fish in it but they were in about ten inches of water on the far bank. Of that ten inches about six or so were old reed roots. I lost four floats and as many feeders. It was a nightmare. I'm not making excuses, if I had that peg again I'd do a lot better. How? I'd fish the candle. I didn't think at the time but the candle method would have been perfect. Dead easy- just carefully hollow out the wick from and ordinary candle break it into a bit that is the right weight for casting the required distance and away you go. You can fish a inch deep if you like. Hindsight eh?
Tackle Talk
Last month I mentioned a stretch of river that contained some fish I was very keen on catching. With the close season upon us it is an ideal time for fish spotting, especially as the rainfall gradually subsides and the rivers run clear. They are never quite clear enough though are they? I have to admit I'm a bit rubbish at fish spotting. I even went to the Hampshire Avon once and was at a total loss as various locals walked the banks picking out individual fish. Now it is common knowledge that polarised sunglasses help to see in water but I've always thought their effectiveness was overrated. Despite this I took the plunge on a cheap pair from eBay......
They were about £12 but more importantly I could wear them over my normal glasses and so have the benefits of both. On my next day off I took the dogs for a walk along the river. While it wasn't particularly clear the difference the glasses made was really remarkable. In the coming months they are going to be invaluable. I'll keep you updated if I see anything newsworthy. Oh and one more thing, don't expect to wear two pairs of glasses and look cool.......
A couple more purchases were made in the last few weeks. The first was a pair of scales. Now I usually use some Reuben Heaton Flyweights but a friend of mine swears by the old Avon type scales. He is a bit more serious about these things than me so I took his advice and a got a set from that popular auction site again (£12 posted). I've not caught anything to weigh on them yet but they certainly seem more sensitive than my Flyweights.....
Next up is an old favourite of mine. After joining one of those 'for sale locally' pages on facebook a Sigma Wand popped up for £15. I had to have it. There is also also a story behind it. You can read that here-
I'll just quickly tell you about a visit I had here. If you want a Big Bream in this area then Revesby is the place. Only snag is it is run on a membership basis. I arranged a meeting with a very nice (and quite posh) chap called Paul who kindly showed me around. It is a lovely place if not a little bit daunting being nearly forty acres in size. That membership I mentioned? It's three hundred and five pounds a year (sounds more when I write it in words). Despite my best efforts Paul wouldn't let me have a half year membership. I simply couldn't justify the outlay especially when I spend so much time river fishing in the colder months. Maybe things will change there. As soon as they do I'll be having a go.
Free Gift
How do you fancy a crack at this........
That is the bottom lake, wait till you see the top one. And so I give you the forgotten lakes. Now I have moved I wont really have the time to give them the attention they deserve so I'll let you know exactly where they are. First of all look on Google Earth and find Mavis Enderby. Zoom out a little and find West Keal. Smack between those two hamlets are the Lakes.........
If you look closely you can make out the track down to the lakes to the South. Go carefully and you'll be fine. Keep left to start with and you can't really go wrong. Just don't go when it is raining or you'll never get back up the hill. I've only ever seen the man that takes the money once in twenty odd visits and the only other anglers I've seen are people I've arranged to meet there. From memory he asked for £3.50 so it might not be a free gift if you bump into him. Oh and don't forget to let me know how you get on.
Final Word
I'll leave you with a couple of images that missed the cut from last time (the Chub is 4lb 6oz). Guess I must be missing the fishing season proper.....
Till next time............
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