As it turned out it was indeed pretty quiet with just a half dozen or so Anglers present and plenty of swims and options available. What's more even though it was 10.am by this time it seemed we had arrived during a feeding period with evidence of fizzing and as we walked into the back bay area a fish jumped out causing us to pause and inspect the area more closely. It became obvious that a number of fish were present cruising just below the surface. Being extremely tired from an uber early start and then getting caught in traffic on the M3 due to an accident and then spending a couple of hours walking the other side of the road at Match, we decided that was a good enough place to start.
Fortunately there are areas all around South where you can park your car and none are very far from the nearest swims so in no time we had barrowed the gear the few yards from the van to the swims. Cutting a long story short I think we actually arrived too late and by the time we had disturbed the area trying to find spots to present baits most of the fish had done the off. Both of us went to sleep for a few hours in the afternoon by which time the sun was high in the sky and temperatures had soared. I woke up late afternoon in a sweat from the heat as the sun was pitching directly into our swims and my Son found himself in a similar position.
We opted to remain in the bay for the night in the hope that the fish would return at the same time the next morning but despite having several liners during the night I awoke the next morning fishless. Son had lost something during the night that he felt was probably a Bream.
We gave it the morning but it was obvious we weren't going to find success in the back bay so Son went off to do the leg work for his old man and see if he could find us another chance. Before long he was back having found an area where some fish were fizzing and rolling so we both trotted off to have a look at the area. In contrast to the cramped back bay the new area offered plenty of options for both of us with a large expanse of open water in front plus features to cast to.
20 minutes later we had moved the gear to the new swims and set about exploring the area with light leads trying to keep disturbance to a minimum. Again to summarise, the afternoon passed into the evening and night and I awoke the next morning feeling dissatisfied with my efforts. Son was in a similar frame of mind and we sat and had a discussion about tactics.
I had been fishing both rods on an area of firm silt over which I had spombed a couple of kilos of mixed feed. Fish had definitely been bubbling on this area but I felt it was more likely to be Bream so I decided to wind in one of the rods and reposition it to an over hanging willow opposite me on the end of an Island. The cast went spot on, in fact it was one of those hero casts that you know just has to get you a fish. I had to punch it low and hard to get it in position under the overhanging branches to the spot I thought would produce. As it went in the line just caught the very tips of the willow leaves and a little flick with the rod tip saw it ping off, just the job I thought. As I said I just felt it deserved a fish and it came as little surprise a short while later when the alarm signalled a powerful take. I kept the rod low and gave it plenty of side strain as the fish tried to get further under the willow branches, not that there was any real danger as there were no branches actually under the water for it to snag on, other wise I wouldn't have cast it where I did. The fish ploughed up and down and managed to find a couple of small weedbeds, but calm steady pressure and a bit of coaxing from me had it moving again and eventually the boy put the net under a nice sized fish.
On the Scales it weighed exactly 26lb, a short deep bodied Simmo strain fish. Not the prettiest of fish but beggars can't be choosers and still a nice reward for hard work.
Needless to say the rod was recast back to the same spot and once again it landed right on target and a short time later it roared off again with a slightly lesser specimen of 17lb 6oz.
I think the boy was getting a little frustrated by this time seeing the old man show him how it's done! I suggested he place one of his rods to an Island margin to his right as the sun was beginning to show signs of breaking through the clouds and lighting up the margins of the Island. Kudos to him he managed to get an absolutely spot on cast in under some overhanging branches on the Island and again it was one of those casts that deserved a reward. Sure enough with just two hours of our trip left he received a take from the spot. The end result after a plodding fight was a lovely grey coloured Mirror of 20lb 4oz.
Despite the initial disappointment of not being able to get on the Match lake we had managed to bank three fish between us, a good enough result given the circumstances and we both returned home buoyed by our success. To be honest I'm kind of glad that we were forced onto the South lake as I think we both needed to catch a fish, The Match lake is a ball breaker for many people who aren't local and can't pre bait spots and visit it often enough to get in tune with the lake. I'm under no illusion that we have set ourselves a difficult task in catching any fish from Match and so an occasional trip over the road to get a bend in the rod will be needed from time to time. South lake isn't a hard lake but it still requires a bit of thought and I believe very precise bait placement is the key. There are still some very good fish in the South lake and some very nice looking one's so I won't mind too much in future if we have no choice but to spend time on this lovely little water.
A solid lump weighing 26lb not especially pretty but very welcome!
The boy did better in the nice looking fish stakes with this wonderfully grey coloured 20lb 4oz Mirror.
