Old Lake Latest Catches week ending 31/12/17

 This weeks fishing! in brief

Bury Hill’s most distinctive fish was landed on Saturday at a winter weight of 36 lb 10 oz.
Captor Gez Schifano made the most of the mild temperatures, which could encourage more big fish to feed before the next cold spell.
Pleasure fishing matchman Norman Youlton also benefited from the respite from the cold, landing 17 bream to 5 lb and a winter tench on the Old Lake’s Long Bank.
Zander anglers have been out in force and enjoying good numbers of fish, up to four per session reported, including one visitor’s ‘first of the species’ capture of 7 lb 3 oz.
And good numbers of carp have been feeding, up to four fish being landed per angler, especially from peg 26, next to the Boathouse, which gives access to the deepest water.
Mild temperatures are the theme in the weather, double-figure values expected for several days this week, with 10 degrees C on Tuesday, and only a degree less on Wednesday and Thursday, before a slow slide by a degree each day into the weekend, leading into a chilly week the week after. When the fishery re-opens on Tuesday after the New Year’s Day break, it should be damp and mild, before a similar but sunnier Wednesday, and a largely dry Thursday and Friday. Overnight temperatures look particularly good from Tuesday into Wednesday, at 7 degrees, more than double the previous night’s best, followed by 5 from Wednesday into Thursday, and Thursday into Friday before slipping a degree or so each night after that. Winds look likely to be moderate south-westerlies, strengthening on Wednesday before becoming lighter on Thursday and dropping still further with each day, into the weekend. So with mild temperatures and fishy south-westerlies, along with some mild nights, good action looks on the cards around midweek this week, especially on Wednesday.

• The predator fishing season began on October 1 and continues until March 14.

• Anyone who fancies being part of the night syndicate of anglers who are allowed to fish Temple and the Old Lake after dark for a £50 joining fee will be interested to hear that there are places available. To apply, get in touch with the office on 01306 883621.

• Anglers are reminded that fishing on Temple and night fishing on the Old Lake is available exclusively to members of the Bury Hill Specimen Carp Club. Membership cards must be carried at all times when on the fishery, and be available to bailiffs when they carry out checks prior to the evening lock-up.

OLD BURY HILL LAKE – GENERAL & BOAT FISHING

Making the most of the mild spells proved the key to success for Norman Youlton, who enjoyed a session of 17 bream and a winter tench at peg 33, on the Long Bank.
Matchman Norman, from Surbiton, fished a Method feeder cast tight to the island and 10 mm wafters, landing fish to 5 lb.
Fellow bream angler Ian Casbon had ten fish of a similar size from peg 38, fishing a couple of rod lengths off the island with 6 mm banded pellets and PVA bags.
Carp angler Steven Hayes, from Chislehurst, fished the deeper water in front of peg 26, next to the Boathouse, to land four carp to 16 lb 8 oz, all on NashBait 15 mm Citruz white pop-ups, after windy weather stirred the fish into action.
The Old Lake’s zander have also been responding well to the mild spell, up to four fish being landed on a variety of baits, many of them in daylight in the coloured water.
Adrian Wegrzynowski, from Reading, had four to 6 lb 8 oz on float fished roach tails, at peg 45.
Jack Morton, from Hertford, caught his first ever zed, at 7 lb 3 oz, from peg 53, casting a small, hair-rigged half roach 20 metres out into a shallow area in the bay.
Ryan Whaley used small lamprey sections to tempt zander of 6 lb and 4 lb from peg 40, and Matt Allen, from Hertford, had a 5 lb 1 oz zed from peg 1.

TEMPLE LAKE – CARP

Mild weather after Christmas can often mean Temple producing one or two of its heaviest residents, and this year The Ghost obliged.
Gez Schifano, who has been a regular on Temple in past seasons, was the successful angler, and the fish weighed 36 lb 10 oz, coming from peg 14 on Saturday.
This is the first reported capture since the fish was banked in October by Alan Robinson at a weight thought to be around 35 lb or 36 lb, having evaded capture since May, when it was at its heaviest ever weight of 40 lb 10 oz.

BONDS LAKE

Bonds regularly produces multiple catches of carp to double figures on a variety of methods, from pole to feeder and straight lead to waggler. Paul Benefield, from Leatherhead, enjoyed a return to Bonds, where he has had some huge summer catches of up to 45 fish on waggler and pellets, this time having a busy winter session with ten carp.

MILTON LAKE

Milton Lake is the place to try for a catch of prime roach, using a waggler on a running line or pole just a short distance out, close to the pads, where they can be lined up with a little-and-often loosefeeding approach. And in the mild spells there are crucians, tench and bream to be caught, along with occasional carp.