Well the opening my clubs 2016 season started with me attending the opening as a spectator. I joined the 9 anglers  for the pre fishing BBQ. The draw had been made with the swims being divided up.

With the rods cast out the first fish fell to Phil in swim 10 followed minutes later by his brother in swim 4, followed by Tony in 5. 3 fish out in the first 40mins.

Many more fish were caught by the anglers through the upcoming days with top rods going to the brothers, with Phil taking an impressive 25 fish haul in 5 days. Ralph topped out with the biggest fish with the first 30lb from swim 2.

I got to the lake on Wednesday morning after a night shift and jumped into swim 4 knowing that fish were coming from the back margin. Phil was the only angler left on the lake and watching him catch repeatedly was fantastic and has off to him for getting it right. I opened my account at 15:35 with my first fish coming from off the back of the pads after Phil had left a nice 14lb7oz mirror.  The forecast for the rest of the day was rain which was a complete change for the glorious sunshine of the previous days. Steve Sturt joined me in the rain and promptly set up in swim 5. While ducking the rain showers I picked up my second at 20:15 a lovely looking zip linier mirror weighing in at 20lb6oz from in front of the willow tree.

My next fish came at 01:45 form the willow again another 20 pounder. This one was a mirror weighing in 20lb12oz. Steve then picked up his first fish a 17lb8oz mirror at 5am this was followed by me taking an 18lb10oz mirror off the far bank. The morning weather had cleared up from the previous day’s rain and the lake was looking lovely, the water had taken on a little colour from the rain but was still relative clear compared to previous years. Steve continued to catch with a 25lb8oz mirror at 11:15 the closely followed at 12 noon a 28lb4oz common. Steve believes that this may have been a new PB for him.

We were joined by another 2 anglers during the morning Neil Beaumont and James Eglinton.

Neil chose swim 1 and James swim 6. The next fish fell Karl who had popped up for a couple of hours fishing. My next came with a repeat capture of a long common that gets mistaken for the long common. It weighed in at 28lb14oz which was about ½lb down on Karl's capture of it on Tuesday at 29lb9oz. I weighed it on 2 sets of scales dial and digital with both giving the same reading.  This fish is now has some distinctive splits in its tail as well as the growth on the upper part.

Another day drew to a close with James in swim 6 taking a couple of nice fish. A hearty dinner and celebratory beers were downed. Bed was calling and unbroken night’s sleep was had by both Steve and me. I was woken at 05:20 to a take which resulted in another common of 14lb12oz which rounded off my session of 6 fish. Steve later had a 24lb Common to cap off his tally of 4 fish.

James left the lake that morning saying he had a total of 5 fish. We left leaving Neil in swim 2 with a possible move to 4-5 on the cards. It was a great time with good company and some good fish.

Some of the fish are showing clear signs of spawning with scales missing and marks down the flanks, ad some of the females letting some eggs go while in the net which could explain the drop in weight for the big common I had. I plan to get back over there during next week for a couple of hours. Fingers crossed to catch some more and maybe if I’m lucky I can christen my new rod n’ reel.