June 1st 2009 - Private Pond, Hurst Green,Surrey

Today was my going to be my first visit to this venue. It's run by Hollands Anglers Society in Surrey.

Still partially suffering from the sunburn from the previous Friday and with the weather forecast saying expect more of the same I actually had the good sense to put on some sunscreen!

Although I hadn't been to this venue before, I discovered via the power of the internet that it was only about a mile from the club's other pond at Boulthurst Farm.

The best thing about fishing a club lake as opposed to a commercial is that you are not tied to any particular opening time. Bearing this in mind I was up and out by 6:00. The drive was really easy as it was mainly against the flow of traffic and in 30 minutes or so I pulled up at the ponds. A minor irratation was that you had to park in the road next to the pond fence however the road was fairly quiet and I could see my car from my swim all day.

The club has 2 ponds at this site, one on either side of the road. The one on the left as I arrived is called Dunks and the one on the right is called Private(?). I'd spoken to the main man at the club (Dave Walker) a couple of days previous and he told me to fish the Private pond, pegs 1, 10 or 11.

There were already 2 people there before me - one was setting up and the other was just entering Dunks. We had a quick chat before I entered the fishery. Having never been there before I had to find how the pegs were numbered - It turned out peg 3 was at the gate so that made peg 1 off to my right.

It was obvious that the fishery was well looked after, as the swims had a nice stone path leading to a very spacious fishing platform and the vegatation had been cut back. The swim itself was at the corner of the pond. The far bank was about 20 yards away and as the land was not part of the fishery it was non fishable. There was a set of lily pads right in the corner about 15 yards to my right. The margins between pegs 1 and 2 were separated by another set of lily pads.

After plumbing the depth I discovered that there really wasn't any where I was. Two feet deep at the most!

Having been told that the pond contained a good head of carp, I decided to ensure I was on the right set up from the start. I used my Shimano 12' float rod, 5lb main line and size 16 hook with a 3.5lb hooklength.

Bait wise I came armed with almost everything I could think of. As it was going to be a long day I mixed more goundbait than usual but kept it simple, 90% brown crumb, some Van Der Eynde silver fish attractor and half a tin of sweetcorn mixed with scopex flavoured water.

I fed a large ball of groundbait plus a couple of handfuls of hemp directly in front of me (the swim below). Almost immediately there were signs of movement in front of me which I took to be roach or rudd.

The old nerves began to jangle as I wondered if I could catch in this new venue. Ten minutes later I had the answer as the float disappeared and I landed a very small carp - still they all count! At the end of the first hour after I'd switched to scopex flavoured sweetcorn a few more small carp were caught.

After the first hour I switched to the swim by the lily pads - See the photo below. I had a good bite almost straight away but it spat the hook.

The day settled into a pattern of small carp plus the occasional 2 or 3 pounder. In between the carp I did manage 3 tench the best of which was one about a pound.

As a new face I was attracting some attention from fellow members and before long one came round and asked to see my membership details. I didn't mind I keep everything on me.

Around 10:30 the float dived away and out came this nice common.

My swim I later found out was the only one that didn't get any shade at all, even as the sun went down! After Friday I could feel that familar tingling on my arms and face.

When I fish Stubpond I have to pack up around 4:45 which always appears to be a shame for me as I think the evening is the best time for fishing - the sun dips and the fish come close in and feed! I stayed until 8:30 when my eyes couldn't stay open any longer.

As is always the way as the sun went down the bigger fish appeared. Around 17:30 I caught my biggest fish of the day.

In conclusion I would say that as this was my first visit to the venue, it was GREAT! I caught all day long, it was nice and peaceful and the pegs are spaced a deal apart. I will be going back there soon.

Tight lines.