It has been over 6 years since I visited the Premier Big fish water of Margot. It was back in August of 2006 when Jim Kelly and I made our visit to the lake as test anglers for Angling Lines. The temperatures were in the late thirties early forties, blistering hot but we still managed to catch plenty of carp. At that time Margot did have its problems, with low water levels, lots of weed and the lake was full of Poisson chat.
This time it is mid May of 2012 when I arrived at the Margot along with my fishing companion, Phil Russell. The temperatures were in the mid teens and the forecast was for bright sunny days at the beginning of our week and turning changeable towards the end of the week. The water level was high, almost to the top of the banks and there was little sign of weed and no reports of Poisson chat problems.
Lake improvements and facilities
The facilities are 1st class for a bivvy only water, excellent shower, toilet, washroom, plenty of freezer and fridge capacity, plenty of electric points for charging bait boats etc, and a fully equipped kitchen, with oven, grill, electric rings, and microwave.
All the swims have been either extended out into the lake, or the margins have been deepened for landing fish. Each swim is now provided with a Nash Monster carp cradle and large rubber horse mats.
All the swims have vehicular access and all have plenty of water in front of them to apply 4 rods with ease.
Another asset to the lake is the bread deliveries that are made to the lake each morning by a local Baker who supplies, baguettes, croissants and cakes
Arrival at the Lake
The previous week’s anglers had numbered 8 in total, so every available swim had been fished, with 7 out of the 8 anglers using bait boats. Mark Bushell had already completed one week in swim 5 and was there for his second spell on the lake. Only one other angler was to join us and that was Alex Shepherd.
We sorted out our swims with Mark moving into swim 6, Alex in swim 8, Phil in swim 4 and I dropped in swim 3.
Tactics
Now my usual tactics for a lake of Margot’s size, this being around 19 acres, would be to start off fishing with single baits or PVA bags and introducing bait slowly until I had built up a feeding pattern. On this occasion I decided on a different approach due to the fact that there had been 7 anglers on the lake with bait boats.
I envisaged that there would be a large spread of bait all around the centre of the lake.