With no anglers visiting the lake in the week leading up to the 27th November, it meant another week of hard work for Helen and I which included us starting to remove the dead trees from the large island. Sadly it has been left to grow wild for a number of years and the brambles have taken over strangling the life out of anything else trying to grow. So we set to work improving the overall look as well as improving the chances for the beautiful trees trying to get a hold over there.
As the week all too quickly came to an end we prepared to welcome a husband and wife party who were staying in the cabin. John and Carol arrived late Saturday morning, having had a horrendous journey. They missed the ferry they were booked onto, and had to wait two hours until they could get on to one. Then there was an emergency with rescue boats having to go out to a yacht in distress in the channel which meant that they had to sit off Calais until the problem was resolved as the emergency boats were given priority at the port of Calais. Such a shame as most people comment on how straight forward and easy the trip is.
They were understandably tired upon arrival and after a cup of tea Helen took Carol down to show her around the cabin whilst John and myself had a wander around the lake. He was very impressed with the place, and even more so when he learnt he had the place to himself for the week. I left him to set up, and get himself organised.
They wandered along for their evening meal at the appointed time, after which John said he doubted if he would fish that night preferring to get his head down and have a fresh start in the morning.
Sunday morning we went out in the boat and had a prod around his swim, and dropped off one or two H block markers in open water spots. He baited these spots and commenced fishing in earnest. Sadly he lost a fish during the Sunday night, and so again we baited up the following day. Monday saw a few fish showing in and around the baited areas, which was a good sign, John set himself up for another nights fishing. He lost one during the late evening to a hook pull after playing it for a wee while.
At 6am he was rewarded for his efforts with a take followed by a good tussle before landing a 28lb mirror. Once again the daylight hours were slow, although once again there were fish showing. At 7pm that evening he landed his second fish of the week with a fine 30lb mirror. Overnight he sadly had two takes both of which he lost, one to a hook pull, the other a screaming take which when lifting the rod was met with no fish on the end.
He decided to move into the double swim on Wednesday and try his luck there. Sadly it was to be no better, resulting in no fish overnight. He moved back into the cabin and back onto his original spots which he felt more confident with. His confidence was proved to be right, as at 3am he landed his third fish of the week another mirror, this one weighing 29lb’s. Friday night saw another fish lost sadly, and on Saturday the process of packing down began. It had been a pleasure to meet both John and Carol, and we thoroughly enjoyed their company during the week.
Weather conditions permitting he hadn’t done too bad, with 8 takes and 3 fish landed, but for a few hook pulls it might have been so much better.