CUDMORE FISHERIES National Angling Centre

CATCH REPORTS BY CLINT WALKER

Cudmore....in the bitter cold!

I’m sick of the cold....I hate this time of year as I can’t get out; I don’t mind fishing in the winter weather, but if everywhere has a ‘lid on’, it makes it impossible! I’ve been twiddling my thumbs for long enough in this present cold snap........ As a new consultant for Devon based manufacturer Pallatrax, I’ve been looking for opportunities to get out and get to grips with some of the innovative tackle and bait I’m going to be using from now on. Renowned venue Cudmore Fishery near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire has a reputation for providing rod bending action throughout the year, and, after the current freezing weather, I needed some action!

I arrived at the site nice and early as I like to have a quick catch up with the staff and any other regulars beforehand to find out the very latest information, and then have a quick wander around before settling into a likely peg. First priority was to grab one of Carol’s excellent bacon sandwiches from the onsite cafe, and then I managed to grab Vic Spooner who runs the fishery management side of things and discovered that Avoca Lake would probably offer the best chance of winter carp.

Avoca is the recognised specimen water on the complex which contains plenty of fat carp to well over 20lbs and some stunning catfish to almost 60lbs! With around 4 acres to go at, Avoca has some great fish holding features which are imperative to find in colder weather as the fish are likely to be holed up near them in an effort to find some respite from hostile conditions. Three islands, depths from three to ten feet, gravel, sand and clay, deeper margins, weed beds, deep holes and plateaus make it a great place to explore and hopefully pick up a few bites. The pool also features a lake bed map prominently displayed to help you pick a suitable peg; very useful! Walking around the lake, I asked a couple of anglers who had fished a full 24 hour session what was happening; the resulting answers were not encouraging.... The first had caught a couple of smaller fish; his friend sadly hadn’t even achieved a bite!

The weather wasn’t much help either; a bitter North Easterly wind, overnight temperatures of -3 degrees and a current air temperature around freezing with bright skies and high pressure are not ideal conditions, but, like many other working anglers, I only get so much time to fish, so I had to make the best of it. Vic Spooner had earlier advised to fish with the cold wind at my back. Suits me, I like to be comfortable when I’m out, no facing into a howling gale for me, I’m far happier when I’m not frozen with cold and wet through; I fish much better when I can concentrate. With Vic’s information in mind, I set up in a sheltered peg at the rear of one of the islands. The area I was targeting was a patch of harder ground about 60 yards out into open water. My reasons are simple; nearly every other angler who has been on Avoca and fished the same peg will cast tight to the island. That will be where the bait has been going in, that will be where any fish have been caught, and that is where the wily carp will be expecting trouble, so it makes sense to just drop off a bit sometimes. Think about who has been there before you; on commercial venues, there is every chance that an awful lot of bait has entered the water in the days preceding your visit, so I always keep things steady for an hour or two before deciding whether to put some more in.

I usually fish a two rod set up for carp, a pair of 3lb test curve Shimano Techniums twinned with 8000 series baitrunners are needed just in case a big sneaky cat decides to come out and have some fun. My terminal tackle consists of Pallatrax ‘Stonze’ with a couple of ‘Stumpy’ rigs added. No leader, no rig tubing, no leadcore, just a simple rig which is almost invisible on the bottom. There are some who argue that tubing protects the fish during the ensuing fight and prevents any scales being lifted; so why not use it when floater fishing or with a ‘zig rig’? I’ll leave you to make up your own mind, but to me, it’s just extra stuff for the fish to find...

The ‘Stumpy’ rig consist of a couple of beads on a 3” length of rig tubing between which sits the ‘Stonze’; a small swivel between the mainline and hook link completes the end tackle. The swivel fits into the foremost bead to provide a ‘bolt effect’, but the reason it works so well is that the short hook length means that the full weight of the ‘Stonze’ is immediately transferred to the point of the hook resulting in a very positive indication at my end!

My first hook bait was a large halibut pellet, tipped with a small piece of plastic corn just to add a bit of colour in cloudy water and stop it slipping off the hair. I sprayed a little of ‘The Drench’ Elixir6 bait enhancing liquid over the pellet to give it a boost. Pallatrax Drench sprays contain all sorts of attractants and disperse in an oily slick to put scent in the water, which, whilst grabbing the attention of passing carp, still leaves them with only the hook bait to find! This rod was cast out onto the required spot, a few pellets added over a wide area with a throwing stick, and left to settle. My second rod was baited with a Multiworm boilie, wrapped in matching paste, and lobbed out a few feet in front of me to the base of the marginal shelf.

Within an hour, I’d had a savage drop back bite on my boilie which I managed to miss completely as I was pouring a cup of tea, (isn’t that always the way?) but as least I knew fish were in the area. Cudmore staff had recommended that I use some of their own pellets as feed and I put out maybe 15-20 more pellets as I recast the rod. It can be a good idea to use a fisheries ‘own’ bait sometimes, in the colder months, these are often used to supplement the stock to ensure they are still putting on weight, so the fish instantly recognise them as a food source. Putting something else in the middle of it guarantees the fish will be over your bait at some point.

Another angler wandered over for a chat; he had been on during the previous weekend when four anglers hadn’t managed a bite between them for 48 hours! I asked what the regular baits were, what the usual tactics consisted of and whether he was catching. Having been there before me, he told me that he had seen nothing, heard nothing and didn’t really expect to be successful; while he was talking to me however, my left hand rod ripped off as an angry carp took the pellet hook bait and steamed off across the lake. It was an extremely powerful take, and it did cross my mind it could’ve been a catfish, but lifting the rod, I could feel it was smallish fish fighting well above its weight. A few minutes of steady battle and a cracking winter common of about 8lbs lay in the folds of my net; lovely!

The visitor looked at my end tackle in some surprise and informed me that he had the ‘normal’ leadcore, 2oz lead, 6” coated braid and boilie hook bait on, had been there a while and considered my capture a fluke. As he finished the sentence, the other alarm squealed a warning as another carp hit the baits! Again, a short fight and a second single figure fish of about 9lbs hit the net. I had two fish in my landing net at the same time; surely no fluke? He returned to his swim, recast his rods and shook his head as I returned my ‘lucky’ fish.....

By now, the sky had clouded over and the snow began to fall. Despite this, the air temperature felt a little warmer and I was confident of more action. A few bleeps to indicate carp mooching about near my baits told me they were still on the move and likely to be feeding; after another 30 minutes, the left hander shot off again to give me a third fish, this time slightly bigger at 11lbs; that made two on pellet, 1 on the boilie, so I changed both baits to pellet and put them back out with a handful of pellets over the top. A final screaming run a short time later gave me the smallest of the day at 6lbs, but I’d trapped four fish in bitter conditions on a venue which hadn’t produced a great deal over the previous days so I was very happy. The pellet baits had done most of the damage, sprayed with Pallatrax Elixir6 which had obviously made a big difference on the day.

A short 6 hour session had produced four fish within a two hour feeding spell as the air temperature rose a degree or two. I would like to think that identifying the correct swim, the correct tactics and the correct baits was all my own work, but much of the credit must go to Cudmore who provide a fantastic winter venue with every chance of a bend in the rod, so why not find out more from their website www.cudmorefishery.com  Keep reading to find out more about plans for a commercial predator lake currently being stocked at Cudmore which will give you the chance to hit pike, perch, cats and even zander in the net; should be very popular!

For details of Pallatrax products and how they can help you put more fish on the bank, visit www.pallatrax.co.uk