Willow lake 29th March, two 3lb plus roach

Now the Greylaged and Canada Geese fought it out all night for nesting rights on the island. Wasn’t much difference than the day really. I woke with a slight frost on the bivvi at 5.45am and recast. The bobbins still super glued in place. The sun was up early and no sign of the rain forecast for the evening. There was little wind and roach and rudd could be seen topping in various areas of the lake. During the night the carp were very active jumping clear of the water. I don’t know why but the carp seem to jump twice here.
Dougie was up later after a good nights sleep. We both had a brew and chatted about the day ahead.
Hugh and Gary were awake and fishing at 6am and were soon showing us the way with a few roach to almost 3lbs. It seemed like the fish were on the move. We saw them catch several fish.
Dougie was bite-less and I still had that super glue problem.
Time was ticking by and Dougie slowly packed for the journey home. I felt terrible hurrying and helping him to pack everything away, only joking!!!!
Finally Dougie packed and made his way home. A nicer man you couldn’t have met. He was over the moon with delight and euphoria at what he had achieved.
It was noon when I cast out in the swim for the first time. Tackle was 6lb line and 3,5lbs size 16 hooklink.

Roach rig with a size 16 hook

I was trying out some old (15 years) Free Spirit 1.5lb TC specialist rods with glass quivers which gave it a really good soft through action but punchy enough to get the feeders out 60yds. The quivers section though had too many rings on them for my liking so I need to think about this for the future and source something different.
With the sun shining down on a practically windless day I cast to the hot spot. I was hoping that the bobbins might move during the evening. Hugh and Gary were still catching the odd roach and rudd between them which indicated that perhaps the fish were moving around a little more.
At 2.20pm I had that drop back bite that the roach normally give because here you fish a tight line to the feeder so the fish hook themselves and it’s just a case of lifting into the fish.
I felt a roach on the other end. Playing it on the rod was just a dream, soft and forgiving as the roach shook it’s head. It’s always close in where you need to be careful firstly because you can see a great roach in the crystal clear water and legs go a bit, and secondly they do shake their heads and on such a short link a hook pull is possible.
Landing it was fairly easy so was the weighing. Now with Dougie gone I had to ask a couple of roach fishermen just up the bank to take the photo’s. I could have set up the camera myself but if possible with someone behind the thing then the fish is out of the water for the least amount of time. This roach weighed in at 3lbs 2oz and was in pristine condition.

First roach 3lbs 2oz

The bobbins didn’t move again until 5.20pm when I had another bite, this time from a rudd of 2lbs 6oz. Dan Williams had come along for a chat after his prebaiting routine for the bream. It was him who assisted the landing and taking the photo’s. Cheers Dan.

2lbs 6oz the smallest rudd I've had from there.

Then I had one more bite at 5.40pm and had the fish on for a couple of seconds then it was off.
At 6.55pm I had one more bite and lifted into a good fish. It came straight to the top which can be an indication that it’s a roach. The rods action just cannot be faulted as I slowly fought the roach and bought it into the shallower water. You can see the twisting and turning action and the shake of the head in the clear water as it comes to the net. Again it looked a fantastic roach and the legs wobbled. There is not a feeling like it in the world as you slip the net under the prize and it’s yours.
Dan had left so I had to ask the roach anglers to help again to take the photo’s. The weight was 3lbs 6oz.

2nd roach of the day 3lbs 6oz

Well that was something special two 3lb plus roach in 4 hours. I couldn’t believe it when the bobbin dropped again at 7.20pm and I was playing another large fish. Sure enough the fight was slightly stronger than the roach which normally indicates it could be a rudd. Sure enough I slipped the net under a magnificent rudd of 2lbs 12oz, which is one of the largest rudd to come out from the lake. Again I was embarrassed to ask for the roach anglers to help with the photo. All went well.

One of the largest rudd caught from the lake 2lbs 12oz

So what an afternoon and evening. The sport didn’t stop there a male tench of about 5lbs had me going for a while at 7.40pm and that was it. Hugh and Gary had a few fish and came around to see what the weights were. They were not far out with the weights when they spied me across the lake with some binoculars. They were guessing the weights.
So that was it for the night. I listened to the England match on the radio and fell asleep, very contented.