Swim 5 is the last swim that you come to and is located close to the south-west corner of the lake. Whilst it has some great spots in its own right, it is also possible to fish to the left to some of the spots referred to in Swim 4. As such, if there are two or three of you fishing, I would spread out and stick to one angler in this part of the lake.
Swim 5
This is the deepest part of the lake with depths typically ranging from 9-11 feet. Whilst shallower on the western bank and along the dam wall, the lake soon deepens and is fairly uniform across to the eastern bank. The lake bed in this part of the lake is often shallow silt. There are also some harder patches of sand and stony ground, particularly towards the dam wall and in the south-west corner.
There are a number of fish holding features here and the choice between Swims 4 and 5 really depends upon which spots you particularly want to target. I always like to reduce the distance to my spots as far as possible and Swim 5 is the best swim to target the dam wall and the chimney. Casting or boating straight out the chimney from here is a very good spot that has produced some great catches. The area between the chimney and dam wall is another great spot where fish regularly patrol and feed. The section of water between the base of the dam wall and chimney is fairly narrow so any fish in this area will inevitably be close to a well-positioned bait. Swim 5 is also the best place to target the dam wall. You will see fish all along the dam wall at times and its really just a question of picking a spot and regularly introducing loose feed. They key decision is whether to fish up on the slope of the dam wall or along the base and whilst fish do come very close in here, I would always target the base first. If fishing very close, be aware that you could encounter some crayfish, particularly at night.
Another excellent although underfished spot is the south-western corner of the lake. This has deep water relatively close in and has a habit of producing some very large fish. It seems to be a particularly productive spot in the early morning. It is the first part of the lake that the sun hits on the morning and the first hour after the sun rises seems to consistently produce fish. I am not quite sure why this happens and it is probably due to a slight rise in oxygen levels which triggers a feeding spell.
The Underfished South-west Corner
To the left of the chimney as you look at it, the section between the horizontal Alder and chimney, which is a consistent big fish area, can also be easily fished from here, as can the horizontal Alder area itself.
As with other parts of the lake it’s a personal choice how this part of the lake is fished and anglers have had success using various techniques. Whilst I prefer a wider spread of boilies, we have had other great catches fishing with much tighter patches of bait.
Another option for the dam wall and section between and south-west corner is to target this from the dam wall itself. It’s a great spot to spend a few hours with just a rod, net and mat. Whilst you have to be quiet, it’s perfectly possible to bait these spots and then fish them from the dam wall. This can be really exciting close range fishing where, with care, the fish will be only a few metres away. Often there seem to be feeding fish all over your bait and you expect a take at any minute.
One for me! 36lb 4oz Fishing Close Range from the Dam Wall (The Chimney Can Be Seen in the Background to My Right)
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