Latex Lovers.

The above title is mainly for my own amusement. I like to think of you quickly shutting the laptop lid down when someone walks into the room even though you're just reading a fishing blog. Possibly the least inflammatory activity known to man.

It does though continue a theme from my last session when I was fishing for roach and tried a rubber maggot on the hook of my helicopter rig to ensure I always had a bait fishing. The cast before the real maggots had come in skinned which prompted the idea. Unlike previous casts where the bobbins started jiggling as soon as the fish had found the fresh feeder the cast with the rubber maggot lay dormant. Got me thinking that roach were not lovers of the latex... I'll pick this up again at the end.

With the better half away last weekend I'd arranged to meet up with Ade and try for both tench and bream on The Lamb Angling's Borrowpit in Tamworth. Arriving about lunchtime I found the sticks in the ground which he'd left in a peg during his morning reccy and I had no need to doubt his gut as the breeze was blowing into the bank and the air-warmed water with it.

It was the first time I'd seen the lake and boy did I like the look of it. Pretty big, with clear waters, the beginnings of this years weed and inviting gravel margins. Aromas of Linear fisheries for me and some of the best tench fishing I've ever had with a pinch of Napton reservoir thrown in for good measure. I felt right at home.

It was also the first time in ages I'd fished like this; one bucket full of bream fodder and a second containing worms, maggots and other assorted hook bait temptations. A 2.5lb test curve carp rod was dusted off and already had a chunky spod tied on. 

The order of play was muscle memory:

• Luzz out the marker float and build a quick picture of what was in front of me. This was only a day session and I'm not a big fan of throwing lead around straight before fishing. I found 9ft depth at about 60yds and a gradual incline into the margins. No lumps or bumps to focus on in this swim. I would opt for 6ft for my tench rod and the full 60yds (as that was reliably cast-able) for the bream rod.
• Once the distances and depths were selected the marker rod was clipped-up and the line walked out along the bank. The line on the rod to be fished at this distance was then walked out alongside the marker rod, clipped-up and the line marked with gum.
• Lay the dinner table for the bream. I put twenty spods of mixed Vitalin, hemp and pellets out at 60yds but did not feed the tench line, electing to let repeated casting do the work for me there.
• Go fishing. It was helicopter rigs on both rods where the bream rod ended on a cage feeder and the tench rod terminated at a maggot feeder which would be stuffed with chopped worms and maggots.

Once the rods were out and with Ade fishing on the peg next door there was plenty of time to wax lyrical and talk tactics between casts.

 

The lakeside was busy with a number of other carp(?) anglers in view and walkers, families and groups of kids all coming and going. The liquid part of the lake was quiet though. We did see one bream roll off in the distance at tea time but other signs of fishy life were extremely  few and far between and this matched the number of bites we had which between us amounted to zero.

Despite not catching I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Reacquainted with angling styles of yesteryear I've done enough of this type of fishing to know that a bite can often materialise out of nowhere and when you least expect it. The fact it didn't happen for us on our first trip was just, well, 'fishing'. I left the lake with a broad smile.

On Sunday I helped with a work party for Wykin Fishing Club and got to use my chainsaw so it was already a good day.

Having plus plus de leftover bait called for a stolen Sunday afternoon session on one of the clubs golf course lakes, just for fun. Just for fun sessions are never just that for me. They are a chance to play around and finesse your methods when the going is easy in preparation for the days when the stakes are higher and the going is tough. On this particular afternoon I was experimenting with using a bait dropper rather than loose feeding by hand and observed how after the clank of the metal on lake bed when opening the fish seemed to move away for a few minutes before returning back with gusto which always lead to a bite.  

I fished down the edge and caught roach, bream, perch, chub and the absolute highlight a small crucian carp.

When the sun peeped from behind the clouds I could see fish moving under the surface in the shallow end to my right. I sprinkled a few maggots over them and they darted and flashed.

Not being able to resist the urger to identify them first hand I removed all the weights from my line and was soon essentially fly fishing for these fish with my 15ft rod containing just a pole float. The bites were lightning fast but I caught chub at first and then roach once I'd tuned in to them.

A lot of time was spent rebaiting - threading a maggot around the hook to conceal it as best I could. With the clock now ticking loudly in my ear I put on a rubber grub and lo and behold still caught roach and chub. I found by rooting through my tackle bag to find the latex lovelies that best matched those being fed I upped my hit rate. Finding an artificial with just enough buoyancy to allow the hook to sink at roughly the same rate as the naturals appeared key. Match the hatch if you will.

I refined my previous conclusion that roach were not latex lovers. I think now that if they have chance to inspect a static bait then they will indeed turn their noses up at it but if the rubber grub is sinking alongside other real ones competition and needing to think too quickly for their own good is their downfall.

Cheers.