Working Mans Club #9 – Josh Bennett

Having been inducted quite quickly into the way of life on Stanton, I was now facing three weeks away from the lake. This was my own doing and it wasn’t like I wasn’t fishing, I was simply fishing elsewhere. However, with a very (very!) supportive wife, I managed to sneak a couple of nights in on consecutive Mondays.

The first Monday I arrived at an empty lake. I couldn’t believe it and had to check it wasn’t closed for any reason. It wasn’t so I quickly trotted around and found a couple swimming along a long line of trees. Standing on the bows of a large overhang, I stared down into the clear margins, watching the carp glide over the golden gravel seams. That was all I needed really, but with the wind trickling in too, it all looked spot on. With rigs deployed, I simply walked round to the same tree and showered a mixture of heat and marine boilies across the zone.

The first fish came surprisingly quickly and after a few weed beds were found, a lovely mid twenty succumbed to the waiting net. The rig was quickly whacked back out along the tree line and a little top up before dark. The rods in the centre of the bay didn’t do much at all for the session, and it was the same rod that again went the following morning. This fish locked me solid and I soon realised I wasn’t landing this one from the bank. The boat was deployed and in some strong wind I winched myself out to the offending weed. The fish popped up with relative ease once I was above it and as it did so I couldn’t believe its beauty. I’m sure you’ll agree from the photos that although only low twenty, its immense scale pattern was very impressive. With work looming, I quickly wrapped up and vowed to return when I could.

Returning, I simply had to get back to Stanton if I could. The Monday night was my only option and with the gear ready to go, I flew out of work and straight to the lake. There were two anglers on and with the wind trickling into the same zone, they had both plotted up on the windward bay. I snuck into a swim called churn between the two anglers in situ and found two spots really close at 8 and 10 wraps respectively. I baited with a kilo or so of bait over both and sat back watching the water. Other than a few shows in my zone, it was relatively quiet.

I awoke early and sat watching the lake. As the morning drew on, I began packing away for a 9am start at work. At around 6am the left hand rod dropped back and as I lifted into it the fish bucked from the margin and shot off into the lake. Again it weeded me at times, but I gently eased it to the surface and a fish called ‘mini mini pig’ was scooped up. I quickly repositioned the rod and opted not to rebait. One cast and donked on to the spot, the rod was fishing again within minutes.

As the pictures were done and the fish returned, I started getting bits onto the barrow and tidied away. Whilst doing so, the same rod just hooped around and the buzzer couldn’t keep up such was the ferocity of the take. The fish absolutely beasted me, swimming left and right and stripping line. I was knitting one and pearling the other too many times to remember, but eventually the fish popped up and it was ‘Joe’s Lin’. A brace of 30’s was a real result, but as I was putting the rod out again, the other spot kicked in and I received another take! This time I could tell it was smaller immediately and at 24lb and ounces, little ‘lemon belly’ paid me a visit.