Day 8 - 21st May 25

Back to Square Lake

Not such an early start today. I arrived at the lake and was ready to start fishing about 8:30am. I had pre-baited with 20 balls around 8pm the previous evening and fired out another 6 balls whilst I was setting up.

I was getting plucks, bites or liners on almost every cast. I really should have caught more but managed 16 Bream for 56lb 4oz. I was hoping for an occasional Tench or big Ide - I know, I am never satisfied but that's what keeps us coming back time after time.

All fish fell to a worm and corn cocktail. I tried maggots, worms on their own, corn on its own and caster but nothing improved bite/catch rates. I also omitted chopped worm in the feed to start with. After a couple of hours I did add chopped worm and this time, the Perch did not take over.

I generally stuck to 5 minute casts (if I hadn't had a bite by then). I did have a couple of spells when I dropped to 3 minutes per cast to try and get them taking the bait quicker. It did produce a couple of quick bites but wasn't markedly different.

Here are some videos of bites and catches. These were taken before the wind got up and whilst it was still quite pleasant.


I was hoping to try the waggler but there was a strong left-to-right wind today, gusting at times. The sun was behing me. This was great yesterday when it was a warm day as I didn't have sun glaring off the water. However, I had trees behind me and that masked what little sun there was. It was a chilly day as a result.

Tomorrow

I have looked at the weather forecasts for the next few days and the wind persists and actually gets stronger. That may influence my choice of venue. I think I will go back on the Ijssel tomorrow. It won't be an early start as I need to top up on casters and groundbait. I'll check out a couple of stretches and see which look comfortable.