Monday, August 25, 2008

Murston nr. Sittingbourne, Lake 4

SAC, Murston, Lake 4

My first session at Murston on a cloudy, grey, overcast, windy afternoon. Access to the Fourth Lake was easy and I was able to fish secure in the knowledge that the car was safe – I could see it from where I was fishing and this was a great reassurance.
As expected, the lake was extremely weedy and it was obviously going to be a tough job finding somewhere fishable. There were two characters fishing on the far bank and I went round to see how they were getting on; both were fishing poles with sweetcorn as bait and lots of small fish were reported. One of them said however he had caught a Rudd of about three pounds! Could this be true? We are talking National Specimen size here and I don’t doubt it as I’ve heard similar from Phil. My appetite was whetted for them immediately.

My walk along the near bank revealed all the swims weeded up so it was a case of far bank or nothing. Fortunately, there was a ‘Secret Swim’ between the two old geezers and I set up there.

The area to the left of the pitch was almost completely weeded right up. There were some clear spots in the margins but I suspect this was where members had been dragging; where I was and to the right of me, the water was a bit clearer although weed was still present underneath. I managed to find clear-ish water in front of me an under-arm lob out and I set about baiting-up this spot with the Vitalin; I didn’t over-do it too much as I suspect I have done so in the past – particularly on School Pool and I suspect this contributed to my failure. Better I think to build the swim gradually and only lay down groundbait by re-casting the Method Feeders. One rod was baited with artificial corn, one with Crab Pellet, and the other with Pineapple Crush boily. I was very interested to see the response to the boily following the conversation I’d had with Phil regarding bait and my own thoughts on attractiveness.
The corn had been out about ten minutes or so before there was a Breamy-type take and I hooked a fish which shot off into the weed. There wasn’t a thing I could do about it on the John Wilson and it took a good deal of heaving, humping, and hand-lining to get it out. Get it out I did however and landed a five and a half pound Tench! I was absolutely ecstatic with this fish as it seemed as if the plans had at last come to fruition. It was a long-ish, lean individual and I should think had the capacity to go over six on a good day.

Back out with the baits and it’s a long wait for the next fish. This was a rip-roaring take I was convinced was a carp as it shot straight into the weed and came to a dead stop. Initially I couldn’t move it and was convinced I’d have to pull for a break, but by careful handlining I was able to shift a big clump of weed towards me and to the bank. I had no idea if the fish was still on – all I could see was the weed so I just put the net under the whole lot and heaved it onto the bank. Parting the mass of weed, there lay a fish of about four pounds – so it had stayed on after all!

There was one more fish after this – another of about four pounds odd and although I stopped on after dark there were no more takes.

The Fourth Lake at Murston is a fantastic water. Rich as a Sultan’s horde, the water exploded with fry every time the feeder hit the water – they were on it in a flash; the water is alive with fish and I am greatly looking forward to some winter action on here. Some tactic to beat the small fry will be called for – probably a largish particle like Chic Pea and perhaps similar tactics used at Longshaw Farm to beat the tiddlers might succeed. There are also Pike present and I am looking forward to having a go at them with the spinning rod when conditions allow. What with the Tench, Rudd, and Carp there is a wealth of fishing here.