Dennis Willetts Masterclass Day Decoy Lakes

20.08.2015

brilliant catch Dennis

This was a special surprise present from Dennis’s daughter Marie and granddaughter Beckie. His nephew Rob had also come along for the day. The wonderful Decoy lakes near Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire was the chosen venue. Diane the owner had kindly allowed them to use keepnets.

Dennis with his first fish

It was a warm overcast morning with a moderate southerly wind. I decided that Elm lake would be a good choice.

Rob with his first fish

Pole at 8 mts was the chosen method, cupping in a big pot of 4mm hard feed carp pellets and then loose feeding over the top, 4mm banded pellet was the hookbait. Rob was soon catching really quickly. Dennis had a slower start but he was catching quality common and mirror carp averaging over 5lbs. By 2pm Rob had reached his net limit and was returning fish as he caught them.

a 6lb mirror carp

We left the bank at 4pm Dennis having had a brilliant day catching over 100lbs of carp. Rob had caught even more I guess close to 150lbs.

Bob

Some more pictures:

just in the net

a 7lb mirror carp

a 3lb barbel

this feels like a big fish

a 8lb common carp

brilliant catch Rob

Ian Lamb Masterclass Day

21.08.2015

great catch Ian

This was a special 60th birthday present from Ian’s daughters Sarah and Natalie. The River Ouse at Hemingford Greys near Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, was the chosen venue. The local St. Ives angling club had kindly given us permission to fish the river.

Ian with his first fish

It was a warm overcast morning with a moderate southerly wind.

Pole was the chosen method, cupping in a big pot of chopped worms and maggots at 6mts, hookbait was a large piece of worm. Ian was soon catching a perch every put in some were small and the largest over 1lb. A switch to breadpunch in the afternoon resulted in some quality roach, cupping in 2 balls of liquidised bread at 10 mts with a 5mm piece of punched bread on the hook. It was necessary to keep topping up the feed every 30 minutes to keep the roach coming.

the boats kept to the far side

We left the bank at about 4pm. It had been an all action day with a mixture of small and quality fish and I guess Ian had caught close to 14lbs, a great weight on a natural venue.

Bob

Some more pictures:

almost in the net

a quality roach on breadpunch

concentration

this feels like a big fish

a 10ozs roach

biggest fish of the day a perch over 1lb

Jonny Bridgeman Masterclass Day Decoy Lakes

19.08.2015

John caught the biggest fish of the day a big mirror carp just under 16lbs

This was a special birthday present from Jonny’s partner Gemma Wright. His good fishing friend Ashley and dad John had also come along for the day. The wonderful Decoy lakes near Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire was the chosen venue. Diane the owner had kindly allowed them to use keepnets.

Jonny’s swim was full of quality barbel

It was a warm sunny morning with a moderate southerly wind. I decided that Cedar lake would be a good choice, as the barbel had been showing well.

Ashley with a 4lb barbel

Pole at 8 mts was the chosen method, loose feeding with 4mm hard feed carp pellets with a 6mm banded pellet on the hook. It was a slow start with just the odd carp taking the hookbait. Some cold water was being pumped into the lake. At about 1pm the pumps were switched off and the barbel really started to feed with Jonny catching fish after fish nearly all were quality barbell. John hooked and landed the biggest fish of the day: a mirror carp about 16lbs. Ashley was catching a mixture of carp and barbel. By 3 pm Jonny had reached his net limit.

Jonny with his first fish

We left the bank at about 4.30 pm Jonny having had a brilliant day catching 70lbs of barbel and a similar weight of carp, a total weight of about 140lbs. Ashley had also done well considering he was helping his dad for a lot of the day and I guess he had caught about 80lbs. John did not use a keepnet but had caught 22 fish including 2 double figure carp.

Bob

Some more pictures:

almost in the net

a big barbel close to 5lbs

this feels like a big fish

just in the net

a big mirror carp close to 8lbs

brilliant catch Jonny

great catch Ashley

I will net this one for you John

Kevin Howard Materclass Day Decoy Lakes

31.07.2015

brilliant catch Kevin

This was a special birthday present from Kevin’s wife Jayne. The wonderful Decoy Lakes near Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire was the chosen venue. Diane the owner had kindly allowed keepnets for the catch shot.

Kevin with his first fish

It was a warm morning with a light westerly wind. One bank of Elm lake was free so I decided to go there.

the barbel were feeding well

Pole was the chosen method cupping in a big pot of 6mm pellets at 10 mts and then loose feeding over the top with a 6mm banded pellet on the hook. Kevin was immediately rewarded with a near double figure mirror carp, then a good run of barbell. A switch to up in the water was also successful for F1’s and carp. By 3pm both nets had reached the maximum weight of 50lbs and Kevin was returning fish as he caught them. The last hour fishing in the margins was brilliant as carp and barbel came to the net in quick succession.

We left the bank at about 4.30pm, Kevin having caught close to 150lbs.

Bob

Here the pictures:

a good fish swirls on the surface

just in the net

a 4lb barbel in perfect condition

a 7lb mirror carp

a beautiful 4lb barbel

Kevin admires a 3lb mirror carp

a big koy carp close to 10lbs