Target The Mud Line For More Bites

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“On the mud line I am looking for a depth of around 12 inches.”

Since their creation, snake lakes have prompted big changes in how you approach a commercial pool.Canal-like in structure, you need to adjust your mind-set when fishing them as well as understanding how the fish react and feed.

Although still at the tender age of 16, Dynamite Baits and Guru-backed Rob Swan has totally sussed these venues over the last two years, coming up with the perfect way to conquer them, every time.

“You need to change your way of thinking as these types of water are closer to a natural canal, albeit one that has been very, very heavily stocked of course!” the young Carlisle-based rod told us.

“Being around 16 metres wide, the far

bank is normally the main holding spot at this time of year, as it is as far away as the fish can get from any bankside disturbance. The only thing they can do is go left or right. They’re not more difficult to fish than a ‘normal’ commercial pool, they just require you to adopt a different approach.”

To find out just how Rob approaches snake lakes, we joined him on the banks of prolific northern commercial complex The Oaks, at Sessay, to see how he fishes them so successfully.

LOCATION IS KEY

During the summer and into autumn months, the water is at its warmest, so this sees the fish naturally gravitate to the shallow water where they find it more comfortable to sit.

As snake lakes are constructed like canals, the inside margin is very shallow, going out to a deep middle channel before shallowing up again on the far bank, and it is this area, often called the ‘mud line’ where Rob looks to fish.