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A few
months ago, I volunteered my fishing services during
a work auction in aid of Cancer. To be honest I
really wasn't expecting any takers what-so-ever, so I
was suitably impressed when I received a call
telling that the day out had fetched 50 quid! Work
colleague Graham was the winner of the auction.
Graham wasn't exactly a regular to the banks, having
done most of his fishing in years past, although
once a year, he and good friend Jimmy made sure they
fitted in a days fishing together. So we arranged a
date that Jimmy could come along too.
Now for
50 quid, I really wanted to make sure that the day was a
result. I spoke with both Graham and Jimmy as to
what they would prefer to target, and in the end a
days Tench fishing was decided on. Both of them were
travelling a fair distance, so I was extremely
impressed to see them at my Marina at 4am. The venue
I had decided on was only accessible via boat and is
usually therefore very quiet. The Tench do not grow
massive, but it does hold a good head of fish, with
bags of ten fish in a sitting the norm. Not only did
I expect the fishing to be good, but the location
was great too; with a very good chance of seeing all
sorts of wildlife from Marsh Harriers to
Kingfishers.
I
started by raking and baiting a couple of spots, but
little happened to start with. Before long Jimmy was
into his first Tench, a fish of around 3-4lb.
With the sun rising and the day looking to be very warm, I was
concerned that the fishing may not be what I had
hoped, but a quick move round the lake soon saw both
Graham and myself getting amongst the fish. We ended
up staying into early evening, and between us ended
with more than 20 Tench. The fish fell to a variety
of baits and methods which kept us busy.
I
think Graham and Jimmy had a good day. For me it was
great to share a piece of water which is a million
miles away from your typical commercial fishery, yet
has fishing to easily rival any I know of. The day
ended with a Barn Owl hunting over a meadow to the
left of us during the boat journey home. It
certainly seemed like a good ending to me! |
