HAPPY 2011 TO ALL BAYESWATER ANGLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

At long last the freeze up has cleared and we can get lines into the lakes again.

All over Christmas Anne and Steve had loads of phone calls enquiring if the lake was fishable but it wasn't until Saturday 8th Jan that the first anglers were able to fish. First and 2nd bites went to Mick, one of the mature local anglers. Unfortunately the first fish came of, it looked like a good heavy fish as well but Mick landed the 2nd fish, a nice 22 pounder, pictured here. Only one angler did the night who caught a mid double in the early morning. On the Sunday no one fished, except me who did the afternoon to no avail although I did a bit of drainage, reed digging and a few other jobs so didn't try as hard as I should. Dan fished Sunday night but the lake froze up again but thawed out on the Monday. Dan had a little one, under doubles but no other fish. Steve the bailiff had a go mid week and managed 4 fish and since then, including the next week end there has been a steady stream of fish caught by other anglers. So far there has been over 20 fish out since the thaw so once again the day ticket lake is proving to be the good winter water it has been since we started the lake.

A lot of the bites have been on maggots, but Mick's 2 takes, both I think from better fish were both on boilies, tipped with a bit of plastic corn. I know it's possible to catch big fish on maggots but the average weight is never as good as boilie fishing will be. Personally, 2 rods on maggot and 2 on boilie makes more sense, especially if you want to pick the bigger fish up. Good method mixes, smaller hook baits, maggots and particles will get you takes most days this time of year on the day ticket lake.

We've had a load of rain, the track is easy passable but has a slushy surface so drive steady to keep the car a little cleaner. The banks are wet so I seriously advise to use wellies or Skeetex waterproof boots. It's still winter and although the temperature gauge in the car read reasonable it felt very cold the other day with the wind on the lake so take warm gear. The fish are catchable but you'll enjoy it much more is you are warm and dry and it always makes me feel cold to see people shivering so think of me and Steve please.

Have a good new year

Gary