Leaderboard

So after catching paw print on my last session and word spreading like wild fire as it does, all the armchair anglers or as we called them "dial-a-bites" started to appear down the lake. From no one fishing midweek and the 6 of us at a weekend, it was now 5 or 6 every night during the week and 10 to 15 anglers at a weekend. I knew I'd struggle to bait up now as it was fully known now what I'd caught and where from. So to continue my baiting up on a Wednesday I decided I had to fish and hope no one would jump in the swim. Arrived down after work on the Wednesday to a busy car park, my heart sunk. Still I pushed the Barrow, passing 4 or 5 anglers in the middle area, I might be lucky I thought. Get to peg 8, this is about 200yds up the lake and find the bloke who took the pictures of paw print for me chatting with another angler. They both turned and said " sorry mate but we did tell him you'd be down". I was gutted, but as I looked through the trees the angler in question had actually set up in the swim next door. So I push my barrow round, getting more and more wound up. I get to mateys swim, " alright, scott you've done alright so i hear. Where you heading?" I said next door, " oh I didnt realise that's where you'd been fishing ". I told him the 2 lads up the bank had said to him I'd be down and where I'd been fishing, he looked sheepish and ducked back under his brolly. Now not that the swim was mine but on dinton there was an unwritten rule that you'd leave someone alone if they were baiting regularly and catching and this angler was always left alone so for him to do it I lost a fair bit of respect for him. Now with my back up I was a bit naughty and I literally spodded every half hour, all through the night. Suffice to say neither of us caught. Not my proudest moment and no excuse but I'd always left him alone and everyone else for that matter so just thought I'd get the same back. I return once again at my usual time on friday, rods out and settled in by dark. Now I recall struggling to hit my right hand spot, it was going down softer and I was pulling weed in. My only conclusion was the fish had been in and smashed it up. About 10PM and the liners started. Middle rod first, then left. Same as my midweek session. By midnight and all was quiet again. Doubt started setting in, had I been done? Was I tangled? With my bites being mainly during darkness or a couple of hours into first light I decided to leave them. I don't know why but I decided to put some more bait in, hopefully spook any fish that were present and go for a rechuck as I was convinced by now something was amiss. Left rod a pouch of boilies followed by another. Middle rod a pouch load, followed by another. Left rod, liners start again. What the ####? 15-20 mins and the liners transfer to the middle rod. Odd indeed. This went on for a couple of hours, liners would stop so I'd top up the spots and they would start again. I crashed out at god knows what time but in the morning I was going to recast. By 7-30 all rods were recast and topped up and all were fine on there retrieval. 10am and bite time had gone and no liners either. I scratched my head wondering what had gone on, fingers crossed they'd be back tonight. Midday and liners started again. I was trying to think what was going on and came to the conclusion that with the influx of anglers the fish were more active and visiting my spots more regularly, that's what I thought anyway. Looking at the spots and a fish known as "Sid" sticks its head out right on me, a 50lber, come on let's have it. 12-20 and the rod gives a slow take and I hit it expecting a heavy weight but not not be. A spirited fight, it felt decent and at times heavy, this is it I thought until a dark mirror rolled in front of me, gutted. I can honestly say that's the first and last time I've been gutted to see a 30lb mirror in my net. 32lb 08oz in fact and a nice one too. Once again this seemed to kill off the fishing for me for the remainder of the weekend. I continue baiting as and when I could but this was getting harder and harder and the following weekend there was someone left and right of the swim so I left it be. The following weekend was the last weekend of the season so I took half day on the Friday and it payed off as I got my swim. By the time evening arrived the lake was very busy, I didnt hold out much hope especially with someone to my right which meant my right hand rod would have to be moved. So 2 rods on the middle spot and left rod as it was. Due to the amount of liners I'd been having in the last few weeks I put 2kg in on the middle rod spot. I recall nothing happened until about 2am when the liners started. 4am and one of the rods on the same spot was away. I don't know how but I was lucky that it stayed clear of my other rod on that spot and netted the fish. Head torch on and nice chunky common lays in my net and at 36lb 02oz it certainly was chunky. By 10am and someone goes In the swim the other side of me, not even asking where I'm casting. After telling him that not only was he messing my chances up but more to the point his own. I walked away shaking my head but to hell with it, I'd had a stonker of a winter so spent the rest of the weekend socialising and suffice to say the 3 of us on my bank caught nothing. Now to upload some more pics ready for a few more dinton tales.

Disrupting the conversation flow a little but this is one of my extended D rigs with a size 6 Trig Hammer

Excellent stuff Emmcee, great captures and stunning fish Don't ever go to a day ticket lake nowadays, that may send you over the edge these types are 10 a penny 😁

That could have been a film,a story like that, there is already a soundtrack for it 👍

Beer and rig science this afternoon anything to block out the noise 😬 Different supple hooklinks same wafters, proper job dumbell with AAA shot not holding bottom(these are not even the super buoyant specials) and a retro cork wafter, I think the old sticky wafters aren't up to much weight it seems a 25lb supple braid doesn't get it up everytime , I am starting to think a 15lb or 20lb braid may be better for presentation, but I need a reliable wafter and the retro ones seem to sit right everytime the sticky ones don't always do what you expect, has anyone got any good wafter recommendations? But one thing the KD rig seems to present well though I've thrown them in and the way the hair sits seems to keep it from tangling, which is good enough for me at the moment, 👍

Certainly was squeaky bum time, it wasn't the best looking fish by a long way but it was massive so on my wanted list at the time. I normally let it go over my head mate as it's the risk I take when pre-baiting, but this once annoyed me. Simply because it was someone who had always said he'd never step on "someone's toes" ,and he was told where i had been fishing and that I was due down to which he apparently replied "##c# him". He has been around years this angler and quite well known. He certainly went downhill in my estimations and went down even further when I saw him do something that was in my opinion not the done thing when on black swan. Still in the past now. Haha

You've probably already had the answer you need in the above posts. But in answer to your question it can dull the colour slightly if your using for example black liquid with a light coloured mix but not enough to effect the finished bait. I pick a colour/colours you want to make and buy the ready done coloured mix, if you need to get a dye to make a pink for example make sure its non soluble or it will just wash out (not all the peddled ones are non soluble). With the better dyes you need very little to get the colour you want. Im not a fan of cork ball pop ups but thats just because im never happy with my finished product, i use pop up mix. If your going to make your own i recommend nipping down the supermarket, visit the baking aisle and buy some sachets of whole egg white powder, one sachet per 100g of pop up mix used it just gives a nice hardened skin to the outside of the finished bait.

Squeaky bum time lol. I'm primarily a weekend angler so understand the struggles that come with other anglers. You just have to deal with it mate. Take your chances when they come, which you clearly do 🐋 Fantastic tale as usual mate.

Edmund Cooper Transit The 1st SF book I read. Easy to read not to long winded. ( not like this post ) When my brother moved out of the family home he left it behind I inherited his bedroom and the book.... and his bull worker lol ...always wanted to read it again so over the many years i kept a eye out for it in charity shops, bookshops and car boots never any luck, anyway I’m in the airport waiting for a flight 30 years odd later and there sitting opposite is a young lady reading the book so I tells her the story of me looking for the book we have a laugh have a couple of drinks. I go to the bar come back with the drinks and there on the table is the book but no sign of her, I open the book and there on the inside cover she wrote “I enjoyed the chat so enjoy the book Linda x” I read and enjoyed all the book on the holiday.... but went and left it behind at the Hotel 🙄