Roger Innes / September 05, 2025

Angling Articles

Welcome back to Angling Articles. A bi-weekly newsletter exclusive to our SummitTackle Community, where we discuss everything fishing. In this week's edition we hear from one of the team, Charlie, and his exciting campaign!

The Campaign

This season, I realised that the time I had been spending on day tickets improving my swim-craft skills was coming to an end. It was time to return to my roots and find a new local club to join. I wanted a club with a low number of members. I came across a small club that was only a 30-minute drive from home. It had a gravel pit, which sounded like a real bit of me!

As spring arrived, I was eager to begin this campaign. I only had a small list of ‘target fish’ to refer to, based on old photos. Some of them appeared particularly elusive, with only one or two capture photos scattered across the waters gallery over the years. One of them was famously known as ‘The Slate Grey’.

Coming away from busy day ticket waters, I was thrilled to find the car park empty on my first weekend. It was the first week of May, and as I stepped into peg 1, I was greeted with a serene, mature haven. The melodious calls of songbirds and the fluttering of butterflies filled the air. I quickly chose my peg, anticipating a rush of anglers to arrive later.

At half past 8, I was surprised to be a lone fisherman greeted with a one-tonner. After an exhilarating battle, I managed to land a real dark leather (pictured below). Some may call it beginners’ luck, but it was one of my first targets. I took a few shots for Instagram and then quickly put my rod back on the spot.

Before I knew it, my rod was away again, this time snagging a torpedo common (pictured below) . By 10:45, I had already landed a mirror of 31 pounds and a common of 26 pounds. It was an incredible start to my fishing trip.

A while had passed before I returned to the pit. With errands to run and work busy, I didn’t manage another session until the last week of June. Just over a month had passed, and the water had transformed completely. The lilies had risen, but what surprised me was the weed. A whole new approach was needed.

The same swim from my first session showed identical signs of fish, so I jumped back onto the same spots and adapted my approach as lightly as possible to handle the weed growth while keeping the baiting approach the same. This session was chaos! I landed 14 fish, and another of my targets graced my net. It was a fish I knew but unfamiliar with the name. A friend told me it was called ‘The 29’, spawned out, the needle showed 27.5 pounds. (pictured below)

This session was followed by a few quick overnighters, all proving to be quick succession. The first session yielded 18 fish, all exceeding the 26lb mark. The second session saw 12 fish reaching the 23lb mark. The third session was a carp match, something I had been eagerly waiting for. It was planned to be held on another water, but fortunately for me, it ended up on the pit. Placing second in this match and not landing anything of size.

Just two hours after it ended, I was met with another one of my targets. This was the first fish I photographed on this water for a friend of mine, Rob. One I really wanted to catch. We referred to this one as ‘Lumpy’ due to its broken rib on the left flank. It was known for reaching around the 25 pound mark. (pictured below)

Since this session, I’ve been fishing to the main bowl of water twice in two weekends. It’s a completely different area of the lake from usual. The swim provides more night-time action with less frequent bites, but bigger sizes.

The first session was on the first weekend of August. I caught six fish between 20 and 26.4 pounds, with a simmo being the biggest. I’ve never seen this fish before and wasn’t familiar with it. It was a real old one, one of the originals I was told. I named it ‘Bhav’, in memory of a lost friend. It was comforting to land an original without a name. (pictured below)

During my most recent session, I landed a total of 10 fish, up to the 28 pound mark. They were all commons, with a few lumps of gold. The biggest fish I caught was a torn old one. I caught all of these fish from the same spot in the main bowl of water, which is the deepest area of the lake. I’ll definitely be targeting this spot throughout this winter due to the depth.

One fish remains on my list now, The Slate. Let’s hope she is not far from slipping my net cord.

Don't forget to follow @summittackle across social media platforms, as well as, Charlie @charliesfishingmedia to keep up with his chase for The Slate!