Hitman

As thsi is the last instalment in 2017, Dan Murrell took Ian 'THE HITMAN' RUSSELL to a luxurious venue in the Cotswolds-Cherry Lakes-to see what he could do in 24 hours on the popular UK holiday destination!

Ian Russell is no stranger to fishing in France at the typical European holiday destinations, and with this in mind – and knowing he has a bait boat – I set him the challenge of coming to a UK holiday venue and banking a carp using the bait boat. The only crux was he was staying for a single night instead of the typical long weekend or week-long session that many anglers enjoy.

KILLER KIT

Ian has been doing this for years. All his old pop-ups are placed into PVA mesh and help to keep his rig up when dropping from a boat or casting.

Tucked away in the picturesque setting that is the Cotswolds, there are no less than six self-catering lodges at Cherry Lakes, three of which boast exclusive use of their own lakes, and the main Cherry Lake, which is complete with three luxury self-catering lakeside lodges and a truly remarkable stone cottage.

Although we had been given the middle lodge, known as Osprey, with the warm winds pushing across the lake and a lull in the recently high pressure, fish were crashing out in front of the cottage. With no-one booked in we thought it would be rude not to get the rods out and see how the day would unfold – these conditions have rarely presented themselves on our recent sessions.

We were met on site by the extremely knowledgeable and generous bailiff Dave, and were let into the cottage to have a look at the facilities. We soon came across the welcome pack, which includes imagery of the lake when it was sculpted and an in-depth map of the features and depths within the boundaries of the swim.

Typically, Ian wasted no time in checking these out, and although he was going to be using a bait boat, he still always begins his sessions armed with his spod rod to have a flick around with the lead.