General

Turtle and Tigers (Tim Wagner)

   Have you got a favourite meal or a favourite cake?  I bet you have and like most people if you had the chance to eat that favourite thing most of the time you probably would even if you knew it wasn’t any good for you.
   Do you think that fish have a favourite food? Or even a favoured place to feed? Most of you would probably agree with me that some fish prefer certain areas of the lake to others but what about favourite food and baits, surely fish can’t be that choosy for goodness sake because for all they are they are only fish. You might think that I have lost the plot here but I tend to think that some fish will show a preference to certain baits than others just like humans do with say Mcdonalds over a tuna salad.
   One fish springs to mind in Welly, a fish called the Turtle. This is arguably the most sort after fish in the lake, not because it’s the heaviest because it isn’t but because it is rarely caught, add to the fact that it’s over 40lb and fights like a bull and there’s a few reasons why most people want to catch it.
   Welly is fished every day of the season by some of the best anglers in the country yet just like some other fish in the country like Heather or Benson it rarely gets caught compared to other fish in the lake.
   The Turtle would slip up maybe a couple of times a season and loads of lads had said to me that I would never catch him because I use too much bait. You see the Turtle has a bit of a reputation of being a loner and getting caught on singles or stringers and would often spend most of its time in one area of the lake. Well that did it for me as I liked to use anything up to 10kg of Monster Tiger nut boilies per night and I very rarely ventured into Bramble Bay which is the area that the Turtle seems to spend most of its time.
   During the Spring of this year the Turtle made its first mistake of the year and was landed by one of the other lads at 44.8 whilst fishing a snowman rig with no freebies. The chances of this fish coming out this side of the summer where now pretty rare.
   About a month later I was fishing on Boathouse Point with Ken Beech and had caught during the afternoon so had baited heavily for the forth coming night. I had introduced about 8kg of 18mm freezer bait and was fishing with 20mm bottom baits. In the early hours I had a take and after a truly magnificent fight I slid the net under what was a big fish, I thought I knew which fish it was and when I turned my head torch on there he lay in my net, The Turtle. He went 44.4 and whilst we were weighing him one of my other rods ripped off so I had just put three myths to bed. The Turtle does come out regularly, he does eat bait and he does swim with other fish.
   Three weeks later whilst fishing a short evening session in Bramble Bay near the Turtles haunt I went and caught him again at 43.8 along with three other fish. Some of the other lads were now pretty miffed as I had him twice within a month. That all happened back in the spring and the Turtle hadn’t been out since and we were all wondering how big he would be.
   Well in early September John caught him at 45.10 and within a few days of that capture I was back on Boathouse for a day session. I had baited heavily the night before with 12kg of 18 and 20mm Tiger nut boilies and had returned in the morning to fish. Within two hours of casting out I was playing what was obviously only one fish and after a lengthy battle I slid the net under the Turtle again, this time he weighed 44.10.
   This is one of the hardest fish in the lake to catch so why have I had him three times in a few months when the lake is being fished so hard by so many other good anglers? Do you think it be something to do with the bait? I do.  Long live the Monster Tiger Nut. My 2006 season on Welly finished with 102 fish landed. 35 being over 30lb with 24 being over 35lb, 6 of these were over 40lb with my best mirror being 45.12 and my best common going 40.12. 2007 has started even better and every single take has been on Monster Tiger Nut. 
   This bait goes from strength to strength and since the middle of July I have introduced over 300kg of 18 and 20mm baits. I bet you can’t guess what hook bait I will be using on my next trip. All the best and get on it.