The 1st Go

As many of you will know, Lac du Coron's bailiff Matt and his French mate Fred were lucky enough to be the 1st pair of anglers to fish Lac du Coron last weekend since I did a night in early October 2015, long before the new stock went in and the water levels were probably 2ft lower.

Due to work still going on in the 'Double' and the 'Channel' the lads went in 'Swim 1' and 'Rolos' for two very wet and windy days, Fred going in swim 1 and Matt in Rolos.

After Matt got set up and settled in the swim I joined him, armed with my camera, for a stroll up to the new section of the lake. We flicked a rod out at the end of the channel to see if any were down there.

Matt put a very low Multi Rig 10 yards up the channel in between the 2 sunken islands and he set the rod on the floor so we could have a natter. Seconds later we noticed the line slowly pulling up and moving to the right, the penny dropped and Matt bent into a powerful fish. This was the result! Click on the video.

The fish was later identified as the baby starburst and weighed in at exactly 25.5lbs, quite a few pounds bigger than when he went in 1 month before.

After a good Whiskey and Coke social in the Hyde I left the lads to it as Fred had just arrived after work and with conditions deteriorating rapidly it was time for me to make a move.

I kept in touch with Matt by text that night and was really pleased to hear he had nailed one of the new stock at 27lbs + on a 20mm Coron Special straight out the bag and it was one that I didn't already have pictures of.

The following afternoon I headed back over to see the lads. After a little chat I felt that there were more fish to be had so a few tweaks to rigs and hook baits were made and a few new spots explored.

Moments after casting out, Fred's alarm sounded through the wind and rain and he bent into a strong fish. Using the depth in front of the swim, the fish fought really hard, powering off from under the rod tip down both of his margins. 5 minutes later she eventually gave up and one of the immaculate commons went over the net cord.

This one went in at 21lbs in early January and now weighed in at 25lbs exactly, again not a huge fish for the lake but a 4lbs weight gain in a month is some going. Those upper 40's could be interesting this year!

Again a little chat in the Hyde was had and then I left the boys to it.

That night I once again kept in touch with Matt and was chuffed to hear he had a busy night landing four more fish; two very small little Coron original commons, one bigger Coron original and a belting 31lb mirror that again I couldn't identify from the pictures of the stocking.

So for a freezing cold and very windy February weekend the guys ended up with 7 fish between them. None of the bigger fish made an appearance but for the first time the lake had been fished since October, and given the appalling conditions, I was very happy with their results.

Matt and I will be heading to Lac du Coron for 24 hours next Thursday to fish the recently finished Double Swim. We will make sure the swim is 100% ready to go, free of snags and hopefully try a few spots out ready for you guys to start arriving in late April.

Look forward to showing off our prizes next weekend.