| I
awoke early on a Tuesday morning in mid November to find the outside world
white over following a heavy frost the night before. I had arranged to meet
Paul Downes, the brother of England youth coach Mark, at Earlswood lakes in
Birmingham, to compile a feature on feeder fishing, the 'in' method at the
venue for this time of year.
Looking
at the weather brought doubts to mind. I personally had been fishing the
opens at the venue over the previous couple of weeks and know that the fish
are very finicky when it comes to cold weather. They are generally tightly
shoaled at certain pegs and if you are lucky enough to draw one, then you
know a few fish can be had. If you're not then put on a brave face, smile
and drink lots of tea and coffee while your waiting for the odd stray fish
to wander by! Where would those fish be today, and would they be willing to
feed?
I
met up with Paul in the car park at 10am as arranged. " What do you
think?" I asked. " Don't expect to see a bulging net at the
end! " Came the reply.
For
those of you who don't know Paul, he has been fishing since he was five
years old, match fishing since he was thirteen, winning his first open on
the river Trent at fourteen. He is one of the original founder members of
the Starlets match group attending the very first meeting. He hasn't always
had such an allegiance with them however, having represented the Shakespeare
team for some six or seven years before returning to starlets. He has also
the distinction of being a Birmingham parks festival winner twice, back in
the late seventies early eighties. This festival was the one to win back in
those days with numerous anglers turning out to chance their arm on the many
pools in the districts of Birmingham.
"
Do you want to do the
feature to-day then Paul, or put it back a while?" I enquired.
" Have you brought a thermos?" "Yes" I said. " Well
lets do it, it's a winter feature after all."
The
42 years old bait dealer and Sensas rep unpacked his tackle from his van and
I gave him a hand to transport it to down to the water. As soon as we
cleared the car park and faced the open water, you could feel the
temperature drop even further with the freezing fog hitting us square in the
face. Surprisingly we found a further seven anglers gracing the bank on our
side of the vast engine pool. Not surprisingly each placed on the much
fancied pegs. We asked about their catch but the same replies were returned
" Not a touch" or "Not even a liner."
Peg 19
We
arrived at peg 19, and Paul set his box down on the staging and began to
unpack his gear. The first thing that he did was to mix his groundbait
which, as a Sensas rep came in plentiful supply. His mix consisted of Crazy
bait Gold and Crazy bait shrimp and fishmeal, mixed together in a Sensas
bucket, and placed into a side tray for ease of use.
Paul's
Groundbait Mix
Crazy
bait Gold Paul , I haven't seen that before" "You won't yet ", he
said. " it's a new blend that is currently being tested. All being
well it will be out early next year."
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