A gaping hole and the Big Chub

With the weather on the turn for this coming week I decided to have a few hours at Snitterfield Ressi to try and catch one of the old Crucians that have the tendency to pop up from time to time. My usual tactics a sleeper rod with a small korum method feeder and a SBS corn boilie as bait and a float rod with centrepin and pineapple flavoured corn on the hook.



I was surprised to find the place deserted because it was a lovely humid evening, the bigger Crucians seem to pop up at certain pegs and in the evening too so maybe they have a patrol route similar to their bigger cousins that inhabit this lake. After an hour and a half or so I managed to catch a 14oz Roach, a small Tench and a few bream that all took a liking to the small boilie and pellet filled feeder. The quality of fish in this deep reservoir is a credit to the club, apart from a Grebe inflicted injury I don’t think I’ve ever caught a fish in poor condition, and I’ve caught plenty over the years

Talking of the club a familiar face turned up, it was Keith Jobling. Keith came over for a chat and apologised for the noise he was about to make as he had his petrol strimmer in the boot of his car to spruce up the steep banks. He admitted he hadn’t been fishing much but managed to cobble together some tackle and planned to have ½ and hours fishing on the top for the carp, a tactic Keith is well au fait with at this venue and having given me some productive tips in the past if a carp is to be caught off the top, my money’s on Keith. After returning to the opposite side of the reservoir he began his some weed- whacking.

Maybe the vibrations spurred the fish on to feed because a tell tale Crucian bite on the float led to me playing a decent fish, the water was gin clear and it was obvious it was one of the old school. With light tackle I didn’t want to rush it but as I was playing it my sleeper rod spurred in to life and the bait runner was singing, great. Buses and all that, I couldn’t do much but let the fish run. I landed the Crucian and soon after and in the same net another small Tench. Not the biggest Crucian I’ve caught here. Despite its length it was lean and only went 1lb 6oz’s on the scales. A proper old one though, a lovely looking fish. Fish don’t grow huge at this venue, probably because it’s stupidly deep and they are not as active as fish in shallower venues. The humidity brought out the midges and there were fish were topping everywhere, the water was alive, a great sight to see.

Soon after Keith had stopped his unsung pastime and began surface fishing for the carp. Didn’t take long for him to hook in to one either. A few minutes later he shouted over, “Mick, Mick, quick, I’ve hooked a grass carp” I’ve not even seen a grass carp in the flesh so quickly picking up my camera and went to join Keith to provide some assistance if required. The cobbled together tackle seemed to be doing its job and the Zebco’s reels drag was standing up to the hard fight of the carp.

A decent fight later the Grass Carp was ‘just’ about in the modest landing net. A few punches in the air for jubilation to make Lee Evans proud Keith went to get his unhooking mat and scales whilst I rested the fish in the margin. They don’t look like any other carp, more like a stupidly big Chub. This one looked a good’un, 20lb or so I’d say. A picture taken with my Samsung NX1000 with the 'crater’ as a backdrop would be a great advert for the club and a keepsake for Mr Jobling. Snitterfield is home to 5 grass carp and I had the privilege to see one on the bank. With the unhooking mat in place at the top of the bank, Keith said “right, let have it then” with the fish barely contained I lifted the net out of the water.

The fish had rested for a good while and got its energy back because as soon as it felt the humid air it made a bid for freedom and began to thrash about in the net. The following seconds were a bit of a blur because, one minute it’s the net the next it’s in the water and trying to take the rod with it, a bit of a panic ensued and it quickly dawned on me there was a gaping hole in the net, the powerful fish had managed to wriggle out whilst the line was still being pulled from out of the nets breach. With the grass carps renewed energy the results were inevitable, arrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhh !!!!.

Gutted for Keith even though I think he may have caught it before, there was no point going over what could have been done because that just rubs salt in to the wounds. That’s fishing for you and I’m glad I was there to share the story because imagine if I wasn’t, nobody would have believed him.

Sniterfield Reservoir, what a great venue.