A Trip To Remember

My first experience of a fen drain was in 1970 when at the age of 13 I went on my first fishing holiday to the drains around Spalding and Boston. Somehow the flat landscape had a special appeal to me and I enjoyed it so much that, during the following 20 odd years, I made regular trips to fish the area. Of course, there are no Zander in the Lincolnshire drains so, eventually, curious to see a Zander, I moved on deeper into fenland. This was in August 1994 and I really got the bug and have been back at every opportunity since. Yes, I’d say there is something special about the area - especially if you like Zander. Each trip is an adventure and I enjoy it even when I’m not catching, but of course I enjoy it even more when I get a good haul of Zander such as on my last trip when I had my best catch ever.

October 10’th 2000. I escaped the urban sprawl of Stockport at 7.00 am. and was soon crossing the Pennine hills, crawling along behind slow lorries in the grey hill mist. It was a relief to reach the A17 - it always is. After Newark the landscape soon opens out into a flat expanse of arable fields and sky that seems to have one of two effects on people - you either love it or hate it. Dodging tractors on the A17, with strong south west winds gusting the van, seemed like fun as I passed Sleaford and I actually welcomed the heavy rain thundering on the van roof as I passed the Boston turn off. As I got closer to Kings Lynn I started to ponder over which swim to fish. By now I felt charged with a mixture of excitement and expectancy. Its my favourite time of year when I am particularly ‘up for it’. For a few years now, I have learnt to make that special effort to be Zander fishing during mid-October. All my biggest Zander have been taken during this period when they really seem to turn on, especially when the drains are flowing after heavy rains and there is a strong south westerly such as today.

I decided to head for a remote part of the Relief Channel to fish a particular swim that has been kind to me in the past. I pulled up by the first bridge at Saddlebow and found the water was slightly coloured and the level was well up. To me it looked very enticing and I was itching to cast a line in - but first I had to go and catch some baits. The bit bashing was unusually slow so it is was quite late by the time I had caught enough and made my way to the intended area. It was nearly dark and I wasn’t able to recognise the favoured swim, so I stopped off  nearer to the van.

The drain was now very full and it didn’t look as though the level would get much higher before it would be run off again. I positioned my rod rests on the bank a couple of feet above the water and settled in for the night. At 10.35 p.m. a small Zander of about 3:00 took a half roach section. This turned out to be the only run of the night. The lack of activity after that was quite welcome as tiredness set in after the hard day. I fell asleep on the bed chair. Meanwhile, the drain kept on filling up and filling up. It cleared the rim of the keepnet and all the baits escaped while I slept. I was woken by the screeching of my sounder box at 3.00 a.m. to find the level had risen about 4ft while I was asleep and now two alarms were underwater. I had never seen the Channel this full before and couldn’t understand why it hadn’t been run off yet. I should have known better than to predict or trust the Channel.

As soon as it was light I de-camped and went off to catch some more baits. I use deadbaits most of the time and I like to keep my baits fresh. The freshest deadbait is one that has only just been killed by having its head snipped off so that it is still twitching and pumping out blood. Such is my favourite bait and it works for me on full confidence factor. This is why I cart live fish around while using deads on the hook. By lunch time I was walking back up the same stretch with more than enough baits for a nights fishing. The drain was now running off at last, flowing really fast and being whipped along by a very strong south west wind - perfect zedding conditions.

This time I went further along the bank to try a swim where I caught a personal best Zander of 14:06 in 1995. It was a few years since I had last fished there, and now as I write this and recall the success I’ve had there, I realise that I shouldn’t have left it so long. I first came across the swim in 1994 when I had a good catch on a remote, featureless length of the Channel while I was doing a lot of fishing around to explore new areas. As I got to know this swim I realised that most of the Zander were being caught at long range where the drain bottom feels hard when you bump a lead off it, as opposed to the dull thud when touching down on weed, mud or other type of soft bottom. This hard bottomed patch is a very long cast, being two thirds of the way across, but the extra effort of long range fishing paid off as it seemed I had found a holding area that always produced a few Zander - some big ones too.

On this trip, for the first time, I have managed to gain access to the opposite bank from which I should be able to find the old ‘hotspot’ within easy casting range. After a long walk I arrived at the favoured swim. Unfortunately the Environment Agency had altered the far banking. Reed beds had vanished and it was difficult to tell exactly where I used to set up on the far bank which now all looked the same. I made a rough guess at where the ‘hotspot’ was, pitched the bivvy and set the rods up, eager to try for a Zander while the drain was running.

The drain was in full flow and many weed rafts were being swept past. I had difficulty fishing a long line, so, for now, I just dunked my baits in the edge. Having such a short line out reduces the build up of string-like filaments of weed that are suspended in the current. The weed builds up on the line until it clogs the tackle and forms clumps on the stop knots which can jam in the tip ring. I didn’t get any runs. At 4.30 p.m. the drain suddenly stopped running and I was able to fish all the rods further out. I couldn’t find any hard bottom variation as in the old ‘hotspot’ but that didn’t seem to matter as I started to catch Zander  by casting my deadbaits out into the middle.

At 5.45 p.m. I caught a Zander of 5:10. Its always a good sign to catch one before dark so my hopes raised - and so did the level. The drain was now filling up as vast amounts of water were diverted into the Channel at Denver. I have come to call this situation a run in. These powerful incoming currents send water swirling in all directions and, today, the current kept giving an occasional sudden surge that would pull the line from the retaining clip.

Daylight was fading fast when I got the next run at 6.35 p.m. A nice Zander of 9:03 came to the net. Again I wondered if I was to be in luck. Perhaps the swim is going to fish its nuts off and they will feed all night - its happened before. It went quiet for a while. I remembered past nights I have spent fishing right on top of a feeding pack of Zander and the alarms have sounded time and again as Zander have mouthed the baits to produce many twitches and dropped runs as well as full belt screamers. But now, none of the alarms had sounded for at least half an hour so I thought ‘Perhaps not tonight then?’ and settled down to do a crossword.

The peace was disturbed at 7.10 p.m. as a 3:00 took a deadbait from the near margin, good sport but not unusual. This was followed by a beauty of 10:09, then no more runs for an hour and a half. It was very pleasant on the bankside. It had stopped raining and the sky had fifty percent cloud cover allowing a full moon to intermittently light up the arena. The drain continued to fill with swirling coloured water at such a rate that it was nearly full again. This time I had my rod rests on the very top of the bank high above the waterline.
After a lull of 1 ½ hours I caught a 7:12, followed by a 4:15 a couple of hours after that. I counted up - six Zander and it was only 10.25pm. Zander often seem to feed through the evening up until midnight or so before quietening down for the night then having a short but very active feeding period at dawn. But tonight you sort of got the feeling that they would continue to feed all through the night.

The Zander went mad and I caught another five before midnight when the drain started to run off again causing the level to fall rapidly as all the gathered rain waters were swept away. By now I had taken eleven Zander and I was still getting runs as they continued to feed. The current was very strong and full of suspended clods of weed, which caused long range fishing to be a seemingly endless task of clearing weed from the line. I would have preferred to just dunk my lines in the edge, yet I was catching Zander by casting further out into the drain so I continued. The current and the weed started causing too many problems when fishing with the line clipped up so I fished all the rods on baitrunner. My semi bolt rig has a stop knot on the line which will kick in after three feet. I pulled three feet of line off the spool and let the current take it up. This should then result in the baitrunner starting to give line at the exact moment that the semi bolt rig should be pricking the hook home.

It was a full on  night of action with little chance of retiring to the bivvy. The Zander kept madly on the feed throughout the night. It would be impossible for me now to relate all of the action. It was non stop as I constantly attended to a rod for either a Zander or a weed clump.

The highlight of the night was at 1.25 a.m. when I caught a fantastic Zander of 14:14. I was absolutely delighted, not only was it a personal best but it had also given me one of the most powerful fights I’ve ever had from a Zander. This was partly due to the fact that I was using a light leger rod with a 1lb test curve rather than my usual heavier 1.75 - 2.25 t.c. rods. As soon as I struck into the fish I knew it was really big because I couldn’t lift it off the bottom even when I bent the rod to its full curve. Such a light rod left me pretty helpless and the Zander was able to use its own weight and the force of the current to gain the upper hand. The fight seemed endless and at times I almost went to pieces as the Zander felt like a 20 (whatever one of those feels like). Eventually it tired and rolled over so that I was able to net it. ‘Yes’. I was ecstatic - and shaking.

About an hour later I hooked another big Zander. This time it was on a more powerful rod and I was able to cope better and enjoy it to the utmost. A brilliant silvery light from the full moon was being reflected off the surface of this vast expanse of water and, as I played the Zander standing in the Channel with water knee deep on my waders, I remember thinking that this is my idea of heaven. The Zander was a perfectly conditioned 12:10.and the fifth biggest I’ve ever caught.

The run off was over at 4.20 a.m. and the Zander continued to feed right up until dawn. I caught another three 8’s and two 7’s. But once it got fully light I didn’t get any more runs. Before I hit the sack I checked my diary where the time and weight of each Zander is meticulously recorded as soon as the fish has been returned. I tallied up for the last time. 22 Zander - 4 doubles including a personal best, 2 nines, 4 eights, 4 sevens, 2 sixes, 3 fives, 1 four and 2 threes giving a total weight of 172lb  in just 13 hours fishing time. I could hardly believe it. This was a trip I shall always remember.