DT – Hello mate, you’ve been having a few lately haven’t you!
PB – One or two!
DT – So what are you doing differently this year to previous seasons?
PB – It’s just effort really. Effort and determination. Last year one of my mates was the top rod for the lake but I was in contention for it and eventually finished second on 18 fish. This year I wanted to win it. I’m not able to get down as much as I did last year but I’m trying to make the most of the time and I’m doing lots of homework when I’m at home too. Speaking to the lads, the owner, checking the weather reports and building on the knowledge I learned last year – and its working. I’ve started to get a few repeat captures now but I’m slowly chalking off all my target fish and I’ve had over 60 fish in the last couple of years so I’m getting there! I’m catching consistently too, so far I’ve not blanked since March and I’m hoping to get more than 40 fish now for the season. What was really nice was how the season started. It started with a bang and has just carried on from there.
DT – How was that then?
PB – Well it all started on the Wednesday when I saw that a high pressure weather front was coming in. So I rung the girlfriend and asked permission to see if I could go for the weekend. Luckily she said yes so I took the Friday off and got down on the Thursday evening after work to try and get a better swim. When I got there it was quite quiet and I managed to get the lodge swim which is one of the best on the lake. The weather was really warm and the high pressure was pushing the fish up into this shallower area of the lake.
DT – How shallow are we talking?
PB – Well the area out in front there goes from about 18” of water down to about 5 feet, so its not that deep really. When I got there I knew where I needed to be as I’ve had them from this area here before and I knew I needed to have all three out there as far as I could get them.
DT – How far’s that then?
PB – About 130 yards. A fair old whack. Maybe a little bit more. At that kind of range you’ve got to be a bit careful with the rigs tangling so I was on the good old choddies and the super white N Blend fluoros. I then scattered a couple of kilo’s of the N Blend over the top and started to get liners late on that night and into the morning. I was surprised that I hadn’t had anything but at about 1pm on the Friday afternoon which was totally out of the blue. The wrong time of day really – everything else had been out at night or in the mornings. But it tightened up and ripped off and I managed to bag myself the Rudder at 34lb’s. We did some video and the pics and as I was putting the fish back I noticed the rod top bouncing on one of the other rods. The line had got picked up when I was playing the Rudder so I switched off the buzzer. It took me a second or two to work out was going on and then I picked up the rod and leaned into it. Even at that range I knew I was into something big. It just plodded and kited – staying really low. After a proper ruck in the edge my mate waded out to net her and it was the Gurm at 43lb’s. What a pair eh! Especially at a time of the day when I wasn’t expecting it.
DT – Not bad at all mate! So what happened then?
PB - In the end the weather changed and the fish did the off, but I’ve been again since then and had another result!
DT – Come on then mate – spill!
PB – Well after checking again with the Mrs I booked another couple of days off work, the Thursday and Friday this time so I could fish for a couple of days and then spend the rest of the weekend with her and the horses (she does show jumping professionally).
DT – This aint the horse and hound mate! How did you get on at the lake!
PB- Well I had 9 fish in total. I'll save that story until next time though!
DT – Tease! So were you feeding them up again?
PB – Well a little bit. This time I was using a little bit of spod mix too. Basically its just the N Blend stick mix with a kilo of 10mm N Blend bottom baits and the Lump liquid all mixed in with a load of boilie crumb.
DT – So other than these two good hits how have you been doing so far this season?
PB – Well I’ve had 31 takes and landed 31 fish, a couple of doubles but about 14 or 15 thirties with a dozen or so twenties as well, lots of them were also known 30’s too just a bit down in weight after spawning. So I’m well happy with the season so far!
DT – so that’s two full seasons of the N Blend going in with no signs of it slowing down then!
PB – no, the opposite mate. It’s out fishing everything else on there hands down.
DT – that’s what I like to hear. Well keep at them mate and we’ll catch up again soon to hear how your season is going!
