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Yateley Pads Lake Report by Paul Cross - 25/02/2011

We arrived at the lake a little late after my partner in crime left all his grub by the front door, not realising until 15 miles from home, me and James finally got to the lake around 8:30am. Our fellow angling friends were ready watching the water from pole position, after a little chat and a lot of banter we carried on the walk around the lake very surprised to see the amount of fizzing around the margins mainly in front of swims 2 and 12. We were all getting very excited to say the least.

On with the draw I pulled 3rd out of the four and jumped into peg 12 by 10:45. All the bubbles had stopped by this time. With a light west wind temperatures were good but also knowing they were going to change sometime soon over the weekend. At 4pm on day one after being set up with all rods being baited for a few hours now, I had the urge to move, not far though; next door into 13. A quick move and all rods back out before dark.


View From The Swim
Ready To Go


First light and the same again, fizzing all over the shot. I sat there ready for the traps to run with a nice cuppa but nothing materialised, our lines layed still. I gave it another hour, by 11am I reeled in and found a couple of clear spots close in amongst the lilies, I spodded out a nice bed of hemp snails mixed with a handful of white maggots to give it a bit of colour and movement. I then decided to let the swim settle and go have a stroll around for a chit chat.

On my route around I stopped and had a chat and a cuppa with Mills in peg 7. We sat and looked over the lake, around 1pm an alarm sounds from down in swim 2, straight out, James is in! So on I go, once I had got there I was being told it’s a nice one, she was ready for the net and a nice one she was, a dark mirror at 30lb 2oz, James was a very happy angler. After the camera shots and another cuppa I was back to the swim thinking I better get my rods in. My traps were all reset before dark on my chosen baited areas.


Withy Pool Rig Ready To Go
The Rig Amongst The Loose Feed


At 9pm a slow take came, the result being a very nice tench, once returned the rod was back out on the mark and then back to bed. 10:10pm and another slow take, just a few beeps, a turn of my head then bang she was gone, ripping line out. My drag was set higher than normal because of the weed so I knew it was a good fish! The feeling of my line pulling though the weed was heart stopping, knowing it would be heart breaking if this fish was lost. With the weed off the line and having full control it wasn’t long before I had her in the net, a very happy me, a lovely mirror at 26lb 14oz.


26lb 14oz
26lb 14oz


A very successful and memorable trip.

Tight Lines, PC.


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