Trip #111 – The Viaduct (Match Lake) – Schooled by the Eldest!

When opportunities present themselves, sometimes you just have to take them. After a fair bit of coaxing, bribing, gentle persuading and chocolate, my eldest son finally decided to tag along and come fishing with me today. There is nothing better than getting the kids out on the bank, even if it means sacrificing a bit of your own fishing time to untangle lines and net their fish.

We headed over to the stunning Viaduct Fishery to tackle the Match Lake. The weather was lovely and warm, proper summer fishing weather, and I had a really good feeling about the day ahead.

The plan was simple: a twin waggler attack. I wanted to keep things active and exciting to keep the little man engaged, and you just can’t beat watching a float bury itself on a warm August afternoon.

The Setup

My Gear:

• Rod: Shimano Force Master 11′ Commercial Pellet Waggler
• Reel: Shimano Aero 4000 GT-GC
• Tactics: Shallow pellet waggler tactics, keeping a steady stream of bait going in.

The Lad’s Gear:

• Rod: 11′ Carp Power Match Waggler Rod
• Reel: Shimano 3000 GTM
• Tactics: Traditional loaded waggler, fishing various depths to see what was feeding.

Once we got settled into our swims, I got the lad rigged up, showed him where to cast, and we started feeding. To be fair, I knew he had a bit of a competitive streak, but I wasn’t quite prepared for what was about to happen.

We started getting indications almost straight away. The water was alive. It didn’t take long before his float dipped, he struck into it like a seasoned pro, and broke his duck for the day with a lovely little rudd. From that moment on, I didn’t get a look in!

Honestly, I got thoroughly hammered by the little man. Every time I looked over, his rod was bent double or he was shipping another fish towards the landing net. We landed multiple species between us, and the action was fast and furious. The silver fish were in a proper feeding frenzy. We had gorgeous roach with their bright red fins, beautifully golden rudd, some hungry little perch, and plenty of skimmer bream to keep the flat tracks of the floats bobbing and weaving.

He was absolutely loving it, grinning from ear to ear every time he swung another fish in. I was trying my best to catch up, but he was putting on an absolute masterclass on the match waggler.

Just as the session was starting to wind down and the sun was beginning to dip, his match rod suddenly ripped round in a way that definitely wasn’t a skimmer bream. The reel started screaming as a proper fish woke up and headed for the middle of the lake.

“Dad! This is a big one!” he shouted.

I grabbed the landing net and watched him play it beautifully, the rod was working overtime absorbing the powerful lunges – a few times I had to hold it steady. After a brilliant, tense battle, a gorgeous, mirror carp popped up to the surface and slid safely into the mesh. We didn’t have the scales on us, but it was easily in the region of 9-10lbs. A proper result and the perfect way to round off the day.

It was a fantastic session, and while my pride took a bit of a dent from being completely out-fished, it was worth every single second. I think I might have a proper little angling partner on my hands now.