Never got on them!
Whistley Mill - 14th September to 16th September 2012
I arrived at Whistley around 5pm on the Friday. This was a late arrival for me, normally I would arrive at 3pm after work (love finishing early on a Friday). The journey had taken an extra hour due to a traffic accident, but I had also left later than normal due to some home commitments.
During the journey I remembered what I had forgotten this time! MY CAMERA!!!! This also meant I had no bivvy light this weekend as it was in my camera bag! Luckily I knew I had plenty of batteries for my head torch.
You can guarantee I always forget something. Most commonly my cup, so I end up drinking from a pot noodle pot or emptied sweetcorn tin.
I chuckled to myself about the camera, thinking "it would just be typical to catch one of the bigger residents in the lake now".
On arrival I was surprised to see only 3 cars in the car park. I jumped out of the car eager to crack on and find a swim. From the car park swim I could see the wind was pushing quite hard into the east bank (right hand side), so I took a wonder down this bank in hope to get on of the close by swims that where getting beaten up by this wind (I had already looked at the weather report earlier and new this wind would die down in the evening). Alas both the swims I
was targeting were taken. The 2 guys were just setting up (if only I had got to the lake a little sooner). I stopped for a quick chat, they where both new to Whistley, normally they fished another venue on the RDAA ticket. After the quick
chat I carried on my walk along the bank passing the oak tree swim I had fished successfully 2 sessions ago, an past the swim after. As I walked up to the next swim I could see 2 small doubles in the margin. I watched them for a few seconds before they swam off and I decided to get into this swim and fish its margins. I hadn't fished margins for a while as most of my fishing this year has been in open water. It was appealing to have a change and I soon had the car unloaded. Once I had unloaded one of the other guys came along, they were leaving already! Apparently there was too much weed for them? I found this a little odd as I don't believe weed to be a bad thing, ok it can be tricky sometimes but fishing along the edges of weed or finding clearer patches within weed can quite often be very productive. It did cross my mind to jump into one of their swims, but I decided to stay put, I had seen some small fish here and really fancied my chances in this margin. I could always move in the morning if needs be.
Although the fish I had seen where very close in, I didn't want to fish such shallow water, the birds always find it and the idea of hooking one of the swans didn't appeal. From no more than a rods length out the margin drops very quickly, on my left side of the swim there was a good gravel feel spot and my marker told me it was around 8 to 9ft deep. I put my middle rod bang in the middle of the spot and my left rod on what I felt to be its left edge. 4 good handfuls of boilie went over the area and 5 spods of hot hemp, chilli sauce, particles with talin and some response pellets. For the right hand rod I found a nice size silt patch on the right, this received 2 handfuls of boilie and 3 spods, as well as 3 handfuls of bloodworm pellet.
With my rods now active I started to get the bivvy up and gear put away. 2 more guys arrive and started to set up in the oak swim and the swim next door to me. I had hoped this wouldn't happen as my father in law was joining me Saturday evening. He could go in the next swim around the corner but this wasn't very close for a social. Oh well a move in the morning was looking more likely now.
Once set in my bivvy and after a quick phone call to the wife then the kettle was on, it was pretty dark already and must have drifted off to sleep around 8.30pm.
At 10.30pm I awoke, absolutely freezing, the sleeping bag was unwrapped and I got in it for the first time since April.
Other than a quick bush visit during the night I slept through until 5.20am without 1 single bleep on the Delkims. What I know also found out was I had no room to cast any distance out into the lake due to the overhanging tree. I was so focused on fishing the margin last night it didn't even occur to me to check. A crouched cast was just about possible but still tricky.
By 9am I was moving to my next swim. Quite a few anglers had arrived in the night/morning and most of the east bank was taken, probably because the bollard in the car park was removed allowing members to drive to the east bank swims. I was going to head for the other bank where there wasn't a single line in the water!
During the journey I remembered what I had forgotten this time! MY CAMERA!!!! This also meant I had no bivvy light this weekend as it was in my camera bag! Luckily I knew I had plenty of batteries for my head torch.
You can guarantee I always forget something. Most commonly my cup, so I end up drinking from a pot noodle pot or emptied sweetcorn tin.
I chuckled to myself about the camera, thinking "it would just be typical to catch one of the bigger residents in the lake now".
On arrival I was surprised to see only 3 cars in the car park. I jumped out of the car eager to crack on and find a swim. From the car park swim I could see the wind was pushing quite hard into the east bank (right hand side), so I took a wonder down this bank in hope to get on of the close by swims that where getting beaten up by this wind (I had already looked at the weather report earlier and new this wind would die down in the evening). Alas both the swims I
was targeting were taken. The 2 guys were just setting up (if only I had got to the lake a little sooner). I stopped for a quick chat, they where both new to Whistley, normally they fished another venue on the RDAA ticket. After the quick
chat I carried on my walk along the bank passing the oak tree swim I had fished successfully 2 sessions ago, an past the swim after. As I walked up to the next swim I could see 2 small doubles in the margin. I watched them for a few seconds before they swam off and I decided to get into this swim and fish its margins. I hadn't fished margins for a while as most of my fishing this year has been in open water. It was appealing to have a change and I soon had the car unloaded. Once I had unloaded one of the other guys came along, they were leaving already! Apparently there was too much weed for them? I found this a little odd as I don't believe weed to be a bad thing, ok it can be tricky sometimes but fishing along the edges of weed or finding clearer patches within weed can quite often be very productive. It did cross my mind to jump into one of their swims, but I decided to stay put, I had seen some small fish here and really fancied my chances in this margin. I could always move in the morning if needs be.
Although the fish I had seen where very close in, I didn't want to fish such shallow water, the birds always find it and the idea of hooking one of the swans didn't appeal. From no more than a rods length out the margin drops very quickly, on my left side of the swim there was a good gravel feel spot and my marker told me it was around 8 to 9ft deep. I put my middle rod bang in the middle of the spot and my left rod on what I felt to be its left edge. 4 good handfuls of boilie went over the area and 5 spods of hot hemp, chilli sauce, particles with talin and some response pellets. For the right hand rod I found a nice size silt patch on the right, this received 2 handfuls of boilie and 3 spods, as well as 3 handfuls of bloodworm pellet.
With my rods now active I started to get the bivvy up and gear put away. 2 more guys arrive and started to set up in the oak swim and the swim next door to me. I had hoped this wouldn't happen as my father in law was joining me Saturday evening. He could go in the next swim around the corner but this wasn't very close for a social. Oh well a move in the morning was looking more likely now.
Once set in my bivvy and after a quick phone call to the wife then the kettle was on, it was pretty dark already and must have drifted off to sleep around 8.30pm.
At 10.30pm I awoke, absolutely freezing, the sleeping bag was unwrapped and I got in it for the first time since April.
Other than a quick bush visit during the night I slept through until 5.20am without 1 single bleep on the Delkims. What I know also found out was I had no room to cast any distance out into the lake due to the overhanging tree. I was so focused on fishing the margin last night it didn't even occur to me to check. A crouched cast was just about possible but still tricky.
By 9am I was moving to my next swim. Quite a few anglers had arrived in the night/morning and most of the east bank was taken, probably because the bollard in the car park was removed allowing members to drive to the east bank swims. I was going to head for the other bank where there wasn't a single line in the water!
"2nd swim"
By the time I had got my gear to the other side I could see some fish moving around 70 yards out from the swim I had selected. It was a comfortable swim with plenty of room and additionally the next swim was only a small bush away, ideal for when Richard arrived later (also fish 70 yards out visible from it, so I wasn't stitching him up!). If the fish didn't grace us then at least we could have the social easily.
It was starting to become quite a hot day, I could now see some more fish in the surface layers but out of my casting range.
It was quite weedy in front of me, but I found a clearer area (still weed in it but not as thick) around a round length wide and only 50ish yards out. My left and middle rod went to the spot followed by 4 big pockets worth of boilie and 6 spods of the same mix as before but with a little instant spod mix added to hold it in the spod during the cast (I use this instead of ground bait). I used my right rod as a moving rod to try and locate some fish. This rod had my version of the hinge rig which I believe can give a better presentation than a chod rig in weed. I will add it to my rigs page at some point. For fishing it in weed I ensure the boom section is the weed length and then the hinged end rig is popped up to your desired height. I have seen this type of rig on TV before but made completely with fluorocarbon. I approach it slightly different and make the boom with material such as N-Trap. I just feel it hides the rig slightly better even though fluorocarbon is almost invisible under water, maybe its more of a confidence thing as it seems to work for me.
2pm and an Adder paid me a visit, the first one I have ever seen! Now I like snakes, but this was a surprise to see, I didn't enjoy it one little bit when it took a lunge for me as I encouraged it back into the bushes. Now if I had my camera that would have been a great photo opportunity! Oh well.
5pm and a few rig changes still no joy.
5.30pm, a liner on my middle rod......this brings some excitement back as I now know fish are visiting my area.
7pm Richard arrives, its already getting darker so I help get sorted in his swim.
Other than some short bleeps, neither of us get a run through the night.
We see some small pike moving around the margins early morning but nothing else.
9am Richards bacon smells really good! I settle for breakfast in a tin.
10am I send out 8 spods to try and get some interest in the water.
12pm still no fish on the bank, but the tea is flowing between me and Richard.
3pm we start to pack up, both disappointed of course but just pleased to be out fishing and relaxing. I reflect on my session as I drive home, I never really found fish to get on them. Was my move the right thing to do? I think so, I didn't hear about any other angler getting a fish either that weekend so being in a less pressured area must have been the better place to be. Yes I could have visited some more swims or even moved again and again, but to be honest, sometimes its just nice to have a relaxing weekend that makes it enjoyable. Yeah sure captures make it even better, but weekends such like this just make us stronger anglers when we are on the fish in my opinion. We play around with rigs, think more about how they are working and how we can improve them etc putting them to effect in the right situation. So a blank weekend, but ready for the next session!
It was starting to become quite a hot day, I could now see some more fish in the surface layers but out of my casting range.
It was quite weedy in front of me, but I found a clearer area (still weed in it but not as thick) around a round length wide and only 50ish yards out. My left and middle rod went to the spot followed by 4 big pockets worth of boilie and 6 spods of the same mix as before but with a little instant spod mix added to hold it in the spod during the cast (I use this instead of ground bait). I used my right rod as a moving rod to try and locate some fish. This rod had my version of the hinge rig which I believe can give a better presentation than a chod rig in weed. I will add it to my rigs page at some point. For fishing it in weed I ensure the boom section is the weed length and then the hinged end rig is popped up to your desired height. I have seen this type of rig on TV before but made completely with fluorocarbon. I approach it slightly different and make the boom with material such as N-Trap. I just feel it hides the rig slightly better even though fluorocarbon is almost invisible under water, maybe its more of a confidence thing as it seems to work for me.
2pm and an Adder paid me a visit, the first one I have ever seen! Now I like snakes, but this was a surprise to see, I didn't enjoy it one little bit when it took a lunge for me as I encouraged it back into the bushes. Now if I had my camera that would have been a great photo opportunity! Oh well.
5pm and a few rig changes still no joy.
5.30pm, a liner on my middle rod......this brings some excitement back as I now know fish are visiting my area.
7pm Richard arrives, its already getting darker so I help get sorted in his swim.
Other than some short bleeps, neither of us get a run through the night.
We see some small pike moving around the margins early morning but nothing else.
9am Richards bacon smells really good! I settle for breakfast in a tin.
10am I send out 8 spods to try and get some interest in the water.
12pm still no fish on the bank, but the tea is flowing between me and Richard.
3pm we start to pack up, both disappointed of course but just pleased to be out fishing and relaxing. I reflect on my session as I drive home, I never really found fish to get on them. Was my move the right thing to do? I think so, I didn't hear about any other angler getting a fish either that weekend so being in a less pressured area must have been the better place to be. Yes I could have visited some more swims or even moved again and again, but to be honest, sometimes its just nice to have a relaxing weekend that makes it enjoyable. Yeah sure captures make it even better, but weekends such like this just make us stronger anglers when we are on the fish in my opinion. We play around with rigs, think more about how they are working and how we can improve them etc putting them to effect in the right situation. So a blank weekend, but ready for the next session!
