I arrived at the famous Yateley complex bright and early Tuesday morning with a few mates for a social. We had booked on for 3 nights on the famous
Pads Lake. After a few laps of the lake and talking to the previous party who were packing up, it was looking bleak. In fact, only one fish had been out on the previous 4 nights!
A cold, north westerly was pounding across the lake. There was no need for a draw as everybody had picked a swim. I targeted the middle of the lake in slightly deeper water. The lake is very shallow and I managed to find a spot at 5 foot depth, exposed in gravel.
As the fishing was slow, I kept casting to an absolute minimum, and the free offerings were the ever faithful 1
0mm Live System,
Fresh Intense hemp and maggots, all soaked in
Amino Blend 365. A couple kilos of this mix went onto the spots the first night.
As the spots were small gravel areas, I opted for 15mm Live System wafters as hook baits, complete with a couple of maggots on the hair.
Next morning, the fish were showing all over my spots, lumping out one after the other.
At around 9am, the middle rod was away. I lent into a powerful fish. After a scrappy fight, Hadley netted it for me – 35lb 6oz of old warrior – my first Yateley Carp. Buzzing!
The rod was quickly back onto the spot and we photographed the fish. I popped the kettle back on and took a look at the photos on the back of Josh’s camera.
Then, at midday, the left-hand rod ripped off and after another powerful fight I landed a 31lb 6oz mirror. My second Yateley carp and it was another 30!
The rest of the trip was uneventful for me as even colder winds swept through and the fish shut up shop.
Not that it mattered, two 30’s bagged and the social was on.
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