You are here

The Big Freeze

Graham
Sleeman
December 9 2008

Graham Sleeman is Editor of Get Hooked!

I don't often attempt to fish in January but it was a really nice day with plenty of sunshine and no real wind.

There was sweetcorn and bread in the freezer so Alf and I loaded up and headed out.

Unfortunately when we arrived the lake was completely frozen over. We are not put off easily, so we set about clearing a swim.

This was new to us and throwing stones was a waste of time as they either got stuck in the ice or punched stone sized holes through it.

We got around the problem by tying a bit of branch, about a pound in weight, on the end of the carp rod and dropping that on the ice. This did work, but it took us an hour to clear a passage from our bank to the nearest island. We fished with sweetcorn and then bread, feeding gently and we did get a few bites. Predictably as the fish appeared to be moving into the swim we had to go, I'm sure another hour would have seen some landed! honest.

How do you get around the problem? I reckon by the time we'd broken all that ice all the fish must have been on the other side of the pond with their fins over their ears! If you have the solution let us know.


Email: [email protected]