Crack deep-water swims with Steve Whitfield’s match winning tactics.
How to win on 30ft lake swims
ANGLERS hoping to catch well on Ulley Reservoir in Sheffield face depths of well over 30ft!
Built in the Victorian era, the sprawling sheet of water is now used for leisure pursuits and regularly holds opens matches. Weights aren’t always massive, but catching 15lb in such extreme depths can be just as rewarding as crashing out 100lb of carp from a commercial fishery.
Local matchman Steve Whitfield loves taking on the deeps, whether that be on the feeder for bream or a long 10m whip fished to hand to catch roach, skimmers and perch.
And those perch can be massive. Last month Steve took a near-4lb stripey to go with six 2lb fish – in such depths, you can never be sure just what’s going to take the bait next.
“Much of Ulley is still unknown to anglers,” said Bag‘Em Baits man Steve. “The bream are big, the roach are real quality fish and there are also massive pike that are rarely caught.
“I’ve quickly worked out that perch are a ‘banker’ fish in a match if the roach and bream aren’t having it.Net half-a-dozen here and you’re looking at 6lb or 7lb. Add two big skimmers on the feeder and you’ve got double figures – that’s usually enough to win a few quid here.”
WHIP V POLE
Catching big fish on a flicktip might seem like madness, but in the depths of Ulley, when fish are being pulled up from over 20ft of water, the shockabsorbing nature of a flicktip reduces hook-pulls and lost fish.
“It also gets fish in quicker than elastic and that’s a must, owing to the pike,” Steve said. “Unship normally and chances are a pike will grab the fish in the clear water. Fishing 10m to hand allows me to strike and pull fish up directly to the surface almost at the point where my float was sat. I can then swing them in or net them without any danger of a pike grabbing it.”
Steve fishes his beloved Daiwa Tournament whip at 10m and fits his own flicktip, much softer than the one supplied with the whip. It bends like a banana but is very soft and ideal for the job. Fishing 10m to hand also lets Steve swing in and flick out the rig in seconds.
GOING THE DISTANCE
“There’s so much water to go at but the depth here levels out to a flattish bottom at 10m before falling away again,” Steve explained.
“At 10m it’s around 27ft deep. Go a section or two further out and that’s well over 30ft, so it doesn’t really matter where you fish – it simply needs to be at a comfortable range to present the rig correctly. The water is very clear in spring so it makes sense to get well away from the bank.
“I have two lines at 10m, one for roach and skimmers using groundbait and maggots and a perch line several metres away that ends up a little closer to the bank but still at the same depth.”
NOT YOUR NORMAL RIGS!
“To combat deep water you have to think differently about tackle,” Steve said. “The bait needs to get to the bottom fast and the float needs to be big enough to control things if it’s windy. You also have to think about battling a possible 3lb perch. It all means that there’s no room for light gear.
“My lines are 0.13mm Vespe Pro main to a hooklink of 0.12mm and a size 12 Kamasan B512 hook to take a lobworm tail. The float
is a DH12 pattern that I normally use for rivers but they work well on Ulley in sizes 4g to 6g, shotted with a big olivette and one positive dropper. It’s a bit crude, but delicate rigs are a waste of time here. I set the float to fish an inch or two on the deck.”
TAKE YOUR TIME
“When the float goes under, don’t be in a rush to get the fish in,” said Steve. “You may only get half-a-dozen bites on the worm line, so take your time
“I hook a fish, let the flicktip do its job and slowly but steadily bring the fish up off bottom.
“I’ll work out how big it is and either swing it in or get the net ready. The idea is to have the perch on the surface relatively quickly, or at least away from the feed area, should it be a big fish.
“You’re using strong gear so can give those perch a bit of stick,” Steve concluded.