by Martyn Russ & John Rees
Whilst the weather is good and the sun is still shining we thought we would give the new Lamby Lake a try and see what it was like. When we got there we could see it was a large lake with enough room for over 40 pegs plus more. There were big reed patches all round the lake and a bay area to the one side with a small foot bridge over the one end (that has no rails, so watch out young kids and health & safety a gust of wind and you could be taking an early bath). The other end ran up to the over pass bridge and along the side of a rail track.
As it was such a large lake we decided not to trek the entire lake but to sus out the one end with the small foot bridge and took a look at the different swims and areas to see what we could find. We then decided to set up on the fourth swim from the entrance site that was hidden behind a pile of reeds and bushes so it was quite sheltered. We noticed there was quite a quantity of ducks and swans at the entrance and didn’t know at that time they would be the main feature of the day.
As we were both fishing we decided on a 2 rod split scenario so it would cover more water and give a better chance at finding some carp. We prepared the spod mix witch included aniseed and dead maggots plus a whole lot of other goodies to entice the fish into the baited areas. John then set up his two rods whilst i baited mine up as they were pre-setup at home. I decided on a Tigernut boilie with a pink pop up for extra attraction on the one rod with a size 8 Carp Force Wide Gape hook tied on with a Captive Braid Hook length running to a swivel connected to 45 lb Core-Zero Leader from Taska. Also using anti tangle sleeves and a weighted hook aligner it was just perfect for what i wanted. On the reels i was using the 15 lb Fluorocarbon Fishing line that we got from Total Outdoors and the CK Fusion Expert 3lb Test Curve 12’ foot Carp rods.
John was using 12’ foot 2.75 lb test curve carp rods again with reels loaded with 15lb carp line. One had CF STEALTH 15lb Carp Line on and the other had the CF CAMOU line on. He had decided to fish one rod with a pop-up the same setup as me except for the leader witch he used the Silk un-leaded weighted camo Leader on both of his rigs. One had a fluorocarbon hook length and the other a Captive Braided hook length.
John was the first to get any action as after a couple of line bites he suddenly got a run but the fish dropped the bait and he was gutted. I myself had had a couple of line bites and then a sudden run towards me but by the time i managed to reel in far enough to strike the fish had already shaken its head and dropped the hook but kept the boilie cheeky thing.
This sadly was the only action we had for the entire day as it was just way too hot. Also every time we tried to bait up the swims a swarm of birds would come and clean up the bait. This kept on happening time and time again no matter what we tried. When we spodded up an area the birds, around 50 or 60 of them would spend the next hour in the swim diving down for the bait and picking it up of the bottom. We then resorted to PVS bags full of bait tied to our lead clips to get some bait to our areas and the fish sussed on to this and started again diving down to get the bait. Even to the point i thought i had caught a lovely carp as the first rod ripped off but when i struck into it all of a sudden a cormorant came shooting out of the water with the boilie on the beak and suddenly dropped it when it realised it was reeling it in.
We soon found out why this was happening as people who visit the lake just to walk round with their dogs were feeding the birds off the foot bridge so every time someone walked over the bridge they would flock to the area waiting for food. Its crazy as this just spoilt the day and the fishing. It messed up the swims with all the birds diving for the bait all the time and i mean all day long this kept happening. I for one will not be re-visiting this venue any time soon.
Wet Nets & Tight Lines
