Angler’s Mail – July 09, 2019

48 | 9 JULY anglersmail.com

WHERE TO FISH

Ian’s VENUE BREAKDOWN

Tickets

£6 weekdays; £2 for an extra rod;

£7 weekends and Bank Holidays; £3 for an

extra rod; £3 children. Tel: 07765000857.

http://www.oldhough.co.uk

SPECIES VENUE BESTS

● CARP 25 lb

● CATFISH 44 lb

● F1s 4 lb

● TENCH 3 lb

Boulders Pool,

Old Hough Coarse Fishery, Forge Mill Lane,

Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0HQ.

 The bridge pegs

provide reliable sport

year-round.

 The far margins

attract carp and other

species. Feed two spots

with half a large pot of

4 mm sinking pellets,

then catapult six pellets

every fi ve minutes over

each spot.

 The deeper central

track can be best in

colder weather,

but carp can also

be caught shallow

at times, especially

during pleasure

fi shing sessions.

 Investigate the

inside margins towards

the end of a match,

as they can produce

all kinds of species,

but especially carp.

Loosefeed half a dozen

pellets and half a dozen

grains of corn every 20

minutes or so from the

start, dropping your rig

over the top later on.

● CRUCIAN CARP 2 lb

● BREAM 5 lb

● IDE 3 lb,

● PERCH 3 lb,

● BARBEL 4 lb,

● CHUB 3 lb

● GRASS CARP 20 lb

These pegs offer

more shade on

summer days.

Bridge pegs

Bridge pegs

x Lewis’s peg

Depth of

1.7 m in the

channel

1 m-deep

shelf 1 m-deep shelf

13 m-wide

fact that they do a lot of small
things right.
It’s about not being lazy
and waiting for the fish to take
your bait. Yes, sometimes you
do have to wait, particularly
for specimen fish, but if an
angler can learn to keep
several lines on the go,
by introducing loosefeed,
they’ll be able to pick off fish
from these lines in rotation,
catching more fish as a result.
Lewis is continually
adjusting his shotting pattern
and the depth at which he
presents his hook bait. On this
hot and sunny day, he soon
recognised that the carp were
competing for the bait off
the bottom, so he spread his
shot evenly down the line, to
ensure that his hook bait sank
slowly.
On another day, bulking
the shot down the line may
have been superior. It all boils
down to the weather, as it has
a massive influence on fish
behaviour.
Depth is also critical.
Fishing just on the bottom
may well be a useful starting
point but, as Lewis showed
during the session, fishing
one, two or even six inches off
the bottom can be far more
productive. It’s just a case
of being prepared to make
regular adjustments.

Lewis landed some

hard-fighting carp to around

4 lb, skimmers and one or

two plump roach, ending his

session with a pleasing bag

of fish.

His tenacity and skill on a

tricky day brought him many

more fish than the other

anglers on the pool.

Ian's summary

Many anglers view

commercial venues as

‘puddles’ or ‘uninviting

holes in the ground’, but Old

Hough is different, as it's an

appealing set of ten well-

managed pools, in a peaceful

location with lots of wildlife.

West Sooty is perhaps the

jewel in the crown on site,

particularly from a specimen

angler’s point of view, as it

contains some stunning carp

to over 25 lb and catfish to

over 40 lb.

I can't pick fault with this

fishery, as it’s immaculately

kept and the bailiffs are

‘diamonds’, being ever so

helpful and friendly.

Facilities include a small

tackle shop and clean toilets,

making it ideal for families

and lady anglers. By and large,

disabled access is good, and

they keep their website up to

date, which a lot of fisheries

don’t. I’m impressed!

Lewis

adapts his

tactics to

suit the

conditions.

He caught

this bag of

fi sh on a

red-hot day.