July 2009 (2)
OLD DAM POOL; BADEN HALL.
This month, I’d thought I would suggest one or two methods to fish the OLD DAM POOL situated at the top of the Baden Hall site. Covering just a couple of acres, with depths to around 12’, the pool was formed by splitting the original DAM POOL. All the established fish were moved to this pool and the addition of double figure bream to complement the carp (which reach over 20lbs) ensures that there is plenty worth catching!
To start with, I thought I would try to catch some of the large bream which I know should fall to standard swimfeeder tactics. I picked a warmish June day, overcast with an easterly breeze to put a ripple on the water; I decided to fish into the wind as I know that Baden bream often follow the wind when its pushing onto the DAM. I wandered around looking for fish to show, and to try and find a peg that looked both roomy and under used; I didn’t want to fish where someone had been over the previous few days as I wanted to find my own groundbaiting pattern. I ended up choosing peg 12, tucked away at the top corner with plenty of deep, open water but which gave me the option of coming close in to fish against reedy cover.
My tackle consisted of a Shimano ‘Beast Master’ 13’ medium feeder rod which came with a choice of 3 quivertips from 1-3ozs, which was teamed with a Shimano ‘Nexave’ 4000 fixed spool reel loaded with 6lb mainline. I chose to fish a Drennan cage style swimfeeder as I wanted the bait to burst out of it as soon as it hit the bottom to create a carpet of food which I could build up until the fish began to feed. I decided to use a 1oz tip as it would give me the sensitivity I needed to spot shy bites at fairly close range (35-40 yards), and, as my feeder was only smallish, I didn’t need to use anything bigger. There are several ways to attach a feeder to the mainline, but past experience on this pool has shown me that a running rig with the feeder stopped by a small shot and buffer bead above the hooklink works very effectively.
Cage feeder attachment.
I use hooks to nylon, and a size 16 to 3 ½ bottom gave me the option of big or small baits. The hooklength was set to about 3’ and the set up was made into a semi fixed rig with the addition of a medium float stop further up the line to give the fish 6” before it felt the weight of the feeder. By casting around an unbaited rig until I found the depth of water I wanted to fish in, and the edge of a shelf, I quickly ‘clipped up’ my reel to give me spot on accuracy every time as this is important when trying to build a swim for bream. I picked a far bank ‘marker’ so I could now make sure that my rig landed in the right spot each time it was cast. By pinching some PVA foam onto my hook and casting out, when it dissolved and floated to the surface, I was able to see exactly where the hookbait was and then catapulted out ten orange sized balls of groundbait to kick start things. I could also have made several casts with a baited feeder to achieve the same thing, but I wanted it in fast to give the swim time to settle.
I had already prepared my groundbait the night before by mixing VITALIN, ( a muesli based dog food), white breadcrumbs, sweetcorn and dead maggots (frozen to kill them) along with a few Baden pellets into a fairly fluffy concoction, so by adding a little lake water first thing on the bank, it was soon at just the right consistency. I use dead maggots as I don’t want them to break up the groundbait as it falls through the water, or to crawl away from the baited patch. When I prepare the night before, I always use boiling water with a liquid bream attractor added to soak the bait so it picks up the flavours…..I just find it works better.
Groundbait mix.
When fishing this pool, I always take a selection of baits as sometimes the bream take corn for a few casts, then meat, then maybe maggots; a change bait is always a good idea and is something that can give you an edge…There is nothing worse than watching other anglers catch on a bait you didn’t bring!!
Putting 3 maggots on the hook, I hurled the feeder out and put the rod tip below the water before feathering the cast; this meant that the line was under water and would not be affected by wind or drift. I then tightened up with a couple of turns of the reel handle to get a small bend in the quivertip. By doing this, I can spot ‘drop back’ bites if the bream move the feeder towards me, as the tip will spring back and the line will go slack.
Correct angle for quivertip.
After 10 minutes, if nothing has happened, I always tweak the bait back towards me a few inches; sometimes this can provoke a bite as a fish investigates the movement. If not, then I retrieve and change the bait, recast and wait another 10 minutes before repeating the manoeuvre. Over time, this adds to the bait on the lake bed and increases the amount of scent around the hookbaits. If I constantly change the bait, I can find out what will take fish. On this particular day, after a great deal of cold rain on the previous three days which had lowered the water temperature, I knew it would take time to find something they would feed on. Double corn seemed to provide the answer as I got my first positive bite after 30 minutes to reveal a bream of about 4lbs; not huge, but a great start.
Double corn hookbait.
By building up the swim, the fish
continued to feed with confidence, rolling over the baited area and showing
themselves with a stream of line bites. I did have to experiment with hookbaits
but double corn caught more than any other, although mini halibut pellets worked
well. By shortening the hooklength as the bream became more confident around the
feeder, it seemed to register more positive bites and I was able to ‘see’ more
of what was happening as the fish moved around in the swim and my rod tip
‘quivered’. Throughout the day, I took a string of bream up to 9lb 2ozs along
with a few nice roach and carp to just under 15lbs, so it was a very successful
session. Previously I’ve had ‘slabs’ to 13lb 3ozs, so I know they are in the
OLD DAM POOL.
Bream
showing hook position.
There are other ways to fish for the big bream at Baden Hall; floatfishing can be useful, especially with a pole, but to get out into the deeper water that the fish often patrol usually means presenting your bait hard on the bottom. The ‘method’ is another exciting way to catch, (when you get a ‘take’ you’ll know what I mean!) and I’ll cover that next time.
Until then, tight lines!!