Sam Verstreken is no stranger to the public water scene, and it is no surprise that he has continued where he left off a few weeks ago on the Belgian venue he is targeting.

Sam continues:

“With autumn well under way and having only just had a great result from my target water, I wanted to get back there for another session as soon as possible, as I really was hoping for another of the lakes gems before the really cold weather set in.

“Due to my recent success on there, my tactics remained the same, baiting super tight on my spots in between the weed beds. Bait wise, I used whole and crushed Manilla and Krill Active boilies and over the top of this I presented Peach and Pepper Pop-Ups. I was full of confidence and just knew it was the right thing to do.

“My only slight concern was that we had the first frost the night before, so I was a bit worried how the fish would react to this. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long for the answer, as at 5am I was woken by an absolute screamer. I quickly made contact with the fish, but it just kept on going. Although there was quite a lot of weed about, I managed to get it closer in without too much of a problem, under the rod tip it gave me a good fight, but soon enough I was able to get it into the net.

“I immediately saw the big scales on the side of this incredible mirror and after further investigation it turned to be one of the A-team called The Small Linear. On the scales she went a pleasing, 42lb 5oz.

“Although I didn’t really have a specific target on this lake, this elusive linear was certainly one I dearly wanted to catch, so I was over the moon. The action didn’t stop there either as the next night I caught another mirror around 23lb, which was a nice way to end yet another enjoyable session.”