THE SESSION OF YOUR LIFETIME AT VIADUCT...
Fancy catching a 20lb carp on the pole?
AQUICK glance at the match results in Angling Times each week will be enough to tell you that Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery is a very special place.
The six lakes are brimming with fish and have given many match and pleasure anglers the session of their lifetime.
Last week news reporter Chris Haydon visited the Somerset venue to see just how good the fishing really is, accompanied by venue regular Aidan Bordiuk.
Aidan has been fishing matches at Viaduct for several years and has been in fine form of late, taking the Spring League with two outright victories and five section wins. His challenge today is to catch 100lb from the match-exclusive Campbell Lake and then show how easy it is to replicate the feat on one of the pleasure pools.
MUGGING CAMPBELL
Aidan heads straight for Campbell peg 123 on the far bank of the lake. Here there’s a long margin and plenty of open water.
In the summer sun, fish are happily milling about at the surface. Rapidly setting up his pole with a shallow presentation, it isn’t long before Aidan is trying to tempt one. The approach he uses looks clumsy at first sight as he follows cruising fish around the swim with the pole, but when he lowers his luncheon meat hookbait in front of a hungry cruiser it snaffles it instantly. The fish is easily tamed thanks to a puller kit.
Despite some fish rejecting the bait Aidan remains confident, and the beauty of it is, you don’t have to feed a single thing. Asked about his ‘mugging’ approach he says: “It’s very similar to stalking, but not as easy as people think. You have to stay active, follow the path of the fish and gently lower the bait in front of it so it looks natural.
“For this reason I use meat, which falls slower than pellets. I also have a minimum of 3ft of line between pole-tip and float.
“Polarised glasses are a must to see fish a bit lower down, but take your time – the shadow of a pole can spook them”.
MAGIC MARGINS
When the ‘mugging’ approach slows down, Plan B is to target the margins, again with as little bait as possible.
Baiting with just one Cad pot of 6mm pellets he lowers his rig on top and within minutes is into another carp.
“I always try to find a hard firm
bottom at around 18ins to 2ft deep,” he says. “Don’t overfeed or you will end up pulling way too many big fish into your peg. The result is foul hooking, or lots of frustrating false bites.
“Feeding little and often – one small potful each cast – will get far more bites, and if you fish a balanced set-up you won’t spook the fish when you hook one.”
CARY CRACKERS
With just two hours gone, Aidan has already bagged 150lb from Campbell. He now aims to show he can do it on the pleasure lakes too, so we pack up and move over to Cary Lake.
Dropping into a corner swim near a dense overhang it’s once again clear that a lot of carp are present. Aidan swings a small cube of meat down the margin, close to a fish sub-surface, which grabs it, and after a proper battle the first fish from Cary is on the bank – a ‘zoo creature’ of 12lb!
After 30 minutes on Cary Aidan has clicked around 50lb, using the same methods as he did on Campbell. He tells me that despite Campbell being his favourite lake, Cary is just as good – in fact it produced the Viaduct match record of 450lb.
Aidan’s approach in the second hour on Cary changes slightly. Fish are holding under the tree, so he attempts to lure them out by slapping his rig on the surface on the edge of the overhang.
Amazingly, this brings a response and the elastic is once again shooting out of the end of the pole. A proper ‘unit’ rolls over his net and Aidan lands a nice mid-double. He’s now clicking over the 100lb mark – mission accomplished!
After celebrating an awesome day’s fishing with a much needed brew in the on-site shop, Aidan offers his advice to anyone
looking to fish the venue. “Keep it simple and either fish shallow or down the margins,” he says. “Be prepared for big fish – my biggest to date is a 24lb mirror, tamed on the pole. Don’t neglect the silver fish sport either. Big perch are present in all the lakes and fishing over groundbait with pellets on Lodge Lake produces regular 50lb bags of skimmers.” LOCATION: Viaduct Fishery, Dew Water Lane, Cary Valley, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 6LJ
CONTACT: 01458 274022 PRICES: £8 per day (one rod), £10 per day (two rods), concessions £6 per day (one rod) £8 per day (two rods), juniors (16 and under) £5 per day (one rod), £7 per day (two rods)
RULES: Barbless hooks only – size 8 maximum. No lines heavier than 12lb breaking strain. No braided reel lines. No night fishing. Campbell Lake is strictly out of bounds – matches/lake bookings only
FACILITIES: Clubhouse, tackle and bait shop, toilets, accommodation