User:
Gary Gudgeon
Date: 7/18/2007 7:55 am
Views: 934
Rating: 4
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CLUB LAKE NORTH OF MILFORD – 02/12/05
Well it is hardly likely to be south of Milford is it? Again club rules mean I cannot name the lake, but is a medium to large sized estate lake on what is still an estate. First dug circa 1890 and extended in 1900. Prone to get silted up and last dredged about two years it contains carp, elusive tench, roach, a plethora of rudd and perch, but was hit by carp deaths in 2004 that even DEFA could not explain.
A change in the weather from last Friday, temperatures up to 12 degrees Celsius but a gusty and squally day, developing to gale force winds by late afternoon. Various errands meant I could only fit in an hour and a half bank-side over lunchtime, but in the conditions that may have been long enough! However, I’ve read Stillwater Angling by Richard Walker and in these conditions even I could spot the thermocline and so made my way to the far end of the lake when the wind was hammering the water into a corner. I managed to find a swim where bank-side vegetation gave me some shelter. I was encouraged that I’d found the fish when a carp rolled in front of me as I set up, although I regretted my limited choice of baits (flake and maggots). I set up my quiver rod with a cage feeder loaded with maggots and liguidised bread and a size 12 baited with flake. Breaking an unwritten rule that I had stuck with so far this season not to fish with two rods in the water at the same time, I also set up a heavy antenna float rig and layed on with maggots at no great distance from the bank. Perhaps it is as well that I did so, because the quiver gave no firm indication during the session, whereas at least the float line produced five perch all of about 2oz. Not great fishing perhaps, but in adverse conditions not to be sniffed at either and having fished through times when perch were quite rare due to disease, I appreciate any appearance by old red stripe. It also made me realise that I’ve been fairly lazy since returning to fishing in 1998 as this is the first time since then that I’ve battled it out with a heavy float on a windy lake. Towards the end of the session I had a chat with an estate worker, that was interrupted by a blue flash as a kingfisher darted by. Not a bad hour and a half all in all!
GG
