A tale of two lakes - Bradshaw fisheries

Waking up at half 5 was a killer but it needed to be done.  I had spam to prep and it was my turn to bring the coffee meaning cups and cups of Kenco one by one into the flasks. And for an added twist I had the mind-boggling idea to fill a flask with soup!! I couldn't think of anything better than a cup of heinz tomato soup while fighting of the cold winds.

THE JOURNEY... 

It was me,  the trusty man that is Will Maull and the legend that is my brother Danny.  The dynamic trio on-route to the Bradshaw fisheries located in Bolton.  We'd heard a few good recommendations.   I wouldn't have believed it myslef but a great start to a fishing trip happens to be blareing out Stormzy and Levels as our excitement was boosted by the bars.  One note about the journey was a single mad road down to the fishery where it was a single lane with passing sections on each side meaning drivers had stop and let each car through and hope a driver would do the same for you.  

PICKING A LAKE...

As we drove in it hit us that it was quite. Only two cars in the car park which came to a surprise.  We paid for a ticket and halted for a quick trip to the toilet.  A sign saying "only fisherman allowed beyond this point" made me smile as now we were proper.  Bradshaws had a good selection of lakes,  9 in total. Lake 4 is the large one first greeted on the way in but we had heard Lake 6 was the best and we were out for big fish so that was to be our destination.  It was down at the far end a little out the way which is what we liked about it.  A perfect square lake with several posts and we picked the two closest together at the furthest side of the lake.  

HELPING A BROTHER OUT... 

It was to be Danny's turn for me to help rig up while having confidence Will could remember from our time at meadow view.  A little over half an hour and sure enough,  we all had the floats in the water.  The weather was amazing to say it was winter eventually reaching blue skies and warm temperatures which lofted the spirits that this was Gunna be a good days fishing. 

QUITE BEFORE THE STORM... 

We hadn't even had a nibble the conditions were perfect and yet not a bite to be seen. A question of rigging maybe but we couldn't put our finger on it. This didn't ruin anything though as said once before,  the sheer relaxation and tranquility is just bliss.  

HORRORS... 

The horrific moment of the day turned out to be the destruction of our thermos flasks.  One toppled over and smashed the inner lining of glass aswell as a leek pouring coffee over the bank.  Will the maddest of geezers managed to save a little for one last brew before it all spilled out.  A moment of pure genius on his part. The second thermos of soup we had was more of a tragic story.  Trying to put our stuff in the bag it just slipped out and fell 5 to 6 feet and the crunch of smashed glass was just torturous.  Warm delicious soup just gone in a flash.  Will tried to pour a last cup full but shards just filled the cup.  

All wasn't lost however as will manged to catch the first fish of the day. A good sized Roach that gave us a little hope we'd see more fish to come as the hours went bye. 

WORTH IT'S WEIGHT IN GOLD...

After even the experienced fisherman sharing our lake only managed to catch two fish between them all,  we believed it was time to try a different lake as it was obvious the big fish weren't biting. And so,  Danny took the first initiative and tried over at Lake 5 just over the other side of the bushes.  WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT! He comes running over screaming he's caught a fish literally he must have been their 5 minutes!!  So the troopers we were we ran over with the net bay watch style and helped him with his first ever fish.  A small Barbel around a pound and what a good looking fish it was.  I'd never seen a Barbel before but what a sight.  We then moved the gear and the chairs and made lake 5 the fishing place to be. 

Danny Continued to catch with a smart looking Rudd and the Virgin had become the master it seamed. Will the top dog then caught his second of the day continuing his streak of roach. I was still not to catch but the bites were there. 

Finally I hooked. I didn't waste anytime realing it in but before we could get the net ready It was gone!! It had unhooked himself! I waa determined to count that as my first fish of the day but Will and Dan were having none of it. They managed a tally of 3 fish each for the both of them but an unlucky 2 for me but it would have been 3 and I'm still convinced it was 3. 

LOCATION... 

A note to take was the crazily expensive but real nice houses located just past Lake 5. They were awesome but we were saying they were that close to the lake we could throw a line from the window. On our particular day the managers of Bradshaws were cutting down some trees with a loud as hell chainsaw. It was annoying to say the least but the sun was shining and we all had a tally of some good fish so it was an inconvenience to the amazing day of fishing. 

To say we're catching in the winter I can't wait to see what summer has to bring us... 

Losing our fish virginity - meadow view fishery

I can't believe it we are finally on our very first fishing trip. Me and Will Maull are the hungry fisherman in toe on the way to Meadow View fisheries in the little town of lymm. The excitement was undeniable sitting in the back seats of Will's mum and dads car we literally couldn't sit still thinking about the amazing day ahead. The fish better beware I could feel a good days fishing. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS...

Pulling into meadow view I was hit with a sense of awe. The place is a beautiful one with 3 lakes and a café/office selling supplies and even PUKKA PIES!! Meadow view defiantly gets my thumbs up. The lakes themselves are stunning. Lakes known as Linnet, Lark and Thrush all have their differences including size and the fish themselves. Each offering particularly pools of fish yet the manager explained the fish are the same in all lakes.

THE SET UP....

Unloading the gear couldn't have happened any quicker. We chose our fishing spot with ease a nice under-hang below a tree in the middle of lake Linnet. Their were fisherman in a competition sharing the lake with us. This was mine and William's first attempt however the set-up was pretty straight forward. I helped Will to rig up and help him check the depth of water which took the longest. After sure enough we had the depth nailed, Will began to fish, while I rigged my rod, taking longer than usual just filled with anticipation for Will to get his first bite. Taking around half an hour we were eventually both fishing explaining to each other this was the life for us.

 

THE FISHING...

Hours past, they literally felt like minutes. Yes...we hadn't caught just yet but we could feel it coming. To be honest, we really couldn't care less if we caught the sheer relaxation and comfort of coffee and a smoke was just truly beautiful. I had some previous rough days and I could already tell fishing was a definite escape.

The fellow fisherman were catching by the dozens. They were older more experienced fisherman who were always going to catch more than us but we hadn't caught a thing. Was this due to our rigging? the depth? sheer unluckiness? After going to the toilet I started talking to the nearest fisherman who literally caught 4 Roach in the 5 minutes I was chatting to him. He informed me the depth was only 2/2 and a half feet all across the lake which came to a surprise as we were fishing at around 4 to 5 feet!! You can imagine I quickly ran to Will to change our float positions to the estimated 2 foot. I found it surprising that such a large lake was so shallow but I'm not arguing with a fisherman who had a keep-net of 35+ Roach in his pocket.

 

OUR FIRST FISH!!...

Off course it was Will who caught the first fish. I was so delighted I was so happy he caught a fish I had the feeling the day rested on it. He couldn't have reeled it in fast enough. It was only a small Roach but it may as well have been a shark honestly we were jumping with joy. A quick picture and a quick release as we didn't want it to die. 1-0 to Will and so the GAME WAS ON!!. I wasn't going to let Will beat me and would you know it, the fish started biting.

 

THE REST OF THE DAY...

I was the next to catch with a little Roach myself and now we were even. But the pressure was off, we both had a fish and we both just couldn't be more relaxed.

The next events were extraordinary!! Will managed to run ahead with another 3 fish!! All Roach but all stunners leaving me miles behind on my one. The day drew on and the fish began to stop biting and it appeared the days feeding was done. Drizzles of rain continued later on but it didn't dampen the spirits not one bit.

Verging on 4 o'clock Will's parents were on route but literally as we called them it must have sparked life back into the fish and suddenly they were biting again. "Just one more" we kept saying as we kept casting hoping the parents wouldn't show up just yet. But as the time flew his parents finally arrived and our days fishing was done. Confusion on what to do with the bait but we settled with throwing a little in the lake and a little in the bin.

With a tally of 5 fish in all we packed away and began the journey home...tired but with full-filament. What an absolute cracking day and we couldn't wait for the next one. 

FISH...HERE WE COME!!! We've started and know where near finished...