I thought that it may be useful to provide some more details on the individual swims at the lake. We have five individual swims that are spread out along the western bank of the lake. Swim 1 is located at the northern end of the lake opposite the house and Swim 5 is at the southern end of the lake by the dam wall. The central Swim 3 is probably the favourite spot as it is adjacent to the gazebo that provides a covered storage area and a picnic bench. Smaller groups of 1 or 2 anglers can likewise cover a lot of the lake from this one spot so it is a good social spot. Groups of 3 often fish from swims 2, 3 and 4 or choose to spread themselves out further by using swims 1, 3 and 5. Anyway, I’ll include some details on each in turn as a series of posts starting with Swim 1.
Probably the least fished swim on the lake, Swim 1 should not be overlooked and has produced some excellent fishing over the years. Despite it being at the shallow end of the lake has a track record of producing big fish. These particularly include one of our rarely caught big Mirrors known as 'Four Scale' which on its rare visits to the bank always seems to get caught from this end of the lake, usually from the far bank trees to the left of the house as you look out from the swim.
Swim 1 - Left Hand Side
Swim 1 - Right Hand Side
From Swim 1 it is possible to cover perhaps a third of the lake. This area is the shallowest part of lake with average depths of 3-4ft reducing to 2ft or less as the lake shallows further towards the north-east corner.
Whilst it may appear featureless, this is not the case and there are variations in both the lake bed as well as overhanging trees and areas with bloodworm and other food sources. When we drained the lake, we were amazed to see that the north-eastern shallows were covered with numerous holes that had been excavated by feeding fish. The numbers of freshwater mussels that were present was likewise amazing.
Holes Created by Feeding Carp, only Visible when the Lake was Drained
Whilst a lot of shallows and particularly the north corner where the inflow comes in and, also extending along this bank under and adjacent to the trees, are quite silty, this gives way to a harder and sandier bottom perhaps half-way across. It is certainly worth working out where the lake bed changes as fishing just into the silty section can be very rewarding.
The key to fishing this end of the lake is watercraft, particularly line management and careful choice of fishing spots. Don’t assume that the fish are always over the far side. Certainly, there will usually be at least some fish under the far trees to the left and right of the house but then fish also move through the middle parts of the lake. If you are going to fish from Swim 1, sit and watch the water for an hour or two and you will usually be able to see where the fish are feeding. They will show themselves as bubbling fish or in the siltier sections as clouds of silt. Often this will be somewhere around the old stream bed which runs through the central part of the lake. When we drained the lakes there were several hollows along this line where the carp had being feeding heavily and which must mark concentrations of food, presumably bloodworm.
Whilst it’s a personal decision, I would only ever use two rods here with my right-hand rod fishing no more than a half to two-thirds across the lake and the left-hand rod fishing further across to the left, usually somewhere off the trees. The right-hand spot would be chosen based upon watching the lake for a period for signs of activity. By fishing the right-hand rod in this way there is always a safe and unfished area of water off the house bank that enables fish to move up and down the lake. It’s certainly always tempting to go right across to the trees to the right but this can have a detrimental effect on the fishing to the left. Its also possible to bait this section of the lake and draw the fish out to a feeding area.
Further to right is a large leaning alder tree that always holds fish. The fish will lie anywhere under here. It’s debateable whether this is actually Swims 2 water so if your group are fishing both swims it will have to be decided amongst yourselves. Under the tree can only really be fished by using a bait boat or by rowing your bait out. There is also a large feeding area off this tree along the line of the old stream bed which is one of the most consistent feeding areas on the lake and which, due to the temptation of the very fishy looking spot under the alder, is often overlooked. I’ll say more about this spot when discussing Swim 2.
During the summer months, the aerator will often be switched on and is attached to small jetty in front of the house. This pumps a lot of extra oxygen into this part of the lake and is often worth putting a bait somewhere off the aerator at these times.
From Swim 1, I prefer to cast and would always use both a flying back lead and back lead to ensure that everything is pinned to the lake bed.
Whilst not an issue for bait boat users, one of the benefits of fishing this swim is that it is possible to bait most of the fishing spots form the bank either with a catapult or by feeding from the house bank. Certainly, I would recommend this approach ahead of a spomb which can be quite disturbing in a lake of this size.
If you decide not to start in this swim, I would also recommend feeding several spots at this end of the lake and just keeping any eye on them over the first few days of the holiday. You will be amazed how quickly the fish will begin to feed in these areas and with no fishing pressure they soon become very confident. You will often catch a fish very quickly with a bit of effort pre-baiting areas like this over a period of days.
Another word of caution when fishing this end of the lake is to avoid the lakeside path when walking round the lake. The fish will quickly get very spooky and it makes the spots off the trees towards the corner very difficult. Its therefore always best to follow the top path along the fence line.
'Four Scale' at 50lb+ Caught from the Tree Line on the Left Side of Swim 1
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