Alex Williamson - Hippo Hunting!

Shrop · Alex Williamson - Hippo Hunting!

Oooo, I didn’t realise there was a journals section! Being quite into my writing and photography I s’pose I’d best have a go! I’ve had a journal going on the Angling Focus website since the start of the year, so in true lazy [censored] style I’ll do a bit of copy and pasting to get you up to date!

February 2007

Did 2006 fly by or what!! As usual it's the start of a new year and i'm saying to myself "I wish I could have got on the bank more". 2006 was an interesting year for me, I met a lot of new friends on the bank, had a great laugh at some socials and caught a few when fishing hardcore!

2006 saw me flicker between a few different waters rather than my usual approach of giving it 100% on one. Spring was spent on a Mere here in Shropshire, "The Mere" (No not that one, or that one!) is a place I have had under my skin for a while and I was really looking forward to spring on there. Things went tits up though and a lot changed, the overgrown banks and "carp sanctuaries" were destroyed by a group of idiots we will name the committee! I only done a handful of nights on there after the changes before loosing the buzz for the place, it wasn't the Mere like i knew it.

Another water I dabbled on was a pit in Cambs - at first I really got into the water, I was seeing fish regularly and as a confidence booster saw the 40 on the bank to another angler as well as seeing it in the water a few times. I clocked up twenty two nights on this water throughout the summer, as well as dabbling on other waters between. (Taking six 20's to 29lb2oz and a 30lb Zip Linear).

My affair with the Cambs Pit come to an end when I saw the water of my dreams - Fen! Fen really did grab me by the balls and I was soon pestering Jim for a ticket.

The following is an article I wrote for another website on how Fen came along, as well as a bit of an intro to the place for those who don't know about the awesome place...

_________________________________________________________

“Hi Jim, if the offer 4 a ticket still stands 4 this yr. ill take it”
- A simple text message that began an epic journey. It was a bit late in the season, almost October to be precise, but I had one water on my mind and I needed to wet a line there.

My affair with Fen started while fishing a water just over the river, approximately a hundred yards away. Whilst fishing this water on a long session I decided to pop over the river to see my mate Ed, and take full advantage of his tea-making facilities.

As soon as I set eyes on the awesome vastness of Fen I was in love. After wiping the drool off my shoes I made my way along the west bank of the pit to find Ed. I had read about Fen before and seen plenty of pictures, in fact I was fascinated by Fen even before laying eyes on the water. Nothing in print could prepare me for the buzz I got standing on it’s banks.

On that first visit I had left my tackle unattended so I didn’t hang about for too long, but without fail I returned a few days later to give Ed’s tea making kit another bashing. This time Ed was set up on the “Jungle Bank” in a swim known as Secret; a typical Fen swim, basically a hole cut in the reeds and a small overgrown area behind where you would somehow manage to fit your bivvy. The more I saw the more I liked!

My first encounter with Fen

My fishing continued on the pit over the river, but I couldn’t get Fen out of my head. Even though it was late in the season, it wasn’t long before I succumbed to the inevitable and made the decision to get myself a ticket.

Fen is far from your average lake, it’s a moody low stocked pit that has thousands of different faces, every day it can seem like a whole new water. At approximately 96 acres it isn’t the smallest of waters either. To make things more difficult, from the centre of each bank is a submerged roadway that runs to the island in the centre of the pit, theoretically making it four different lakes, to top things off, the whole lot is covered in weed! The weed varies from season to season, but the 2006 season I started it was almost top to bottom, with many areas unfishable. I suppose you could say the topography is a little interesting.

The stock in Fen is pretty much unknown, a few large fish have been seen and fewer still hooked. To date the only two “A-Lists” to be landed are the Grey Mirror caught almost ten years ago and the Fen Linear, caught a few years back at 48lb+ by Jim. There are many rumours on both the stock and sizes of the fish but it’s been said there are around seventy - less than one per acre. There are definitely four huge fish to target: The Fen Linear which should now be over 50lb, Stripey Common or Zebra Common (easily 50lb+) the Grey Fish which is said to be 45lb+ (some say bigger), and a Scaley Mirror that’s getting seen regularly these days. I am yet to see a weight for this fish in print, but I’m lead to believe it’s VERY big (Yes, that big!).

As well as the A-lists there are a few “back up” fish that see the bank now and then, including Bayes’ Common and Humpy Back. Both these fish have done 40lb+ in the past but are usually mid to high 30s. As well as carp there are plenty of large bream (18lb+), tench and eels to steal your bait!

Soaking up the atmosphere!

My first session on Fen was to be a ten dayer. It may seem a long session and it was, but I felt this was the best way to get a feel for the lake and find out what I wanted while there was some clarity in the water.

After bouncing down the track, I approached the gate as the hairs on the back of my neck stood erect (ooer) - I was buzzing! It’s 110miles to Fen from Shropshire, but the journey seemed to fly. I suppose you could say I was a little excited.

‘Sh**, my gate key!’

After running through all my tackle in my head twenty times over before leaving, the gate key had somehow managed to escape my attention. There, still in the envelope on my kitchen table was the key I received from John only a few days before. What a start!

Walking around the gate I went in search of an angler I could scrounge a key from, the first person I came to happened to be Gary Bayes who was fishing ‘Spawning bay point’. After a quick conversation he handed over the goods and I was inside the gate!

There's more to fen than fish, being on a nature reserve the place is alive!

It was late afternoon by now and it wouldn’t be too long before the light faded. I didn’t manage a full lap around the lake, only getting half way instead, but spent a good half hour sitting in a swim on the road bank planning my attack. For the first night I made the decision to set up in a swim called Double Reedy, there were a couple of reasons for this, the main one being the view I had.

Double Reedy covers a lot of water and the majority of the lake can be seen clearly from the swim, the other reason was there were two other anglers on the lake, and this swim was quite far away from both. Call me un-sociable but it was my first session and I didn’t want to go treading on people’s toes.

I won’t go into the putting out of my rods too much as it will just bring back stressful memories, but all I will say is it was a little harder than I expected! The first rod was put on a marker Gary had told me to fish. Not too far from this marker was a lovely clean area in the weed, it had definitely been fed on, but not too recently. However, it was a start and I could always re-do the rod or even move swims the next day. To be honest it didn’t really feel right fishing someone else’s marker, but Gary assured me I wasn’t treading on anyone’s toes and it was for us all to use. This marker was actually quite a trek from my swim, and I wasn’t overly confident fishing it with mono, which is why only one rod was positioned there.

One rod down, another three to sort! After a scout around the close quarters of my swim in the boat I concluded that there was little to be found. Running pretty much directly from double reedy is one of the roadways, which was choked with weed. I found a couple of clear areas on the roadway but I wasn’t overly confident; as well as being swan depth it was also an area where I could quite easily get cut off due to the angle of the line. At approximately 80yards out, there was a clear area accompanied by another two smaller clear areas. Without too much trouble I managed to get one rod on the money. As light was fading fast I decided to place the third rod on the one of the smaller clear areas to the right of the main one, this was approximately the size of a large bait bucket and after two attempts it was also right on the spot.

First night, buzzing!

On the way back with this rod I seemed to be going a little off course due to the wind, turning the boat back in the direction of the swim my receiver let out a couple of bleeps. I immediately knew what I done. Due to the line from the other rod lying on top of weed I had done one of three things, hit it with the propeller, hit it with the ‘stem’ of the outboard or moved the weed it was lying on. I was praying it was one of the latter two and muttered to myself all the way back to the bank.

Back on the bank the hanger was on the deck and the line was slack. I picked up the rod and wound down to the lead, thank god for that, there was resistance! For all I knew I may still have nicked the line creating a potential weak link, I tried to wind in but all was jammed so out I went in the boat to un-weed the lead. There was still a small chance I could wind the lead in from the bank, but considering there may have been a weak link out there I didn’t want to go leaving a baited rig snapped off in the water. It was now pretty much dark so I decided not to re-do the rod but save it for the morning. What a start, first night and only two rods out!

As the darkness descended, I sat in the doorway of my bivvy cooking up a curry, buzzing with excitement. It may not have been the best start but I was fishing Fen Drayton, where I’ve always wanted to be and the rush was immense!

After a good night’s sleep and dreams of a 60lb common I decided to take a walk around before doing anything else, then another walk! I didn’t see a great deal but learnt quite a bit from the other members fishing. I decided to come clean and tell everyone how much of a noddy I was in the boat, and thankfully I learnt it happens to almost everyone their first time out, thank god for that!

I decided to stay put in Double Reedy for another night, I still hadn’t seen any definite carp ‘shows’ but it was still looking tasty. I have to be honest I was still struggling with the boat, when re-doing my first rod the line angle wasn’t exactly pointing to the rod, going around a weedbed at about 40yards. I was confident the lead was un-moved and Techno assured me the angle wasn’t a great deal to worry about, if I did manage a carp it would soon straighten out.

While floating about trying to find a spot for the fourth rod, scanning the water I saw something that made me freeze and say a few choice words under my breath. About two rod lengths from the boat was an awesome looking common! I have seen forty pound fish both in the water and on the bank and this looked as big if not bigger. It was very long and grey in colour, with a great thickness across it’s back. It was obviously hard to tell the depth of the fish but it didn’t look overly deep after a closer look, maybe it wasn’t as big as I first thought, but it was without a doubt near 40lb.

Back on the bank a few texts were sent detailing what I had just seen, the overall conclusion was it was either Bayes’ Common or one of it’s lookalikes, and after studying the pictures in Jim’s book, which accompanied me on the trip, I’d agree. It looked exactly like it.

So much wildlife!

By the time my rods were all sorted it was late afternoon, seeing the common from the boat was a massive confidence booster and I spent the rest of the day sitting back soaking up the Fen atmosphere. I suppose this was the first time I had chance to sit back and see what else Fen had to offer, being on a nature reserve means the place is alive! I watched the birdlife bombing around the lake, the usual suspects – swans, coots, grebes, moorhens, seagulls and a cormorant, but other birds as well; birds that I’d never seen before! Fen is like a completely different world, not only the bird life but insects, rabbits, snakes, tasty dog walkers and much more. Whilst I was loving just sitting there soaking up the atmosphere I eventually became fidgety; there was so much more for me to explore around Fen and I didn’t want to miss a bit of it.

I decided before the light faded, that rather than get back out in the boat and risk disturbing the swim I’d go and watch the water from different angles, spending an hour or so sat in swims a little further up the bank. From every swim Fen looked different, how can anyone get bored with a pit like this?

Behind what is named the jungle bank runs the River Ouse, on my travels I decided to have a break and see if there was anything to be seen in the river. Further up the river in the distance it seemed that there was a Chocolate Labrador swimming downstream, it was quite far away so I couldn’t really tell, then all of a sudden it disappeared under the water. I still hadn’t clicked what it was until a couple of minutes later when it popped back up about 15yards in front of me. It was an otter! This otter kept diving about only a few yards in front of me, obviously stalking it’s prey. Five minutes would have passed when it again came into my view, this time with a Zander in it’s mouth. I didn’t know what to do! What could I do? I hated seeing a fish die but I suppose it’s nature, and it’s a sight I won’t forget, another Fen experience.

The River Ouse, running behind Fen

The next morning soon arrived, I couldn’t believe I was three days into my session, a third of the way - where does the time go?! I had certainly learnt a lot about Fen so far and I was even more in love with the place. I hadn’t had any bleeps through the night and I was confident my rods were still on the money so avoided the temptation of re-doing them, after all, if it aint broke why fix it? At last a full day without touching the boat.

That day I spotted a few fish. I say a few, it was in fact about ten, however it was hard to tell if they were all carp. The thing with Fen is that it’s full of other big species, a 15lb+ bream breaking the surface can easily create the same disturbance as a carp, as can a double figure pike, sometimes it’s hard to tell, especially at three hundred yards! There were three sightings late that evening on the south west corner of the island that I was 99% sure were carp, and I even stayed out of the bivvy until a couple of hours after dark to see if I could hear any more action.

It wasn’t to be, but I decided to pack up the majority of my stuff that night for an early morning move next morning. It may not have been carp, but it was more than what was showing at my end of the pit.

Fen has thousands of different faces, here's one of it's prettier ones!

5am and the alarm on my phone was calling. The kettle was on and the rest of my markers were soon being retrieved for a move. With the boat piled high I made my way across the pit scanning the water for an area to place a bait and in hope of seeing an elusive Fen kipper. My home for the next few days was to be Puffas Point, this is a swim that’s fished quite a bit, possibly due to both the water it covers and the ease of access.

It took me most of the day to get completely set up, things in the boat were now going better and I only had one rod left to do. Now it just wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t a noddy moment, and there was! My fourth rod had some weed under the line about 20yards out. Simple solution, give it a gentle lob and wind back in.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, after the gentle lob I tried to wind back in but it was jammed solid. I kept on piling the pressure until the weed bed started moving, however, as it did my alarm started to bleep and the hanger dropped. I could have cried. The line from my other rod was lying across this weed bed and much to my annoyance it had moved the lead off the spot!

After this rod was re-done and the now weed free rod was placed on a pukka area I was happy. Again I could sit back and relax!

Another Fen morning

That night I had the pit to myself, 96 acres of water just for me, but unfortunately not so much as a bleep disturbed my slumber. A few more days passed without event apart from a couple visits by a mink and a bait robbing cat! The next day a couple more people arrived, Si fishing a swim called “The Bars” and Gary Bayes returned to drop in Double Reedy. Over the next couple of days I learnt a hell of a lot from both anglers, for which I am really grateful. One thing I have noticed about Fen is it’s Anglers vs Fish rather than Anglers vs Anglers, everyone is willing to help each other out and keep people in the picture.

Cambridgeshire Sunrises, awesome!

Before fishing Fen I was told there’s never a dull moment, and that simply couldn’t be truer. On my 7th day, out the corner of my eye I noticed a boat being launched by the gate. At first I didn’t think anything of it, just another angler turning up to fish. That was until I checked it out through my binoculars, drifting across the lake was a bright red inflatable beach canoe with a happy couple paddling away - no lifejackets either, I must add. After laughing at how mad they were floating about a windy Fen in a £5 boat I realised they were heading straight towards Si’s markers. Through the binos I could see Si on his phone, obviously not aware of what was happening. I tried waving but he didn’t notice until his alarm let out a few bleeps. I don’t think Si was overly impressed and went in pursuit in his boat to give them a bollocking. It turned out to be an Eastern European couple speaking little English, but they were soon on there way back to shore.

My first Fen session was soon coming to an end. A couple more members arrived, fished and left but a Fen carp was yet to see the bank while I was there. This year has been a particularly hard year on Fen according to the regulars, even harder than usual! Less than twenty fish have been out so far this season, but amongst these were a couple of new faces. Fen is slowly unveiling it’s jewels and it won’t be long until there’s one very happy angler cradling a monster. Hopefully that angler will be me, though to be honest I’d be happy with any Fen kipper, in fact I’m just happy being there!

Told you Camb's sunrises were awesome!

Alex Williamson

Shrop

Journal - March 8th

Time for another one on Fen! As I quit one of my jobs a week back I now have plenty of time for angling (working weekends and the odd week night once every month or so....)

2am on the Monday morning my phone is ringing away waking me up for the two hour journey down to Fen. Travelling in the early hours is without a doubt the way forward, the M6 and A14 are nightmares in the day time, plus it's always nice to get there an hour or two before light to chill out for a bit.

It was about 4.30 when I arrived, pitch black as you'd expect. Before shutting my eyes for an hour in the car I decided to take a wonder. The problem was I couldn't find any paths around the lake. It seemed the water level was up a little and not wanting to risk wading around the banks in the dark I went and studied the inside of my eyelids in the motor!

Just before light I was back in the land of living and was amazed at how high the water was. A wonder about proved the jungle bank was completely under with no fishable swims, all of the east and west banks were underwater and there were only a couple of swims fishable on the south bank. (Clubbers was a gonner, as was spawning bay).

After a bit of sulking in the car, and going over the waders to find a swim (yes it was that bad!) I come up with some silly idea of fishing a swim known as "Under the Trees". There was a little hump in the swim it self that was just out of water, just about big enough for my bivvy. Behind the hump was water from the drains, to the left was lake water, to the right was lake water and in front of me was the lake. So it was a little bivvy sized island in theory. Any sane person would have said "There's no way I’m fishing on that" - but me being the village idiot decided I shall have a go!

It was late afternoon before I had all the rods sorted, it was a bit of a 'mare getting everything pukka as there was a right hooli' blowing, and less than 3inches visibility.

Under the Trees.

That night the flood water behind the bivvy developed a flow and was soon rising, the waves from the main lake was pushing right into my bivvy coming up to my bedchair. I couldn't sleep knowing there was a good chance I could wake up in cold water so made the decision to up sticks. I made the right decision at the right time as when I was sorting the last few bits out my "island" disappeared!

Boating all my gear across the lake in a massive hooli' and pitch black was great fun - not! I stashed all my gear well up the bank for obvious reasons, tied the boat up and went for a chat from the only other fella who was quite as mad as me - Rob. Rob wasn't surprised I had flooded and needless to say gave me a load of banter. A quick "Chicken Buhna and Rice Run" to St Ives was in order, there's no way I was going to cook some dinner after my ordeal!

You usually set up in front of all those trees after the rods. cripes!

After a pukka nights sleep in the car I was ready and raring for another dabble. Rob was in one of the road swims which left me with another two options, the car park swim or puffas. Three swims that could be fished on 90acres - madness!. Puffas looked good and if the truth is known I should have gone in there! However I decided to get off the cold wind and into the car park swim. Taking special notice to putting the bivvy well back I got set up and had some brekky.

What's left of the island

The Car Park Swim - a little dryer than the last

I wont bore you with details, the next three days went without a beep. Me and Rob boated the whole circuit of the pit and didn't see owt apart from every swim underwater. My session was supposed to last until Friday but the wind turned North Westerly and absolutely battered me, add this to the fact I woke up this morning, switched on the radio and heard a flood warning for tonight in Cambs I decided I quite liked being alive so packed up and sulked all the way home.

Sunset over the flood water

It's leaved me a bit stumped on where to go next week, I could well travel 115miles to find it un-fishable. I have tickets for another two waters in the area, both of those look flooded but may be a better option.

Until next time

Alex Williamson

Shrop

March 22nd Journal

2am and my alarm clock was playing that irritating tone. Time to set off for another Fen trip! After filling myself with coco-pops and a couple of cans of Pepsi to get me in a fit state to drive I went to grab my gear out the front room and in to the car. As I opened the front door, or should I say as the wind slammed open the front door for me I was greeted with a face full of snow and to see everywhere white. Maybe I’ll go back to bed for another hour or three! By 8ish the roads looked a little clearer and the snow wasn’t coming down as fast, result! Lets go fishing! (Yep, I am mad!)

A painfully slow journey along a 40mph limited M6 meant I arrived at the bumpy track down to fen around 11am. I pulled up by the slip way and as expected I was the only nutter that was mad enough/brave enough/dedicated enough/stupid enough* to be there. (*delete as applicable).

It takes a lot to put me off getting the rods out, if you’ve read the last journal entry you’ll know what I mean but this time I wasn’t feeling as brave. The waves were mental and snow was battering sideways, I was shocked as I’ve never seen anything like it on inland water. With Cambs being flat as they come it’s no wonder it blows a little, but this hooli’ was going to be putting my life in danger. I did however have a walk around to see if there was anywhere off the back of the wind, the water level is still well up so there wasn’t a great deal of options, well none at all actually as there were still white horses on the water 10yrds out on the back of the wind! I had the usual sulk in the car and had a look at my met-check print off of the weeks weather, plenty of weather warnings for high winds and arctic conditions. (Note to self: Read the weather properly before setting off!).

As white water rafting doesn’t tickle my fancy I went for a gander at another water on the Fen ticket, I didn’t really know much about it and still don’t but I knew it was smaller than fen and has done fish to over 30lb in the past, got to be worth a dabble! I had looked at the lake the week before so knew roughly what to expect. I boated my gear on the almost as wavy lake to a swim called “Cow Pat Point”, I got a right drenching on the way from the waves and so did the gear. First job up goes the Pio and in under goes the gear! I had a prod around where I could reach and found plenty of deep open water, some spots were too deep for my prodding stick so I ended up “donking” an 8oz Gripper over the side. Once the rods were sorted I cooked up a chillie, listened to the local radio station and then listened to “late night love”, nodding off to the story of some old bint’s husband copping off with their daughters friend! The things that happen in the Fens eh!

The next day past without a sighting, not surprisingly as the waves were making fish spotting a little difficult. The sideways hail and snow didn’t help matters either. The next day looked like it was going to the same way until I saw a small common stick it’s head out in the center of the lake, I was dying to put a rod on it but with the wind as it was and several lines running through the water I decided not to go back out the in the boat, I had a rod not too far from it anyhow. The next day I really needed to redo the rods, they had been out for way too long; over 60hours and I wasn’t overly confident about the bait still being there. With the wind as it was it was going to be risky, it only takes a second to loose your balance in a big wind and I don’t fancy swimming in the icy cold water. I don’t like being defeated by mother nature but decided it was safest if I pack up and carry the gear back to the car. So here I am at the end of an upside down session tapping away on my laptop gagging to get back down Fen!

Sideways snow anyone?!

I’m sure I’ve depressed you enough in my blanking journal so will leave with a video clip of what the weather was like, photos didn’t do it justice and I really struggled to catch the waves with the camera.
http://media.putfile.com/Hooli

Alex Williamson

Shrop

Wahey Fen is looking tasty for the first time in a few weeks! I expected to go back and find the water levels still up, 2 or 3inch vis, mahoosive winds and the general grey and washed out look it has had recently. I was pleasantly surprised, the levels had dropped quite a bit in the space of 10days, and we had roughly 12foot vis, I was watching my PVA bag melt and straightening out the hooklink with a clear view in 8ft of water… A true eye opener and goes to show that you shouldn’t trust what your setup looks like in the margins!

Off in search of fish!

Rods out from Pipe Corner

With almost 12ft vis and a couple of flat calm days I should have found the fish from the boat pretty damn easy. It didn’t happen! I had a good recca around the pipe quarter of the pit and the NW quarter but didn’t see anything. Ed covered the rest of the lake and like me didn’t see owt until packing up time. I did see the one good show, me and Ed stood there staring in amazement as a big common popped his head out three times under a bombardment of seagulls. Makes you think doesn’t it! Aswell as that last night a couple more were seen, two with their backs out the water crossing a roadway (in around 6ft of water), at first I thought bream until I focused from up a tree with the bins. A handful of slashes on the water were seen, but it could have been anything, with bream to almost British record proportions they can make similar slashes to carp!

A voilent liner got me flying out the sleeping bag! cripes!

Once again gagging to get back down there next week, if it wasn't for time and half pay this weekend I may have pulled a sickie although I suppose it's best I don't get into that habbit when working as little as I do anyhow! Night before last a phone call woke me from an early night telling me about some top news - I have somehow managed to get myself a ticket for one of the top waters in Oxland and the country for that matter. Although most people know of it I beleive they don't really appreciate much publicity, so I best keep stum! I should be jumping off the walls and itching to get down there, especially as it's recently thrown up a monster but Fen is pulling me back. Mad world eh! Anyway here's a few more snaps from earlier in the week...

I'm certainly looking forward to having a dabble on my new water in the summer, although I think Fen will be having most of my attention this spring...

Alex Williamson

Shrop

Well I suppose its time for me to do another story about blanking! Since my last entry I’ve done a 5day session down Fen, a 4day session down Fen and a 5dayer on my new water in between. The good news is the fish are well on the move, and to move they need some energy, hopefully from my bait! (If only it was that simple eh).

The first week I decided to set up on the back of the wind on Fen, in a swim known as Lifebouy. Lifebouy is a superb starting point as the view from the swim is un-beatable, almost all of the 92acres apart from the bits behind the island is in full view. The first couple of days I saw loads of fish, some from the boat and some from the bank cruising about, always a confidence booster!

The visibility was still spot on, as it was flat calm and sunny 14ft of water could be seen without the use of a glass bottom bucket. A few more faces had started to show up with the regulars getting back into their routines. It was good to put faces to names I had heard other members mention, every angler I have met on there so far have been more than welcoming and happy to fill you in with what’s been happening while you haven’t been on the bank. While out for a mooch down in the spawning bay area I clocked three backs breaking the water heading along the front of Clubbers point towards the bay. The bay was flat calm which meant I was happily scouting about the entrance in first gear, after clocking the fish I turned the outboard off and drifted out of the bay as the fish headed towards me. From a good 20yards I could see they had no intentions of slowing down or changing direction. Happy as can be and completely ignoring me they continued to cruise towards me, stood in the boat I watched on in amazement and awe until they come right up alongside the boat, so close I could have touched them with my oar.

It’s hard to tell sizes of fish from a boat, but the one looked to be quite well into 30lb with the other two being high 20’s at a guess, all mirrors. I was debating a move, I had seen the fish come into the entrance of the spawning bay (the new spawning bay, not the little bay that Jim had the linear from) but would they feed there? Without the weed in there it looked very baron, like the desert. Plus I had seen fish in almost every part of the lake, and these fish weren’t staying put, they were on the mooch moving back out of the bay as quickly as they entered it. I went back to the bank for a brew and a think, my mind was swaying towards staying put and when the three fish appeared again cruising right past my little canister I use as a marker that confirmed my decision. I did however drag my margin rod in and towed it over to the entrance of the bay where I had seen the fish, it had to be done!

Needless to say I went to bed that night with a little buzz of confidence, that was until I woke up with not so much as a bleep to show for my efforts… The rest of the session continued with me drinking gallons of tea, fish were still getting seen but in the upper layers.

A rare flat calm day from The Life Bouy

The next week saw me take a trip to my new water. The carp didn’t play ball but all was not wasted, as well as learning quite a bit about the water and knowing what to expect when I concentrate on it I managed a new PB tench along the way of 9lb2oz. Sweet!

As usual I returned for a bit of work at the weekend and set back off down Fen the early hours of Monday morning. After a good walk around I couldn’t decide where to fish, the fish had been showing all over, quite possibly munching on the massive fly hatch that was taking place. The seagulls seemed to be liking an area in-between the bars swim and a swim known as “Under the Trees”, the way they were diving and the amount of flies about the bank suggested the seagulls were on the hatch as well. I decided to setup camp in Under the Trees and fish out to my right towards the bars sort of area.

Fly Hatch

The vis had pretty much disappeared now, roughly 5-6ft vis was about opposed to the 14ft only the week before. As quickly as we had gained visibility we had lost it. A two week slot of good vis and then back to Algae, gutted!

Any guesses to why they call this swim "Under the Trees" LOL

Anyway I only managed to stay on until Thursday as I had to return home a day early to sort a few things. That brings me right up to date, the car is now loaded and I’m all ready for the off back down Fen in a few hours! Can’t wait!

Awesome water, can't wait to get back!

Alex Williamson

NOSEY WIFE

cracking write ups there well done the pics are ace

bigkipper

yes i agree NW great read and great pic`s

Mac

Stonking pics and write up mate

chris b

cracking write up shrop the photo's are superb

robvford

that by far, is one of the best write ups i have read in a long time.
its almost hard to explain. i love the pictures and youve really really really got me buzzing for my fishing tomorrow.

keep us updated! i cant wait to read even more of your ups and downs at Fen.

best of luck!! you'll get one eventually!

Warbo

Best article I hae read for aggggessss. Nice one.

JAFFA

Shrops........Magic. Pure Magic.

kind regards Jeff

Steve Howard

Excellent stuff Shrop... stunning pics too buddy!

Shrop

Thanks fellas (and ladies it appears!). Next part on it's way from the last few months

Shrop

I’ve been putting off doing this entry for a while now, as much as I love my writing I wasn’t really sure whether I should be writing or including pictures of my new water, but hey ho if Mr Hearn and co can do it then so can I!

As already mentioned briefly in earlier entries I went for a recca section down my Oxon water shortly after I got my ticket in April. Although I spent four days down there I wasn’t really fishing effectively, more walking around, chatting to anglers, looking, learning and “chancing” it of a night. (posh term for pub chuck!).

Wanting to spend the rest of the spring on Fen I didn’t return until mid June, the first few sessions were still spent learning and watching the odd lucky angler bagging a scaley stunner. To be honest I still wasn’t fishing effectively, although on the said water boats can be used for spot finding and baiting up the rods must be cast. Distance and 100% accurate casting is a massive edge on there, unfortunately something I had lost with fishing no where but Fen for a long while. Things started to come together early July, not fish wise but fishing effectively wise. I was learning the spots, noticing changes and patterns as well as having confidence in what I was doing, unfortunately this was during a quite spell for the fish. They could often be found sun bathing in weed beds or cruising over shallow spots, certainly not in the mood for a munch.

The waiting game!

It was the middle of August after 24 nights that the fish action started. After debating on where to set-up I parked the car up in a swim known as “Crows”, with the engine still running a small mirror come flying out at around 90yards. I raced to get my rod bag quickly setting up a marker rod. A good lob landed exactly where it had shown, with a nice donk! Sweet, if only it was a baited rod! I could have chanced chucking a single hookbait at it but as the swim is made up of 95% weed I thought a proper trap would be a better option.

Traps Set

After a good while investigating the swim with the boat I had four rods sweetly spread on the money, was I confident? Too right! It wasn’t until my last night of the session I was disturbed by a slow but confident run, immediately stripping off my trousers jumping in the margins I kept steady pressure on the fish. Due to the weedy nature of the lake a large percentage of the fish have to be landed from the boat, for this reason I phoned my mate Ed in the next swim for some boat assistance. Thankfully the fish behaved and come to the net nicely.

“Bloody hell mate – That could go 40!” – Shouted Ed as he slipped her into the net.

A little excited I lifted her onto the mat and peeled the net away from her, Ed wasn’t far off, if she was at her natural weight there’s no doubt she’d be 38+, but the scales settled over 34lb. Nice! I instantly recognised the fish as one of the lakes stunners and a more well known fish. It’s first visit to the bank in roughly 12 months. Ed done me proud with the piccies before she was slipped back no worse for ware.

With a fish under my belt my confidence was sky high, I knew it was only a matter of time before I had one. Unfortunately that was my last night of the session, but plans were soon being hatched to make a return early the next week.

Arriving down the pit at first light I was pleased to see a fresh wind on the go, a NW to be precise. It had been a SW orientated wind for quite a while, meaning the wind hadn’t had much of an effect on them over the duration. The water had never really been known for its wind patterns; in fact I’d seen more fish on the back of the winds than in the teeth of it before this session. I decided to take a gamble and set-up in the teeth of the now strong NW, surely worth a few nights.

A polished hump at around 80yards look just the job for a couple of rods, not wanting to fish right on top of the blatant spot I placed my H-Block markers with the aid of a glass bottom bucket just on the edge of the spot, a less polished and blatant area. A few handfuls of bait were placed on the money for luck before heading back to the bank for a go at accurate casting!

Grrr, boats!

Everything went to plan and just as the first brew of Tuesday morning was boiling the Delk started to squeal uncontrollably. As soon as I got to the rod it was jammed solid in weed. I kept steady pressure on it for a while, with plans to land it from the bank. The waves were really going some and if I could help it I didn’t really want to be out there being spun around in the boat. After a while with nothing budging I put the rod down, grabbed my lifejacket, landing net and unhooking mat and jumped aboard. With the waves instantly trying to push me back to the bank I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I soon got over the top of the fish and started to crank. Eventually she come free and went on a merry run weeding her self up again after a short sprint! Round two.. after a bit more cranking and swearing at the fish I managed to net her in a big ball of weed! Coooome on!

On the bank she wasn’t quite a big as I first thought settling on 24lb8oz, who cares when they look like this though!

It was five nights (two sessions) later I had my third chance. Once again in the teeth of a new wind, in the same swim and spot as the previous capture. Just after breakfast the games began with a slow run bending the rod right round – game on! This fight wasn’t quite the same as the previous, which is just as well as the wind was hacking again meaning it would be far from easy for a boat battle. After a few encounters with close in weedbeds she was in the net. Result!

The scales settled on 30lb12oz, a new PB common and a stonker to boot! Since then I’ve done another two sessions, back to blanking! That said a few of the biggies are still due…

Onions

nice one again mate

Michael

Cracking fish there fella.

richchappy

awsome fish, awsome angling..

02jlloyd

nice write-up

some nice fish too

rav

some pukka fish there mate, wicked place fen, would love a ticket there one day.

Carp_Man_Conway

Cracking right up Alex and some stunning pictures.

Mac

Those fish are stunners mate

A huge well done to ya

bigkipper

well in mate

Beaky

Them Stoneys fish are easy m8....

Considering you've been full timing it on Fen ave you had any then...

Shrop

Cheers fellas 8)

Full timing? I wish m8, was still doing 35hours a week work, just utilising my time fella cuckoo!

Drivin down straight after work at silly hours, packing up at silly hours. Clocked just under 30 nights on Fen this year, to no avail. A lot less than a lot of anglers on there for the same results as you know.

Anything's easy compared to Fen, maybe you should come back and show us how it's done

charlie

nice fish , awesome pictures mate , im after a new camera as mines knackered, what camera did you use to take them mate .
cheers
charlie

Shrop

Cheers mate.

The camera is a Canon Pro1, unfortunatly they're not made anymore, altough all the canon digi SLRs have pretty much the same features now.

Shrop

Time for another up-date I s'pose. Through October I have pretty much been concentrating my efforts down Oxford. I done another 12nights on there to no avail, however never stopped learning! When the water clarity is over 12ft and you can use a boat it's hard for a day to go by that something new isn't learnt!

This week I decided to stay local, the plan was to have a bit of a social "simmo bashing" and catch up with a mate who I hadn't fished with for quite a while. However matey had to drop out because of work so I was left with no plan of attack. I decided I had may aswell give it a go anyway, I had stocked up on tea bags and choco buiscuts and had to use them somehow!

I hadn't seen the lake before, but arrived just on first light. As soon as I opened the car door in the car park I heard a "Bod-oooosh", with a fast walk around to the other side of the reeds I saw the tell tail rings in the center of the lake, things were looking good! I had a slow walk around in the rain and noticed pleanty of slicks and a few more boshing in the center. I decided to set up on a point casting to the center of the lake.

Armed with the mag aligner on two rods and Vision's Ocean Protein bottom baits on the other two I fished all on the showing fish. Typically just as I got the rods out the flat spots stopped and the showing went quite. Things soon picked the next morning with me taking four fish to 20lb7oz.

A nice change which although I didn't expect it quite enjoyed! Maybe i'll go "simmo bashing" again through the winter.

Alex

Steve Howard

Nice one Alex... We sometimes 'forget' that catching can be fun, eh!

Shrop

A while back the subject of a little social for a few of the Vision Baits lads was bought up by Nathan. The plan was for half a dozen of us to book a lake for a couple of nights throughout the winter months, have a few beers, a good laugh and hopfully bag one or two. The Blue Pool belonging to Cemex sounded Ideal, Nathan had fished it before and knew that it still produced through the winter - game on!

Ed, Nathan, Darren, Muzza, Craig, Wol and myself were all set for a two night social the tail end of November.

Unfortunatly Ed had a smash on the way down writing off his car, gutted. Thankfully he come out of it a lot better off than his car, but was still gutted to be missing the session. Everyone else arrived safely mid Monday morning, even if it did take Das 5hours LOL

I decided to set up on the grassy bank, covering open water where a couple had shown themselves. A few had been spotted in the margins but I just couldn't imagine them getting their heads down in the shallower spots that time of year, I was later to be proved wrong!

First night saw Das pick up a 28lb+ mirror on LTM94, nice start! Muzza also landed a mid double in the swim up from me.

Das 28lb+

The next day saw Das stalking, bagging a couple to 19lb from the other side of the lake, nice work mate! Nathan also got amongst them landing a 20lb11oz Mirror.

Nath's 20lb11oz

The final night saw me, Nath and Das all catch. Nathan bagged another 20 at 22lb4oz, Das had a mid double common, and I managed to pick up three takes, loosing the one.

The first fish was a 24lb4oz Mirror on the Mag Aligner, caught from about 30yards over a spodded area with a large mag of mags. And the second a 20lb10oz Mirror, on a single LTM94 Hookbait chucked over to the far margin where they had been showing and Das had stalked a couple from.

24lb4oz

20lb10oz

All in all a good laugh and nice to go get a bend in the rod.

Nathan has also done a write up here > http://www.cemexangling.co.uk/new...=view&pageid=4120&catid=1

Nathans 22lb+

Be lucky

Alex

Shrop

Now planning a winter trip back to Fen as soon as these big winds die down. Watch this space, dying to get back on there

NOSEY WIFE

good luck buddy

love the pics and writes up keep them coming

bigkipper

well in shrop

that 24 is a right stunner

neil_hubber

lovely linch fish mate, nice progression in the blog....

starts as "hippo hunting" at fen, then stone acres, then on to a couple of pasty ponds

IanD

I've been looking at the fish in this "blog" and some of them are truly stunning. Those Linears at the start are incredible. Don't think i've seen such wonderful Linears since the Woodcarving and these stunners.

Great angling

02jlloyd

good write up mate

some cracking fish aswell 8)

Shrop

Cheers fellas.

Neil, you know how it is mate... Stoney and Fen are all a bit grim in the winter, thats where the socials come into play

Then back to the "proper waters" in March.

neil_hubber

I know Alex, it was a lighthearted comment.....mine would be simply empty pages for the last month or so

maple

some cracking fish /pictures there m8 8)

, what was the name of the bait you caught on, not sure you said

JAFFA

Cracking result and a good write up Shrops

kind regards Jeff

Techno

Nice one Alex, you had a few Fen fish then bloody good on you mate you deserve them!!

So your tally is 3 carp now ?

whats the picture about with the boats. surley windsufers arnt alowed back to Fen ?
Have been away all year but aim to get back to Fen this season, so drop in for a cuppa.

Tom

matgreasley

You had some fen fish Alex???

Tom, if you mean the three AWESOME fish on page one, i dont think theyre from fen.

Techno

Cambs Carper

None of them fish are from fen mate. There from another water alex fishes.

Shrop

Hi Tom, hows it going m8

As Cambs-Carper said the fish aint from Fen, they are from my other water down oxon, the pics of the lake with the windsurfers on is isn't Fen either....I suppose it does look simular though, quite a big water with an island in the middle!

Got another entry on the way, just writing it out as we speak...

Shrop

After the social trip to the Blue Pool I done a couple of sessions dabbled over the place, mainly little socials on day tickets and a guesty down Oxford. I also had the traditional Christmas social, this time at Fen with a few of the lads.... a great way to use up that boring time between x-mas and new year. Needless to say we blanked and we encountered some mahoosive winds (anyone remember them from around the x-mas time?), we did see a couple though which was all good!

January Social/Guesty down Oxford

X-Mas Social down Fen

April soon come along it the season kicked off down Oxford, a new job has now made my time on the bank a little limited, working 50hours a week it now means I don't get the rods out untill about 2am on the Saturday morning, and have to pack up at 4am on the Monday

In the early hours of Saturday morning I arrived in the car park and made my way to the lake. I crept around making note to walk on the gravely bits or tread on any twigs waking other anglers up. There were a few others on, but all fast asleep... I saw/heard a few fish lump out while sitting in one of the cental swims with the loaded barrow behind me, out where they were showing was deep water, I debated chucking a few choddies out at them but decided to take another sneaky lap around the lake... It paid off as I found a few "boshers" in the margins over shallower waters.

I quietly set up and set a few traps, two next to the reeds I heard fish crash in, and the one on the marginal shelf. By now I was knackered, I had not long finished a 10hour shift and had travelled over 300miles that day, thank god for red bull! Needless to say the Pio was soon setup and I was shelltered under there for some much needed kip. I didn't bother with the alarm clock for the next morning, to be honest I wanted a lie in!

Sometime around 8am the delk was screaming and I was into my first fish from the venue, the fish fell to the sneaky little margin rod with a trimmed down Ocean Protein boilie. On the mat she went 26.12 and was an stunning linear, a nice way to open my account.

26.12 Linear, 'appy days!

The traps were re-set and a much needed relaxing day was had. Just after cooking up a curry the delk was off again, the same cheeky margin rod... This one was a little bigger, a PB Common by a little over a lb at 32.14. A good day indeed!

32.14 Common, a nice way to end the day!

I stayed up a little while longer until about 2am sat out on the mat listening for boshers, a few disturbances were heard in my margins which was a nice little confidnce booster to go to sleep on. The next day soon come around and I decided to wind in for a few hours to go and catch up with a few mates fishing another water. The rods were clipped up and spots baited before I left the swim so as soon as I got back I was on the money in no time. The hangers were left unclipped with mega slack lines for a short while for everything to get pinned down, ten minutes later the line pinged out the clip and I was away again, this time a scraper 20 mirror.

That night was all quiet with the alarm clock disturbing me at 3.30am for a packup

Dying to get back down there saturday morning!

Be lucky...
Alex

chris b

cracking looking fish alex,good dangling mate

I'm sure darren will put that photo of you and that common to good use

courtz

Nice common there alex, and a few good write ups

Shrop

Cheers fellas, managed to get back down there about 2am Saturday morning, I had a little mooch around and set up, I didn't bother with the bivvy as planned on moving to whatever I saw the next morning, thankfully the april showers didn't occur!

The next morning I moved around to the other side and got the traps set for the day ahead. That night I had a funny take that I lost after playing it for a few minutes. I hadn't lost a fish on my bottom bait set-up for a very long time so it was a bit of a kick in the balls and I was left with a slight lack of confidence even though I've landed hundreds on the same set-up! Just one of those things I guess. The next day I managed to spy a few fish from up the tree, I noticed they were mooching up and down the margins with clay all over there heads, it was blatent they had been on the munch in some soft clay somewhere. The fish I caught last weekend were from a clay spot but unfortunatly I couldn't get back in that swim.

A few alterations were made and I re-set the traps... two rods on some fish I had been boshing at about 40yards.

Under the Stars

Sometime in the afternoon the delk set off again and I continued a bit of a roll that afternoon landing fish of 26.12, 22.6 and 19.2. I reset the traps for the night and pretty much packed everything up for an early leave at about 4am. I had fish boshing all over me until the alarm clock indicated it was time for me to leave!. It was a bit hard pushing the barrow past all these fish boshing but I suppose I couldn't throw another sicky!

Sunday Night Sunset

maple

nice write up m8 and some cracking fish

richchappy

stunners

and a cracking write up

now get back on fen and bag a few

Shrop

Well as Rich said above it was about time I made a return to Fen! I was working behind the bar for a bit of overtime Thursday night so decided to book the Friday off and head down straight after the bar closed. I arrived on the Slip Way off Fen Drayton at about 2.30am. The buzz was again immence! I had missed the place big time! I took a sneaky little walk around in the dark trying and failing to find all the swims to see what would be a good choice. By the time I had blown the boat up and loaded it up it was about 3.30 am, I sat back with a bottle of red bull and some pro plus waiting for it to get light. By 4am it was just perfect, even though still dark I could make out all the swims and easily find my way across the expance of water.

Back to Fen

On my little mooch about in the boat I heard a fish crash somewhere infront of the bars swim, it was hard to make exactly where though as it was still dark. I ended up settling in double reedy which covered the east roadway offering some nice shallow water spots for the sunny day ahead. After some Chicken Tikka bites and another bottle of Red Bull for brekky I got the roads sorted on some pukka spots out towards the Island about 230yards. After a quick chat and a catch up with some of the lads the rod was soon pissing line and I was in! I looked up at the spot before I hit the rod to see a fish bow waving across the surface at a great speed. No pressure eh!

The fish weeded me up pretty quickly after it's mega sprint. Something wasn't right, even though the fish was about 230yards the line met the water at about 80yards

I got on the phone to Dan in the next swim for assistance with the boat and he was soon there ready to set sail. As we neared where the line entered the water my heart sank, the line was teathered around an old sunken H-Block that was lodged in a weedbed. Fair play to Dan he soon sorted the mess out and we headed over to the spot where the fish was weeded. My confidence was low, I thought the fish would have got away after all the comotion with the sunken marker. I started to crank the weedbed, my heart sank to an even lower low when I saw my 6oz ball lead on top of the weedbed. Just as I was cursing I saw a bit of grey, "CARP... NET IT" I shouted to Dan. Before the words had left my mouth she was in the net and I was letting out a mega "Coooommmme oooonnn". I don't think i've ever been through so many levels of emotion in the space of 10minutes!

Back at the bank I sorted the gear out and a suitible place for photos. On the mat she went 27.6. My first Fen carp and a stonker to boot. I was buzzing my tits off, by far my most memorable capture!

Coooomeee onnnnn!

I soon re-done the rod and sat there soaking up the atmosphere. A few hours later the rod was away again, I couldn't beleive it, another quick call to Dan and we was out in the boat again, but this time something wasn't right. It all soon come togethor when we saw an angry mid double pike charging about underneath the boat! Perfectly hooked aswell, chodded!

That evening a few beers and a BBQ were consumed in celebration with a few of the lads, happy days! I left the BBQ early, I had been awake over 40hours and was knackered so was well in need of some shut eye. Thank god for red bull! I was disturbed from my deep sleep at about 2am by a true one noter. I looked up at the rod and it was bent right over in the rest. As jumped right in and as soon as I hit I knew I was in to a lump, at over 200yards I was getting flat rodded, taking into account the stretch in the mono that's some power! It soon weeded me and I hopped in the boat, life jacket and headtorch donned. Half way to the fish it freed it's self again and went on another sprint. Things were soon under control as she hit another weedbed. I got above the weedbed and started to steadily apply pressure, the lead popped up and the rod lost its healthy curve, I was in pieces. I couldn't afford to be loosing a fish from Fen when takes were so few and far between. Back on the bank I left the rod leaning against the tree and sulked myself to sleep.

The season soon came to an end and I was heading back up the A14 with mixed emotions. Overall though I was buzzing and so glad to be back!

Ive missed that place!

bigkipper

well in shrop, good dangling mate

Cambs Carper

I think this is the 4th well done!!!!! from me shrop

richchappy

cracking fish mate, really chuffed for you, reading about fen i can only imagine what its like finally banking one from a place like that..
and two runs in a session, bloomin good going

Keep em coming

Rich

robvford

nice one!

Rooney!!!

Gutted for you about that lost one... But what a corker the other one was... Well in Shrop... Top dangling buddy...!!!

Enjoyed reading your write up too...

neil_hubber

fairplay alex, fine dangling mate.

every fish is one to treasure from fen

rav

result fella, top angling.
nice fish that too

Shrop

Cheers fellas, after my Fen session things became a bit manic with work, I managed to sneak out for a couple of nights arriving really late and leaving mega early, real opportunist session! I managed to bag a scraper twenty mirror, a mid double common and lost a scraper 20 at the net.

My next session was a couple of weekends back, I managed to get a little more time this time, arriving at the lake 2am Saturday morning and leaving around midnight on Sunday night. Just as I was pulling into the car park at the lake my phones going... with it being 2am in the morning I answered it expecting it to be either a drunken ex or the lads trying to drag me out up town. It wasn't though, it was my mate Ed calling to see when i'd be there and if before I set up I could go around and do a photo for him. Ed had bagged a nice scraper 20 mirror so the photo's were done and the kettle was on.

I took a mooch around the lake, it was flat calm and deathly silent, I sat in a couple of swims for a few minutes while it was still dark listening for some signs. I heard a few down in the NE corner so decided to set-up there stealthily fishing the margins. Some shut eye was needed as I had been up a silly amount of hours, so as soon as the rods were out I tucked my bedchair away behind the foliage and practiced the art of eye lid watercraft.

I woke up about 7ish, I was blatently on fish but still hadn't had a pick up. A couple of weeks previous I had watched the lakes residents at close quaters coming in and cleaning me out, I tried a few rig tweaks but couldn't get it sussed, the only way I managed to catch the previous session was to create a competitive feeding situation, which triggered them into feeding in a completly different and more confident way. I tried to create this situation by topping up the spots with bait every hour or so, just a few handfulls of halved/crumbed boilies and a handfull of corn. I topped up the spots a couple more times before one made its mistake! The lockedup rod buckled around and I was in. It was hooked only a rodlength from the bank so from the word go it was a good fight. Another victim to the Ocean Protein was soon in the net and being hoisted on the scales.

Margin Caught Common.

The rods were all redone after the commotion and the spots topped up with a few more cheeky little handfulls. A few more fish come along later that day including a couple more 20s.

Another couple of margin munchers

The next morning I was awoken by a powerfull common powering off into the deep open water, the fight was awesome and I was so pleased to eventually get it in the net, it looked a 30 aswell which was a bonus! On the scales it was just an ounce off, 29.15.

An ounce off 30!

That day turned out to be a scorcher, I spent most of the day up trees, around other lakes, poncing cups of tea and trying to get some surface opportunities. Things on the deck were dead, so I stuck at the surface work managing to bag a surface beauty not long before dark!

Most of the gear was packed up for the day surface fishing so I just flicked the bottom rods back out just before dark for the last few hours, sitting back on the unhooking mat next to the loaded barrow. About 10.30 the margin rod ripped off, I eventually got it to the net after another superb fight, the scales were packed away but I guestimated it to be an upper double slipping it back to fight another day.

bigkipper

nice one shrop

richchappy

once again, cracking fish, cracking write up, and cracking pics

fair play

Scotfins

stunning fish in there

Mainz

Awsome