Tom Oliver starts work on a big Environment Agency project.


October has been a busy time for me with a big project with the Environment Agency starting at work. We took over a small fishery in Hampshire a couple of years ago and identified that we had an alien species of fish within them known as Top Mouth Gudgeon. They are a species of fish that originate from far east Asia and reproduce up to four times annually growing up to 10cm in length.

They have caused the fishery problems over the years from low oxygen levels to algal blooms and cause a nightmare for anglers destroying any soft bait within seconds. The project meant we had to net all of our native fish from our four canal style ponds and move them to our small carp lake at the other end of the site at which point the E.A would add a chemical that kills fish by affecting their gills. In a month or two's time the fish can all be-restocked and we can start from scratch with a much improved fishery with an impressive stock.

My first trip of the month was to a new lake I had just acquired a ticket for. The lake is around 50 acres and boasts an impressive stock but as it is on a club ticket it is always extremely busy and it was no different for my trip. The first trip was a nightmare!!! I set up in the central area of the lake and unbeknown to me there were lots of very shallow bars and plateaus in front of the swim that were currently being populated by around forty swans. The swans kept swimming through the swim around forty yards out with their head's down and wiping all of my rods out. It was a nightmare especially fishing at around 150 yards with a strong crosswind and needless to say I packed away fishless.

The following weekend I decided to return to my syndicate lake and that too was a quiet weekend with not a fish gracing the bank around the lake. The following weekend I had a few things on so only managed a quick night on the new lake and although I did see a couple nothing happened on this occasion.

My final trip of the month was back on my syndicate and it was fairly quiet so for once I managed to get in a decent swim that gave me a good chance. I quickly found some spots after arriving after work on Friday evening and before long I had located tow likely looking areas. I decided to give them a bit of bait in the form of Hinders Hemp, Little Gemz pellets and Carp Company Ice Red chopped boilie. The mix was jazzed up with some Fish Pro liquid and Minamino and was spodded in a tight area over each of the spots. I went to bed early that night tired from work but was up at first light as this is when the fish normally show. I sat at the front of the swim with a cuppa and stared out intently over the still misty water.

Before long I started seeing the odd fish out in the middle of the lake and they were not a million miles away from where I was fishing so remained confident. Around an hour or so later the shows were getting closer and before too long my left hand rod pulled up tight before stripping line at a speed of knots. I bent in to the fish that was still stripping line and slowly coaxed it back towards me but it was not going to give up easily. It dived in to a weedbed and everything went solid for a few seconds but steady pressure soon had everything moving back towards me. The fish was encapsulated in a ball of weed and came straight towards the net without fighting however as soon as it reached the margin the weed came free and the fish exploded in the deep margins. The fish was clearly a decent one and showed me who was boss for what seemed like hours but was in reality only a few minutes

I finally netted a good mirror and slipped it in to a sack for a few minutes so I could get the rod back out and prepare all of the weighing equipment . I always like to get my rod back out as quickly as possible as it can nick extra bites if you have numbers of fish on your spot. The fish weighed 30.03lb and more than put a smile on my face after the amount of blanking I had been doing of late. I was sat having a brew with some mates after returning the fish when out of the blue my middle rod signalled in to life. The fish did not feel very big and came in fairly easily in comparison with the first. A small scabby mirror lay beaten in the folds of the net and was recognised by my friend as “The Fungus Mirror” an old original fish that weighed just 18lb. Its size did not matter as I was extremely pleased with the mornings events and hoped I could repeat them the following morning so topped up the spots with a little more of the mix.

My rigs were kept to what I had been catching on for most of the year, my favoured snowman rig. I use a size 6 Covert Incizor coupled with a long shrink tube kicker that really helps to flip and send the hook home and coupled with 25lb Sink Skin also from Gardner it creates a very tidy rig with great anti tangle and anti eject properties. I’ve been using a 16mm Ice Red bottom bait tipped with a 12mm Chewy Special pop up and to add attraction I've been boosting the hookbait before casting. I have done well dipping my bates in the Fish Pro liquid from Hinders and then rolling them in Antarctic Krill Powder from Carp Company before allowing them to dry for a few minutes The hookbait emits powerful food signals and stands out from the surrounding freebies.

I awoke the next morning and the conditions were almost identical to the morning before so I sat watching with a brew  full of confidence. My eyes remained glued to the water for most of the morning and it was clear the fish had moved as the were showing around the corner in numbers and there was little I could do. I was pleased with the results all the same and left with boosted confidence and already making plans for my next trip. That rounds up my fishing for this month but next month I hope to make the most of the weather before the cold weather really sets in!