Below The Surface: Ed Betteridge

We’re tucked into a corner of Monks Pt in Cambs where Ed Betteridge has had an incredible 24hrs angling. Eight fish and one lost, including a cracking 32lb common, have fallen to his tactics. The swim looks bang-on, with a reasonable breeze blowing into ‘Car Park Corner’ and a healthy dose of weed dotted around. The swim looks carpy, and I’ve got to say that if I were turning up today, as I did, having not seen the venue before, I’d be in here like a rat up a drainpipe.

“I chose this swim primarily for the feature. It’s shallower and it’s fishing, which is what we want,” said Ed. “It tends to do a lot of fish but not necessarily the bigger ones, but it’s great for this feature. It’s the shallowest area of the lake and I guess that around the reeds it’s about 6-8ft deep. Visibility should be good at that depth. The fish tend to sit up in the reeds and I fished it last week and had quite a bit of action. There was a lot of fish in the reeds back then but this week there’s not quite as many but I still fancy it for a bite…”

He was right: he’d had a few bites by the time I arrived.

“Tactics-wise I’m fishing tight to the reeds on all three but will move one out into the dense kelp weed in front of me for the hours of darkness. The regulars say it’s not that common to get night bites out of the edge here, so one will rod be moved into the weed in front of me. There are not too many spots out in front of me so all I can do out in open water is fish to about 40-50yds before I am interfering with someone else. There isn’t room for three rods so it will be a one hit wonder. There is one area about 40yds out which isn’t clear but I can get a drop through it. That’s where I’ll put rod number 3 and I’m really intrigued to see what you make of it. There’s a short spot at about 15yds which is a bit better to present on, but I feel it’s a bit too close in as I’ve seen nothing move over it both this week and when I was here last. I watched the fish last week moving out to almost the centre of the lake and they came back in again at dawn. The short spot didn’t seem too attractive then, as when they come back in they are coming from the reeds on the right not the short spot on the left.

“The one in the kelp was the first one to go this morning. I feel that as the fish moved back in again at dawn, that was my bite time, so it’s an early morning extra bite opportunity. I want to make all of my rods as effective as possible and also make the most of my time here.

“The other two rods are going to stay where they are. The left-hand rod will become the middle for the night, and that’s in a little bay with reeds on two sides and a big bed of thick kelp to the left. Hooking one in there is not for the faint-hearted, but with right kit and tactics you’re going to get them out. I think the deck there is a steady gradient coming back this way and it’s pretty clear, maybe with a bit of blanket weed to the left-hand side next to the kelp. It’s a sandy, fine gravel bottom, not a full tap but a reasonable one.

“The right rod is up against the reeds again as there is a channel going down to the right-hand side. The reeds here are a little thinner and last time I fished in the open water within the channel but didn’t have a bite, so I moved it right up against the reeds and immediately started having bites. The drop against the reeds is harder than the drop in the channel and I think there’s a bit more silt in the open water bit. I reckon the fish feel more secure feeding right up against the reeds as opposed to in the more open water and that’s why just a small move made such a big difference.

“When I say tight, I mean tight, tight. By the time it’s sunk I reckon I may be within 3ft of the reeds but when it hits the surface it’s hitting right next to them so it looks really tight. No doubt there will be a bit of bounce back or swing back that will pull it away a little but I would still hope it’s pretty close.

“I’m trying to minimise the swing back by following the rod through once it hits the clip. Normally I would sink the line on a vertical rod but I follow through here to keep the lead as close as possible to the reeds. It’s the difference between one bite and three bites.

“The channel has a bay at the back which I can see from a tree. I think there is some sort of snag towards the right-hand of my spot. The spot is about 6ft deep and once again it’s a same gravelly/sandy sort of spot as the other one. I’m guessing it’s like a sandy colour. I’ve not lost any fish on the snag but a mis-cast resulted in a broken hooklink so I’m interested to see what it is; it could be a log or maybe a stone.

“Interestingly, yesterday evening I had a bite on the middle rod, popped it back out and then didn’t catch anything again off it but I did have two off the right. It was unusual for the middle not to go so I reeled it in after it had been in the water a total of 16hrs and it came back blunt with no bait on. It was burred over but I had not had a single bleep on it. I don’t know if there are crays in here or what had caused it, but something had turned the point over.”

The end game

“The rigs I am using here are completely different from the ones I usually use. The lake in front of me here is completely different to what I usually fish over so I’ve been forced to change things round a bit. Most of the lakes I fish tend to have some sort of bottom weed, either low-lying onion type weed or silkweed. This one is clean, apart from the kelp which is a bit like a forest. I’m punching through the kelp or clipping the reeds so I have moved to a snowman type rig as opposed to the Hinged Stiff Link. The three spots are clear on the deck but are surrounded by hazards so I’m using PVA Sticks to ensure that the hook doesn’t catch on anything. PVA Sticks don’t usually work with the sort of pop-up rigs I normally use as you can knock the putty off the line, so a snowman or a wafter is a better choice.

“There are more conventional spots in the lake where I will fish my standard Hinged Rigs but the bites are coming from the trickier spots so I’ll adapt to suit them rather than getting the fish to adapt to a spot that I find easier to fish.”

Line lay

“I’m fishing tight lines on the two right-hand rods up against the reeds for obvious reasons. The fish have nowhere to go other than to come back towards me and I’m fishing a tight clutch that can only just take line before I lose a rod. The left rod on the kelp is on a longer drop and a semi-slack line. If there are fish moving through the kelp then I’m likely to get liners as my line lay will be all over the shop. I’d rather get a liner on a semi-slack than have the lead move if it were tight. All three bobbins are weighted to give them a bit of substance and to make sure they will drop if something moves. I’m fairly sure my line lay is going to be poor, but I’m not bothered about that.”

Hughesy's findings

It’s lovely to be back in the water again after a few months away. This season’s dives have started a little later than usual as a result of all the “stuff” going on about promoting angling and increasing participation and the minute I dipped below the surface and the silence of underwater enveloped me I felt at home again.

The water was surprisingly warm and as I approached the marginal reeds the weedy bottom cleared up to show a gravel/sandy bottom as predicted. It was quite light with some grey patches where the fish had been feeding and had cleared off the surface stones. I saw Ed’s line just off the deck and the leader was also pulled tight and off the bottom. It would be of course, as he was fishing tight, but I have heard people in the past say that the leader will be on the deck. Not always, I can assure you. Either way, it blended in well and the rig looked good. He was on a very good spot with a few boilies round his hookbait.

As I got really close I could see that the lead had moved and there was a small groove where it had been tightened up. I’ve seen this a few times when fishing relatively tight lines and medium leads. The hooklink had been straightened, which in this instance wasn’t a problem, but if there was weed or chod around it could cause a problem. In total, the hookbait had moved three-inches or so as it had pulled off the Stick. The lead had probably moved closer to eight or even 10.

Rod Number Two was also along the reed-line and as I closed in on his spot it was very different indeed. There was a big clay pit that had been dug out of the bottom by the carp. It was a good foot or so deeper than the margins right up against the reeds, and some of the roots overhung its lip. The top of the shelf was lovely polished gravel and sand, and it was clearly a place where the carp visit regularly. Ed’s rig was on top of the shelf, but only just. The line was at a bit of an un-natural angle as it led to a submerged stem and then bent round it. The line had either gone round it on the cast and then been tightened up, or he’d been done. Looking at the rig it was in a bit of a mess, twisted, and also the Stick mix had gone. He’d been done.
I’m not sure how long before I dived that he had cast out, but it was a few hours so plenty of time for a bite in that time. When we spoke afterwards about the situation he mentioned that he thought that he should have had a bite on the rod but hadn’t and that always brings back one of my three golden rules: if you feel you should have had a bite but haven’t – re-cast. It only takes a minute and there may well be something wrong.

The last rod was the one in the kelp, and as I swam along a bar to find it, I came to the surface weed, looked down and could see a field of Canadian. Not what was expected, but then again weed is always quick to catch people out.

I swam around and around and around the area and couldn’t find the rig. He put a Spomb out to indicate where it was and I still couldn’t find it. There was weed literally everywhere and with the light levels starting to drop the job was getting harder. I decided to abort the search and go back and give Ed the news.

How did that happen? He’s been done!

Ed's thoughts

“I’m really pleased about the make-up of the spots. What I thought was out there is pretty much what is there. I didn’t realise there was such a pronounced step on the middle rod but then again I haven’t put a float out, just a bare lead. I was only looking for the clear spot next to the reeds and wasn’t really bothered about depth.

“The left-hand rod and the weed has surprised me a little bit. I knew there wasn’t a spot there but I expected Rob to find some sort of bottom at least. Essentially what I was expecting was just the stems of the kelp going down to the deck and a few inches gap where I would be fishing on the bottom. It appears there’s other types of weed down there as well. I assumed that the broad leaves from the kelp would block the light and stop any other weed growth but evidently not. However, I’m still getting a clear drop where it’s donking down on the deck and I got a bite off it yesterday so it must be presented to a certain degree.

“Presentation-wise I’m really pleased with the way that the right-hand rod landed. It’s located on the spot round about where I thought it would be… on the gravelly/sandy spot a few feet back off the weed. The lead had moved a few inches as the line sunk but that is no surprise as I had a large crosswind and a big bow to get out.

“On the middle rod it’s quite evident to me that I have had an aborted take on that rod. There haven’t been any ducks in the area so I’m sure it was a fish. The rig went out with a four-inch Stick on the rig but when Rob went out to look, the hookbait was right next to the rig with the hooklink frapped round. There was no evidence of bait from the Stick where it should have been although there was a bit on the edge of the shot. I’m sure that a fish has picked the rig up, shook its head and got away with it. The central swivel on the COG Lead had come out and whilst this may have happened on the retrieve because I did catch the reed stem pictured for a brief second, the rig was out for a good couple of hours before Rob went out. That’s more than enough time to get a bite.

“That rod was brought back in on the evidence of what Rob showed me. I gave it a re-cast, slightly to the left and it landed with a crack and I actually clipped the reeds on the way down reinforcing the importance of having the Stick on the rig to prevent the hook catching in the reeds. It swung back and I got a defined donk as it cracked down on what I believe to be a flat gravelly shelf. It’ll be interesting to see what the morning brings. I think in hindsight after seeing Rob’s pics I virtually have to clip the reeds every time to land on that top shelf.

“I’m sure most anglers that fish in this situation will be swinging back and landing further down the shelf, no doubt still getting bites, but I just think that if you can land on the top shelf where the fish are used to feeding, and are happy to feed, I’m sure that will create extra bites because the fish believe they are safe.”

Sunset over Monks

Hughesy's thoughts and twist or stick?

We’ve seen a few fish move on a shallow bar in front of Ed after I’ve been standing on it getting some bearings and reporting back. It’s interesting how quickly the fish move in to have a look at what has gone on. The spot was covered in a grassy weed that would be a nightmare to present over with a conventional rig. However, a longer hooklink and balanced bait would do the job easily. It was about 5ft below the surface, in 3hrs we’ve seen 10 shows and a couple of big fizzes emerge on that spot where nothing showed before I went in. Interesting thoughts.

Elsewhere there are quite a few fish showing now so I’m confident that Ed will have a bite at least. The right rod is about as guaranteed as it can be. It’s on a spot that has produced fish in this session, it’s well presented and there’s food around it. Ed’s gone for the twist option so the middle and left have been re-cast so they should both be okay too but I haven’t been able to check them.

Success! Ed took this one from the reed-line

Morning dawns

02:45 and the impossible rod has rattled off. Sadly the fish fell off in the heavy weed and it was game over. We called it the ‘impossible rod’ because it looked seemingly impossible to get a bite off, but one yesterday and one the in the early hours of this morning proved that impossibility is not impossible. The problem was that I couldn’t find it the evening before and Ed didn’t re-chuck it back out after the lost fish. As first light dawned, the fish came on the spawn for the second time of the year and, being the respectful sort of chap that he is, Ed did the right thing and reeled all of his rods in.

We did still need to know what the fish had done to the spot though, so I donned the kit really looking forward to swimming around in a load of fish goo and having a ‘Something About Mary’ moment.

We had to get Ed to sling the rod back out, not to be fishing for them, but intrigued to know exactly what sort of presentation he had on the impossible spot. He re-rigged up, and chucked into the area with me in hot pursuit. Before anyone even suggests that there was any risk of catching spawning fish there wasn’t. He wasn’t fishing for them and I was over the spot shoo-ing them away. We needed to conclude our experiments.

And a big common, all proving Ed got his tactics bang-on

Back in the water

I went straight over to the right-hand rod and was not surprised to see that the food had all gone. In fact, there was only the odd boilie lying around to show that there had been anything there in the first place. What was interesting to see was the spot where the rig had been. The floss weed was still there, but it was clear that something had been in and hoovered the deck clean of grub.

The second spot was almost a mirror image. Nothing there and all the bait gone.

The third one was more of an eye-opener. Ed had a “marker chuck” so I knew where it would land, so I got in position, he chucked it out, and he confirmed a donk. I dropped down into about 8ft of water and once again could only see weed. Whilst it was thick and looked like a reasonable bed from the bank, in the water the kelp wasn’t really an issue but there was Canadian. It was all over the shop, from low level to quite high, and could easily swallow up a hookbait. There, on the deck, in about six-inches of weed, was the hookbait sat on top of some low lying Canadian pondweed. The lead was donking down telling Ed it was clear, but the reality was, as we have seen so many times before with this feature, if there is weed in the pond you should assume there is a lot more than there seems. To be fair, the rig was actually fishing, which was good, and the spots had produced a couple of bites. As we saw when I went in the previous night though, a little to the right or left and it would be in significantly deeper weed and it would be difficult to find.

Back to Ed

High Point: “I’m happy that the right-hand spot is exactly as I perceived. I’m happy with the way the rig lay and how it performed and it produced the bulk of the fish, so all good there. I’m a little disappointed that I had moved the lead a little but the big crosswind yesterday meant that it was almost inevitable as it took a lot to tighten down. The fact that I had the Stick on made me less concerned and it was clean gravel so all was good.”

Low Point: “The situation beyond our control, that the fish were spawning and we were not able to catch fish on the rigs that we had seen in the water. However, we did get to see that the fish had been in the area and cleaned off all of the bait so the chances are that, had they been left in, I would have caught another couple.”

Biggest Eye-Opener: “Got to be the left-hand rod. I didn’t think it was clear but I didn’t think there would be as much weed there as there actually was. The lead is hitting the deck with quite a resounding thud but there is obviously some Canadian there but I am not bringing a single strand back on the hook or lead. That said, the short Hinged Rig is still fishing effectively out there. It’s only 6.5-inches long and from the photos there seems to be a bit of slack so I think the weed is only two- or three-inches deep and I think it is fishing effectively enough, firstly by the photos, and secondly by the two bites I’ve had. It’s a big surprise that the weed was there but it sort of firms up my opinion that if I’m getting a crack down then I’m fishing.”

Biggest Lesson: “There is more of a pronounced step on the middle rod and it brings home the importance of getting on top of that step. I think there are still bites to be had down the drop-off but I think being at the top will out-fish it. I need to keep clipping the reeds on the way through and drop the rod to ensure that it lands on the top of the step.”

Another Monks Pit mirror

Would you change anything?

“This is a tricky one, as I have caught on all the rods I’ve fished and all the spots I’ve fished. The one thing that is playing on my mind is that I’m convinced I have been done twice on the middle rod. Once from the blunt hook and the second from the evidence of the first dive where the rig had been moved into the reeds and away from the Stick. I do like a short braided rig because it’s easy for the fish to get into the mouth and they do fish better over light debris like silkweed and bits and pieces. Seeing the spots now and the results I’ve had on the right-hand rod, maybe a flourocarbon stiffer hooklink would have been a better option. There’s no evidence of having been done on the right-hand rod and it has also produced more bites. That said, I do like fishing different rigs on different rods as I feel that different fish feed in different ways. It may or may not be of coincidence that the middle rod has produced the biggest common in the lake during this session, but has had fewer bites.”