Pleck Lane, Whitmore, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 5HW
Milo Lake
Luke suggested that we all get out on the bankside last week and so we began to find a new venue to fish at the weekend. He is getting married soon and his partner Jo, wants him from under her feet as she plans everything so he has been given a lot of free passes lately and tries to get on the bankside as often as possible. We can all see what is going to happen once that ring is on her finger, so he is making hay while the sun shines and building up a bank of memories to reflect upon when the free passes suddenly cease and we are all sat bankside and he is cutting the grass or trimming the hedge on a Sunday morning.
He suggested that we pay a visit to either Cudmore or Furnace Mill on the Saturday and it was quickly agreed that a days fishing was something we could all do with and so we had to chose the venue. I did say that I thought Furnace Mill would be a little too far for Richard to travel to from Northants, and I knew Damian wouldn't be too chuffed either because the fishery wasn't in Nottinghamshire, although to be fair to him he has travelled quite extensively lately to Northants, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire for our little fishing adventures so he is improving. We settled on Cudmore after looking at the website and saw that one lake, Tara, held Catfish up to 65lbs, Carp up to 32lbs, Pike up to 20lbs and Perch at 4lbs.
This meant there would be something for everyone, Damian and Richard could go after the Cats, Luke, John and myself could try and land a pretty decent Perch and there would be lots of smaller fish to keep us all busy. It was decided then that we would head to what has become the Wembley of Coarse Angling and the home of the Fish 'O' Mania Final. I was really looking forward to it and headed into the weekend full of confidence that I may break the 10lbs barrier for a Carp. It was also the first time that I could use some of the new tackle that a mate Kirk James, had given me and I had plans to get my new(ish) 16 metre pole out of the holdall for the first time and see what all the fuss about pole fishing was about. Unfortunately Richard had to pull out because he had been working in Ireland during the week and wanted some time with his kids, so it would be just the four of us and whichever members of Luke's tribe came with him.
It was agreed that an early start would be in order because with it being a Bank Holiday weekend, there may be quite a few heading out to get some fishing done and so we all said we would meet up at the fishery at about 07:00. Now arriving anywhere on time is not my strongest trait, a fact that is well known amongst those who know me, so at around 06:00 I had a call from Damian to check I was on my way and I could happily tell him that I was indeed about to eave the house and head up the M6 to the Potteries. I set off accordingly with that little nagging feeling that I had left something important behind. As I sat at the lights, waiting to go up the slip road at Junction 2, M5, I checked the van's well in the top of the dashboard and quickly realised that I had left my glasses on the kitchen worktop....Bumholes !!!!!
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| Cudmore Map |
After a quick turnaround and retrieval of the aforementioned specs I was on my way again, but I had added an unnecessary 20minutes to the journey and the 07:00 start was looking like yet another broken promise to be on time. I flew along the motorway with the cruise control set to 80 mph in the vain hope I would make up some of the lost time but it was not to be and I got off the M6 at Junction 15 at 07:10, not too bad and certainly not as late as usual, so I was taking what positives I could from the situation. I then noticed a car ahead with a trailer attached and realised it was Luke and John so another positive because I would arrive at the same time as they did. I followed Luke down some country lane, slightly concerned that the trailer was going to overturn as it bounced rather than rolled through the many potholes, and eventually into the fishery.
Damian was already there and had been up to the cafe / shop and been told that Tara lake was being used for those who were there for the night fishing and that we would have to go to another lake. This wasn't really a problem for myself, Luke or John because we were not going to arget the big Cats or Carp, but Damian had prepared for those type of fish with some huge 32mm pop ups for the Cats, huge Size 4 barbless hooks etc. Now he was going to have to rethink his tactics.
After a bit of a chat about pegs we all set off to the shop to pay and have a look at what baits were available. I only needed maggots because I was planning on using the Method Feeder with green bethaine 4mm pellets mixed with 2mm feed pellets and a can of sweetcorn mixed in and then one or two kernels on the hook. The rest went off into the used tackle section of the shop and had a look around before paying and heading to the lake. John then appeared from the used tackle section laiden down with a bivvy, day shelter and trolley which he got for under £100, so he had a proper little result there.
We all set up on our chosen pegs, Damian and myself at the end of the lake facing a small island with the wind blowing into our faces, and Luke and John around to our left also facing the island but with the added feature of a few over hanging trees away to their left. We felt that we had all bases covered and had set up accordingly following the generally accepted rules of fishing into the wind tight to the bank of the island etc. However, the fish did not appear to have been sent the script and for the first 2 or 3 hours it looked as though we could all be on for a Blankety Blank cheque book and pen if things didn't improve.
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| My old school bite alarm |
I had been using one of the carp rods that Kirk had given me and I had found a very old bite alarm amongst some tackle I had bought last year, so I had this set up on the rod pod with the Method Feeder out near the island. Nothing had happened on the line for ages and so I went off for a cuppa by my van when I heard an alarm going off. I was looking around to see who was on with a fish when I saw Damian running down to my peg and striking the rod. It had been my alarm that had been going off and I had forgotten that I had it out. Unfortunately the fish got away with it this time but I had provided the rest of them with a good laugh which I doubt they are going to let me forget in a while. After much laughing at my expense, everyone returned to what they were doing and it was around this time that Damian pointed out the colour of the sky to the east of us and which was heading our way. The clouds were the colour of slate and moving very quickly towards us. Both Damian and myself rushed to our vans and moved them a few yards back to be directly behind out pegs, I put my umbrella up in the newly purchased extension arms that I had fitted to my new(ish) seat-box and we waited for the downpour.
The grey clouds got darker and darker, the temperature dropped dramatically and the first few spots began to fall. I remember feeling them hitting my knees, which were just sticking out from underneath the cover of the umbrella, and thinking that I wasn't getting wet. It was then that I saw the hail on the floor in front of me and realised that we were getting a mixture of rain and hail, but then things changed again and we were bombarded with just hail, the biggest hail I had ever seen. The little balls of ice were the size of processed peas, not the usual garden pea size I'm used to. A quick glance from under the umbrella told me that it may be time to leave the peg for the shelter of the van as the lake surface looked as if it was boiling as the hail smashed onto it. It was like a curtain travelling at speed across the lake and I had real concerns that they would rip through the material on the umbrella. The sound of a van door slamming shut told me that Damian had already done one, so I began to make my way to my van as well. It was at this point that one icy missile found it's target and pinged me in the right goolie and I was left almost doubled up in pain, but then to add insult to injury a second one managed to hit me right on the end of the winky. That was enough for me and I abandoned my peg and sort of hobbled to the van, where I sat feeling very sorry for myself with a throbbing knacker and sore winky.
The situation around by Luke and John was equally as bad, but whilst John and Luke's three kids, Lauren, Rhys and Fin, took shelter from the hail, Luke just zipped his coat right up, pulled his hat further down and sat like a little hunkered up hero throughout it all. Nothing it seemed, was going to deny him a single second of his fishing. What a man !!!!!....When the weather improved and we were all back in our pegs it was time to assess the damage caused. My umbrella had caught the wind and blown inside out and tipped my seat-box over. The result was I had maggots mixed in with the corn, my loose pellets and on the floor and so I began the now usual task of trying to retrieve what I could from the mess. This has happened to me on the last three outings and it is beginning to get a little tiresome now.
Damian had not had a single bit of interest in his swim and he was hoping that the hail hitting the water would have put more oxygen into the lake and might be a little bit of a kickstart for the fish to begin feeding, but we were all suffering from a lack of interest, all except Lauren that is. She had been fishing next to her Dad, and had been catching quite a few, putting us all to shame. It was time to change tactics. I decided to abandon the method feeder and go with a maggot feeder instead, so a quick swap over was called for and I was away. The results were almost immediate and I soon had my first fish of the day, a small Chub. The fish were responding to the change as I had hoped and pretty soon I was catching regularly, nothing too big but as they say a fish is a fish.
I have always struggled with having two rods out at the same time, I always ended up getting myself snagged up on the lines and so it isn't something I have ever done with much confidence, but Damian kept saying that I should give it a go and so I fetched the float rod from the van and set it up with a loaded waggler, a new quick change adaptor for the hook length (I've always used snap swivels before but now these little plastic beads are my preferred method) and a short hook length to a size 16 hook. Size 16 is a nice size if I got into anything bigger than a few pounds but small enough not to put the smaller fish off and soon I was catching on both rods.
In between periods of rain I managed a final haul of :
8 x Chub
9 x Perch
7 x Gudgeon
6 x Roach
30 fish wasn't a bad return at the end of the day and even Damian had a few when he had a go on the float rod so he wouldn't blank. John and Luke had also been catching and had about 20 fish a piece so it ended up a good day all round.
I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the fishery though, it didn't quite deliver what I was expecting and seemed a little bit subdued. I was probably expecting more than it could deliver and because of it's coverage on Sky TV with the Fish 'O' Mania Final, I had set myself up for a bit of an anti-climactic feeling, but the general appearance of the place didn't do much for it. I think with so many lakes so close to each other there isn't much space for many bushes and trees, which I think create a nice atmosphere for fishing, and whilst Cudmore does have quite a few trees around it, there were big open spaces that gave a feeling of it being too open if that makes sense.
Anyway, it was still a day out on the bankside and that can never be a bad thing, and we did have some entertainment when an attractive blonde pulled up on the path behind us and made her way down to where those fishing either 24 or 48 hours were. I'm not sure what went on but she returned pretty quickly and was in a very emotional state and muttering "F*****g b*****d" under her breath. Damian said he was going to see if she was okay but when he heard her swearing he realised that it was a domestic and stayed out of the way. Both Luke and Damian then saw her head back down to someone's swim where she was very animated and stood in front of him obviously shouting and waving her finger at him, but like a real man's man, the object of her anger just calmly sat there and continued fishing. The next thing we were aware of was a car door slamming, a bit of a wheelspin and the roar of an engine as she sped off into the distance. I think Wayne (Damian heard her curse his name) could be on short rations this week.
Anyway....See you on the bankside (Except Wayne of course. He may not be allowed)....
Carp Rating
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| Biggest hail I have ever seen |
The situation around by Luke and John was equally as bad, but whilst John and Luke's three kids, Lauren, Rhys and Fin, took shelter from the hail, Luke just zipped his coat right up, pulled his hat further down and sat like a little hunkered up hero throughout it all. Nothing it seemed, was going to deny him a single second of his fishing. What a man !!!!!....When the weather improved and we were all back in our pegs it was time to assess the damage caused. My umbrella had caught the wind and blown inside out and tipped my seat-box over. The result was I had maggots mixed in with the corn, my loose pellets and on the floor and so I began the now usual task of trying to retrieve what I could from the mess. This has happened to me on the last three outings and it is beginning to get a little tiresome now.
Damian had not had a single bit of interest in his swim and he was hoping that the hail hitting the water would have put more oxygen into the lake and might be a little bit of a kickstart for the fish to begin feeding, but we were all suffering from a lack of interest, all except Lauren that is. She had been fishing next to her Dad, and had been catching quite a few, putting us all to shame. It was time to change tactics. I decided to abandon the method feeder and go with a maggot feeder instead, so a quick swap over was called for and I was away. The results were almost immediate and I soon had my first fish of the day, a small Chub. The fish were responding to the change as I had hoped and pretty soon I was catching regularly, nothing too big but as they say a fish is a fish.
I have always struggled with having two rods out at the same time, I always ended up getting myself snagged up on the lines and so it isn't something I have ever done with much confidence, but Damian kept saying that I should give it a go and so I fetched the float rod from the van and set it up with a loaded waggler, a new quick change adaptor for the hook length (I've always used snap swivels before but now these little plastic beads are my preferred method) and a short hook length to a size 16 hook. Size 16 is a nice size if I got into anything bigger than a few pounds but small enough not to put the smaller fish off and soon I was catching on both rods.
In between periods of rain I managed a final haul of :
8 x Chub
9 x Perch
7 x Gudgeon
6 x Roach
30 fish wasn't a bad return at the end of the day and even Damian had a few when he had a go on the float rod so he wouldn't blank. John and Luke had also been catching and had about 20 fish a piece so it ended up a good day all round.
I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the fishery though, it didn't quite deliver what I was expecting and seemed a little bit subdued. I was probably expecting more than it could deliver and because of it's coverage on Sky TV with the Fish 'O' Mania Final, I had set myself up for a bit of an anti-climactic feeling, but the general appearance of the place didn't do much for it. I think with so many lakes so close to each other there isn't much space for many bushes and trees, which I think create a nice atmosphere for fishing, and whilst Cudmore does have quite a few trees around it, there were big open spaces that gave a feeling of it being too open if that makes sense.
Anyway, it was still a day out on the bankside and that can never be a bad thing, and we did have some entertainment when an attractive blonde pulled up on the path behind us and made her way down to where those fishing either 24 or 48 hours were. I'm not sure what went on but she returned pretty quickly and was in a very emotional state and muttering "F*****g b*****d" under her breath. Damian said he was going to see if she was okay but when he heard her swearing he realised that it was a domestic and stayed out of the way. Both Luke and Damian then saw her head back down to someone's swim where she was very animated and stood in front of him obviously shouting and waving her finger at him, but like a real man's man, the object of her anger just calmly sat there and continued fishing. The next thing we were aware of was a car door slamming, a bit of a wheelspin and the roar of an engine as she sped off into the distance. I think Wayne (Damian heard her curse his name) could be on short rations this week.
Anyway....See you on the bankside (Except Wayne of course. He may not be allowed)....
Carp Rating
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