When anglers hear of big weights of fish being caught, they often assume it must be from a commercial fishery. However, if you get your venue and tactics right, the fishing on offer at some of our natural lakes is truly incredible, and the amount of fish you can potentially catch can surpass even the most productive commercial venues.
On a recent session, John Allen and his friend Jud experienced a session that many anglers would struggle to believe, landing an astonishing 680lb of bream over just two days of fishing during a trip to Ethswaite Water in the Lake District. This 280-acre lake can be incredibly daunting for those who have never visited a water of this size, but the fish are there if you know how to catch them.
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“I usually only get to go fishing once every two months due to work and family commitments, and when I do, I love to target bream on these big, natural waters,” John told us.
“With many trips to Ireland and waters like Windermere and Ethswaite under my belt, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you have to get the bait in or you won’t catch. It really is as simple as that.”
“Because I don’t go fishing often, I don’t mind spending a bit extra on bait as I know how important it is, and without it, more often than not, the session’s a failure.”
The day before they intended to fish, the anglers, by every definition, filled it in. Amongst copious amounts of groundbait, they laced the lakebed with 15kg of flaked maize, 5kg of pearl barley, 10 pints of casters, 2kg of corn, 10 pints of dead maggots, white crumb to bind it all together, and 5 litres of a bream angler’s favourite, molasses. While this might sound extreme, John emphasised that on a water of this size, it’s often the only way to draw bream in numbers and keep them in your swim.
“It does make me laugh sometimes when anglers think 20 feederfuls is enough to kick a swim off on a big venue,” he said.
“In 280 acres of water, with bream shoals that can be 300–400 strong, not to mention all the skimmers and roach in the mix too, it’s a drop in the ocean.”
“Not to sound big-headed, but after years of fishing in Ireland and on big UK lakes, I almost expect to catch big bream bags like this now. I’ve had loads of sessions like this landing 300lb some days, and if anyone wants to experience fishing on this scale, I always tell them—don’t hold back on the bait.”
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On the first day, John equalled his best-ever UK bream fishing session, landing an impressive 227lb of fish, with the average bream weighing between 4–6lb. Casting every two minutes to keep bait going in through the feeder proved key to keeping the shoal feeding, and the fish just kept coming with the action getting better and better throughout the day.
“I only use the Guru XL bait-up feeder now as it’s the only one that can take enough bait,” John explained.
“Throughout the day, I got through 4kg of worms, 4 pints of casters, and a few bags of groundbait. Many think it can't be done but with enough effort and consistency you can easily get through it,” he added.
The second day brought a change of pace. While it started much the same as the previous day with the pair catching plenty of good bream, a shoal of smaller skimmers moved into their swim which made it difficult to get to the better fish.
“We were fishing in 25ft of water, and after 11am, the feeder was bouncing off the backs of these smaller fish from five feet down, with the feeder never making it to the bottom before I got a bite, which just highlights how many fish are present in venues like this,” he said.
“I might start carrying some bullet feeders from now on too, as that will hopefully help get the feeder past those smaller fish and down to where the bigger bream are feeding.”
"Over the two days I managed 227lb and 190lb, with Jud banking 65lb and 190lb, which made all the effort worthwhile," he concluded.
We also caught up with Dave Coleman who runs the fishing at Ethswaite who explained a bit more about how good the fishing is and catches like this should be a common occurrence.
"I try to tell the anglers that visit for the coarse fishing that they need to put some bait in and those who listen have some incredibly successful sessions."
"There are huge numbers of bream in the lake with the average around 4-5lb, but they run all the way upto doubles figures."
"The lake offers some great mixed fishing and there are some giant pike in the lake, with the biggest over 46lb which could be close to the British Record now," he explained.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ETHSWAITE WATER, HERE IS THEIR WEBSITE...
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