When Fish Have Been Battered

Your pals have clobbered fish all morning but you can’t fish till after work. Gareth Jones has the answers…

- Gareth Jones

IT’S that time of year again when our reservoirs open their doors to a torrent of eager anglers, hell bent on catching the freshly-stocked rainbows and – if they’re lucky – a resident fish. But, you know the situation, you’ve had your mates texting you all day about how many fish they’ve been catching and poor old you have been stuck in work all day unable to join the action.

You’ve asked your boss and been able to finish a little early. Great, now you can sneak a couple of hours on the bank before you go home. But where do you start?

Your pals have told you about how many fish they’ve caught and where. But, in my experience, if the fish have had a complete ‘shoeing’ all day, they tend to move out from the shore and the hot areas of the morning will be so much more difficult in the afternoon.

Avoid the crowds Getting away from the crowds is always my preferred way to fish. There’s an element of freedom that you can’t achieve while fishing shoulder to shoulder with other anglers. So, after an exceptional morning’s sport at Draycote’s Toft Shallows, we walk around to the opposite end of the lake to try Rainbow Corner.

Areas at the top of the wind will see the first rising fish of the season and it is often here that you’ll find an over wintered fish. These fish will be used to feeding on the small black midge just at the edge of the ripple like he’s been doing every day for the last couple of weeks before all the anglers have turned up.

It’s a good move, there are no other anglers here and I can already see the odd fish topping as we make our way down to the water and with about 200 yards of bank to work, I start making a few casts.