Guesting, shhhh - Pt 2

Following my introduction into the secret world of guesting, here are a few tales of the type of thing that can happen…

My guesting started back in 1991, when we used to have a close season, there is a small estate lake of about 2 acres, leased by a local club, this club was match orientated and only a handful of people fished for carp. So me and a few mates had been walking round this lake for a few days, seeing the numbers of double figure fish on the surface, and the fact that floater fishing was banned, we decided that would be the best method.

We parked the car about 400 yards away in a small gap in the hedgerow, the old banger fitted in there nicely at 15 mph. We ran across the field and into the trees surrounding the lake, once fishing it did not take long before we had all caught some small mirrors, nothing special but great fun.

The next day we were back, and I managed to spot the lakes largest resident mooching under the far tree line, so I crept round with some mixers, and this fish was mopping them up, I lowered a bait about a foot from the back, this big grey mouth sucked in the double mixer, and then all hell broke loose, there was water splashing, lillies being churned up, but we managed to slide the fish into the net. On the scales she went 27lb 8oz, and that was it, I was hooked.

We came back 2 days later to see if the only other 20 in the lake would take a floater, but as we approached the lake, 2 bailiffs saw us, we legged it across the field and into the car, wheelspun out of the hedge and off down the road, unfortunately I was recognised, and subsequently got a life ban from all of that club's waters, oh well, shit happens.

From these humble beginnings further steps were taken towards "The Dark Side". A number of short sessions were spent on the local canal to hone the skills required for this type of angling (namely legging it when you are seen), until we found the perfect lake for Guesting.

In 1998 myself and my fishing mate Paul decided to have a look round a local water sports lake, which we knew had carp in it, but we also knew there were loads of tench and a big head of grassies, we spent a few evenings checking out areas that could be fished without being seen from the offices, from these offices the bloke who leased the lake could see only 50% of the water available, so obviously we decided to fish the far side, where we were out of sight.

We spent the next 4 nights putting in bait, now this was no mean feat, the walk to the swim was over ¾ of a mile and with 40kg of pellet and boilies each visit we needed a trolley to carry it all. We waited until just before dark, got the boat blown up, and then set sail, we sprayed bait over a large area, hoping to draw in lots of fish.

When we came back the second night, the swim was alive, tench and crucian's everywhere, by the 3rd night the grassies had arrived, so we gave it one last feed (Wednesday) and then left it until we fished on Friday. On the Thursday night we cut out the swim, removed all the brambles and stashed out netting and tea gear, we had some black poly sheeting in case it rained, so we were all set for a whole weekend of guesting (quite a risk, but we did not know that then).

When we arrived on Friday night the swim was dead, the owner had been using the speedboat to take water skiers round during the day, something we thought they only did in the other half of the lake, and as it was only 4' deep in this area of the lake, the fish were scared out, but by 9pm there were fish showing over the areas, and the bobbins started to dance up and down as they cleared our swims of bait. We managed about 7 tench that night between us, and Paul had a 22lb grassie at first light.

We decided to leave the rods out during the day, and if the boats got a bit busy, then we could reel in. Well a party of about 10 kids turned up, walking round the lake in wetsuits, they were only 10 feet from where we were sitting, they were going to be learning the basics of water skiing today, and in our area of this 50 acre lake. So for the next 3 hours, the speedboat came past the front of our swim, within 15' of my rod tops, we stayed hidden in the bushes until they stopped for lunch, then I had a take off a tench, so I was now down to 1 rod.

The boats came back out, and carried on circling the lake, then I saw one of the kids point in our direction, we reeled the rods in just in case. About 30 minutes later, there owners boat comes into view, and he's looking mighty pissed off, he starts travelling the margin of the lake at about 2mph standing up and looking into the bushes intently, Paul and I both lay on our beds, pulled the netting over the top of us and hoped for the best. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see this beast, 6 foot + and a bit of a nasty character by all accounts, luckily for us, we have prepared well, and were not spotted, but the adrenalin rush was immense.

We carried on angling until 9am the next day, with loads more tench and I managed a 21lb grassie. When we came back during the week, the swim had been found, the owner knew somebody had been fishing and now he had found our pitch, new plans were needed.

Well the plans were put off until the following spring, and by this time Paul was fishing another lake that was open in the spring, so I needed a new accomplice, step forward Jason. We managed to find some better areas, that were a shorter walk, and we gave them some serious bait, 10kg per night every day of the week, then fishing Friday night and Saturday night. My swim is on the golf course side of the lake, and it's just in the bushes by the 9th tee. We were able to sneak into the swims and dump the tackle, then sit by the other lake have a smoke and wait for the noise of the boats to stop, then start angling.

This worked well for a few weeks, but still no sign of the proper carp, we had managed between us to have 16 grassies over 20lb by now, and untold tench, plus very little sleep. So on the Saturday afternoon I decided to bait up early, the boats had stopped, and there was a chance of fish (I had that feeling), I managed to get the rods out by about 5.30pm and they had been in the water no longer than 5 minutes when the left hand one is away, I start playing in my first grassie of the day when I hear the power boat start up, and it's coming my way, well this grassie is not happy, he's jumping out of the water, so I decide to give him some stick, but this makes him jump even more, just as the boat comes into view I hit the ground, sinking the rod tip and crossed my fingers, the water skier is no more than 10 feet from me, and he must be right over the top of the fish. Once he has passed, I winch the fish in, un-hook it, and then leg it out of the swim, I get round to Jason and he is pissing himself as I recall the story.

Later that night, at 2am I hear fish rolling, now grassies don't do this, so I am starting to think that the shoal of proper carp is on it's way, at 2.30 I have a ripper on the left hand rod, and a good fight under the tips brings up a 20lb mirror, very nice and probarbly never been caught before? Well Jason and I carried on throughout the close season without any more proper carp, but we did invite my mate Baz down, and he managed to get a 24lb mirror when all the other fish were spawning, jamming git.

Unfortunately, other people heard about our guesting, and decided to try it for themselves, by the end of the summer, the owner had caught people at 1am with a big flashlight, because they were being too blatant. Something to be learnt there. Be careful, be lucky, and don't be seen.

Alan Cooper