Well its officially summertime and the lakes are hotting up. With water temperatures rising the fish have finally switched on and although we had some gruelling days earlier in the month where persistence was needed in huge doses, things are really happening at long last.

I’m coming to the end of a fortnight lure and fly fishing on Windermere and although some days have been hard we have had some cracking sessions. Poor Matt Healey had set his sights on a Windermere biggy but the weather dictated otherwise and chilly easterlies predominated, and these as we all know, are the curse of all Windermere anglers. As a result we struggled to get just a few fish but any Pike on the fly on such a big water is a great catch and well done Mr H for hanging in there.

Once the wind changed though it all kicked of and the Sherringtons had a day of seven including two personal best lure caught pike which made up for their only coming fourth in the previous weekends Esthwaite lure competion, while Phil Done and I had 17 fish over two days on lures and the fly with the best around 15lbs. It’s not just the fishing that is a delight on this magnificent water but the scenery down along the southern basin is simply stunning, and in pleasant spring sunshine it takes an awful lot of beating. Sadly in a way, I’m back up on the northern lakes after this coming weekend hunting specimen perch, so Windermere will have to wait until the Autumn when I’ll be back in search of those autumnal twenty pounders which are a regular feature of my back end fishing.

Mind you all is not doom and gloom- we have the best of the years perch fishing coming up and I’m looking forward to slipping the net under some fine bristling three pounders for loads of youngsters of all ages.

Now for an apology of sorts!

As many of my regulars are well aware I do take the mick out of carp anglers… “It’s an anagram” is my usual comment when folk say they are a carp angler. However, on the way down to South Wales, Sue and I spent a morning fishing floating dog biscuits on a small two acre fishery lost in the wilds of rural Worcestershire and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole carping caper. So while I am not a true sit it out and wait a month sort of carp angler I do appreciate the fun to be had fooling these battling beauties. So sorry all you crap anglers, I may have been wrong! Besides which I’m having another shot at the WADAA carp lakes in a week or so!!!

Meanwhile,….

I’m off to Windermere in the morning for the final summer fling.

See you around water somewhere,

Go careful.

tarra,

Eric

James Sherington gets a lure caught PB

While Phil Done does it again

And I take up this daft caper!!