Monday 4 April 2011

Saturday, Sun, and Snakes

Saturday was a glorious warm spring day in Suffolk with the birds singing and the sun shining.


All around the lake there were the sights and sounds of warmer weather and the onset of favourable Bream and Tench fishing.

After a later than I'd planned start, as I was not as alert at 5am when the alarm sounded and nodded off back to sleep, I arrived at the lake at 7am.

I gathered the gear and bait bucket from the car and walk down to the waters edge and dropped the gear on the bank. Within 10 minutes the rods etc were rigged and the I started the process of spodding.

I recently decided to purchase a spod rod and after alot of deliberation when for a Fox Warrior Z spod rod. At 12' and 5.5lb TC it was the best choice for the money. Coupled with a trusty Shimano Aerlex SX 7000 big pit reel it has a nice balance to the setup.

Spodding took about 20 mins and after letting the swim rest for 1/2 hour I put the rigged rods out. The "helicopter" rig was baited with flavoured red maggots and the semi fixed rig was baited with a worm corn combo.

I was all ready by 8:30am and settled back in the chair with a cuppa with "jenny" wren singing her chirpy spring song from her loft perch above me.

After an hour, bubble appeared over the right hand rod and I was hopeful a run would materialise, but it didn't.

10am and the rods were retrieved, rebaited and cast back out and at 10:30am the worm corn combo when for a run, but failed to materialise in a fish.

In the process of casting the worm back out, the second rod sounded, but due to the fact I was in mid cast, I failed again to connect...ho hum.....one of those day...

For most of the morning the alarms and bobbins twitched with the odd bleep, but nothing came of it. It looked as though some roach or skimmers had settled in on the carpet of bait and were either scoffing the hemp, sucking the maggots and disturbing the line.

I soon began to wonder if anything of any note would happen during the day and it did. Over the course of the day a small precession of grass snakes emerged from their winters retreats and when into the water to warm themselves up with a dip. Its quite strange to thing of snakes swimming, but they are a common sight here and on other waters in the local area. There must have been 3-4 grass snakes swimming about and it got me thinking about surface water lures.

Do pike take small grass snakes? They take voles, frogs and ducklings, but what about a snake? I was pondering this though when again the worm/corn combo rod sounded, but due to the pondering of the chances of a grass snake being taken by a pike I missed it.

Lunchtime came and the weather warmed up to a point were only a t-shirt was required. So off came the hoodie and I grabbed the spod rod to put some extra bait in for the afternoon.

Rods were rebaited and recast, lunch consumed and another cuppa drank. Nothing did succumbed to either rod in the afternoon, but there was enough indication during the session that certainly roach and bream were about and on the feed if not hesitantly.

Soon it was time to go and the last of the spod mix was spodded out to at least get the bream use to looking for food along this patrol route in the coming week.
 
TL...Sorry no piccy...forgot camera

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