How often does a spur-of-the-moment session, with no prior planning, no consideration for the weather, air pressure, or time of day, turn out to be one of the best we’ve had in ages? Granted, planning a session around good conditions can certainly stack the odds in our favour and help deliver that red-letter day we all hope for, but sometimes, simply getting on the bank, without overthinking it, is all that’s needed.
After a successful morning float fishing for tench, Dan Bouskila was unsure what to do with the leftover maggots from his session. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to use them before they became useless, he made the snap decision decision to head to a large gravel pit he’d never fished before, hoping to use up the bait with a few hours of feeder fishing.
It turned out to be the right call, because in just a couple of hours, Dan banked 17 bream, 16 of which were over 10lb, and topped it all off with a surprise 30lb carp that smashed his personal best!
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"I had initially planned to get up early and catch some tench, which I did, landing three great fish up to 7lb, but I still had a few pints of maggots left over," Dan told us.
"I knew the missus would want to do something together the next day, so I had to use them, but with the sun now high in the sky, I figured the tench fishing was all but over," he added.
"I had a feeder rod in the car and had been meaning to try out a new venue for a while, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to head over there although, to be honest, I was fully expecting to blank."
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With the sun beaming down and temperatures rising, Dan found a shallower area of the lake and began setting up. After locating a nice gravel spot at around 10 wraps, he introduced a few spombs of maggots, hoping to draw some fish into the swim.
"As I wasn't really sure what was in the lake, I just used a 6lb hooklink, a small maggot feeder, and a size 18 hook to try and get a few bites," he explained.
"Within a couple of casts, I hooked and landeda bream that weighed over 11lb, I couldn’t believe it."
"The next few hours fishing were nothing short of exceptional. The average size of the bream was into double figures, and it was one a chuck with the fish taking the bait before the feeder even settled on occasions!"
"In the end, I landed 16 doubles, six of which were over 11lb, and a new PB carp, which I’ve been told is one of the rarer captures in the lake."
"Whether it was the light setup, the bait I used, or just hitting the lake at the perfect time, I don’t know, but it was a feeder fishing session like I've never experienced!"
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