Alex West enjoyed a very productive session on Yateley Match Lake recently. Culminating in some classic old carp from this historic venue!
‘I got to the lake late sunday evening which was rammed out, all the way up there I was thinking margins swim and or one with shallow water nearby! I had a walk round and two out of the three swims I was thinking of were taken however one that fished out to an island with relatively shallow water and a large weed bed nearby was free and fortunately carp were present.
With only an hour before dark I had to re-tie on leadcore leaders that I cant use at Sutton and attached short wafter rigs i’d been catching on previously. I got the rods in position with minimum fuss although would have prefered to do a bit of weed raking to get the lines down.
Now that the light was fading fast I had to make do and taped my lines to mark the distance. Liners followed shortly after getting the baits out and so did the first carp a stocky of 24lb. I got it back on the spot but nothing happened until after I re-did the rod at first light catching one of the old original Yateley mirrors steeped in history and older than the late Heather the leather. I took a few photos and slipped the wrinkly old girl back to her home.
The next day I put a bit more bait in over the rods and got rid of the offending surface clumps of weed. Rods sorted I settled in for another beautiful late summers evening entertained with the array of bird and amphibious wildlife making an apearance. That magical yateley atmospheric haze took over once again and that heightened sense of anticipation filled the air.
The Orange Leather
The next bite came just before 10pm that evening and my hard work rewarded in the shape of the lovely orange leather a fish that had been high on my wish list for some time. I got the rod back out with a spare rig quick smart while I was calming down after one of the lads had done a few pics. Shortly afterwards I recieved another good take and after an explosive battle landed a 35lb mirrror. this was turning out to be a great trip and so much for the poor weather for angling. I got ruined by a big cat after that so I set my alarm for first light grabbing a few hours kip and then after re-doing the rods got another bite from a 28lb common.
35lb mirror
A 16mm sticky manilla wafter over a bed of crushed and whole manilla and krill freebies resulted in the 22lb stumpy leather (original) 28.14oz common, 30.4oz mirror the orange leather (original) and 24lb simmo (not pictured) and 35lb mirror. I introduced 5kgs of bait over the two days. ESP size 6 Cryogen Grippers, Leadcore with 15lb Syncro XT line and Tungsten Loaded end tackle completed the set up.