Snake Lakes...It's All About Timing

We join Welsh international and Preston Innovations and Sonubaits-backed angler John Harvey at Hillview Lakes near Tewkesbury, where he shows us how he approaches matches at this time of year.

John Harvey is going to let us into a few secrets of how and why he makes decisions in a match to maximise his catch rate. In summer, carp and F1s are willing to feed and can be caught in abundance, but as temperatures plummet so does the fishes’ appetite.

These changes in feeding habits are what dictate how we approach the swim to catch these tricky creatures. We have chosen a peg on one of the canal-type lakes, called Canal 2, funnily enough. These can be tricky and it is very easy to destroy your peg before you start.

“I have set up as if it were a match situation. I have plumbed up three lines about half a metre off the far bank where I will be looking to catch on maggots, sprinkling a few in via a small pole mounted pot as bites dictate. I have also plumbed up a line at five metres down the centre. This is to be fed with maggots out of my hand and quite regularly. This line is left at the start to gain the fishes’ confidence for the latter part of the session. The others are two edge lines and a dobbing rig. The edge lines are fed with maggots and micro pellets and the dobbing rig is what I will start on.

“I have started by dobbing bread and caught a few early but it isn’t great. I have a feeling that even though it’s cold, wet and windy it’s a bit negative, so I’ve come off it.

“I’ve gone to one of my far-bank swims, tapped some maggots in and waited. I’ve had a few indications but it’s taken longer than I was expecting to get a fish.