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Stillwaters
TAKING TIME to choose a good swim on a
stillwater is even more important than it is on rivers.
That is because theere is no flow to carry bait to fish and
draw them into your peg, instead, you must locate them.
It always pays to spend a few minutes looking at a
venue after you arrive for a pleasure-fishing session to
assess a number of important factors before you choose
where to fish. The first think to take into account is the
wind direction. if there is a fairly strong prevailing wind, it
will have blown items of food across the surface of the
water, into one corner, attracting fish with it. Fishing into
the wind may be uncomfortable, but it can often be
very rewarding.
Natural Features
The next thing to look for is natural feature, such as an
island, a reed bed, or an area of lilies. many commercial
fisheries are completely flat and featureless below the
water, with no sunken trees, snags or big drop-offs in
depth. That is good for the angler. Fish are attracted to any
features that will provide cover and safety, and on these
venues the anglers can see all of them. If there is one over-
riding rule, it is to fish as close to these features as you
possibly can. You should look for a peg from which you
can cast close to an island - within two or three feet -
or where you can drop your bait near to beds of
reeds or lilies.
The biggest mistake that many anglers make on these
commercial fisheries is to cast straight out in front of them
into open water. Often the very best place to fish is about
two feet from the bank, right next to the reeds that
are virtually under your feet. If the water is coloured, as it
often is on these venues, fish will be there even if the water
is only two feet deep.
Gravel pits
Gravel pit complexes present a completeley different
challenge. Gravel pits are like the surface of the moon
under the water, with huge craters where the gravel has
been dug out, large ledges where the diggers have moved
around a large, shallow bars where the waste materials
were dumped.
There is no paticular pattern to their construction
and each pit will be different. A venue might plunge to a
depth of 30 feet only 20 feet out, but in the
middle it might be only 4 feet deep. this is a
situation which requires you to spend time mapping out
the pit to locate the feautures that will attract fish. But it is
worth it, as gravel pits hold some huge specimen fish and
many British records are achieved in such waters.
The first step to map out a gravel pit is a technique
called 'Leading', which is, essentially, plumbing the depth all
over the venue. This involves using a 1-2oz lead
tied to the end of your line with a 'marker float' above it
(see picture). When you cast this rig out, the lead sinks to
the bottom of the pit, and you retrieve the line until the float
is pulled down in the water until it hits the lead. Then you
pay out line, a foot at a time,
untill the float appears at the surface. By counting how
many feet you have released, you can calculate the depth of
water at that point, and more importantly, you can measure
any changes in the depth as you can cast to different areas.
As you move from swim to swim, you can build up a
picturer (indeed many anglers actually draw a picture) of
the sub-surface profile of the lake's bed. It is from this
map that you can plan your attack.
In warmer months or during warm spells of weather
in the winter, try fishing along the side of shallow bars, as
these are natural food larders and, therefore, excellent fish-
holding areas. During cold weather, fish the deeper areas
of the put, where water temperatures will be warmest.
The time at which you fish is vital to success. On clear
venues (and most gravel pits are clear) night fishing is the
best time to catch fish, and this is particularly true on hard-
fished venues. If you are unable to fish at night, try to fish on overcast, breezy days when the light intensity under the
water will be low.
If you do catch a good fish, make a note of the time
at which you caught it, as big fish in gravel pits generally
have set feeding times which may only last for an hour
each day.
Gravel pits are undoubtedly hard work compared
with artificially-stocked commercial fisheries, but the
rewards can be fantastic.