Cackle hill fishery 06-07-10

Decided to tryout some new bait from Bag em Match baits today, so I chose a local venue called Cackle Hill lakes in Kent. I enjoy fishing this venue as it contains various species including Carp, Tench, and Bream. I arrived at about 12 o’clock and choose to fish the main Match lake which is the largest of the 3 lakes. The lake is stocked to a sensible level so you still have to work at it to catch, most methods work some better than others the Method feeder being  popular or the pole, fished in open water or the margins. Today I elected to fish the Method feeder and pellet waggler.

The Match lake has a large island at the top end of the lake and all pegs have fishable features such as deep holes and reeds lining the banks, with depths ranging from 5ft - 8ft.

On my approach to the Match like I was greeted by that familiar sound of carp splashing around, and by the sound of it it was to much to be them just playing in the sun. Yep you guessed it!. The Carp where spawning, I couldn't believe it!

I decided that I would still fish and try and catch the odd feeding Carp and some of the resident Bream that also reside in this lake. So I got all my gear out of the car and got ready to fish. I still planned to fish both the methods I had planned, the method and the pellet waggle as that way I was covering the bottom and upper water levels. 

I selected two areas to fish with the Method half way to the Island, not tight as that area was full of spawning fish and would be a waste of time. And down the edges to the next platforms to my left and right. The Margins where different this time as the water level had dropped by a few feet so I selected to target just level with the end of the platforms where I had at least 3 foot of water. I set up my Diawa 12ft two piece feeder rod and Diawa TDR3210  reel. My main line was Guru 6lb Drag line and my feeder choice was a Guru X-Safe 28g Flat bed Method feeder, I was interested to see how this feeder would work as it was a new addition to my gear. My hook length was 3 inches of Fox Micron 0.20mm Diameter, attached to this was a Guru QM1 size 14 hook and a pellet band on the hook.

With the pellet waggler I would search the water in front of me around 3-4 rod lengths out as I had seen a few cruising fish. I set up my 11ft Preston Mini float rod and Diawa TDR208 reel. Maver 4SSG pellet waggler and my Main line was Ultima 6lb and to that I attached a 12" hook length of 0.18 Fox Micron with a Preston PR36 size 14 hook with a bait band attached by a Hair.

Now onto my baits for the session, These where Bag em Match Baits Pro-competition Commercial Carp ground Bait and Pro-competition Super natural 8mm Feed pellets for the hook baits. On initial inspection of the baits I found them to be well packaged, and also of very high quality.

Pro-Competition Commercial Carp Ground bait - This bait is a lovely golden brown mix with a strong Fishmeal scent/flavour, it also features a scattering of small red particles for added attraction. I found the ground bait very easy to mix up into a lovely fine fluffy texture, perfect for the Method. 

Pro-Competition Super Natural 8mm feed pellets - These are a low oil sinking feed pellet which come in a uniform size and omit a mild fishmeal scent.

Now on to the fishing, I chucked in a couple of balls of ground bait into each margin swim followed by a hand full of the 8mm pellets and then retreated back to my peg, i would top up this swims my catapult during the session as i planned to fish them later on in the session. This would give any feeding Carp the chance to settle over the bait.

So now with my margin swims dealt with i picked up my pellet waggler rod, loaded the bait band with an 8mm pellet and cast into my swim. I started catapulting 8mm pellets around the float at regular intervals to try and draw fish to my baited hook. After a few minutes the float buried to which i struck into, thing was it didn't feel like a Carp?. After a few seconds the culpit was in the net, a  lovely Roach approaching the 1lb mark. This was followed by several more and a few skimmers until finally i hooked a Carp it was obvious this time it was a Carp and not a Roach as it caused my rod to arc round and it started to take line at 100mph. after a brief battle I had a small but chunky looking mirror around 3lb in the net.

I carried on feeding over the float and was encouraged by a couple more cruising fish, after a few more minutes I was rewarded with the float burying again and the sound of the clutch as it gave line to another angry Carp. After a few determined runs it finally gave up and another 3lb mirror Carp joined its friend in my keepnet. I was starting to think this might turn out to be a good day after all, but after 3 more Carp all around the 2lb mark the swim died. This may have been due to the wind had started to get up and add a bit of chop on the surface and there was still a lot of spawning activity.

So a change of plan was due it was now about 3 o'clock and i had only managed 6 carp but had also caught several Roach and skimmers. I decided to fish the Method in my Margin swims as this has been a successful tactic for me in the past. I had been slowly building the swims with small amounts of bait and had noticed the odd tail sticking out of the water, indicating feeding fish where in the area.

I loaded up my feeder with the Bag em Commercial Carp groundbait, loaded an 8mm pellet into the band which I buried in the Method ball and cast out into my left margin swim tight to the platform. Within seconds the tip rocketed round in a big arc and a large bowel wave erupted next to the platform. This was followed by me striking into the bite and listening to the clutch sing as the fish charged out into open water, straight away I new this fish was bigger than the Carp I had caught on the pellet wag. The fish continued to charge towards the island but by keeping the rod tip low I managed to turn it and gain control, after a few more minutes I had the fish in front of me it was a lovely mirror around 10lb I was chuffed a nice fish on a hard day.

I continued to fish the margins alternating from left to right so not to spook the fish to much, after a few more casts this time to my right again the rod flew round on the rest. Again the fish charged out into open water but I turned it a lot quicker the last one. After a few minutes I had another carp around 4lb in the net to add to the others. I continued on with the margins with Carp coming to the my net every 2 or so put-ins with the average stamp around 2-3lb, I also had several skimmers over the 1lb mark which was a nice addition.

About 5 o'clock I decided to call it a day, weigh my catch and take some pictures with the help of a fellow angler (Thanks mate). After two weighs i recorded a weight of 87lb for around 25 carp, which  it thought considering the amount of spawning activity was a good achievement.

The Baits.

Regarding the baits from Bag em, well what can I say but they produced the goods helping me turn what could of been a nightmare of a day into one that was very enjoyable. I will defiantly be using the Groundbait and the pellets again, especially the groundbait as I felt it offered something different over the normal plain pellet mixes. I practically liked the inclusion of the red particles which I felt gave the carp something to really home in on and get there heads down and feed.  The groundbait mixed up very easily and was easy to mould on the feeder, and on seeing the results in the margins close to me it breaks down very quickly leaving an enticing carpet of feed. Well done Bag em you have done it again! I give a BIG thumbs up for these great products.

The Venue

I have fished this venue before and have always enjoyed, I must say though the new owners have made the lakes even better by maintaining the lakes and by the new stockings the match lake now has fish over 20lb with a couple of 30lb fish mixed in! Add to that a recent 5lb Perch capture and Bream over 7lb this lake has a hell of a lot to offer.

Add to this the specimen lake which contains Carp up to 41lb and Catfish to over 45lb, and also the Mixed lake which contains Carp 20lb plus, Tench 6lb, Chub 5lb, Perch 3lb and Bream to 8lb

Also now on site is a stunning Modern lodge which is available to rent throughout the year, I had a quick look and it really is a top notch home from home.

Special thanks to Dawn of Cackle Hill lakes.

Tight lines. 

Gary