The Desperate Duo. alas myself and Stephen Scrutton are big Layer Pits fans. Stephen having fished it for more years than he can care to remember, and one of the many local stars of the venue. Layer is a breeding ground for a lot of class angler, such names as Ali Hamidi, Joe Morgan and Damien Clarke have all cut there teeth on the lake. Layer is also a day only venue, and we must be off of the bank and out of the car park by 10pm.
It can be a finicky place to fish, and in summer zigs, and floater fishing are the deadly methods. Now since lure fishing is not my thing, I’m not a big fan of bits of black foam or dog biscuits, so I tend to stick to a boilie approach. A waiting game, either spodding or fishing tiny PVA bags to showing fish. Ive been lucky in my short time, and managed an elusive 30, and a couple of good hits on my favoured boilie method.
As the title suggests, this year as been a bit hit and miss, and we have had some hard days, but always both caught. With myself being furloughed, and Stephen short of work we have found the time to fish more than we have been used too. This has seen us refine our approach, and go through a lot of tea, all whilst waiting for bites.
Normally bites can be had all during the day, although this year they have been in fits and starts, and very sporadic. I have been utilising a more spod based approach, whilst Stephen has been concentrating on a PVA based attack. Range for both of us has been around 50-60 yards, although Stephen can cast to fish and move further out if required. My initial thought was that I would spod a mixture of 12mm boilies and pellet and sit and wait. Six or seven spods normally would suffice and then a couple of top ups after each fish.
The big bream that are starting to show also had an attraction to the both of us, and I am sure that on one trip a large one was lost by myself. It was normal to get a couple of bream bites before the carp moved in, and these fish were 5-7lb, so bigger ones were a definite possibility.
Stephens method came out on top, as he would always have two or three more fish than me. He also managed the biggest of the series, in a lovely upper twenty that had a purple tinge, and was a beautiful looking specimen. Stephens approach was definitely more versatile and gave him better options of searching for the fish. Also he tended to stick to a mainline Cell hook bait, whilst I tended to chop and change between Cell and a Scopex Squid, feeding 12mm Scopex Squid. Rigs were very similar braided hook links on a normal lead clip set up, although I was trying to get Danny Fairbrass a new yacht, as mine tended to drop more often on the take.
All in all it was a really good time, and we had some really good fish, learnt a lot, and will definitely be back. Layer tends to fish really well in the autumn, into dark, and some big fish can be had. As I write this we have maybe one or two more weeks to go at it, and then we will call it a day and start to concentrate on Chub and Perch throughout the winter.
