LGCAA

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Blue Moods

It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s some time now since we secured the fishing rights to the Blue Lagoon. In this time I have enjoyed some tremendous Tench fishing that this water offers. So it is with surprise that, very often, I find myself with the water to myself, or at worst (best?) with only 2 or 3 other anglers. It begs the question, why don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t more of you fish the Blue? Is it because you think it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s too big? or perhaps too deep? Or maybe you believe it too difficult to catch fish from. Well yes it is big compared to Poppy Hill (about 18 acres) and it is deep (45 feet), but is definitely not difficult to catch from, provided you approach it in the correct manner. What I would like to do is to go through a step by step guide as to how to fish the Blue. Hopefully it will encourage some of you to come along and sample what I consider to be the best Tench fishing in the area.

May/June/July
Let us start at the beginning shall we? You have just arrived at the water and are about to unload the car. Don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t! the only thing you should unload at this stage is the flask, yes that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s right the flask! Pour yourself a cup of tea, walk to the waters edge and begin your search for Tench activity. You are of course looking for all the usual signs of feeding Tench, clouds of Chalk and a profusion of tiny bubbles being the classic giveaways. If these are not immediately visible keep watching for a further 10 or 15 minutes to see if you can spot the Tench patrolling near the ledge. They are clearly visible if they are there. If, after this time you have not spotted any Tench ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú trust me on this one lads ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú get back in your car and go to Poppy Hill. Experience has shown me that if you don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t see any Tench patrolling the ledge in this early part of the season then you are going to struggle. Assuming that you have seen a few fish, you now have to decide how best to try and catch them. At this stage some of you may choose to either ledger or float fish. Some of you may select quiver/swing tip tactics. For me, in the early part of the season, float fishing is second to none. Remember these fish are going to be right under you rod tip, so long range tactics are not yet needed. Having decided to float fish, you now have to choose how best to present your bait. No contest, the lift method is without doubt the most simple and effective way of catching those Tench. For those of you not familiar with this method I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll try to explain the basics. All that is needed is a 12/13 foot float rod and a reel of your choice loaded with 4lb line. Attach either a stop knot and a bead or a float stop. Slide on your float, a straight waggler of about 6 inches in length. Tie on a hook length of around 3lb breaking strain and put on a size 14 hook. Finally, about 4 inches from the hook, squeeze on a swan shot. You should now set your float about one foot over depth to the area you have chosen to fish. Once you have made your cast, usually underarm, put your rod in the rest and with the rod tip just under the water, slowly turn the reel until the float cocks, keep going until you have about one inch of float visible. Bite registration comes in two forms, the float will either slide from view or, as the methods name suggests, will lift out of the water, lie flat on the surface as the Tench picks up your bait. The strike should be made when the float lies flat and not before. This will usually ensure that you hook fish. A word of warning here. These Tench fight like no other Tench I have ever hooked. If you try to fish for them with 2lb line and 0.8 hook lengths for example, you will come second every time. That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s why I never fish with less than 3lb hook lengths and sometimes more.

Baits and Ground baits
In my opinion, what bait you choose in this early part of the season is not going to be that important to your chances of success. Red maggot, Bread, Casters, Sweetcorn will all catch you some fish. What is vitally important and often the difference between failure and success is the manner you in which you feed your swim. If I could tell you in one word how to improve your chances of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìbagging up?¢‚Ǩ¬ù on the Blue, that word would be CLOUDBAIT.
There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that cloud baiting if done correctly is the one single factor that will help produce consistent results. The secret is to keep your swim cloudy, usually with a sloppy mix, but offering the Tench very little in the way of food value except your hook bait. Remember your there to catch then not to feed them. One other way to keep your swim cloudy of course is to rake it, indeed, should bites dry up I strongly recommend it, Don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t worry about the disturbance, the Tench won?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t.

August/September
It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s now early August, the water temperature is at its highest for the year and the spawning is almost over. I believe it is the combination of these two factors that produce a significant change in the behaviour of the Tench and consequently their feeding habits. They now seem to patrol the near edge less and less, preferring to retreat to the deeper water. It is because of this that I would now completely change my methods and approach. Although some Tench can still be caught using the previously described method, I believe it is now time to discard them in favour of the ledger. The majority of the Tench have moved to the deeper water and to maintain your catch rate you will have to find them again. You will be looking for features the Tench are likely to patrol. This can be done quickly and effectively with a plumbing rod. At about 20 metres out from the road bank and in about 20 feet of water, you will find a classic drop off. This is where you want to fish. It is not just because of this extra distance and depth that I would choose to ledger. In my experience the Tench now have a liking for much larger baits and to present them with one, you will have to step up your tackle accordingly. Gone now is the float rod, to be replaced by a 12 foot ledger rod of about 1 ?Ǭº lb test curve. To the 4lb line tie 12 inches of 3lb line about 18 inches from the size 10 hook using a four turn water knot. This will leave you with two ends, discard the bottom end (nearest the hook) then simply attach a large open ended feeder to the remaining end and you are ready. The reason for using the feeder is that cloud baiting is far less effective in 20 feet of water. Constant and accurate feeding is very important. Once again I would put very few free samples in my ground bait mix. Some anglers believe this method to be a sit back and wait job, No way! If done right you will be filling and refilling you feeder and casting every 3 or 4 minutes and with maybe two rods out, you can be very busy. Believe me lads, on its day this method is the business.

As I have said already, the Tench now prefer bigger bait. Though bunches of maggots, bread flake and even Boilies will catch you some Tench, none of these come close to my two favourites at this time of the year. Lob worms or Luncheon meat especially can be superb and should you choose to fry it in spicy flavouring such as curry tandoori, you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll be thanking your mother for the rabbits! . It is now late September and the air is getting decidedly cooler, there is only one sensible thing to do now. Put the Tench tackle away and get the Pike gear out, but that, as they is another story. To those of you who are still reading this, thank you. If it has whetted your appetite or indeed encouraged you to give the Blue a try then so much the better. If one of you catch just one of those magnificent Tench using the suggestions or methods I have suggested then I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll be a happy man.

Written by Jim Cox