I’d always wondered if it held carp as I walked around the lake, a regular walk for me over the years with my trusty cocker spaniel Hugo, and at over 140 acres, with a four-mile circumference, it’s a good chunk of water to navigate your way around. I’d been savouring each walk, taking everything in my step with the glorious and very natural environment surrounding its vast borders. Originally dug in the 1700’s the lake is reminiscent of a wide stretch of river with multiple long arms and bays that stretch off the main body of water at varying angles and stages from one end to the other. Multiple ornate bridges link the lake across the wider arms and a picturesque five arched bridge with its grace, elegance and uncluttered lines that stops you in your tracks and is a very popular photo opportunity for the many tourists who pass by. Along the route there are multiple other inconspicuous stone bridges that have stood the test of time for many years and no doubt weathered the barrage of storms thrown at them from mother nature herself.
The lakes, borders and grounds are simply littered with history, old Roman ruins and an arboretum of trees and plants, some rare and many sourced from far and wide across the globe, each I’m sure with its own little story to tell. The changing seasons provide a wealth of colour and are a spectacle from the early days of Spring where the daffodil and magnolias start to flower and flourish through to the summers glorious full bloom and the explosion of greens. Then as the leaves start to fall, Autumn’s Fungi displays are some of the wildest free-living species I’d ever seen, coupled with the changing colours of the tree’s they always catch your eye and can stop you in your tracks. Swims adorned the lakes borders but were not always obvious to see or find & I’d rarely seen an angler along my many walks, and it was to my surprise that I learned a syndicate had recently been established. Knowledge, fish stocks and an invite however were not exactly forthcoming, and it took some time for me to speak to the right people, decipher and piece together the information that I needed to become a member.
My ticket started in early May that particular season, however I was still trying to catch the last couple of fish from a tricky 8-acre pit which had occupied the majority of my attention and it wasn’t until late spring when I came to finally wetting a line in this majestic place. The Spring has always been one of my favourite times and it’s the perfect season to see some activity, post the winter slumber. It’s also that time where everything around you is starting to wake up and just being here, I could feel the changes happening around me quickly and on a much larger scale as you’re simply immersed in colour and nature with every single step you take.
My first official trip as a member saw me armed with a rod, braid and bare lead while walking the banks, trying to get a feel for the lake’s depths and features. It took me a while and a look at some black and white pictures I’d found of the lakes last drain, which in essence was a very long time ago. This helped me piece some of the puzzle together. I’d been told the lake was just a silty bowl and pretty much featureless, however on my very first cast I’d instantly hit some very hard gravel and stone close in, which changed my perception of the lake. Walking down to the next swim, a very similar thud and the very recognisable donk, donk, donk across the lead had me wondering if I’d been fed a few stories to deter my enthusiasm. I needed to know more and moved down to the next few swims which were all a good walking distance apart. After moving between several swims and looking at my poor lead, the four probes that once protruded straight outwards were now fully bent over and the lead was deeply scathed.
Piecing this information together and analysing those old pictures it suddenly hit me that the first 30 -60 yards of the lakes margins sloped quickly out and were made up of large stones and even boulders which varied from swim to swim, then after the stones followed large areas of silt and soft areas as the lake deepened and sloped away. This was confirmed several trips later as I donned my waders and stepped into the water quickly confirming my suspicions.
My next trip was two nights and I’d managed to guest a very good friend of mine Alex along with me for the ride. We arrived at first light and walked the entire perimeter of the lake, just under a 2 hour walk. We looked in every swim trying to see if we could locate any fish or spot, any signs that would help us with location and swim decision. It was now the last week of May and the weather had been all over the shop. A mix of very warm sunny days, then a huge nosedive in temps and then back to warm 25+ degree days. It wasn’t obvious at the time, but this was having a huge effect on the fish and news of any catch reports for the last 7-10 days were very scarce.
We quickly seized some breakfast from one of the food vans that fringed the lake and talked through our options and preferred target location. We’d seen nothing on our walk and after demolishing a sausage bap and a cup of tea we decided on an area that was out of public reach and fenced off, a perfect place to start as it gave views up and down the long reaches of the lake, and if we were fortunate to see anything we could quickly make a move.
The Weather for the two nights ahead was forecast to be warm with summer definitely on its way, and it wasn’t until the end of our fruitless session that we’d heard the fish had moved down in numbers to the shallow arm and had started to spawn. Of course we had some epic BBQ’s, exchanged stories and witnessed some stunning views that were now firmly locked in the memory bank and captured on the camera. With our tails between our legs we left but I’d certainly learnt a lot more about the lake on that trip and finally had the opportunity to be in the park at night with the gates locked, an experience that I was keen to repeat however it was going to be sometime before I was able to get back. I’d spent longer than I thought on the 8 acre pit and with a couple of personal commitments and family holidays across the summer it wasn’t until mid-August that I finally walked back through the gates with a barrow loaded with fishing gear. Despite my absence, I‘d spent a lot of time walking, learning and talking to any anglers that I could, trying to get even more of a feel for the place, but also trying to hatch a plan that I felt would give me the best opportunity to catch one of those elusive residents.
It was on my family holiday around the end of July that a flash of clarity hit me, one of those moments that puts a smile on your face, sends shivers down your arms and has you reaching for a pen and paper to write it down so not to forget your eureka moment. Being on holiday was always my time to empty and rid my brain of work and anything else non-trivial. However, this had me sat bolt upright on the sunbed by the pool & scribbling my notes down like a 5 year old who’d just been handed their very first set of crayons and a colouring book (pre iPad of course).
The more I walked the more I got to know the popular swims and the areas that the anglers favoured. Being a large public lake there is a lot of footfall specifically early in the morning’s when the joggers and the dog walkers descend in their masses, creating heavy traffic and plenty of “off the lead” K9’s crashing into the water chasing a stick or following any given scent, often leading them right into your bivvy to eat your stash of biscuits. If not your bivvy, it’s their over active happy wagging tails side swiping your rods, knocking and setting off your alarms. This left a lot of very good looking swims under fished as most other anglers tended to keep to the areas where the public either couldn’t get too or it was far enough off the main walkways that they’d be very much left alone. Now there is nothing better in my mind than sitting on a big open pit, having a large amount of water to yourself and not being bothered by anyone for days, however this time I felt the need to go against my principles, against the grain and fish somewhere that wasn’t very popular but commanded a decent enough piece of water and somewhere I would stand a good chance of intercepting the fish as they moved up and down the main belly of the lake. This is where I started to really focus and start to piece my plan together all based on my thinking during that faithful holiday epiphany.
During my multiple walks I’d never seen a single sole in the swim that had now caught my attention, and it was this swim that hit me as an obvious choice. It’s here where I chose to carry out my campaign and following a good lead around one evening at the end of the summer things really started to fall into place. The swim commanded a good chunk of water, one where I would be an extreme cast away from any other anglers so there was no chance of getting cut off, while sitting on one of the main walkways around the lake. In fact the swim was less than 10 yards from one of the main paths, hence it had been left to its own devices for some time. There was just a small gap between the marginal reeds to the left and a big set of bushes to the right, just enough for me to cast from. I’d definitely have to put my rods out in the water though to ensure I wouldn’t get wiped out too easily by the people, their lovable K9’s and of course the swans. I spent a good few hours leading around, mapping out the swim in my head and then scribbling it down on a piece of paper. I was greeted with the usual set of stones and boulders snaking along from left to right between 40 and 60 yards directly out in front. There were several good horizon markers in front which aided the opportunity to cast accurately and help me pinpoint the exact areas I was looking for. Fortunately, there were three tall triangle shaped evergreens sitting high and proud above the main treeline in front, and it’s here where I found exactly what I was looking. The silt in this particular area was a lot firmer and smoother in comparison to anything else I’d found and in a very consistent 10ft of water it felt like an ideal place to neatly spread three rods across. There was also a slightly protruding spit of gravel in the centre that would essentially split the swim into two with the left side being slightly firmer than the right. The spot itself was around a 70 yard cast and would be at a comfortable enough range during any time of the day or night. It was also in perfect range for baiting up and this is where the plan really came into fruition.
I opted to start baiting with lots of small particles and smaller boilies. The aim was to get the spots nice and clean over a period of time and then start to introduce the bigger food items as time went on. The lake is absolutely teaming with Bream, huge shoals of them that could wipe you out in an instant, it felt right to feed them up first in order to get the carp visiting the spots and becoming interested. I’d planned everything carefully during my campaign, arriving just as the light was fading, the park emptying, and then making the 25 minute walk to the swim armed with a bucket of bait and a spod rod. I repeated this trip very 2-3 nights per week to introduce the bait, avoiding the weekends as that’s when angling pressure was peaking. The park shuts its gates 30 mins after sun set so timing was always key, I’d be leaving work, making the trip and baiting just as the light was fading which kept me out of site and also meant that the greedy flocks of seagulls would struggle to pinpoint my bait as it dropped through the water column.
After 3 weeks of putting out the particle and the smaller items I gradually started to introduce more and more boilie and swapped the spod rod for the throwing stick. The 14 millers turned into 16’s and then came the 18’s followed by the 20’s. I’d taken the decision to sit on my hands and not fish the entire time and it was around week nine that I’d finally booked some time off work to fish for three nights. Now 90% of my fishing is quick overnighters, arriving after work around 6-7pm and then leaving again early in the morning around 7-8 am. It’s hard work at the best of times and I’d honed my craft down over the years to make the short stays as efficient as possible. However, when you’ve got the green light to spend three nights by the bank, knowing that you’ve put a plan in place that’s taken a huge amount of effort to execute, the anticipation can be somewhat overwhelming. I wouldn’t be getting to the lake for my first night until I’d finished work and you can only imagine how sporadic my concentration levels were that day. With my mind wandering, thinking about what could happen, have I done everything right, have I got everything, is the plan actually going to work, will the bream descend upon me………………Oh fuck, what if someone’s in the swim when I get there….why would they be? no one had been in there for the entire time I was baiting, but it could still happen and I couldn’t rule it out.
The workday was done and the van was loaded, the traffic that evening was awful but I managed to navigate my way through some back roads and arrived at the lake with about 45 mins of light to spare. The barrow was decanted and rolled quickly down the ramp of the van, a brief check, a big intake of air into my lungs and I was off through the gates for the 25 mins walk, hot footing it down the first few tracks. The first stretch of path’s are chocked full of tree roots, divots and other natural hazards that had either fallen from above or been left lying around for some ‘in a hurry angler’ to navigate round like an obstacle course, however I managed to succeed despite my eagerness on this particular occasion…Phew!! Once off the track I hit the tarmac of the long winding path that circles the lake.
I’d chosen this specific time as it coincided with a full moon, and I was fortunate enough to have hit a reasonable amount of low pressure and cloud cover for the next few days. No rain was forecast but we were now right at the back end of October. The red, yellow and golden leaves were now starting to litter the floor, the air temps were falling and the daylight hours rapidly caving in.
I turned the long corner as it swung round towards the swim, it seemed to take an age and the tyres on the barrow were almost squealing as I was leaning right over to try and make out in the fading light if the swim was free. A rush of relief quickly washed over me followed by a beaming smile as I suddenly found myself running towards the swim with my barrow just about keeping up with my feet. I promptly parked the barrow and stood in the middle of the swim looking out across the water, my breathing slightly erratic and my eyes taking everything in, knowing now it was down to me to get everything spot on. The light was fading fast, so I needed to act fast and get the rods on the spots, rigs were pre-tied and ready to go as I wrapped my line around the distance sticks and clipped up all three rods to their correct lengths.
It was time to cast and all three rods were deployed, all hitting the clips and all going down with perfect drops that I’d been hoping for first time which was a big relief as I was now into the last few minutes of light. The lines were sunk, back leads slid on as they were an absolute must due to the sheer volume of swans who have very little regard for your rods and line lay. They would have no hesitation in up ending your set up and then hissing at you as if it was your own fault.
With the bivvy set up and everything in place I kicked back on my chair and cooked up some fajitas and sat out by the lakeside. The moon was bright and flickered in and out as the clouds passed through, the owls hooted and the geese honked as I sat there taking everything in. The water was flat calm and the park now as still as I’d ever seen it as I tried to free my mind from work and sink into my next few nights. I absolutely love cooking on the back and the fajita mix was happily sizzling away in the background before I gave them the wrap, and devoured them. I’d messaged Alex to update him on my arrival and to confirm everything had sailed out with precision and that I was confident for the night ahead. It was now around 10:30pm and I was now slowly starting to feel my eyelids dropping, the build-up of excitement from the day mixed with a rush to complete my work had taken its toll, and I knew it was time to hit the bedchair. The alarm was set for 30 mins before first light and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.
It was around midnight that I heard that inaugural beep on the left hand rod, I woke to see that the rod was arched round to its left as the semi tight clutch started to tick away and the alarm started to become increasingly audible. I jumped off my bed chair, launching myself into my waders and stepping into the water. Picking up the rod I could feel that I was bent into a fish and definitely not one of the lakes substantial bird species. The fish quickly kited left, far too quickly to be a bream as I battled to steer it back toward me. Now that first bite from any new water is always a nerve racking experience and I could feel my heart racing as I tried to gain control and lead the fish back towards me, it made several big lunges in front, before slowly moving left to right, was it one of the big girls?, I had no idea as I tried to stay focused on keeping her under control, I then got a glimpse of the leadcore as she started to come up through the water column, she then lunged hard, almost flat rodding me before coming up again and then lunging back down again. I let the clutch go a little to absorb the lunges before tightening back up to gain more line and as I pulled the rod up she breached the surface, her huge mouth wide open gulping for air. Both the moonlight and my head torch led the path like a runway as I slowly persuaded a big shouldered mirror towards me. She then hit the spreader block of the landing net as I scooped her up and made sure I’d got all of her into my net. She thrashed about in the mesh as I tried to secure everything, I think we were both unsure of what had just happened. I tried to calm myself down as I’d caught a glance of something quite special, but I didn’t want to peek into the net until I was ready. There was no way on earth that my first bite was going to be a special one…..was there?
I bit the line just above the leadcore knot and peered down into my 50 inch net. She was literally filling the net from front to back and the width of her had me smiling from ear to ear as a sudden rush of excitement hit me. It was obviously one of the big girls and not one I recognised even though pictures of any of the bigger fish were quite scarce. I took in a huge lungful of the night air and tried to compose myself. I made sure everything was secure and I unhooked the fish in the net, once again securing everything in place. It’s then a million things start to run through your head, where’s my matt, scales, camera, who do I phone, will they be awake, what time is it, should I put the rod back out, better check she’s safe, is there actually anyone around, anyone…?
I calmed myself down and made the call to Alex
Me: “you’ll never guess what’s just happened”
Alex: “you haven’t have ya”
Me: “yeah boy, there is literally a submarine resting in my net”
Alex “C’amon bruvvvva”
We talked for a bit as I replayed the moment and he congratulated me, knowing the effort that had gone in and we’d been constantly talking about the plan and its execution through this whole journey.
It was now pushing 1am, there was definitely no one around and anyone close enough to the lake who I could call upon. I wasn’t going to sack the fish as it was against the rules, so I opted to do self takes. Everything was set up and I transferred the fish into the retaining sling and lifted her onto the mat. She felt like an absolute lump and when I peeled back the sides of the sling, I got to fully appreciate her size and shape. WOW. She’d obviously been hard on the bait and was absolutely loving it as she was passing it into the sling with ease. She went 46lb 8oz on the dial and I had to check several times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming or that I’d done something wrong, but no, a new PB for me and a very welcome one at that.
We took a few quick snaps under the cover of the moon, it was all a blur, it had happened so fast. It was all about returning her safely and quickly now, that’s all I could think about. I slipped her back home, watching her mass waddle slowly away, the moonlight was lighting up the clear water and almost casting a spotlight over her as she slowly disappeared into the depths. She looked absolutely huge as I splashed some water behind her, then punching the night air. A huge sigh of relief, a smile from ear to ear and a feeling of absolute elation then took over. I spent the next 45 mins messaging a few people and looking through the pics before nodding off back to sleep.
I couldn’t have been asleep for more than an hour when the left hand rod started to sound once again, head torch on I spied out the bivvy and could see the rod was hooped around to the left side, two bites in quick succession, what was going on! I jumped into my waders, stepped into the water and bent into the fish. As with the previous fish this one was kiting left and hard, as I pumped the rod to stop him and turn him back towards me, the line was tight and I could feel it scraping against one of the boulders out there in the depths. I managed to coax the fish round and it was now just out in front of me. Frantic dashes from left to right had me convinced it wasn’t a big one as I reached for the landing net, the leadcore popped up and was now visible as the fish hit the surface, my head torch lighting the way as the folds of the net enveloped around the fish. I pulled the net back towards me and peered inside and saw one of the fish that this lake was renowned for producing, a very clean and lean cricket bat common. I stood in the water for a bit, taking in the night air which was now very cool as I could see my breath as I exhaled. The moon beamed down and lit the lake up as I bit through my line, securing the fish and getting my camera and matt ready once again.
It was now around 3am and knowing there was no one around and still plenty of darkness until the daylight shone through, I opted for some self takes. Something inside of me had really wanted one of these commons and this one was exceptionally clean, dark brown in colour with a creamy flat belly, lean and long and had put up a real account for itself during the fight. The fish spun the dial round to 23lb 1oz as the camera rolled and captured the moment. It was then time to get her back into her home as I watched her slink off down the margin and out into the open water.
I went on to catch a few more of the “cricket bats” over that session and also had a very funny encounter with some of the uni students who used the lake as a cut through from the pub to their residency. Although they swore blind they hadn’t been drinking they certainly asked some very odd questions and their dress sense was slightly bewildering for a Saturday night down the local.
After the capture word had obviously spread and the swim was starting to get some attention, I managed a couple more nights until the Winter really took hold, opting to fish in other areas where I thought they might be holding up, I also heard some cracking stories from other anglers on some of the sights and going’s on that they’d witnessed through their time on the lake once those gates were shut at night. Those students apparently were quite tame in comparison to some of the other night creatures!
Si Wrighty Wright
Autumn 2022