How to Fish a New Lake For the Very First Time

Fishing a new lake is super exciting but it can be hard work figuring out how to get the most from it and what species to target. Specimen angler Kevin Sanders recently started fishing a new water and in his first couple of trips has been enjoying sport from a range of species using versatile tactics. Here’s his latest report that will hopefully give you a few fresh ideas on how to target a new water…

Kevin says:

The first couple of trips to my new water have been very productive. At some points I could not keep a rod in the water!

Bream and roach are my main targets on this lake. There are some lovely looking carp and a few large tench and I certainly would not mind catching them too. I wanted to use a couple of different, yet similar tactics. The method and cage feeder. They would give me the opportunity to use different baits but fish them effectively.

For the cage feeder I used a mix of the GLM Method and Margin Mix groundbaits. A good helping of Evolution Hemp Oil would add to the pulling power. Hookbait was a yellow Washter or a balanced 12mm Source boilie.

I would change between the two depending on the action I was or was not getting. The majority of the fish caught on this method were bream. I did catch some smaller roach and a decent carp that gave me a good workout!

On the method feeder I used a mix of 2mm Swim Stim F1 and 4mm Source pellets. They were soaked in the F1 Liquid. The fully loaded feeder was also topped off with a good helping of the F1 Syrup. For the hookbait I alternated between the yellow or white Hit n Run pop ups. Again, this was dependent on the action I was or was not getting. This method saw less action than the cage feeder but did sort out the quality roach and the bigger carp.

This cracking common came to the Method approach…

When Rudd fishing I have found feeding 12mm Source boilies over the feeder attracts the better fish. I did this here too as I was sure the Roach would not turn the boilies down. And I’m glad to say it did produce the bigger Roach.

Feeding 12mm boilies helped Kev attract the better roach…

I will stay with these tactics heading into the Autumn. When the water temperature cools significantly I will then switch to more natural baits like hemp and maggots. These tactics have caught me some massive Roach in the past and I can’t wait to try it out on this venue.