Archived Lake Reports for June 2006
North Lake adult only non-members*
18/06 2006
North Lake is on fire with the totals so far this year now standing at 48, 30lb plus Carp to 40lb 1oz. 11, 40lb plus Catfish, 7, 50lb plus catfish and 1, 60lb Catfish.
There are still a lot of 35lb plus Carp being caught at present with several nudging 40lb. I know I keep saying it but... the way to go is still with the marker float, find those features and you will find the fish, this really is essential for success. On hot, calm days when the fish are up in the water, try a zig rig 1 to 2 feet under the surface but if the fish are hard on the bottom feeding don’t be afraid to get some bait in there, you will not feed them off, the method with small pop-ups can work very well at this time of year.
Pre-booking North Lake sessions is essential
North Lake is incredibly popular, pre-booking sessions is absolutely essential. 1–2 weeks’ notice is required for a weekday session and 4–6 weeks’ notice is required for a weekend session. Day only sessions may not be pre-booked but it is advisable to ring us the evening before to check availability. There are always last minute cancellations so you can get lucky.
04/06 2006
North Lake is on fire with the totals so far this year now standing at 43, 30lb plus Carp to 40lb 1oz. 11, 40lb plus Catfish, 7, 50lb plus catfish and 1, 60lb Catfish.
There are an awful lot of 35lb plus Carp being caught at present with several nudging 40lb. Well done to Steven Marshall for his 40lb 1oz Mirror, taken on Bait-Tech halibut crunch boilies. Well done to Colin Reeve for his 38lb 15oz mirror taken on luncheon meat in the margins (it doesn’t have to be boilies all the time!) and well done to Sean Pearse for his ‘umpteenth’ 30lb plus North Lake fish, a cracker of 36lb.
The way to go is still with the marker float, find those features and you will find the fish. On hot, calm days when the fish are up in the water, try a Zig rig 1 to 2 feet under the surface. There is only one bait to use on this method and that is Solar Pineapple & Butryic, (10mm & 14mm) and that is gospel!
Pre-booking North Lake sessions is essential
Due to the high volume of large fish being banked at present, North Lake is incredibly popular, pre-booking sessions is absolutely essential. 1–2 weeks’ notice is required for a weekday session and 4–6’ weeks notice is required for a weekend session. Day only sessions may not be pre-booked but it is advisable to ring us the evening before to check availability. There are always last minute cancellations so you can get lucky.
* Minimum tackle requirements: 40” net, 40” unhooking mat, 2.5lb T.C rods and 10lb line per angler, no sharing allowed. Pre-booking 2–3 weeks in advance for 24 hour plus weekend sessions on North Lake is advisable.
Plantation Lake*
18/06 2006
The fish will take off the top in Plantation but approach this method sensibly and don’t pile in the freebies. 4-5 pellets/ pieces of flake at a time, little and often will build the fishes confidence before introducing your hook-bait. As always Maize, corn and pellet remain effective choices. Tackle requirements are a 30” net and an un-hooking mat per angler.
04/06 2006
There have been some really cracking fish to mid twenties banked recently. Various methods are working well. As with North Lake, on hot, still days try a Zig rig. Corn and pellet are still firm favorites. Snowman presentations can also work well. The fish will take off the top but approach this method sensibly and don’t pile in the freebies. 4-5 pellets at a time, little and often will build the fishes confidence before introducing your hook-bait.
* Minimum tackle requirements are a 30” net and an un-hooking mat per angler.
Prairie Lake
18/06 2006
Concentrate on your presentation. Luncheon meat, sweetcorn, maggot, worm and pellet are all working well. Scale down your presentation to fool the bigger fish—big hooks and big baits don’t mean big fish! They have seen it all before. If you are only catching small fish, try something a bit different, sweetcorn popped up over a bed of particle can be a real winner. Prairie continues to produce lots of really nice doubles.
We have reduced the stock density in Prairie (as we did in Kettles last year) and as such you now have to work that little bit harder for your fish. The plus from this is that the quality of fish is far better. If you want to fish boilie then try something out of the ordinary, cut the boilies in half and threat the 2 halves on the hair ‘dumb-bell’ style. This is often enough to make the difference between success and failure.
04/06 2006
Prairie continues to produce lots of really nice doubles. We have reduced the stock density in Prairie and as such you now have to work that little bit harder for your fish. The plus from this is that the quality of fish is far better. Concentrate on your presentation. Luncheon meat, sweetcorn, maggot, worm and pellet are all working well. Scale down your presentation to fool the bigger fish—big hooks and big baits don’t mean big fish! They have seen it all before. If you are only catching small fish, try something a bit different. Sweetcorn popped up over a bed of particle can be a real winner. If you want to fish boilie then nibble the baits before casting out, this gives them a more natural presentation in the water and can often mean the difference between success and failure (remember to spit out the bits though!).
Sandwich Lake
18/06 2006
Sandwich remains on fine form with lots of Tench, Bream, Roach, Rudd and Crucians being caught at the moment. Best baits are Maggot, Worm, Caster and pellet. Try to match your ground-bait to your hook-bait as closely as possible. Particle is often overlooked on Sandwich but it can be really effective. Create a feeding area and keep it topped up throughout the day, little and often. 1 kg of bait is not enough for a good day’s sport, you have to invest to improve your returns.
04/06 2006
Sandwich continues to fish superbly with very good numbers of Tench, Bream, Crucians, Roach and Rudd being banked. Maggot, Caster and worm are still the best with Corn running a close third. Pellet can also be very effective, the new Dynamite hookable pellet range are proving to be very productive, matched to their ground-bait and loose feed pellets.
Kettles Lake
18/06 2006
Popped up baits over a bed of particle are working really well on kettles. A little bit of thought can go a long way with your presentation, check the sharpness of your hooks regularly and put that extra bit of effort into your presentation to get the most from your session. Boilies are not the only bait for big Carp, Worm, meat and pellet have all resulted in some big fish recently.
04/06 2006
Surface sport is really hotting up on Kettles so its well worth having a bag of mixer to hand just in case. As with Prairie, trying something a bit different can be very effective. Popped up baits over a bed of particle can work really well. Make sure that your hook is of an appropriate size to the bait you are using, it’s no good fishing double red maggot on a size 4!!!! A little bit of thought can go a long way?
Pullens Lake members only
18/06 2006
The tally now stands at 13, 30lb plus fish so far to 34lb with lots of 20lb plush fish to boot. The fish can be really elusive in the hot weather so try Zig rigs or surface fishing. Big beds of particle can work wonders as well when the fish are down in the water. Pellet can also be a real winner as both a free offering and a hook-bait.
04/06 2006
Pullens continues on superb form with the tally now standing at 12, 30lb plus fish so far with lots of 20lb plush fish to boot. Scott Shepherd continues to add to his already impressive list of 30lb plus fish. We are now seeing some of the original stock show in the mid thirties, well done to Danny Cooper for his stunning 33lb Pullens original.
West End Lake members only
18/06 2006
21, 30lb plus fish have now been banked with loads of 20lb plus ‘back ups’ as well. Tactics need to be changed daily to keep up but the fish are really feeding hard so get the bait out there. Hauls are not uncommon at present but you do have to lump the bait in there to achieve results. As with Pullens, don’t overlook Zigs or the chance for a bit of floater fishing, these 2 methods have accounted for some lovely fish recently.
04/06 2006
20, 30lb plus fish have now been banked with loads of 20lb plus ‘back ups’ as well. Tactics need to be changed daily to keep up but the fish are really feeding hard so get the bait out there. Tony Rand topped an already impressive 21 fish haul at the weekend with 3, 30lb plus fish, well done Tony.