Blowing Hot & Cold - Justin Grapes

This entry was posted on 18th May, 2017

On the arrival back into the UK after a cracking week away in Cyprus, I was greeted with the end of a very cold week at home. I had even missed some spring snow in Norwich, which I was very glad of. So, as I was planning to do the Sunday night and the bank holiday Monday daytime, I was wondering which lake and what area to fish. With nothing much coming out as yet, I was pretty sure that the tench were still in their deeper winter areas but whether they were going to feed would be another thing. In previous years, there had been a few tench coming out by now so I was hoping that things were going to kick off soon. With my bait picked up and some extra warm clothing put on, I was off down the lakes to see where was free and where I fancied trying. My fishing buddy Darryn was down for a week and, having already been on for a couple of days, he had moved onto a lake where he had seen a few fish rolling. I decided to join him for a social in the swim next door. I was down for 24 hours, so I choose two areas to fish in this one swim. One of the areas was only about 10 yards out, which was the bottom of a marginal shelf and a place I knew the tench patrolled. The second feature was at around 50 yards at the bottom of a gravel bar, which I have also caught from before. I decided to not feed much bait on the longer area but put more in the area closer in, just to try something different as there hadn't been much out yet. Things didn't really go to plan; I didn't have a bite and the tench the next morning didn't show themselves. After a morning of trying different rigs and baits again, I packed up and headed to another lake to get the float rod out again.



I spent a couple of hours going around trying to find some feeding fish but, with only a hour left, I went back to the first swim and had another go. I started to see a few bubbles coming up around my float and, after about 10 minutes, I had a bite and I was into my first tench. After a spirited fight, I had a tench in the net and, shortly after returning it, I had another bite and another tench in the net. I left my session happy with catching two lovely tench but still wanting the tench to kick start on the bigger lakes.

My next session was on the Friday, after work, and on arrival I could see straight away that Bawburgh Lake was busy as there had been tench caught during the week. Lodge Farm Lake, on the other hand, was mostly empty, so I made the hike with my gear to an area I have had some success from in the past. It consists of a shallow plateau of around 5 to 6 ft and then a drop off down the back which acts as a channel as, after the drop off, it shallows up again to around 9 ft. After putting my Deeper Pro out around that area, I then found the bottom of the channel, clipped the rod up, reeled in, and marked the distance on the wrap sticks. I baited up with around 4 pints of maggots, a pint of casters, and some mixed particle from Advanta.



I started off very confident, as this swim has been very kind to me over the years, but as the time went on it started to drain from me as I didn't see a single fish roll or get any line bites. After a good night’s sleep, I awoke to a cold morning; sitting watching the water from first light, I didn't see a single fish roll. This was very unusual, so I decided to pack up at 9am and move onto Bawburgh Lake for the rest of the day. It didn't take me very long to move and I was fishing within 40 minutes. After finding the clear spot in between weed, where Darryn had recommended I try, I sat back and waited for some action. The action never came, so I packed up at 2pm and had a drive around the complex to see there was any sign of life from the other lakes. After a week of wondering what I was going to do and which lake to target, Friday came back around and it was time to make my way to the lakes in search of the ever moody tench.

Darryn was down before me and had had a look around. He’d gone for Bawburgh lake at the windward end and had told me there was a swim free next to him. After having a quick chat with him, I decided to base camp in the corner to his right, into which the wind was blowing. It looked really good, with an area of heavy weed to my right and straight out. I found a clear area and put some bait on it. I then got everything set up, including new rigs tied and readied, before heading into Darryn’s swim for a BBQ and a chat. We both cast out after dark.



I was woken up at 2.20am by my first run and connected into a scrappy tench, which was landed quickly. After putting my shoes on properly and rubbing my eyes, I picked my prize out of the lake and onto my beanie mat. I was over the moon to have my first tench on the big lakes and, at 6lb 8oz, it was a modest fish too. After getting sorted and re-casting I went back to sleep. I woke at first light and watched the swim for a couple of hours. I was pleased to see lots of tench rolling in the area but, as the time ticked on without any more action, it was clear that the tench had moved on. I did try and put a few spombs of bait out just to try and switch the swim into action, but it was to no avail. In hindsight, I think I should have put some bait out when I caught the fish in the night as they might have cleared me out and there wasn't enough bait to keep the fish there in the morning. I did give the swim until the middle part of the afternoon to see if they would come back but it didn't happen, so I packed up and went home with my tail between my legs again! With two of the lakes being very tough at the minute, I'm still hoping that, with the recent warmer weather, these deeper lakes warm up and the tench will go on the feed. I'm hoping my next sessions will see the tench coming out more and even a few to my net.

Until the next time, tight lines.