METHOD TO MY MADNESS.

after a busy couple of months, applying for a  new job and having to deal with the added stress and new responsibilities that come with it a few weeks back, I managed to slip away for a few hours, to what many anglers can probably relate to as my ‘second home’.

I knew that I had only maybe four or five hours to fish, due to previous arrangements later on that day, so I decided on fishing one of the smaller lakes known as bents pool to try and hopefully make it quicker to find the elusive residents of this beautiful lake.

It was the back end of August and it was a horribly muggy and pressured day that day, even at such an early hour of the morning, which I didn’t feel would swing in my favour.

I thought I would try and play it safe and fish one of the end swims of the lake, which had a luscious amount of lily pads, a safe haven for many a weary carp, protruding off the island,  that runs most of the way through the lake.
Unfortunately, both swims, either side of the lake had been taken, so I decided to plump for the middle and fish from the higher bank, to try and make it easier to spot any cruising fish.

I had previously fished this lake using a hinged stiff rig, with a small scattering of freebies to match my chosen pop up, and all though this method had worked for me, I didn’t feel that it would produce a fish quick enough in the very limited time that I had, so I decided on taking a gamble and go against what I know had worked by using a method feeder, with a single piece of artificial corn on the hair, and fish tight up against the island.

This doesn’t sound that bad, but if you know these lakes, you will know how notorious it can be for big shoals of bream and the bane of many anglers lives, the signal crayfish!

I decided to use one of the newer style method feeders, which you can now mould your mix around the feeder using a plastic cover with your hook bait inside, to try and prevent tangles on the cast or even getting snagged up on one of the many branches along the island.

After being extremely accurate with my cast (or lucky!) I managed to get it perfectly right inside an indentation of the bushes around one part of the island, let the line sink and attached my back lead and placed my rod down on the alarm. The trap was set!

After literally only two or three minutes of having it in the water my delkim shrieked out and the bobbin zipped up, smashing against the blank of the rod, only to stop!
I sat anxiously for a few seconds, watching the tip of the rod, bouncing about and decided to hit it. The line tightened up and the clutch whizzed off as the fish motored off towards the opposite end of the lake.
There was no mistaking what this was!

After what seemed to be an eternity playing the fish, I was delighted to slip the net under it and see a beautiful 23lb mirror staring back at me!

I went on to have another 12lb mirror and a few bream, before I had to regrettably pack up and head home.

But my decision had paid off!

I hope that this encourages, not only younger anglers but also seasoned anglers, that sometimes, you don’t have to try all of the latest, intricate rigs with hundreds of components that you read about in the magazines. just stick to something simple, because sometimes it can produce some of the best results!

Big thanks to Jordan Hembury for writing this article