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Tackle, Tactics and Experience

Lakeland Holiday 1999

A few months ago Seb Shelton suggested that we had a week's fishing in the Lake District at Esthwaite, commencing on Saturday 23rd November. I was all in favour so Seb began organising accommodation and booking a boat.

As the time drew nearer we changed our plans so that we only had 2 days booked on Esthwaite and chances to fish other waters. We collected as much information as possible from contacts who knew the places, special thanks due here to Keith Minchin for detailed maps, and Ralston McPherson. We also obtained a rather good book by Chris Sodo, giving all the information need by any angler visiting the area.

After an uneventful journey north we dropped the non-fishing stuff off at the digs and arrived at Esthwaite a few minutes before the manager. We were not the first there, a boat was out, trolling deads and casting lures. They came back to the landing stage as we were loading the boat and they reported one pike of 14lb to a lure. We had our own electric motor but didn't want to flatten the battery so negotiated to hire a battery for the weekend.

The fishing was hard, we found and tried all the spots that had been recommended to us. I blanked, Seb had 2 small pike on jerkbaits as well as two takes on different lures that had tangled on the cast and were coming in sideways.

After a day of pleasant conditions with a light breeze we were subjected to a spectacularly heavy downpour shortly before we packed up, accompanied by thunder and lightning. It went so dark I thought nightfall was coming an hour early because we were further north! I cannot remember being out in such heavy rain before. In less than half an hour just about everything got wet.

Seb's lure-drying rack.

Sunday dawned with grey skies and a steady northerly breeze, it began to rain not long after we started fishing, this upset the outboard and flattened the battery, though limping back to the landing stage at very slow speed I actually had a fish, all of 4lb perhaps, dragging a SuperTrap along the bottom. We had more trouble with the new battery and ended up changing boats and using an outboard supplied by the fishery.

We never had another take all day, and we tried very hard. As far as we know over the weekend only the 3 small fish we had and the one we were told about on arrival were caught, these between perhaps 5 or 6 boats out each day. We needed a change.

On Monday we went to Grasmere, rowing only, but supposed to be a productive water. The wind was coming in from the north but was surprisingly mild with a few light showers early on. The stunning scenery from this relatively small lake nestling between the mountains was a constant distraction from the fishing, we had caught the trees in all their autumn glory, beeches, sycamores, oaks and birches added their reds, yellows and browns to the rust of the bracken-covered slopes.

Back to the fishing, we had been told that we ought to enjoy plenty of action on a fair day at Grasmere, but I'm not sure if our informant had fished it in October.

We began anchored off the shore just as the lake bed dropped from a gentle slope to deeper water, on my first cast back into the shallower water I had a take on a Shallow Raider, ripped hard, but it didn't stick, a few minutes later I had a pike follow the same lure very quickly, nearly into the boat, but I was not concentrating properly so I never saw it coming, probably looking at the trees. A while later Seb caught the first fish on his Flipper and I struggled on as he had 3 more, all between 4 and 7lb. I was running through the lure box and wondering when I would get a fish. We had moved to the other side of the lake before I was into a nice fish, first cast with a Cherry Bomb, it was nearly 12lb.

Lakeland double

A couple of minutes later and I was in again, having cast while Seb was pulling on the oars to move the boat. This was viewed as cheating by Seb, but I didn't see it that way as I netted a near "15". Seb had two more smaller fish as well. I suggested that he should change lures, he'd had 6 small fish on the Flipper but I thought the better fish wanted the Cherry Bomb. He was reluctant to change because he had caught more fish and felt it was only a matter of time before he contacted a bigger one.
I had another fish, a couple of ounces short of 10lb and reiterated that I thought Seb should change lures. Seb only had a black Cherry Bomb and it did not seem quite right so he tried one of my spare shad-patterned ones. It was not long before he had his double, at 12lbs odd. I had one more fish of about 8lbs late on and we went back to Hawkshead a lot happier than on the previous two days.

The Cherry Bomb doing the business

I think Seb had 6 fish on the Flipper with none above 7lb and his '12' on the Cherry Bomb, and I ended up with 4 all above 8lb. An important lesson, proving a point I've made before:- on a good quality water if you are only catching small fish then you must be fishing for them! Change tactics for better fish.

On Tuesday we were going to venture out onto Windermere. It's a big place, where big ferries plying up and down the lake with waterskiing powerboats belting around give plenty of cause for concern. The place is never still, waves from boats constantly break on the shore and you need to keep your wits about you in a small boat, the most innocuous-looking ferry sends out the highest waves while most waterskiing boats do not move that much water and a hundred yards away the wash has largely subsided.

We were very careful at first while we built confidence in the boat, but after a couple of hours we were happy to start exploring properly. We had listened to advice about fishing on Windermere which recommended fishing the drop-offs from about 10ft into 35ft of water. The boat was, I think, 16ft long and we mounted the depth sounder at the back, the anchor was at the front and as the boat swung at anchor we saw the drop-offs clearly defined on the screen, with startling variations in depth just within the length of the boat. I had a nasty fright just off White Cross bay when Seb neatly removed my hat with an enthusiastic cast, no harm done, apart from wetting my hat, but it did make me a tad wary for a while!

We tried trolling but neither of us like the method so we did not persevere for too long. We mooched around the northern end of the lake and ended up in High Wray bay where Seb actually had a take! The fish was not hooked but by now we both were!

The weather forecast for Wednesday was for a fresh south-westerly and local advice was to stay off Windermere, considering our inexperience and the nature of the boat, so we returned to Grasmere.

The surrounding mountains prevent a westerly wind from getting at the lake directly, but it funnels round the valleys and seems to come from every direction at once, constantly spinning the boat around. The rippled surface of the lake was punctuated by smooth spots as the wind met in the middle and stilled the water.

The weather can change very quickly

We struggled, I had 2 small fish on the Cherry Bomb while Seb blanked. It was a dour day and disappointing after Monday's sport. I was suffering from a sore shoulder so I could not help very much with the rowing.

The weather forecast for Thursday and Friday indicated that we would be alright on Windermere. Seb had rang Keith Minchin, who has fished Windermere many times, to settle a few questions that had arisen after our first day on the big lake, the answers gave us confidence in our approach so we had high hopes as we headed for the western shore.

Again we struggled, I actually saw a smallish pike strike at the surface in one bay but despite our confidence and determination we could find no takers. We had decided that Seb would stick with recommended methods, like the Bulldog, Flippers and Spinnerbaits, while I would go through a selection of other lures including the Countdown Depth Raider (arm-aching!), Lureland Spitfire, Cherry Bomb, Jigs, Spoons, and other sinking lures. We were both fishing with 2 rods, allowing one lure to sink while retrieving and recasting the other, this sometimes got a bit confusing when I couldn't remember what lure I had on the end of which rod! We hoped in this way to find some fish. Again we were fishing the drop-offs into over 30ft of water, staying for no more than 15 minutes in each spot. Some of the swims we tried looked very good, a weedy shelf perhaps 12ft deep then a sharp drop, just right, we thought. It was a very pleasant day with warm sunshine and a gentle south-westerly.

Finally our efforts were rewarded, Seb had a fish on a spinnerbait, did he yell! No monster at about 6lb but extremely welcome, this fish came to a cast back across the weed shelf in a bay. We never got a photo of that fish, it dropped the hook in the net then dropped through a tear in the mesh as I was reaching for the camera! Next cast (I think) he had a take on a flipper from the deeper water, the fish wasn't hooked and did not show again. As the day came to an end we reluctantly headed for the home shore, keen to return. On this trip back across the lake we saw 220ft showing on the depth finder!

Our final morning and the lake was fog-bound. We would have to wait before we could safely cross the lake. Our initial plans had only included one day on Windermere, so the old 2hp outboard I had borrowed seemed adequate. Now it let us down, it would not start. We needed a new spark plug. We wasted some time making our mind up that we had to have a motor before Seb set off to find a chandler's. He was gone for an hour, with the new plug fitted we were away first pull, and headed for the spot where Seb had caught his fish on Thursday. We were surprised to find two anglers piking in the bay right where we wanted to be. We got as close as we reasonably could but we raised no fish. We wanted to look in the southern basin of the lake so we trolled down the western bank to the islands, cast around there, pottered through the speed limit area and noticed the water was noticeably more coloured. In the northern basin we could see the bottom 10ft down and a bright coloured lure at 13ft, the southern basin near the ferry crossing had about half this clarity. There was not a breath of wind, it was cold and the light was poor with the fog always threatening to return, not good piking conditions to my mind.

The motor was playing up again, this time with intermittent fuel starvation so we struggled to get back up the lake, we found a few tasty spots on the way which gave us hopes of a late fish, but it was not to be. We reluctantly headed back to shore as the light faded. And so ended a most exciting and educational week's fishing, you don't need to catch monsters to enjoy yourself.

The Lessons

We learnt such a lot during our week that it is difficult to know where to begin, but if you fancy a trip to the Lake District here are some points to consider.

Contact Chris Sodo and try and get the latest local information, speak to other anglers who have succeeded on the lakes.

I honestly think that the lakes are not that hot for lure fishing by October, most fish are caught in the spring from April onwards into the summer, although what the boat traffic must be like in August I shudder to think . The weather is very changeable, take enough clothes and expect a different season every day. Attitude is important, it almost certainly won't be easy but you have to be prepared for that and fish hard all the time. We both felt that if you could have a first trip in the company of an experienced Lakes angler you would save yourself a lot of learning time.

Esthwaite was very expensive, at �53 a day for a boat and electric outboard. The staff were helpful and keen for us to catch some fish, and they do value their pike. We talked to a lot of regulars who say the piking is relatively poor at the moment, a lot of the very big fish have died and new ones are growing through and this season has started slowly with few fish showing. The boat price reflects the management's desire to restrict the piking and protect the pike in order to preserve the revenue. If I was to fish Esthwaite again I would do it differently, I would decide where I was going to fish, probably off Stricklands, and stick it out all day, fishing the big drop-off.

Grasmere was fun, very beautiful if you don't mind rowing. I don't think there are any monsters in there but it is a prolific water. It was light relief but not really worth a massive effort when Windermere is nearby.

Windermere is awesome and totally gripping. So different and exciting for someone like me who has fished rivers and gravel pits. But it is big, the fish have to be found and they do not give themselves up easily. Even anglers who fish it regularly admit to plenty of blanks.

I was certainly not that well-prepared for it, I had relatively few of the lures that would really be of any use in there, crankbaits and minnows are of very limited use. Fast-sinking lures rule, jerkbaits, soft plastics, spinnerbaits and big spoons are the most useful lures. Apparently, big fish do come from the weedy bays in spring and summer, so some shallow working lures are important then.

Mobility is everything, you need a good, safe boat and an outboard that can get you from one favoured spot to the next in quick time. The amount of fast traffic on the lake makes you feel very puny and vulnerable in a small boat crossing the middle of the lake. A depth sounder is essential, with the transducer mounted at the front of the boat. You need anchors at both ends to set the boat exactly right. Taking things a stage further an electric outboard and a drogue will allow precise control for drifting. If you could set up the main outboard to charge the battery then so much the better. You have to register a boat for use on Windermere, this is not expensive and gives everybody protection against idiots. When you first see the traffic on Windermere you might wonder at the possibility of actually fishing it, but you will soon get used to it. If you do well on your first visits you will be in a very small minority, most people take a few trips to come to terms with locating the pike on this big water.

On our return trip we called in to see David Lumb, we described our experiences and he confirmed that we were doing more or less the right things in the right places. He did mention that he thought Windermere was not an easy water and that despite its size the pike have seen a lot of lures over the last few years, which is having a bearing on current results.

It was memorable week, getting an insight into a type of lure fishing that was unfamiliar to me. All praise to Seb for his organisation and research that enabled us to be as well-prepared as anyone could be on their first trip to the lakes. The fact that we survived a week afloat together without any minor dispute developing into a major problem is remarkable. We had discussed the possibility of not getting on and decided we would sort things out as they arose. Nothing arose, and on the road home we agreed that we would happily have fished the next day together, which is a real tribute to how much fun we had. I can't wait to get back up there.