Kingsland Silver Fish
Lake
Actually, this is no longer a Silver Fish lake – they
largely vanished some years ago. But when it was, it was fantastic – chub catches
over 100 lb, with lots of bream, tench and crucians. However, there are carp
there now, and it’s going to be a great match lake.
The reeds are a bit of a problem – in my swim they went out
ten feet from the bank both sides. So it’s a question of playing fish out in
the open water before bringing them in to net. I didn’t fancy my swim at all –
this was two days after the Yew match, when the cold wind affected sport and
uyou needed to be away from it to catch. But it was certainly not as cold on
this occasion, though it was into the three of us on this bank.
So eventually I got my stuff ready – it’s a bit of a problem
at Kingsland, where the platforms – admittedly very good indeed, with plenty of
space – are all down a small steepish bank, though there are steps of a sort,
and usually a concrete slab behind you. But as you get older it takes so long
to get down to the swims – I had to unclip all the draws on my Octbox before
taking the frame down to the platform and clipping the draws back. That’s not a
complaint about the fishery – that’s
life (hey, a good name for a TV programme?)
There’s a steep slope on all these lakes, and particularly
this one, so I started at a comfortable eight metres, which was still on a
slope as the water kept getting deeper as I plumbed farther out. A 6mm expander over pellet and hemp brought a
5 lb mirror first drop-in, on Preston Green 13 Hollo elastic. Then a 4 lb
common. Then...nothing. I put in some bait near the reeds and had a quick look
with small cubes of luncheon meat, which brought some 2 oz carp.
So it was back top the eight-metre swim, where I took odd
fish to 2 lb, finding, as I have all season, that I had to put bait in after
every fish or I didn’t get a bite. Then
I had another look in the side with my old margin pole and 18 Latex, and took a
5 lb carp, and with two hours to go I reckon I had about 25 lb.
Big fish under the
surface
I had had a walk up to Peter next door, who loves surface
fishing here, after about an hour and he had said he was catching. So I
imagined he was absolutely whopping me now, especially when I saw the odd Chum
Mixer float by as I guessed he was catching well on the top. Big fish were
circling around just under the surface so I tried half an hour shallow fishing
with small cubes of luncheon meat, as they sink slowly. I hit one fish which came
off, but had no other touches. So I eventually decided to come back inside.
Snagged
With about 90 minutes remaining I started to catch the odd
fish, though because I had to hold them so hard, to stop them sprinting along
the side of the reeds and snagging me, several came off. One incredibly-strong fish
shot down to my right and snagged me about 15 yards along, which was a bit of a
tragedy as I had five sections of pole out and a lot of elastic stretching into
the reeds, with no hope of walking beating my way through the reeds as they
grow so far out into the water.
Unsure what to do I held it tight for a couple of minutes,
trying to work out how I could reach the elastic, when I fancied I felt a kick.
Sure enough within the next couple of minutes the fish slowly came out into
open water and I resumed the rest of the fight, though at one point it got back
into the snag, but came out again. Amazingly that fish weighed about 3 lb, but
it was long and slim, like a wildie, so that must have accounted for its
incredible energy.
Later I had another wild carp which thought it was a barbel
and took ages to net. I’m wondering if
these fish are the remains, perhaps, of a small population which has been in
the lake for years? I’ve never seen fish like them in the other two lakes. Pity
I didn’t think to take a photograph. I know they were wild – in fact by the way
they fought I would say they were b****y livid!
I lose my top two
With an hour to go another fish from the eight-metre swim started
to run along the reeds to my left and I saw with horror that the Number Two
section was not properly on the Number Three – there was a definite dog-leg. So
I shipped back as fast as I could to adjust it, but as I went to grab it the
top two shot into the corner of the reeds, and lay there about ten feet out. I
could reach the end with my long landing net handle with hook, but couldn’t see
the elastic.
I didn’t fancy wading out to get it, as you never know what’s
on the bottom, so I had to leave it there. I found that the Number Three had
developed an L-shaped crack in the top, which is why the Number Two hadn’t slid
down far enough. So after wondering briefly
whether to go home or carry on what seemed like a hopeless quest (I was
sure I had blown it), I pulled myself together and carried on with the margin
kit.
Suddenly things changed and provided I fed after every fish –
a little chopped cat meat, corn and hemp - the fish started coming. One of almost
10 lb took my cat meat...and came in within 30 seconds! Strange how the bigger
fish can sometimes give in so easily. The secret was to hold the pole low, so
the fish came to the surface, and slowly keep it coming – but you have to net
it first time.
The last half hour saw me take four or five more fish, some on cat meat with a couple on a small cube of luncheon meat, but I
still guessed I might be last, as I had the feeling that everybody else would
have caught plenty. By this time my top two had completely vanished, so no hope
of getting it back.
I estimated I had 38 lb in the first net and wasn’t sure
about the second as I started it so late I hadn’t bothered to click, thinking I
couldn’t possibly come near the 50 lb limit. So I guessed 65 lb total. Mick
Linnell, ex-Peterborough National angler, weighed 84 lb 6 oz from our peg 1 (no
permanent pegs on Kingsland) and he was top weight round to Peter, who weighed
87 lb 6 oz. He told me he went for a net with 40 minutes to go...and never had
another fish! And he’d had only two fish from the surface, not the shed-load I
had imagined.
I was last to weigh and my first net felt heavier than 38 lb.
In fact it went 47 lb; I think I must
have forgotten to click a couple, which I often do, which is why I usually stop
at 40 lb clicked. The second net weighed in at 41 lb 6 oz – much more than I
had imagined – but enough to give me a surprise win by just 1 lb. So rig, elastic and
top two lost, but a win is a win...
 |
| The result. Sorry I took no more pictures. |
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