2017 has been a fantastic year for me on both a personal and fishing level. I’ve beaten both my UK and European PB this year and made a move from one side of the country to the other and winning my first doubles match the Alan Henning memorials match in Manchester!
My season kicked off for me on iconic Wraysbury south lake in the World Carp Classic qualifiers such a beautiful venue and always a real pleasure too fish, my partner Zak Taylor and I drew a peg to be marooned on one of the islands for the weekend which had previously only be accessible for bailiffs so the buzz to get started was real!! In the opening hour everything was going swimmingly almost too much too plan as I remember if I’m honest and I was just waiting for something. For my right hand rod I decided to wade round the right hand side of the island to a nice gravel spot I had spotted and actually spooked a nice looking mirror from upon arrival so I placed my rig “perfectly” and crept back round to put my rod on the sticks. In order for me to get some bait over the rod I would slowly have to creep down the side (rather steep) side of the island and could easily get some boile over the top well this is where it all went wrong in typical mike fashion I slipped and went face down the bank and fell straight in on top of my spot!! The rest of the session ended in a blank as all the fish were held up in a little bay and the lads who were on them absolutely bagged up and fair play to them! I was just hoping this wasn’t a sign of how m was to pan out!
Next big trip on the list for me was the mighty Lake Villedon a 100+ acre lake down in Limoges France which I would be heading too with three of my good pals it involved a lot of bait and a lot of boat work but it was all worth it!
We arrived on the Friday evening exhausted after the 13 hour drive from rainy manchester, to our very welcome surprise Home made burgers and beers were on the ready for us! The thing with villedon is you pick your peg when you actually book the lake so there is no draw to be done it’s just the battle of who can get their boat loaded up and into their swim first! In fairness we had found out the fish had started to spawn and the lake fishing very very slow so I was in no great hurry initially.
We set up in our pegs myself in peg 6 and my pal Jake in peg 7, we decided to bait in a triangle formation and fish two rods close together on the point of the triangle and then two rods subsequently outwards we used a spread of boilies and particle as this is all you are allowed to use on Villedon and we definitely were using a lot more bait than anyone else on the lake but I had it on good authority they were pigs in here and they did not disappoint!
From the first night I started to catch with a mid 30 not long after witnessing of the most amazing thunder storms I have ever seen the whole sky went fire red and I knew we were in for some that night. Throughout the week the lake fished reasonably well for us I finished on around 16 fish too 44.5lb and my mate had 6 or 7 but the laughs we had that week will follow me forever and we still laugh about it too this day.
Next on the list for me was the Annual PB Products UK trip to Weston Park the most beautiful lake I have ever fished there is just something about the place with the boat house and how nice the lake is, it has that real big fish aura every time you arrive there. The PB social at Weston was a special one for me as a lot of my very close mates were all fishing together and since making the move down south to Yateley I don’t get too see them all that often so I was really excited for this session never would I have imagined the week we were actually going too have!
From the word go there were fish coming out from down the shallower end of the lake (opposite end to where I had drawn) and two very good pals of mine Sean Hughes and Andy Mulholland were starting to take the place apart! One special moment for me was with Andy Mulholland we were stood chatting when his delkim screamed into action and we literally sprinted together towards his rods and after a very long dogged fight in the weed a beautiful mid 30 common was his reward a fish I won’t forget in a hurry!
( A great fish for a great friend Andy Mullholland )
Big Jon Greenall also landed a lovely mirror that evening of around 38lb if I remember right which was also a beauty!
My fishing partner Jack Meehan and I decided to make a move the following morning to an area we had spotted some showing fish and it turned out to be a very good move after all! I ended with 6 fish including the fully scaled and I think Jack ended on 7 all in all an excellent session arranged by the man himself Paul Meehan and one i will never forget!
( The fully scaled from Weston Park… one of the most beautiful fish i have seen.. The pictures do not even do it justice )
I was now over to France again a place called La Botte. This trip started in disaster with the breaks on my van decided to pack in on the m40 on the way down but with some grit and determination we managed to get hem sorted and made it into France at 2am the following morning!
I had drawn a peg which wasn’t necessarily known for doing massive hits of fish however with this lake the carp are extremely ‘shoaly’ so if you can get them on you you will have a good week guaranteed! From the word go the fish were coming out from a bank about 20 acres away from me and without the ability too move on here I opted to bait and wait.
The Sunday morning I woke to a lovely one toner and a lovely mid 30 mirror which was a welcome surprise because they are all predominantly commons in la botte the week was nice and steady for me with me finish on 20 fish which was four carp to upper 30 and sixteen catfish. Although unfortunately a lot of cats I still managed to take top rod of the week so I was going home a happy man with extreme sunburn!
Throughout the year I have been dipping my toes in a few of the lakes spread around Yateley im not going to go into too much detail as to which lakes I’ve been fishing because I have not finished yet but I’ve had some very nice fish out in the few sessions I’ve managed to actually get the rods out. I will have much more time in 2018 so I’m hoping that this time next year I’ll be writing to explain how I managed to land some of my sought after targets!
Next on the list was the return too Weston for another session with my good mate Tom Doherty!
This time I had a choice of where I fished and I opted for a peg called the African it’s a peg I have always fancied having a go on but never had the opportunity so this time I was armed with a plan and got too work right away!
Normally when I fish Weston it is strictly a boilie and throwing stick operation and it normally does well for me but this time as the weed was up much higher than when I had been earlier in the year I was going to make a few changes and strictly fish very close in and only the margins using particle, to kick off I used 7 kilo of particle over each rod and sat back to watch the roach and silvers make me a lovely clean flat spot. The rods had only been in a matter of hours when the first mirror was on the bank, a beautiful looking stockie but it was a good sign!
The session was really consistent and I finished on 16 fish but the week was topped off when in the net I had my new UK PB the most stunning fish I have ever laid my eyes on and the other fully scaled! I was absolutely made up and too share the moment with some of my closest friends was a real bonus again a session I will never forget!
( these Weston scaley’s really are thing of beauty)
Sooo next up…
I was back on the eurotunnel before I knew it with some very good friends of mine Phil Kingsbury, Ali Buckman and Andy! This time we were heading to a different lake in Limoges south of France Letorneu!
Upon arrival we did the draw and I was on the Dam wall which was a peg I had been watching on the lead up too the trip it had a lovely tree line to the right which was ideal for snag fishing locked up too with braid and I was testing the new PB gatorbraid at the time so it seemed a perfect opportunity!
I was told to stay away from pop ups as it was predominantly a bottom bait water so the first thing I did was fish a 10mm pop up over a bed of 12mm offerings and it didn’t take too long for proceedings to kick off, a lovely mid 30 mirror in the net result!
The week was consistent with me landing fish everyday and such an exiting way of fishing locked up into snags as with braid the fight is always so nerve wrecking as you feel every bump in road so to speak but the highlight of my week came when I landed the big girl at 59lb and absolutely huge solid mirror and my new PB!
I’ve had a brilliant years fishing this year and met some unbelievable people along the way and I’d like to thank everyone who has made it such a pleasure I’m going into 2018 excited for the year ahead with PB Products UK where have some great new products to launch and i have also joined up with Nutrabaits, a great bait with some exciting things happening. Most of all im just looking forward to getting out there and landing a few more special ones!
Tight lines Mikey Bee
