YORKSHIRE FORTY ON YORKSHIRE DAY!
Kane Nelson celebrated Yorkshire Day in style by not only landing his first-ever UK forty, but doing so from Yorkshire!
The 44lb mirror was the highlight of a five-fish catch on the Approach Fisheries in West Yorkshire for the 42-year-old project manager, who had almost conceded defeat in the battle when the fish took him into a weedbed. Eventually, the fish began moving and the result was a milestone capture and a Yorkshire Day memory to cherish.
Kane then went on to back up the new PB with three more fish over the remainder of his session, including two thirties to 36lb.
Kane takes up the story: “I dropped back on to Willows after a difficult trip to France, so I was fired up to try and finally get amongst the fish. The lake was busy with anglers and the roads were less than desirable for carting your gear around!
“The first night passed by with little action; only a few liners in the night. I was up just before 5am, as a thunderstorm had moved in, and just as a heavy downpour began, the middle rod burst into life! The result was a 20lb mirror and a significant drenching!
“Lunchtime was approaching and I was sure bite time was over. With the weather changing again and the sun coming out, I had already reset my left-hand rod on a new spot with the idea of moving my right-hand rod on a different spot, because I was seeing fish all over my area. Just before I could finish making a new rig, it trickled off! I bent into the fish and it darted straight for the weedbeds! The fight didn’t last too long before I put the rod back on the rest and to allow it to free itself. After a while I concluded I had lost it and decided I needed to apply a bit of pressure and pull free from the weed. I was so close to pulling for a line break, but I felt something – it was still on! I eventually got it free, but I still had chunks of weed on the line. I saw it briefly and knew it looked a fairly decent fish. Squeaky bum time started to kick in, as I desperately didn’t want to lose it. I managed to land it on my own and the relief was something else. I had no idea it was a forty at this stage; I thought it was a mid-thirty and maybe a bit bigger.
“Scott Kelly was fishing next to me and he helped with the weighing and photos. The dial swung around to 44lb exactly. I was absolutely ecstatic to catch a PB, which was also my first UK forty. To make it even better, it came from Yorkshire on Yorkshire Day!
“The next two nights yielded three more fish, all mirrors of 36lb, 34lb and 23lb. Both thirties were caught on a spot using a new rig presentation baited with 12mm Fruitylicious pop-ups, which were fished in PVA bags of Crayfish Mini Mix pellets, Crayfish Heavy Bag and Feeder Mix and 17mm halibut pellets. The idea was to have instant attraction from the Crayfish products, with the 17mm pellets still on offer for the next several hours. It worked so well I’ll be using it more in my fishing.
“The other two spots comprised helicopter set-ups with stiff-hinge multi-combi rigs baited with Secret 7 Corker wafters coated in Krill Meal tipped off with a flake of PB pop-up. A little trick I learnt from Steve Haylett when we fished in France last year.
“All three spots produced and were fished over a bed of 15mm and 22mm SLK boilies and 15mm S7 boilies, all coated in SLK Hydro Spod Syrup and Salmon Oil.”
