Readers Lake - 03/08/09

After my recent success with the method feeder at Imberhorne the temptation to try the same tactics at Readers was too much to resist. I had originally planned to be at the lake by 07:00 but as usual I struggled to get organised and it was closer to 08:00 by the time I unlocked the gate and drove into the car park. Being a weekday I was half expecting to have the lake to myself so it was a bit of a shock to see at least a dozen anglers already packed out around the lake, I had to double check my club book to make sure I hadn't got my dates mixed up and there was a match on. After confirming it was ok to fish as well as having a quick natter I decided to fish a swim on the left bank opposite the first island where I could see Carp moving about.

Set up was very similar to what I had used at Imberhorne, Korum Neoteric quiver rod with 2 oz tip, 8lb line and a 28g Guru x-safe elasticated method feeder with a size 14 barbless Preston Innovations 4" hair rig.

I was still hoping to land my first proper Tench of the season so I decided to use Van Den Eynde Expo as my method mix, Tench are renowned for having a sweet tooth and this bright red molasses groundbait seems to drive them crazy, for bait I was using double corn. With a gentle underarm lob I dropped the feeder within a foot of the island and tightened up so the tip was just slightly tensioned.

Action seemed to come in spells throughout the day as I would land three Carp in an hour and then nothing for the next two, by the time I packed up at 16:00 I had managed six Carp to 6lbs including a couple of Ghosties, a solitary Tench of 1.5lbs (finally!) and a Bream of 3lbs.

Another guy on the lake made the mistake of leaving his rod unattended and had it pulled in, he did manage to get it back but it took him over an hour of casting to retrieve it.

There are some pretty big lumps in Readers and whilst walking back to the car I had a chat with a guy who the previous week caught a 21lb Common from the very swim I had been fishing.