Predator Paradise

Every year a group of us here at TFGear take a predator-fishing trip and test some of the prototype TFGear at the same time. This year saw us revisiting Rutland water in Leicestershire for the opening few days of there Pike trials, so cars packed with as many lures, sample rods, waterproofs and thermal underwear ready for testing off we head. Now visiting any of the big trout reservoirs is always a very exciting time and Rutland at over 3,000 acres is no exception because you just never know what it is capable of throwing up. Unfortunately the weather conditions made testing waterproofs & thermal underwear out of the question, over 20 degrees, bright sunshine and very little wind meant it was more like the summer we never had!

The first morning dawned bright and clear with a little breeze as we headed off up the south arm to Manton bay an area we had done well on an earlier visit. With the bright conditions this meant the first couple of hours before the sun gets too high are really the best chance of any good pike fishing. Within the first hour we had a few pike following right to the side of the boat before turning away, a common occurrence on many trout waters, then a good strike to the jerk bait and a spirited fight ensues but as it come closer to the boat it turns out to be a good rainbow trout of about 5lb. Then Chris my boat partner hooks and lands a jack pike of 5-6lbs on a soft plastic lure.

With the sun now high follows die off so a quick call to the other TFGear lads Simon & Ceri to see if they are having anything. They are having takes in 35-40ft of water near browns island on soft jigs, with a nice zander lost by the side of the boat and two landed of about 1 ½ lb, so zander are still willing to have a go in the deeper water and we head over to join them. A few hours pass and nothing else to either boat we head off to the north arms tower. Quite a few fish appear on the echo sounder and we start getting takes straight away, now getting takes from zander is one thing but hooking and landing them is another. Both Ceri and Simon take a couple of fish each to 3 1/4lb and with ½ an hour to go I manage to boat a zander of about 1 1/2lb. This ends our first day on Rutland water and most of the pike boats have had a hard but enjoyable day.

The second morning is just as bright and even less wind, so we make a decision to concentrate on the zander unless the conditions change. A quick word with one of the rangers who points us in the area we should try for zander. So rigged up with one of the new prototype TFGear jig rods and a very special new braid we’re testing we head off. The breeze has now pick up a little so we set the drift upwind of the spot selected, drogue(underwater parachute to slow the boats drift) deployed to slow the boats drift and echo sounder showing we’re in 60ft of water and plenty of fish showing on the screen. Straight away we start to get takes on our vertically fished jigs and I’m soon into my first zander of the day landing it I find its hooked on the stinger treble.

A very important addition to the jig the stinger treble is attached to wire and threaded through the jig body coming out near the tail, without this you will seriously reduce your catch rate.
Quite a few more fish landed and lost then my jig is hit by something a bit bigger and the clutch squeals as line is taken, after a good fight a PB zander of about 8lb slide into the net and I’m over the moon.

We end the day with over 25 zander to our boat and Simon and Ceri have also had a cracking day landing fish up to 5lb and a bonus pike on a jig, all this and we get to watch a beautiful Rutland sunset in the bargain.

Spodding My Way

On one of the lakes I fish you need to place your baits out a good old distance and in a good size amount. But not having to worry too much about placing them exactly on the same spot every time but being able to create numerous feeding beds. So my initial approach was to opt for a simple throwing stick, and dot boiles around a marker, but soon came to realise that it was an option that had serious disadvantages. On one hand there is the limit to the bait that can be used and on the other hand there is the annoyance of seagulls. Many of you reading this most likely at some point have experienced seagulls picking up your boilies in mid air or as they hit the water. Gulls have come to recognise the sound of the boilie as it leaves the throwing stick and quickly gather in large flocks ready to pick up the bait in flight; those baits that escape are soon picked off as soon as they hit the surface of the water. Therefore I decided to give myself more of a fighting chance and get the trusty spod out.On some lakes I have fished the sound of a spod crashing into the water can draw the carp’s attention to the baited area around your marker float. When I started looking at spods I wanted one which would be easier to cast a fair distance whilst carrying a small amount of bait. This way it would be easier to make many smaller feeding spots around an area as opposed to larger beds that could spook the wary fish off. My personal choice is a Korda Mini Skyliner Spod, Its small but it suits me fine, I can cast out bait to my maker and have confidence in hitting the spot desired almost every time. Using this I don’t need a specially created spod rod set up all I use is my X Flight 50 3lb test rod, with 12lb line which does the job i ask of it perfectly.
My Spod Mix (lucky carp) maze, maple’s, hemp, black-eyed beans, mixed seeds, sea salt and a touch of magic in the form of fruity trifle dip. it smells good enough to eat even by my standards. But you don’t have to stop there you can add anything you wish.
After finding my spot with a marker float I then clip it up and back lead it so there is no line showing just in case I have a fish or the spod get stuck on it, when I have fond the distance with the spod I then clip it up so I can hit the distance every time.
When filling my spod I only fill three quarters of the way with my mix and then place some ground bait on top to plug the mix. this minimises mixture escaping whilst casting out.
Before casting I like to lower the spod into the water, this will give it more weight and helps to reduce any spillage therefore ensuring more bait hits the lake bed.
Ready for the big one all lined up ready for the cast. I prefer to watch the rod rather than look at the float as it helps me to release the line at the correct angle and not leave it too late in the cast. This way i have minimised line breakages in the initial cast and don’t get the ping back motion I first experienced when learning to spod.
Out it goes, all I’ve got to do now is lift the rod vertically and wait for the line clip to do its job.
On the spot she goes to create another small bed of bait.
Splash as it hits the water right next to my marker lets hope the fish don’t get too spooked off.
When I’m not using my spod I like to store it at the bottom of my rod, this will keep it nice and neat and help prevent the bottom of my rod getting scratched.
As I wait for the action the swans go for lunch (Bottoms up) eating all the bits that drop from my spod as I dunked it in the water.
The end result, a carp on the bank not a big one but a carp is a carp!

All the best with this method.