just to back up leon's request, as he's a mate of mine, we are taking a trip out on either monday or tuesday, to fish the specimen pond.

we are hoping to bump up our tench pb's on the specimen lake, so if anyone has experience of it, please let us know.

we're thinking of maggot feeder over a bit of groundbait at range, with a simultaneous attack on the waggler. Bit worried the fish will back off the pole, as it's an extremely clear water venue it would seem.

i'm going to use a bit of choppy as well, and maybe some casters if i can get any decent ones, as a nice big perch would be more than welcome.

again though, any advice from folks who've fished it would go down a treat, thanks in advance, Ben Haigh.

hi lads how did you get on at alderfen . i have had a few sessions on it myself and had some stunning fish from rudd to 2lb 8oz and pearch to just shy of 3lb tench and the big golden orfe at 5lb.

i fish to the islands casting down the middle of them for best results with maggot and pellets . the rudd can be caught in the bays at the far end of the lake up in the water but be very stelthy as they spook very easly.

let me know how you got on as i am thinking of another trip down there shortly.

hi karl,

we had a tough day mate, the weather was against us i think.

we arrived full of hope, as there was a nice bit of cloud cover and a slight breeze. i cast a maggot feeder to one end of the island channel, and had a 1lb (maybe 1 1/4) rudd first cast, so all was looking good, but as i sent the feeder out again, the sky cleared and we ended up with a ridiculously hot sunny day, which just seemed to turn the fish off. i went from getting liners to start with, to getting nothing at all.

we had a brief interlude of cloud just after lunch, during which i landed a single bream of around 5, and then nothing again.

leon had nothing all day, just about 3 or 4 lift bites which he promptly missed.

the bright sun and crystal clear water conspired against us i think.

we should have gone on the match lake, a chap who was on there had 11 bream between 5 and 7lb, and 4 tench between 6 and 8lb on his pole, while his mate on the next peg had nothing on the lead. i think the coloured water of the match lake really helped.

we intend to return at the end of september, and hopefully we will get better results next time, i really want a big tench, lol.