Pit Stop
Even when not intending to fish there, I often visit the tackle shop at Rookery Waters because it’s crammed to the rafters with interesting gear. Tackle & Bates is not just a retail outlet where you can find many items bigger stores don’t do; it’s run by people who have top knowledge regarding local venues, tactics, and the gear that’s required. They also provide a bigger than average menu of quality bait, so it’s a great place to get all you need in one go. On this occasion, I wasn’t just passing through, wanting to have another go on Rook Lake, which is right next door to the tackle shop and café. When I first moved to the area a couple of years ago, this water gave me a taste of the excellent rudd sport fenland is renowned for. Other lakes on the complex might be dominated by carp, but that’s certainly not the case in this instance.
Staying Cool
It was early close season and winter hadn’t quite finished, with a chilly north-easterly blowing across the marshes behind. However, the lake had good colour, so I remained optimistic. After stocking up with plenty of bait to cover this and the next few outings, plus essential rig bits that are almost impossible to find anywhere else, I headed towards a sheltered corner peg. As usual, the match pools were busy, while this spot felt pleasantly relaxed. I intended to find out more about what was in here, not wanting to pester Alex in the shop too much, after catching up on all the local drain and river news. Last visit I got sidetracked catching rudd shallow, a species that had been missing from my fishing for far too long. I had only just moved to the area back then, and it was a similar time of year, so the nearby fens were off limits at that time as well.
Easy Distance
With little pressure on the reed lined lake, I settled for a comfortable distance with my CP2000 Competition Pole, finding good depth on top three kits. Not knowing what to expect, I opted for Edge Solid Hybrid Elastics in 3-4 Orange for a shallow rig and 4-6 Green with full depth tackle. Up to 2kg of groundbait is allowed, but I wasn’t expecting to use anywhere near that amount, only cupping in occasional helpings laced with micros. I then intended to loose feed over the top with 3mm pellets or casters, depending on what turned up. There are carp in Rook, but I wasn’t troubled by any last time. I could see a few holidaymakers in the chalets opposite targeting them with specimen gear, so hopefully they would be more interested in the larger baits going in over there. Still being cold, the carp might remain less active anyway.
Early Takers
After cupping in two tangerine size balls of groundbait, it didn’t take long to get a response. Kicking off with a single red maggot on the hook, a couple of ghost bites resulted where the float slowly went under, but no connections were made. I was using my full depth rig, which I deepened off by a couple of inches. That did the trick and I caught a couple of small roach, followed by an elastic stretcher, which turned out to be a pale coloured crucian carp. This prompted me to start loose feeding a few hard pellets and casters, using a light action catapult. When bites petered out, I cupped in another ball of groundbait and more crucians were on it straight away. I also encountered odd rudd when I slowed the fall of the hook bait, by letting the rig settle on a tight line. Switching to single caster, another couple of chunky crucians resulted.
Stepping Up
Upping the feed rate resulted in the inevitable. No crucian next put in as something more powerful tried to run my rig into the thick reed beds either side of the peg. By keeping my pole fully extended until the fish came near the surface, I steered it away, netting this attractive ghostie. Another lively carp turned up next, performing a similar routine. After that, I returned to a gentler approach, cupping in small balls of groundbait and micros less frequently, catapulting a few casters over the top. I could hear a match kicking off in the distance on one of the bagging pools, where massive weights of carp and F1s are required to do any damage. Some lakes are canal-like and dominated by the pole, while the method feeder comes into play on wider ones like the newest water, which is called Crow and isn’t on the site map yet.
Changing Course
I’d heard there are skimmers in Rook, so I decided to change tactics for a while. Loose casters were beginning to pull in small rudd, so I tried feeding them in harder balls of groundbait instead, to get them and the micro pellets hard on the deck. I had some soft 4mm expanders with me to use on the hook. Once skimmers get a taste for groundbait and micros, a soft expander is often the best way to target them. I suspect when they suck in these super soft pellets, they are mistaken for groundbait, which they have learnt is a lot safer to hoover up. The only problem with expanders is they are mostly buoyant, so with light pole rigs they descend slowly. To begin with, rudd kept intercepting them, so I had to dump the tackle in to get through. I was using a one-gram olivette, which I positioned closer to the hook and dropper shot.
Skimmer Time
Once I sorted out getting soft expanders hard on the bottom, it took longer to gain any interest, but eventually, my delicate float tip sank away. A gentle lift of the pole resulted in a strong resistance, with a couple of feet of green Edge Hybrid Elastic stretching out. It felt like a good skimmer, but turned out to be a hybrid. This was the beginning of a productive hour, with several skimmers around the pound plus mark appearing, before the shoal drifted off. They might have returned if I had continued the same way, but I felt there was more to discover. I went back to loose feeding casters, trying a single shell on the hook. This immediately woke up more bites and a mixture of better sized rudd and roach resulted. Maggot was a waste of time, being intercepted by small rudd on the way down, while a dark caster managed to get past them.
Mixing It
Watching videos on YouTube of match anglers amassing huge weights of carp and F1s on some other pools on this fishery, highlights where to go if you are seeking a frantic day’s sport. Low ton-up weights might not even be enough to win many of the competitions, which include regular sweepstakes and much bigger events. Not that it was slow-going on Rook Lake, which is reserved for pleasure anglers and where I was wondering what might turn up next. It’s a nice spot to try different things, keeping occupied during the close season, dreaming of what the nearby fens might have in store come June 16th. There are several complexes like this in my area, most offering big carp weights as the main attraction, but also mixing it up with other species. I can do the carp bagging thing, but just love exploring the unknown.
Going Shallow
My deep rig slowed up, so I held off the groundbait for a while and switched to pinging out casters a bit more regularly, bringing a shallow set up into play. This entailed a modified wire stemmed pole float, which only takes three number 13 micros, set at two feet. I combined this with lighter 3-4 Edge Hybrid Solid Latex, loosely tensioned, so it could more easily stretch out. Laying the new rig in and holding the float on a tight line, saw fish flashing just below the surface for a single caster. Plenty of small rudd were out there, with a few swirling for bait as it hit the water. These fish were not as big as the last time I encountered them on this lake, although there were odd netters among them. I persevered with the shallow attack for a while, until I spotted some clusters of small bubbles fizzing up over where I had been feeding groundbait earlier.
Lower Down
As is normally the way with skimmers, resting an area where they were being caught earlier in a session, often brings them back. I had too many small rudd competing above these fish to get soft expanders through, so stuck with a single dark caster. This did the trick and a couple more decent sized samples resulted, before drifting off again. The only way I could get bites next, was to push the olivette higher and let the rig settle on a tight line. This resulted in a few quality roach turning up, but it was slow going. Putting in more groundbait didn’t improve matters, so moving into the last hour of the session, I decided to sack that altogether. A picture was emerging where rudd were feeding shallow and roach were putting in an appearance below them. Quality roach typically do this, keeping off the bottom, but you need to find the exact depth they want to feed at.
Depth Setting
There often comes a time on prolific lakes like this when fish stop feeding altogether at full depth. Maybe they learn that it’s dangerous down there, but with so many mouths competing for grub, it’s rare for them to shut up shop completely. I use a good length of line between my top kit and float with shallow rigs, to try to avoid spooking surface feeders with the pole. This allows me to deepen off a fair bit, which I decided to do on this occasion. By working my float up a couple of inches at a time, I found if I got through the numerous rudd, better quality roach resulted. It was only casters I was dribbling in by this stage, trying to feed just enough to keep the bites coming, but not too many because that sent the small rudd into a frenzy. Once I got the feeding right, each time my up-in-the-water rig got to mid-depth, it was roach time.
Mystery Factor
I enjoyed a great final hour catching roach, which eventually pushed the small rudd out. They were not massive, but a good stamp, with a few better ones requiring a landing net. This capped off a terrific outing, well worth the cost of a day ticket, which is £10 full price or £8 concessionary. It was pleasantly tiring working through such a wide span of species. I wondered how the nearby match carpers were fairing, with their fish counters and multi keepnets. As for me, I had caught 7 different types of fish, completely losing track of the total weight the session produced. Apparently, the other lakes are not all totally carp orientated, despite that species dominating competitions. Maybe next visit I will try one of the other interestingly landscaped pools, but only after checking out what’s new in the Aladdin’s cave of a tackle shop.
