FIRST FORTY OF YEAR TOPS 12-FISH MONKS HIT!
Perry Alabaster got off the mark on Monks Pit for the year with gusto, rattling off a dozen fish over the course of a three-night stay, including his first forty of 2022!
“A brisk westerly wind was forecast for the duration of my session, so I really wanted to be fishing on the back of it up at the deeper end of the lake where I felt the carp could be holding up in some degree of comfort,” said Perry.
“A deep-water swim on the east side of the lake that had produced a lake record 56lb 8oz mirror a couple of weeks back had just done a few more fish to mid-thirties, so I was happy to wait a few hours to get in there and give it a go. Once I’d set up, the bailiff arrived with a guy who was mapping out the lake contours using a really snazzy baitboat and echo-sounder. As they worked their way around the lake, they finally got to within a few yards of my water and asked me if I’d mind them scanning my swim. I said that’d be fine and I couldn’t resist a sneaky look on the screen to see if any fish showed up in my swim, and to all of our surprise, it looked as though there were a lot of fish just a short distance out, straight in front of my rods!
“Not wanting to spook anything that could possibly be carp by chucking a 3.5oz lead on their heads, I decided to drop a hinged stiff rig from a baitboat on to the likely area, baited with just a single Wraysberry pop-up tipped with a few maggots. It wasn’t long before I was into a fish! It was only a mid-double, but that was a blank session out the way. Any thoughts I had of how easy this fishing lark can be with modern technology evaporated over the course of the day, as only one more little double graced my net before dark.
“The next day I made a few rig changes, reverting back to my trusty bottom-bait rig, baited with a Bug Hard Hooker accompanied by a small stick mix of Bug boilie crumb and Crayfish Mini Mix pellets. I cast three rods out to my left at various ranges between 50 and 80 yards just into the calm water behind the wind line and, sure enough, the bites came regularly on day two! A couple of mid-twenties were very welcome, especially one in particular that was already towing around a rig and a few inches of leader material.
“Casting PB pop-ups into the calm water also worked well on day two, resulting in a couple more twenties and doubles, but it was the Bug rods that produced the two biggest fish of the session, a very welcome 30lb-plus mirror quickly followed by a lovely, dark hard-fighting 41lb mirror, my first forty of 2022; I was buzzing with that one!
“With work rearranged yet again, I was able to stay on a third night to fish until 12 o’clock the following day and the extra night proved worthwhile, as I banked a couple more doubles on the Bug rods and a stunning scaly 20lb 8oz mirror on the maggot-tipped Wraysberry pop-up rod as I was packing away.”
Perry’s first forty of 2022!
A low thirty on the Bug rod
One of four twenties to 26lb
A cracking low-twenty scaly to wrap up the session
