Andy Spreadbury's Fishing Blog

The Secret Lake 12.00 At last I am installed on the Meadow Bank in (I think) Peg 9. Well, it’s the one past ‘The Point’ swim. Saw a fish show right smack in front at about fifty yards, so clipped at 13 wraps. Leading showed only light-ish weed so well confident with my solid bags. Another fish showed down to the right, proving once again there are resident fish here. 12.30 Another fish showed to the right. 13.00 Weather overcast but very mild - small airborne flies on the wing. Wind from the SW. More fish out to the right. They seem to be right in front of the last ladder on the opposite side of the lake. At some point these fish must move down the lake and over my spodded area. 13.30 No line bites - I’m assuming there are no fish in the area. Line bites on this lake seem a pre-cursor to a take. 14.30 It’s gone quiet now - haven’t seen a fish for an hour. Wind increased in strength slightly. Fishing Peg 5 would have been very tough inde

The Secret Lake, somewhere in Essex 10.30 I very nearly didn’t go. I woke up with an overwhelming feeling that I shouldn’t be fishing - I don’t know whether it was some sort of premonition or just general anxiety. I knew I shouldn’t have come. Casting around with a lead and it’s wall to wall weed out there. I’ve settled for 12 + 1 wraps as being less dense than elsewhere, so my solid bags will be clipped up to there. 12.15 Despite early trepidations, confidence is high! I have seen fish out in front of me and my solid bags are giving me the best presentation I can achieve given the weed. Two rods are on multi-rigs with Northern Special pop-ups, one pink, one yellow. The other rod is a 12mm. wafter fished on my own cotton hair rig on which I have done so well in the past. This has as its accompaniment a yellow Essential Cell. This approximates to the maize I have put out with the Spomb. 14.00 There’s a run on the left-hand rod! The multi-rig is away!… I hook the f