SEVEN-FISH CATCH ON DEBUT SESSION!
Max Braby couldn’t have hoped for a better start to life on his Lee Valley syndicate water, as his maiden session yielded no fewer than seven fish, including a 30-pounder.
The 32lb 12oz mirror came during a flurry of activity after Max had baited a spot with a mixture of whole and chopped Bug boilies. The thirty was backed up by six twenties during the 48-hour session, the largest of which being a common of 27lb 2oz.
“I arrived to an empty lake in the late afternoon with a two-night session ahead of me, with the intention of learning as much as I could on my first trip,” said Max.
“I saw a good fish show right in the far corner of the lake, so quickly got round to the zone and stood watching for a while. After 15 minutes, I had a lock on exactly where the fish were grouped up, so put a little mesh bag of chopped Bug boilies right in amongst them. A couple of hours went by and I started to see some activity out in the pond, so started getting itchy feet. Thirty seconds before I was about to bring in the rod, I had a feisty take, which ended up being a lovely 25lb 4oz mirror. I was buzzing to catch one so soon on my first session!
“After catching that fish, it was now dark. I packed up what little gear I had and got on the move back up the lake to where I had seen some activity earlier. As soon as I got into the swim, I heard another decent fish show, so got to work finding a spot in the rough area where they were showing. A few casts later, I had found a spot I was happy with, so put two rods on it and a few Spombs of bait out, which I hoped would be just enough for a bite.
“I quickly got the rod back on the spot and put a few more Spombs out. About 30 minutes later, I had another take, but this one felt a little bit more serious. I could tell this fish was bigger than the two I had already caught, just by the way it was fighting and it holding out at range. This fish tipped the scales to 32lb 12oz.
“I got a little break in the action which allowed me to take the photos of the two carp I had caught, but as I was taking the pictures of the 32-pounder, I had another bite off the same rod, which ended up being a decent common of 27lb 2oz.
“That short spell of action, which also included two smaller carp, was the last bit of action for the rest of the night, the next day and the next night! The lake had completely shut down and I saw no signs of fish anywhere, but I was still over the moon with what I had caught, especially for my first trip on the ticket.
“Then on the last morning, I saw some unexplained ripples coming from the left of my swim at very close range. The longer I stood watching this piece of water, I noticed a couple of bubbles coming up – clearly there was something there. I quickly put a mesh bag of chopped Bug boilies in the zone and just before leaving I caught one more, a lovely mirror of 24lb.
Hookbait-wise, Max fished with both 15mm Bug Corker wafters and 12mm Bug Half Tones pop-ups.
