42ins hooklength helps bank brace of thirties
A massive 42ins hooklenght helped Lee Collings overcome a multitude of problems to bank two thirties and a twenty.
The 3ft 6ins hooklink was used to lie on top of dying weed during a two-night session at a busy Farriers Lake in Gloucestershire.
Lee said: “There were 14 anglers on when I arrived, with all the going swims stitched up, so it left me no option but to head to one of the weediest swims on the lake.”
After failing to locate any clear spots, Lee decided to fish on top of the retreating weed. He said: “I was fishing an area about 6ft deep, but the weed was 2ft to 3ft off the deck, and higher in some places. I had seen a couple of fish show in the general area so I opted to fish long 3ft 6ins ESP Stripteaze hooklinks to sit on top of the weed.”
The Midlands rod used a Mainline Hybrid pop-up as a hookbait, but struggled to bait up due to the resident birdlife.
“After the all the commotion of setting up and the birds diving I didn’t expect much to happen the first night, so I was more than surprised when I managed a 25lb 8oz common in the middle of the night.
“The next day was spent cursing the birdlife as they drove me nuts wiping both rods out on numerous occasions, but eventually managed to get everything settled just on dusk. Half an hour before first light the left-hand rod melted off and after a short battle and a load of weed I netted what felt like a good fish. After I had got the rod back out I was just sorting my camera out to do some self takes when the same rod ripped off again. It was a good job I had set up my spare net, and after a brief tussle I had two fish in the nets – and I still didn’t have a clue how big they were.
“The first fish weighed 35lb and the second fish weighed 37lb 8oz. I was over the moon with two thirties.”
