The Sessions - May 2026
Crucian Record Hunting
As many of us do I now term the start of the fishing year as 1 April and really look forward to my Spring fishing, this year has started very well with a 4-03 Crucian on my second session in April and a first visit to Highbridge looking for a big Roach.
May had rolled round quickly and Julie and I were off on a planned trip on the hunt for a record Crucian 😊and I was really looking forward to that.
2 May 2026 – Highbridge
After another 10-day marathon at work I was looking forward to our trip to Cherry Lakes and had a spare night that I could fish before we went. I had planned a session on Rosewater with my pal Lewis but had to work the Friday so wouldn’t have got a swim arriving Saturday so drove over to Highbridge instead.
I arrived at 08:00 and dropped in a swim on the same bank as my first visit but further along and set up the shelter quickly to keep the sun off me and my fair skin, it was warm and forecast to be 27 degrees with a light breeze. The level was down almost a foot since my last visit, so it was clearly a well-used reservoir for farming. The rods were still clipped up and I was happy with the area I was fishing, but I did plan to change my approach slightly feeding only groundbait and 10mm boilies to hopefully single out the bigger Roach.
To re-cap my set-up, 50g window feeders on a heli-rig with the float stops set at 12 inches above the feeder, 4 inches of 7lb Mirage to a size 12 MWG hook and a 10mm boilie. I fed ten small balls of groundbait laced with 10mm boilies, the balls were big enough to fit in a medium spomb.
Bites were fairly regular but nothing big, all around 8-12oz size, I topped up with more bait at 18:00. I did try a rod on a pineapple pop-up and left that on for the rest of the session, but most bites came to the bottom baits.
3 May 2026
I had one in the night on the pop-up and baited up again at 04:15. I caught steadily through the morning with a few over a pound with the biggest at 1-15, so slowly getting there and working it out. I packed up at 11:00 and went home to get ready for our trip away.
The Drennan Cup
So, I got the nod from Freddie, I’d finished fourth in the Drennan Cup and was very happy with that, just to get my name on the trophy with some of the inspirational anglers already there was just brilliant so a massive thankyou to all who voted for me.
Well done and congratulations to my pal Simon Daley, a worthy winner, Nathan for second and Dan for third, let’s all reset and go again this year 😊
This Spring there have already been some noteworthy weekly winners with some cracking fish, so it looks like another great years angling ahead.
4 May 2026 – Cherry Springs, Cotswolds.
This trip has been over a year in the making and planning, I first saw Cherry Lakes on FB in Jan 2025, one of the lakes on the complex, Cherry Springs, had been netted and there were a few very large Crucians in there and one was weighed at 4-09. Now you often hear stories like this, but I knew the guy Ben who had been netting the lake with his team, if he said it weighed that weight it was good enough for me.
I started making enquiries and after a couple of emails I spoke to the owner Mike on the phone. Basically, if I wanted to fish the lake, I would have to book the lodge which gave me exclusive fishing for my visit but was very expensive. I was disappointed but thought it was worth asking and was about to write it off, Julie looked up at me and said, “it’s your 60th birthday year, just book it and let’s go”, that was enough encouragement and I booked it that evening. I planned it around spawning when I felt they would be at their biggest and booked 4-8 May 2026.
I followed the page on FB and in Jan this year it was netted again and Ben weighed one at 4-13, now I knew in May that fish would be over 5 pound, and a British record so was very excited. I did plan on keeping it quiet but word soon gets out and other anglers like me had seen the FB posts, so it was getting some interest, and other anglers were having a go too.
I made sure I had enough rig bits, groundbait and I took 10 pints of casters to ensure I didn’t run out, there are a lot of Carp in the lake and I didn’t want them clearing my spots. Hemp, you have to order from Cherry, and I ordered a 6kg bucket that was there when I arrived.
We loaded my VW with the gear, food, cloths and bedding and had a nice drive down to the Cotswolds arriving in South Cerney early enough to pop in one of the village pubs, the Royal Oak, for a pint before driving to the fishery for midday.
It is very secure with key coded gates, and we were met by one of the team who directed us to Cherry Springs and our home for four nights, Kingfisher Lodge. The complex was lovely and very well maintained and the lodge was everything we hoped for, it was wooden cabin and lovely inside with patio doors overlooking the decking, fishing platform and lake, check out their website for more details: www.cherrylakes.co.uk
Kingfisher Lodge
We unloaded the van and I got straight to work with the Deeper and leading rod, it was a soft bottom and around 6 feet deep all over. I liked the margins both sides and found a gravel seam as it dropped down to the silt that looked like a good start. I put one rod in the left-hand margin and two in the right all on my usual Crucian set up of method feeder and fake casters, and put five spombs of hemp and caster over each area and was fishing by 14:30.
I lost a Carp straight away to hook pull and had two more takes in the evening a Tench and a pretty Mirror at 20-04.
20-04
I wasn’t sure what to expect as there are a lot of Carp but only about 10-12 Crucians so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get the target fish. I put a few pouches of casters over both areas before we retired to bed. Two hours later both the right-hand rods were going, as I suspected a fish had picked up the second line after being hooked. It felt heavy but was a strange fight and I was very surprised when a Pike at 20-01 popped up and I quickly scooped it up with the net for a nice bonus fluke catch.
20-01
5 May 2026
We woke up to a cold clear morning and surprisingly the smaller Carp had started spawning, it had been very hot the week before we came but had cooled down considerably, I was in a woolly hat and warm coat!! The morning was very quiet and I had a few Crayfish issues on the left-hand margin. With the Carp spawning in the margins I moved two rods to a firmer spot out in the lake at 7 wraps and put one on an 8mm boilie.
The only bites were late afternoon on the margin rod with a Roach and two mid-double Mirrors.
6 May 2026
It was another chilly night and morning, I was up early a decided to stick to my original plan and fish the margins so baited both spots with hemp and casters. The left went pretty quickly with a Perch and then a ghosty Common at 20-02, all nice but not the target species.
20-02
I introduced a bit of sweetcorn over both spots and topped up with pouches of casters. The sun was out and Julie and I were enjoying a drink mid-afternoon when one of the right bobbins lifted with a classic Crucian take, I played it carefully and scooped it up and was very happy, it wasn’t a record breaker but was a good one at 3-14, a brilliant result. I quickly reset the rod hoping there would be another there, but it went quiet again until late evening with a 19 pound Carp.
3-14
7-8 May 2026
The mornings were very cold down to 4 degrees, which was even more crazy as the Carp were really going for it with spawning and I felt were keeping the Crucians away for the feeding area. I did have more Tench and Carp but no more Crucians.
I finished the trip with 7 Carp, 4 Tench, the Pike, a few Roach and Perch and the one Crucian at 3-14.
We had a lovely stay and really enjoyed it there, it was expensive at £1700 for the four nights but a lovely complex. Will I go back….I’m not sure……but I have thought about a September trip as they start gaining weight for winter 😊
We left Cherry and drove to Crickdale for a night in a luxury hotel to finish our holiday, the hotel was lovely with a corner bath in our bedroom and wine and prosecco on ice for us, the food was good and the grounds lovely but the following morning Julie was convinced the hotel was haunted as she’d heard things in the night so I doubt we’ll go back there again 🤣
15-17 May 2026 – Rosewater
I was really looking forward to the Tench fishing this year but with the weather so up and down it had been a struggle for most people I know. It was cold with chilly winds and rain all week but I was confident of getting something.
I got the swim I wanted but that was all that happened for 48 hours, it was cold and me and everyone around me blanked!!
20-22 May 2026 – Beds Lake
The weather was changing after all the rain and getting warmer with strong south westerly winds so I was confident of a better trip. I rushed around after work hoping to get in the swim I wanted ready for morning, it all worked out well and I was fishing by 20:30. All three rods on 45g method feeders, 4 inch Gardner Trickster silt hooklinks to size 12 hooks, and fake casters. I had my spots marked from last season and checked them with the leading rod before wrapping the rods and putting six spombs of hemp / caster on the spot.
I then sat with baited breath listening to the football, we needed Man City to drop points against Bournemouth for Arsenal to win the league with a game to spare, it happened and I let out a roar, what a result, just brilliant and I was on the phone to Julie to plan our trip to the bus top parade 😊
The fishing was much better than my Rosewater trip with the mornings being the most productive, I finished with seven Tench to 7-13, a Bream and two lost in the weed.
Some people I’ve spoken too felt they had spawned already but I felt they were a long way off and behind this year, time will tell……
28-30 May 2026 – Cambs Lake
The hot weather had arrived and had been 34 degrees all week and as expected the Carp started spawning in all the lakes I was fishing and they both closed for two weeks on 23 May. I had a loose plan for the year and plan for a few species each month if situations change, and Rudd were on my list. I haven’t targeted them for many years and have a long-standing English PB of 2-13 I’d love to beat.
I’d reecced the lake in Jan and my pal had kept me updated on how it had been fishing so I knew where to head as I drove over and found no one there at all. I set up in a swim in front of a nice shallow bay full of pads, I got the leading rod out and the only feature was the pads so I clipped up at five and half wraps and set the rods up with 35g method feeders, 3 inch 5lb braid hooklinks and size 12 MWG hooks with 10mm boilies on the hair. I baited with three spombs of hemp / caster and some 10 boilies.
The Bream were relentless and were all around 1-3 pound with the odd bigger one, they were that bad I didn’t fish the second night as they didn’t stop all night. The Rudd weren’t there in numbers, but I did start to pick a few up and had nine with two decent ones at 2-01 and 2-05. A lot of learning and an enjoyable trip and I will return a few times this summer. I did a lap of the lake when I finished as it looked so different in early summer and it was time well spent for future trips.
31 May 2026 – Arsenal Trophy Parade
I got home in time for the Champions League final on the Saturday and it went down to the lottery of a penalty shoot-out, and as your all probably aware we lost and it was massively disappointing.
But the next morning Julie and I set of for North London and the open top bus parade for winning the Premier League and what an epic experience it was and more than made up for the loss the night before.
We stood around hours waiting, saw the bus for about 20-30 seconds and it took hours to get an underground train to Kings Cross, getting us home again for 20:00. But I can honestly say it was a brilliant day, the atmosphere and coming together of Arsenal supporters was fantastic and worth every minute, and I’ll be doing it all over again next year….hopefully 😊🏆
Until next, tight lines and be lucky 😊
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