THORNEY WEIR GEM
9th February 2021
Ryan Spence tops a six-fish winter haul on Thorney Weir’s The Mets Lake, with an incredible mirror!
Finding a venue to fish in the winter can be tricky prospect. Some lakes just don’t suit the time of year, whether that’s down to stock levels, depth, access, or a combination of everything. It’s super important to fish lakes with good winter form, unless you have the will power of some sort of superhuman, then good luck to you! One such venue that’s shown consistent winter form is the Thorney Weir complex and some of the very best-looking fish in the area reside in The Mets. It’s a busy complex of lakes and it’s certainly not easy by any means, but the fish are certainly catchable when the weather is cold, as Ryan Spence proved on his recent visit.
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Ryan revealed
“I had a lot of success on The Mets at Thorney during the period before Christmas this year and in previous years also. So, with a bit of time on my hands and a session planned in, I knew where I was heading for my most recent trip, hopeful of latching into some of the special carp the lake contains.
“Upon arrival my confidence was ever so slightly dented somewhat, as I couldn’t find anything to go on. There were no obvious signs of fish anywhere, so I simply had to go with my gut and fish a swim I had previously had fish from in similar conditions. As such, I also stuck with tried and trusted tactics. This comprised of solid bags, loaded with 2.3mm Bloodworm pellets, Manilla Active Mix and Pure Natural Betaine. Inside, I fished a trimmed down Peach & Pepper pop-up tipped with a couple of red maggots and added a squirt of Manilla Glug to each bag before casting. The swim in question was well known to me and it was a simple case of flicking the bags to the carp’s winter haunts; deep gullies in between the bars and weed.
“It turned out my gut instinct was right and over the course of the session, I had a total of nine bites. Unfortunately, I only managed to land six of them, losing three due to snags and hook pulls. I wasn’t too disheartened though as I was rewarded with one of the lake’s gems, one that was on my target list and is undoubtedly one of the best-looking carp I have ever caught, weighing in at 34lb. The incredible mirror blew me away and I was over the moon, it certainly capped off a memorable winter session!”
