39lb 8oz mirror tops tally at busy Suffolk lake

Anticipating the disturbance caused by weekend anglers at a popular venue helped Paul Nixon cash in.

The Ipswich angler deliberately dropped his rods short of the popular zone at his Suffolk syndicate water and reaped the rewards with two doubles, commons of 24lb and 29lb 15oz, and this 39lb 8oz mirror.

The 32-year-old shipping clerk said: “Creating a gap between me and the other anglers by fishing short gave the fish a little safe zone to sit in, and as and when they got hungry I was picking them off.

“The weather was also bang-on, being really mild, which was a massive help after a super-cold snap the previous night, and I believe that kicked them into feeding.”

Paul had been due to arrive at the venue on Thursday evening but a heavy frost saw him delay the session until the following morning.

He said: “I got to the lake on Friday at about 5.45am to beat the other keen weekend anglers and turned up to find a real winter wonderland – ice everywhere, including the margins.

“As luck would have it the cold had put people off and I was able to get in one of my top two swims, which was a right result. I knew it was still going to be rammed and the going zone would be bombed from all angles, so I stealthily plopped all three rods short, knowing that the weekend anglers would soon be firing leads, Spombs and marker floats into the zone.”

Paul fished hinged stiff rigs on slack lines and baited little and often with Sticky Manilla boilies.