| | | | | | | | Birthday Bagging | | | BY ALEX UTTLEY, SENIOR ADVISOR SCREAMER BAITS | | | | | | | | | Last weekend I spent a couple of days up at Cromwell lakes with my girlfriend and one of my mates. A 30 on my 30th birthday was my aim, but catching a few fish and having a laugh would have been good enough for me. When we arrived on Sunday morning, we had no idea what was about to go down! Having never fished the place before and facing 18 acres of unknown water, the words "Cromwell is hard as nails" was still ringing in my ears! We did a lap of the lake and a bit of marker work and then spoke to the lads that were already fishing before deciding which peg to fish. It turned out that the 10+ people that were fishing were soon leaving, which would leave us with the entire lake to ourselves... happy days!! We set up on one of the point swims, so that we could cover as much water as possible. Then we got the rods in the water and base camp set up, and then sat watching the fish crash out all over the lake. We had been told that using a lot of bait would kill-off our chances and only a certain brand of boilies would work! We were having none of it, so we filled the place with 25kg of maize, 4kg of Screamer Bait's pellets and about 6kg of my favourite Screamer Bait's CBS boilies. We had only been in the water a couple of hours when my lhr screamed off, and I was soon playing my first Cromwell carp. Unfortunately the hook pulled and I lost the fish which gutted me, but also gave me confidence that we had actually found some fish! So the rod went back on the same spot and within a couple of minutes it was off again! Unbelievably it fell off almost straight away, so now I was really pee’ed off because I knew this fish was a bigun... New rig on and back at the same spot, we sat back and waited for it to rattle off again...
A good few hours later (at around 5.30pm) the same rod screamed into life and I bent into a solid fish. I’m never normally nervous playing fish but having lost 2 already, I was being extra careful not to lose this one. Thankfully the fish came in without too much trouble, and slipped into the net first time. Peeling back the net, I knew I had landed a new PB but had we landed a 30 on our first day?? .... Not quite, it was 29lb 12oz... so close!! And more than happy. | | | Caught on Screamer Bait's CBS Boilies | | | | | | Rod back out, we sat and had a drink enjoying the day and watching the fish crash all over the baited spots. Confidence was quite high, and about an hour later my rod bent round and the delk let rip! I was soon into another Cromwell carp... and this one felt BIG!
Playing the fish we were unsure how big it was, until it rolled onto the surface at around 20 yards. Me and my mate just glared at each other and both went very quiet, until it was in the net. Thankfully it went in first time, and to say we were pleased is an understatement. I went off to get the scales, sling and mat while my mate kept the fish in the net. All's I could hear was "***k me mate... it’s ****ing massive"... "This ones gonna be a good 30".
On the mat we got to appreciate how big the fish was, and we wasted no time getting her up on the scales. 35lb 10oz... GET IN!!!!!! I couldn't believe we'd done it on our first day.... a 35lber, and it wasn't even my birthday yet! This can’t get better than this!! We later found out this fish is known as "Pete" | | Caught on Screamer Bait's CBS Fishmix Boilies | | | | | Monday (and my birthday) and we were up early to get the rods sorted. With everything in position we enjoyed the morning sunshine and demolished a bottle of champagne over breakfast. Around 12'ish my alarm burst into life, and line was being torn from the reel. Straight away I could tell it wasn't huge but the fish gave a good fight all the way to the net, and wasn't happy about being pulled away from his dinner on the mat. It fought just as much as in the water, so a quick weigh and picture and we slipped her back... 22lb. Caught on 2 Fake Pop Up Corn | | | | With the sun out and temps getting high, I decided on a bit of stalking with my new rod (present off the misses). In a quiet corner of the lake I found a group of 6 very large fish just hanging out on a clear gravel patch, about 2ft from the bank. I got myself into position without being seen, and flicked in a small stone to clear the fish away so I could get my rig in place. All went to plan, rig in position and the fish were slowly moving back in sight and then out of the darkness came a very big, very dark mirror easily an upper 30. Head down picking out the free offerings... this one was well catchable. Heart pounding, sweat pouring I got myself ready, because it was heading straight for the bait. The fish moved over the rig mouth open and felt the hooklink and bolted.... gutted!!! Chance gone and all carp now miles away, I sulked back to the bivvy. The rest of the afternoon was quite frustrating with another 3 lost fish. One of which was a bigun and around 6pm I got a decent take on my alarm and was soon doing battle with another Cromwell carp. After a slow steady fight, a few hair raising moments later we soon had the fish in the net. I was convinced we had another 30 on the mat, it was huge with a massive frame so the chances of catching a 30 on my birthday was looking good! When 32lb 10oz was read out on the scales I couldn't believe we'd done it. A little cheer went up and we took a few pictures, before sending her on her way. After speaking to the owner we found out this was an unknown 30, so I also got the pleasure of naming it.... could this weekend get any better? "Big Al" @ 32lb 10oz Caught on Screamer Bait's CBS Fishmix Boilies | | | | | We were all on a high and celebrated in the evening sunshine. Darkness soon came and so did our curry and cider, so we settled down and re-lived the past couple of days. We still couldn't believe that we'd had x2 30's! At around 10pm we heard a few fish crash out to our left, so a rod was put on the spot and we sat back waiting. It wasn't long before the rod went off and we were into another carp. I'd been playing the fish for a couple of minutes when the reel suddenly jammed solid (one of my mate's longcast's). We tried everything but couldn't get it working, so I grabbed the line and did my best to keep the fish on whilst my mate went to town on the reel. I heard a loud crack and he shouted "SORTED" and then he gave me back the rod for me to wind down to the fish. Still on I got it under the rod tip and then it shot around the wooden pier and shed the hook. Gutted! After that we sat and slagged off shimano for while (lol) and then we hit the sack.
Our final day was here and the weather was still looking good, but there was a lack of fish showing where we were and it was quite a concern. A few other people turned up and heard of our haul and made their way to our part of the lake, so the pressure on the fish increased a lot.
We had a re-cast at around 7am and sat and had breakfast watching the water. The fish were now starting to show a lot more at the other end of the lake, so we were convinced the fish had moved off and started following the wind. At around 10am my delk burst into life, and once again the line was being stripped off the reel. After a good long fight I got the fish into the net first time, and up onto the mat. Another solid lump was lay in front of me, and for a second I thought it just might squeeze 30lb, so she was quickly lifted up onto the scales... 28lb 7oz ... not a 30 but that'll do nicely, thanks :) Caught on Screamer Baits CBS Fishmix Boilies | | | | As the day went on and more people came onto the lake, less and less fish were showing, and we were certain they'd moved off so we re-positioned our rods in hope that we could land a few more ... unfortunately all we did was lose a few more, and then all too soon it was time to pack up and go. But four pb's, two 30's, three 20's, 12 run's and a named fish is not a bad birthday present at all!
Thank's for reading.
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