An Intimate Return

After having enjoyed our recent trip to that so very intimate of lakes,myself and Robert were desperate to get back to it again,I could not wait,especially after having sampled how delightful it is to play fish on a centrepin,as well as also finding the lake to have a population of Silver Bream,a fish which has garnered my interest even more so since reading Jeff Hatt's numerous stories of his fishing trips in search of this most dainty and enigmatic of fish.


Upon arrival at the lake,the wind was certainly blowing rather steadily and as sods law dictated,I had forgot my fleece,such is life.I decided after having a look at a few areas to setup next to an island,which had some lovely reeds alongside it as well as some nice marginal bushes,with the wind pushing bits of food into this particular corner and insects dropping off the overhanging tree at regular intervals,was enough to convince me that it looked a very good fish holding spot.




Robert had setup further down in a rather nice spot with a sunken,marginal bush adjacent to his swim and was feeding in some corn and 10mm boilies around it,he would once again be putting his feeder rod to use alongside this feature.


With it being windy and being only my second trip out with the centrepin,it was making for some fraught but amusing moments,on more than one occassion the float was close to hanging from the nearby tree like a damsel in distress.After about ten minutes,the float tilted and slid away beneath the surface and I was met by a very lively Carp of 4lb.



I had been feeding in a light amount of hemp and sweetcorn mixed with some finely blended Vitalin and strawberry groundbait from my last trip and it was proving nice and effective,it was not long before I was catching some lovely hand sized Roach as well as a few Silver Bream including one which I had wish I had weighed now,and which I estimated was between 8 to 12 ounces,I'm now really beginning to wonder what kind of potential this lake has for throwing up a large Silver Bream,as there seems to be a chance that it could.



A little later on I recived a call from Robert that he was into his first fish of the day,a frisky fish of 4lb 8oz on the 10mm boilie and like so many of the fish in this lake it was in lovely condition and still had its curtain intact.




On returning to my swim I found one of the Canadian Geese with its head inside my groundbait bucket,greedily trying to consume all the contents,it was rather shocked to see me behind it and proceeded to charge off nearly taking said bucket with it,a rather comical sight to say the least.I had been having quite a few more smaller Carp which were finding their way to my net by route of maggot.


Inbetween the Roach Bream and Carp,I had been giving a cursory glance to the odd rustle of the reeds alongside me and noticed a lovely pair or yellow lips coming up every so often and slurping down insects,I couldn't resist the temptation of some freelined bread and upon casting was hoping this fish was feeling the same way.A quick dab in the water for casting weight and a cube of bread was placed by the reeds,I noticed a vortex in the water nearby and a few minutes later a pair of lips appeared "sluuuurp",bread gone and the water erupted as the hook was set,and a lean,mean,golden torpedo tore off,the centrepin whirred into life,the fish was very lively and made numerous surging runs for the nearby island and bushes,eventually the net slipped under it and an immaculate,lean,golden bar of 4lb 8oz was sat resting in the net.



As this fish was slipped back,I decided to take a look in on Robert for a cup of tea and a chinwag about a Tench I had seen in the margins and just as we was contemplating another biscuit or two,as is so often the case,when you go to do something or eat,the fish seem to know and a bite occurs,this was such a moment as Robert's feeder rod looped round and he was into another Carp,which had an old piece of landing net still attached to its dorsal,why whoever had caught this fish could not have removed it in the first place,is beyond me and the fish could have quite easily became tethered.



With just the company of the water fowl and the odd Deer which padded its way about in the fields nearby us,an angler can't really ask for more than that.Early evening called and having seen a couple of Carp clooping about,close into the island,I felt it was time to give some more freelined bread a go.The piece of bread was met with some hesitant trepidation,as the fish circled it,mouthing it from different angles but resisting sucking it in fully.Just as one of the Moorhens were becoming a little too aware of there being some bread nearby,the line sped off across the surface and I was into a fish that decided to charge off anti clockwise around the island,crashing through the family of Moorhens as it went,their shrill cries of alarm reverberating around the lake,after an entertaining fight I slipped the net underneath another scaley torpedo of 4lb 5oz.



It had turned out a nice sunny,settled evening and the wind had also died down,it really was picture perfect and I was contentedly admiring the evening sunlight and shadows on the lake when Robert called me over as he had a fish in the net,a slim Jim also of 4lb 5oz.




I thought this may have been our final fish of the evening as the light was fading and we was pondering on getting packed up,the joy of just having the one rod to focus on meant I was sorely tempted for one last cast,you know the type "I'll just have one final cast,only one more",where you can't help yourself but really want to,with just the bread left and rest of the bait packed up,I flicked out one final crust alongside a couple of free offerings,once again near the reeds.

Daylight was fading away and a light mist was developing on the lake when I had my final full blooded take off the surface,I can't think of a more exciting way of fishing,a real adrenaline rush,the pin crackled off and this fish felt more bullish as it sped off out from the reeds and island,into the open and surged back round to come alongside some of the overhanging bushes near the island.After quite a few long runs I had a lovely looking fish of 5lb5oz as my reward.



It had been a lovely days fishing,Robert and I had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.