Fresh off the back of starring on Tight Lines’ Young Angler Of The Month at Barston a couple of weeks ago, 17 year old George Sheath has been putting into practice some of the tips he picked up from his mentor at Barston, Stu Lennox. Here’s how he got on:
George and Stu at Barston Lakes
“I arrived at Meadow Lake in Osmington Mills anxious that it would be full with holiday makers, however it was free and my luck was in. I got the brolly up and spread some bait over the areas I intended to fish. I chose an overhanging tree on the corner of an island and an open water spot. The corner spot is very rarely fished from the angle I was fishing it as it’s a 70 yard chuck into a tight, weed free area.
After a few quiet hours I was about to reel in the corner spot rod when suddenly I had this weird feeling I should leave it, so I did and strangely enough 20 minutes later the bobbin started to move and seconds later we were away with the delkim screaming down the deserted lake.
The fish battled hard, ploughing into any weed bed it could find, however within 10 minutes the tired looking mirror was in the net! As the fish drifted over the net I delivered a well-deserved shout of “COME ON” it was definitely a 20, I was over the moon!
The fish was then weighed and it spun the scales dial round to 24lbs. Pictures were done then I slipped the fish back after treating the mouth and body wounds with some carp care creams.
The rig I was using was as similar as possible to that shown to me by Stu Lennox at the Tight Lines event. 5″ of ESP Two Tone and a streamliner rig boom on the swivel tied to a size 8 Curve Shanx hook with an 18mm bottom bait and white buoyant piece of corn.
I spread a further 15 baits around the area to clear any fish present, attached two pieces of PVA foam and put the rod straight back on the spot. Three hours passed and I had no signs of fish in the area however I knew the rig would be fine. That was down to my confidence in the rig and the rig boom doing its job.
The rain had passed after the first fish and it was now sunny clear skies. I decided to make some new rigs up and by the time I was half way through making a rig with everything on my lap the bobbin on the corner rod decided to slowly creep up.
I struck into the second fish of the session and it felt big right from the off. I played it as smooth as I could however when a fish is charging off at 50 yards from the bank you can’t do much to stop it. It took around 20 minutes to get the fish close and the first sight of it made my knees feel like they were going to give way. The flash of giant golden scales running down the belly of the fish gave me the confidence it was another 20 and the 4th different linear I had caught from the lake.
The fish laid perfectly flat on the surface as it was scooped up in the net! The first thing I did was fall flat on my back side, lay back with the rod in one hand and the net in the other and simply… just… laugh. I hadn’t caught a twenty for eight 12 and 24hr sessions on this lake. In 5 hours to have two twenties is such an immense feeling not just of accomplishment and success but of gaining experience using different rigs and adapting to certain situations.
The fish was weighed in at 27lbs and then was treated for some mouth damage from a previous catch. I was that over the moon I rang my dad to come down and bring the better camera to take some shots on the bank, it wasn’t only the lakes mirror record but it was also my English and mirror PB too. I can safely say the session was one to remember as it should and would be talked about by the owner for a while as not many people have had a better session on the lake.
The week before the session I was up in Birmingham at an event filming for Sky Sports show Tight Lines. I learnt lots of tips and tricks which definitely provided the extra edge in my 5hour session.
After the second fish no activity in the water could be seen so I chose to end the day on a high. Onwards and upwards with experience and confidence and I’m already looking forward to my next challenge”.