FISHERY OF THE WEEK
30lb nets on the cards for silvers fans
Sumners Ponds
THE opportunity to winkle out a roach every cast with the chance of a big bonus fish is a mouth-watering prospect for most anglers.
If it ticks all the boxes for you then Sumners Ponds should be on your radar.
Located in West Sussex, there are five pools to have a crack at and it is the Match Lake that will be of greatest interest to silverfish enthusiasts.
Quality roach to 2lb are frequently banked, and the lake isn’t lacking in fish numbers either. Every peg on the venue can produce the goods, and a dream 30lb haul is well within your reach.
But no matter how much you love targeting a certain species, catching something different from time to time keeps the adrenaline pumping. Hidden beneath the surface of the 3.5-acre water is a plethora of other species including barbel to over 8lb, bream and tench to 4lb, carp over 20lb and chub creeping up to 5lb that can show up at any moment.
Short pole success
Two islands are located down the middle of the Match Lake but there’s no need to make the effort to put a rig close to them.
The roach tend to linger close to the bank, and local silverfish fanatic Russell Shipton reckons 5m of pole is all you need out of the bag.
“There’s no point fishing far out because you can get a bite every chuck all day on a light pole rig presented at short range,” he says.
“One drop-in could produce a 1oz roach and the next could end with a giant barbel going into the landing net. It’s that variety that makes this lake really special.”
Maggots and casters are the dominant baits and it pays to have three different rigs set up.
Three tactics
Russell centres all his attention in one spot and the three rigs all have a different job to do.
“The first is a light set-up that aims to catch fish on the bottom. That involves a bulk of shot set around 2ft up from the hook with a couple of small dropper shot below.
“If I’m missing bites and feel the fish are off the deck, I use a slimmer float with strung-out shot to enable the roach to take the hookbait at any level.
“Both these rigs are 0.14mm mainline to a 0.12mm hooklength and a size 18 hook.
“My final set-up is almost a duplicate of the first rig but incorporates heavier lines.
“Bites drying up can be a sign that a big fish has moved in, and to give me the best chance of landing whatever I hook, I switch to a rig with 0.16mm mainline and a 0.14mm hooklength to a size 16 hook.”
Regular feeding is key, as the roach can easily be whipped into a frenzy by the trickle of feed going through the water.
Plenty of options
If you’ve mastered the art of bagging roach at pace and fancy something different, there are different challenges on site.
Sumners Lake is a specimen angler’s paradise, with perch to over 4lb, roach to 2lb, chub over 5lb and carp just under 40lb.
Farm Pond and Betty’s are predominantly aimed at carp anglers, while Ribbon Lake has plenty of unusual occupants to try for, including golden tench and true crucians.