I was recently asked to do a feature for the Angling Times on Woodhouse Grange, which is situated on the out skirts of Hatfield Woodhouse near Doncaster. If you have never been before, the venue has 6 lakes to choose from, which are all extensively stocked with a large variety of species. These include: Carp , Ghost Carp Tench, Ide and F1's to name just a few. http://www.woodhousegrangefisheries.co.uk/6-fishing-lakes.htmThe venue has its own cafe, which is where I met up with the bailiff Mark, the owner Mick and his nephew Dave; these lads could not have been more helpful or welcoming! After a good chat, and a bit of brain picking, I was advised to try out the Ghost pool as it had been fishing exceptionally well during the past couple of weeks. The Ghost lake is about 2 acres in size and has 25 pegs. Before the session I went for a walk around the lake and peg 11 seemed to jump out at me. It offered plenty of room and 2 cracking looking margins. This was to be my home for the day.
Plan of Attack
Mark advised me that F1's would be my main target species with a few Ghosties possibly! The plan I came up with revolved around fishing the pole long and short. On the long line I plumbed up a line at 11 meters, which gave me approximately 6 feet of water. I also plumbed the surrounding area should the fish back off. fortunately the bottom was extremely uniform, enabling me to utilize the same rig every where. Bonus!
For the short line I am going to go target each margin on a top 2 plus 1 section. After some careful plumbing up, I discover I can use the same rig for both sides, which is a bonus! Again.
BaitThis is as simple as it gets. Fishery micro's for feed and fishery Medusa 6 mm prepared expander pellets for the hook. I have also brought some corn and different expanders, should I need an alternative hook bait.
Rigs:
11 Meter Rig
- Pole - Browning Xitan Z12
- Elastic - Pink Browning Cenex Hollow
- Main line - 0.12 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.10 Browning Cenex
- Hook - Size 18 Kamasan B911 F1
- Float - Middy Styrex No4 4x14
- Shotting - Spread bulk with 2 droppers
- Pole - Browning Xitan Z12
- Elastic - Yellow Browning Cenex Hollow
- Main line 0.12 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length 0.12 Browning Hybrid power
- Hook - Size 18 Kamasan B911
- Float - Alan Scotthorne 1 0.3gram
- Shotting - Double bulk
I baited the hook with a 6 mm pellet and loaded the pole mounted pot with a pinch of micro's and shipped the pole out to 11 meters. I tapped the pellets out of the pot and then lowered the rig slowly over the top. I was expecting a bit of a wait, but a bite came almost instantly and a steady stream of elastic emitted from the tip of the pole. After a short battle a chunky F1 was soon in the net. The next few drops in produced the same result. Out of curiosity I pumped up a few of the expanders I had with me so I could give them a try. I tried one of the pellets I had pumped; what amazed me is that the float never moved, so I brought the rig back in and baited up with 1 of the Medusa 6 mm pellets and the float buried instantly. Was it coincidence? No. I tried it a few times and the same result occurred.
During the time I had been fishing the 11 meter line I had been regularly flicking pinches of micros down each margin in preparation for later in the session.
After a couple of hours I decided to give the margin line a try. I baited up with a 6 mm pellet and lowered it in the right hand margin, seconds later the float slipped away and I was latched into golden F1, which was soon safely netted. The action down the margin was fast and furious. As bites slowed I switched to the other margin which produced fish immediately. I continued to swap between each margin, which kept a steady straem of fish coming to the net.
At the end of the session I had had a wonderful days fishing and amassed around 60 lb in 3 1/2 hours. A cracking days fishing and hard to believe its still February. I would like to thank Mark, Mick and Dave for their incredible hospitality and I hope to be back soon.
