The Jewel in Sutton’s Crown - By Colin Walford
Whilst reading Dan Chart's great 'Jurassic Park' articles on last months E-Newsletter, it came across how enthusiastic he is in the quest for his quarry and also how much he thinks about the fish he’s caught or trying to catch. I know just how much the Road Lake fish mean to anglers like Dan Chart and John Elmer and I get that same buzz about Cemex's Sutton-at-Hone and its inhabitants!
Sutton Lake 2 contains around 80 fish, in just four acres. At the right time of the year, five of these fish can go over 40lb, with somewhere in the region of 30 to 35 thirties, again at the right time of the year. It holds a mightily impressive stock of some of the best looking and most sought after fish in the country. Obviously, amongst these fine fish, are the A Team, the carp that stand out from all the others. These are the fish that anglers join the lake for. They are all special from Sutton, but it’s the A Team that we all want to catch!
This little band of fish is made up from four Commons, The Big Common and The Peach, with both usually around the 40lb mark, and the Upfront and Jackson's, which are both mid to late thirties. Next come the Mirrors. The Stitch Linear and The Beast and the Little Fully, all low to mid thirties, Cluster and the Unknown, both of which do go 40lb. The unbelievably difficult to find, let alone catch Brown Fish, again another around mid thirties.
Then we get to the 'one'. The fish that pretty much everyone joins Sutton 2 to catch, The Big Fully. This is the Jewel of the Lake, although not a true fully scaled, it is a stunning fish that all that angle on Sutton want in their photo album.
Whilst fishing on Sutton, or any other water for that fact, there is one thing that I will do, and that is to keep and eye on what swims produce what fish. After a period of time, it became clear that a swim called the Hole was producing a lot of the known fish and although a popular swim, I worked out that there was one particular area that did the lumps!
The start of the season is 1st June on Sutton and it managed to coincide with a family holiday in Majorca, which wasn't a bad substitute for missing the first start of the season for years! I knew that being away and missing the start would also see me miss out on a few bites, as the fish aren’t too shy on Sutton at the start of the season, and a lot of the big girls make a visit to the bank, so when I got back I made a few phone calls to see which fish had been on the bank. (Ok, I lied; I was texting everyday from holiday, but not within range of the missus!)
I think that within 3 hours of landing, I was walking the banks to see who was where and what had been out! I knew that a few of the bigger fish had come out, The Unknown to Andy, Stuart had Jackson’s and my old mate Spikey Paul had the Beast! So, there were plenty of the bigger fish still to go for, and the second week of the season is usually a bit quieter than the first so I knew I had the chance of a fish or two. With this in mind, I planned a 12 hour day session.
I arrived in the car park on Tuesday 8th June, which just happened to be my birthday full of anticipation of the first trip of the season and got the draw I was after. I got the Hole swim, which is a great swim at any time of the year, but one I love to fish at the start of any season. Confidence was sky high and I trotted round to the plot and set about sorting out my rods.
As you get near to the Hole, it pays to be as quiet as you can. The fish get in really close to the bank, due to the large snaggy area to the right of the swim, and it’s certainly an area to be as stealthy as you can. Rigs were sorted in double quick time, I was using my little version of The Blow Back Rig, which I have written about on the site before, a really good rig, either fished snowman style, or single bait.
These were both fished with 45lb ESP lead core to 12lb GR60 main line. Both rigs were fished helicopter style with 1½ oz Dung leads from Atomic. I was fishing both rigs with snowman hook baits this time and the bait this year was to be new Scattered Baits Garlic and Black Pepper range in various sizes.
Both rigs were balanced out so the 14mm pop-up stood up proud and were dipped for a couple of minutes into the Garlic and Black Pepper Dip, a glug I’ve come to love very quickly! It’s really thick, and obviously, stinks to high heaven! You get a massive amount of attraction from it and I knew the fish would respond to it, they do like glugged/dipped bait in Sutton!
The left hand rod was whacked out to a nice clean strip of gravel that runs from the right hand side of the swim towards the Dugout swim next door, at a range of 25 yards. 100 various size baits went over the top of foam as it popped up. The right hand rod was placed under the canopy to the right of the swim, a little way under in a clear area, high up on the shelf.
Just past this area is where the main set of snags start, so you have to fish locked up on this rod. When you do get a take on this rod, it’s usually very violent and you really have to keep your wits about you! 100 odd baits were placed over this bait with the aid of a baiting spoon, that way I was ensuring that the freebies were tight on the spot, and not rolling down the slope, away from the hook baits.
With the baits out, it was time to settle down with a brew, and try to get a couple of hours shut eye, as when you do a day on Sutton, you are up early doors and even a couple of hours kip makes you feel a bit more alive as the days wear on. Those that have fished this way will know what I mean! So I pulled the bed right up to the rod butts and managed to drift off for a few hours.
Around 7am, I was woken by a really violent take on the locked up right hand rod and was on it in an instant, before the fish could take any line. Straight away, there were a few very quick shaky head movements, and I realised I was attached to a Tench. It certainly made the old heart go, because for a split second, you think you are into a carp. The tinca made such a commotion while I was trying to get in, I was slightly downhearted because I though that it might put an end to anymore action from that spot. It’s so tight and closed in the Hole, that any noise of any sort can disturb whatever may be in the snags. Although, saying that, I’ve got to say, I don’t mind catching Tench. It gives me a shot in the arm that the rigs are working as they should, and this one was nailed about an inch back in the mouth! Unhooked and released, I sorted the rod out and got some more bait back under the canopy and set about watching the day come alive.
Throughout what was turning out to be a really pleasant day, with sunny spells and a light southerly wind blowing directly into my margins, I saw the odd fish come in and out of the snags. But as the day wore on me, the old confidence started to wain a bit. This was down to the fact that the Hole is predominately a morning bite time swim, although the previous year I had takes from there at funny times of the day, like midday and mid afternoon takes. This was uncommon, but probably had a lot to do with the amount of bait I was putting in the swim at the time.
I suppose that after the results I’d had the previous year, I shouldn’t have worried about whether I would get a take in there, and that proved right at ten past three in the afternoon when the right hand rod was away again! It was a take right out the blue, as I’d stopped seeing fish in the snags and had no indication that there were fish still present in the swim, no liners or rod knocks or anything.
Anyway, the fish was trying to get right under the canopy into the most dense part of the snag, and all I could do was get the rod tip down onto the bottom of the shelf and hang on for dear life in hope of turning it. Quite quickly, she turned and started to come back towards me and I realised that I was definitely attached to a carp, although I didn’t know which one at the time.
As you will see from the pictures, the Hole is really enclosed, but I’ve found that the fish seem to fight pretty much the same way. They will firstly try and get you under the canopy to the right, when that fails, they just hug the bottom and plod around, never seeming to want to go out into the lake past the edges of the trees, which, I suppose is a good thing. A fish on a short line is easier control than one out on a long line!
This is exactly what this fish was doing, just hugging the bottom and plodding around. After about 10 minutes of this, I was still no nearer knowing which fish id hooked, but I did know that it felt like a proper one! This fish was making the most of its now obvious bulk and it did pretty much nothing but stay down on the bottom for another five minutes or so. Then, bit by bit, I started to get the lead core above the water line. More and more it came up in the water with the steady pressure, then the fish broke the surface! It was the Big Fully, suddenly laying there coughing water, ready for the net! I eased her rather large bulk over the drawstring, praying that the hook hold was good enough. Then, all of a sudden she was in!
I dropped the rod and did a little dance on the spot, which probably looked pretty bloody silly to those anglers watching on the fence bank, but did I care? What do you reckon? I staked out the net, and just as id started to get my weighing gear ready, the mobile rang. It was Keith, fishing in the Bars swim and he inquired as to what fish I had in my net and did I need a hand? My answer to this was, "I’ve got the Fully in the net and your help with the pics would be most welcome!". Keith is mustard with a camera and fortunately Mark 'Kodak' Dean was on hand too, and he can take a picture!
The fish was hoisted up and someone read out a weight of 38lb 14oz. But to be honest, I didn’t care what she weighed; it was the one of my targets, and one of the best looking fish in the country!
I gently held her up for the pictures in the afternoon sunshine, feeling a little bit chuffed with myself, and as the last shot was being taken, Keith reminded me it was my birthday! I don’t think I could have asked for a better present!
Long live the Big Fully!
I had to pack up about half an hour after the capture as I was due to go out with the family and as I walked off the lake, I couldn’t help but think that I was onto a good thing with the bait if I applied it properly. That proved to be right as i went back for two more day sessions and had another 2 fish from the same spot to the same tactics that week, and a few more fish have fallen to the Garlic and Black Pepper to me throughout the year. Get on it!
I hope you have enjoyed my little tale of such a special fish to many angers. Don't forget to subscribe to our monthly E-Newsletter to receive regular tips and tactics, and updates from all the Scattered Team!
Cheers and tight lines
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