DATE : 11/02/2022
WEATHER : Very cold and mainly frozen over
WIND : Northerly
VENUE : Edmondsley Lake
TARGETTED SPECIES : Roach and F1's
METHOD : Pole at 8 metres
BAIT : Hempseed, Caster and Maggot
FINAL WEIGHT : 10lb 2 ounces
After arriving at the lake at around 8.30am, I was greeted with the majority of the pond being frozen solid, only about 4 pegs being fishable.
After walking around the lake to check out what pegs were actually fishable, I decided to fish peg 5, this being a peg that I have never fished before but as it was relatively ice free, this was were I decided to set up and fish.
The weather was very cold as you would expect, with a Northerly breeze but quite settled but bright which is never good for Roach fishing.
My tactics were once again fairly simple, I planned to fish at 8 metres on the pole, using Maggot or Caster as my hookbait over a bed of Hempseed, I aimed to fish hard on the bottom but as the fish started to feed, I would shallow up and hopefully catch a few decent Roach and F1's.
I began by cupping half a cup full of Hemp mixed with Casters, and would be loose feeding Caster, little and often, without feeding any Maggots, only using them as an alternative hook bait if I was struggling on Caster.
Almost instantly I missed a bite on double Red Maggot on my first put in, before having to wait a little while for my next bit, all whilst feeding Casters regularly.
Although I had to wait for the bites longer than I had of hoped, I was steadily catching small Roach and the usual half ounce Gudgeon on the bottom, this continued for the first 2 hours or so before I began to change tactics in the hope of catching a few better Roach or F1's.
After around 2 and a half hours, I still could not buy a bite on Caster, with all of my fish coming on either single or double Maggot, which was slightly odd as the only loosefeed that I was feeding was Caster, but after persevering for longer, I finally had my first bite on Caster, which I hit into a lovely 6 ounce Roach.
The fishing continued at a steady pace on Maggot, whilst picking up a few better sized Roach on the caster, before my float buried on Caster, for me to hit into a Carp in which I had no control over due to the very light tackle I was using, before long my elastic was pinging back into the pole and I was snapped!
After swapping rigs, I caught a few more small Roach in quick succession, before hitting into yet another Carp, thankfully this was only a small Carp of around a pound, which I landed fairly easily, but good fun on light tackle, especially when you are freezing cold!
As the day progressed, I kept swapping tactics from fishing hard on the bottom to shallow, this seemed to do well for me as I began catching a few F1's and decent Roach, this continued for a while before the wind began picking up, by this point I was struggling to feel my toes, so it was time to pack up.
I ended up with plenty of Silvers and tiny Gudgeon, 1 Carp and 9 F1s, and after weighing in my catch, I ended up with 10lb 2 ounces which I was delighted with in very difficult conditions.
Despite the cold weather and Ice, I did notice the first signs of Spring, with plenty of Daffodils beginning to grow around the lake, so Spring is not far away!
My little girl came down to see how much I had caught and even held a small Roach for the camera, so it wont be long until she is in my blogs catching fish too!
Roll on next time, when hopefully it will be a bit warmer!
Take care and thanks for reading.
Darren
