I've been aware for a while now, of a small pond just a quarter of an hour's drive from my home. Small is very much the operative word, with the pond probably being around half an acre, Available on a day ticket basis, it's barely fished probably because, despite its diminutive size, it has a reputation for being hard; "they don't give themselves up, there" was the consensus of the few anglers I've spoken to who've fished it.
The lake is stocked with carp (not biggies, but mid to high singles with the occasional double) who haven't grown to obese proportions by munching obscene quantities of boilies, backed up with tench, roach, perch and, unusually, chub.
The rules mitigate against carp angling in its modern incarnation (hooks larger than a 12, bite alarms and lines in excess of 5 lb breaking strain are all banned), leaving a tiny, intimate little pond fished by a select band of pleasure anglers who enjoy a challenge and don't mind being made fools of by the ultra- wary inhabitants of a glorified garden pond.
There's a narrow arm of the pond, probably only 4m wide, which stretches like a finger, reed fringed and with overhanging trees that fairly screams "fish", and the lake appears to be between 3 and 6 feet deep, fairly weeded and with a silty bottom.
I can't wait to give it a try on my return from America, as the puzzle of solving its riddles will prove a pleasing antidote to the fact that I've, by and large, got the measure of the Estate lake and its crucians. My mind is already weighing up options- method feeder, pole or waggler? Which swims to fish? Maggots, pellets, sweetcorn, meat, mini-boilies?
Questions, questions, and the mental rumination that's part of the fun and anticipation of a campaign on a new lake.
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