2011 31 September 2nd Boulthurst Farm, Oxted, Surrey

As September had arrived I decided it was time to give Boulthurst Farm another go.

I'd fished it in Spring and Summer and now to get the full set I thought I would give Autumn a bash.

I arrived at the fishery just before seven to find the small car park empty. I wasn't really surprised as it wasn't a weekend.

My favourite swim here is the one on the right hand end with a nice over hanging tree to fish to, so you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that since my last visit it had been severely pruned (see photo below).

The first rod with halibut boillies I fished under what was left of the tree and the second, the strawberry rod was fished in the open water on the other side.

My first cast hit the water at 7:25. I then settled down to wait for the day's action to begin. It normally takes about an hour before the first bite arrives but with the tree pruned back so much I wasn't sure what would happen if anything.

I was right in my assumption that things would be different today as it was 90 minutes before the buzzer sounded for the first time. The victim was a one eyed common of about 3 pounds. It was the strawberry boillie swim that provided this fish.

It was another 90 minute wait before the action resumed. This time it was a half pound crucian with a liking for halibut.

Two more quiet hours followed in which I managed to consume my lunch. Then at 12:50 the one thing I hate happened, I got a bite on each rod. Lucky for me I got them both in. The first was a 3lm mirror on the strawberry rod and the second was a 7lb common on the halibut rod.

Just after 2pm the strawberry rod struck again and in came a 3lb common.

The next carp on the halibut rod came at 15:20 and was a nice 5.5lb common.

The last fish of the session came at 15:38, a 3.5lb common on the strawberry rod.

I packed up about 6pm.

And so my fishing adventures for 2011 came to a successful end.

2011 30 August 19th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

Today I aimed to try some scopex feed pellets for the first time at the club's Nursery Fields fishery.

These were bought for me by the dog on Father's day but not being a pellet man I hadn't as yet used them.

I arrived at the fishery between half six and seven. There were a few cars in the car park but not enough to give me reason for concern.

I deployed my usual tactics for this lake, one float rod to fish the lily pads and one feeder rod to fish the island.

I've never used feeder pellets before so today was really a case of experimentation.

First thing I did was ensure that they sank ok straight from the bag. I threw a few into the water in front of me and although some reacted faster than others they all eventually sank to the bottom.

Satisfied with the pellets my next task was to mix some groundbait. Normally I use brown crumb with a red attractor plus some grains of corn and meat. Today instead of the corn and meat I used the feeder pellets.

I fed a few good handfulls and then at 7:36 I made my first cast.

As I was using scopex flaoured pellets my hook bait today was scopex flavoured corn which was coloured blue.

This lake never seems to start very quickly and so it proved today when after the first hour I'd only landed a couple of skimmers.

For the next hour I switched hook bait to Strawberry corn and was rewarded with a 2.5lb carp.

The next hour I switched to nomal corn but this only produced a solitary small tench.

The two hours leading up to lunchtime wern't that much more productive, 1 small tench and a couple of small roach.

At 12:40 I decided to completely change my line of attack. I went on the meat big time. I was rewarded about 15:00 with yet another solitary small tench. Something wasn't quite right today.

It was the same story for the remaining 2 hours or so of the session. Two tench both small and a solitary crucian.

The feeder rod didn't fare much better during the session either. I took one tench and one bream.

I packed up around 6pm as I was a bit knackered. On the results front it was a bit of a disappointing session however a days fishing away from work can never be seen as a disappointment.

2011 29 August 12th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

7I had planned another afternoon/evening session at Nursery Fields as I was having some good results from them. Today was another such occasion however this time I decided to try another swim.

When I arrived the car park was almost full again. Undeterred I put my rod holdall over my shoulder and headed around the lake starting from peg 1 looking for a good swim.

The one I chose in the end was at of the back stretch (peg 13). It has a bed of lillies to the left and open water in front and to the right.

My main problem setting up was that being right handed and with concrete all around I couldn't have the rod where I wanted it. Perhaps the club could move the lillies to the other side of the swim? See photo below.

I adopted the same tactics as I had the previous times I'd fished this swim. One float line to the lillies and a feeder line to the island.

I mixed up the usual groundbait, brown crumb plus some corn and meat and then when it was ready threw in three good balls to the outside of the lillies.

My first cast went in just before 16:00. I didn't hae long to wait before this 4.5 common took a liking to the corn on the hook.

The next part of the session went much the same as normal. The float line producing 3 barbel and 4 small tench and a skimmer bream and the feeder rod proding a couple of fish, a tench and a skimmer bream.

The next bream I caught was a nice 2lb'er. As you can see from the photo below - it looks to me like a proper bream.

Not to be overshadowed by the bream next up on the float line was a common carp of 8lb. This little devil put up quite a struggle become it finally succumbed to my charms!

So another enjoyable session comes to an end. I'm getting to like this lake!

2011 28 August 5th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

For my first outing of August I decided to return to Chittenden the club's carp lake.

I'd spent some preparation time beforehand talking to Bill and Dave(Bike) regarding swims at the bottom of the lake which so far I had never fished. I was so impressed with the feedback that I made up my mind to give them a try.

I left home just before six to make the 30 minute journey. As is usual for me I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get my first choice swim. When I arrived there was one other car in the car park however lucky for me this fellow early riser was at the top of the lake - nowhere near where I wanted to be.

I unloaded the car and then hauled the first half of my gear down to the bottom of the lake (no I didn't jump in!). Actually it wasn't as far as it looks from the car park. When I got there I dumped my gear and had a good look at the swims available.

I finally decided on the last swim on the car park side - it was a toss up between that and the one opposite. The deciding factor was that this one would be easier for me to fish being right handed!

I setup a float rod to fish parallel to the reed bed and a feeder rod with a small feeder to fish the open water. This would act as my sleeper throughout the session.

My biggest worry was whether I'd be able to cast close to the reeds but not so close as to deposit all of my tackle in there. It was definitely going to be an exercise in concentration that's for sure.

I groundbaited the swim with 3 good handfulls plus some hemp and corn. The first cast hit the water at 7:28am.

I started off really well, after the first hour I'd managed 5 very good skimmers, a roach and a 3.75lb common. I began to suspect that today was going to be a very good one.

The strawberry sweetcorn on the hook was obviously to their liking as the next hour produced 4 more bream and 2 roach.

Unfortunately it was about now that my day took a turn for the worse. Two 'anglers' turned up and set up diagonally opposite me (you can't see them in the photo above). They then proceeded to 'talk' at a volume where everyone on the lake could hear every detail of thier lives. They even at one point broke into song. Now if I was sitting behind buzzers I could have coped with it however I was fishing the float. I do concentrate hard when fishing and after a few hours of these guys my head was absolutely thumping. Not very nice. Rant over.

Anyway back to the fishing. In the next hour there was the one and only bite for the day on the feeder rod. It was a good take and resulted in a 3.5lb carp.

On the float rod I took 1 small carp, 3 bream and a couple of roach. The signs were still there that I was going to get a good haul.

The pattern continued for the next hour - 3 bream and a roach. I kept loose feeding grains of corn every cast and this seemed to be keep the fish in the swim.

I had a little break around noon to have some lunch. I tend to reel in the rods whilst I have lunch for 2 reasons, 1 it ensures that my lunch makes it to my stomach and 2 to give the swim a bit of a rest.

When I resumed the swim was as lively as before. By 12:50 six more bream and a roach were in the net.

The sun had decided to come out today and for the first time this summer I had to use my umbrella as a sun shade! I think the hot tempreture accounted for the slowness of the next hour. I only caught 2 bream and a roach.

As the afternoon wore on the shadows behind me lengthened and I was able to put the brolly down. The fishing improved slightly, 3 bream, 1 roach and the first carp for a few hours.

For the remaining part of the session I changed tactics. I changed hookbait from corn to meat and cast as close to the reeds as possible. I was rewarded with a roach and 2 carp, one being a 7lb mirror.

The last two hours was bittersweet for me. I lost at least 3 good carp not in the reeds as you might expect but by them coming off the hook. The sweet was that dispite losing three carp they kept biting and after getting another 2 bream the float sailed away and in came a 10lb'er - my 5th double of the season and my 5th ever!

What made the capture all the more enjoyable was that my two 'friends' from across the lake who had nominated themselves as the font of all knowledge for Chit declared at one point that "You can't catch anything bigger than 7lb where that bloke is over there". Well sorry to disappoint but they were WRONG!

A great way to end the day.

I shall return to this swim.

2011 27 July 31st Nursery Field, Edenbridge, Kent

Another Sunday another afternoon/eveing session at Nursery Fields.

The weather was really good again so on the car park was almost full. As luck would have it the swim at the top of the lake was free again so I was happy enough.

I intended to employ exactly the same tactics as I did  on my last visit. Again two rods were set up - one, to my left with tutti fruitti boilies and the other to my right on halibut ones.

I made my first cast at 16:45 and settled back to have bit more of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein 4.

It was a good job that the book was good as I had to wait 90 minutes for the buzzer to go off. This time the halibut rod was the first off the mark. The result was a nice little barbel.

I had to wait another full hour before the second bite arrived - again it was on the halibut rod. This time it was one of the lake's small tench. Still they all count.

Thirty minutes later and the tutti fruitti rod decided to get into the action - the result - a similar tench to the previous one.

By now it was 8pm, the sun was still shining so the carp decided to have a munch. First up was one of 4.5lb with a liking for halibut.

This was followed 45 minutes later by another slightly bigger specimen of 5lb also with a taste for halibut.

So that was it for another session. I can't complain the weather was good and so was the fishing. Can't ask for anything more really can you?

2011 26 July 29th Nursery Field, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was the day I planned to return to peg 13 at Nursery Fields to see if I could fare any better than I did on my previous visit.

It was another afternoon/evening session. I'd learnt from previous visits that the better carp tend to come out to feed around 5pm, so an afternoon/evening session seemed to be the perfect idea.

I arrived at the fishery around 1pm to find a large number of cars in the car park. I suppose with the summer we were having people were getting out at every oppertunity. Relatively speaking it's a bit of a trek to peg 13 so I was fairly confident that the swim would be free. My assumption proved correct as I dumped my gear down in the swim and proceeded to set up.

I set one rod up with float tackle aiming to fish the lillies to my left (See photos below). The other was the feeder rod which I set up to fish the far bank.

The float line I groundbaited as usual with the addition of a relatively large number of free offerings of corn.  In the feeder I put some small halibut boillies with my groundbait mix.

I made my first cast at 13:54. At the end of the first hour the float line had produced 3 bream, a roach and a tench. One of the bream was nearly a proper one (see photo below). The feeder rod produced 1 small tench.

For the second hour I alternated between meat and castor as the hookbait. The meat was responible for a small common and the castor for a roach and a gudgeon.

The next hour was my slowest of the session, the float line producing a solitary tench. However the feeder rod did spring into action with a 3.75lb common.

Another 2 hours on the clock and another mixed bag followed. On the float line I had 1 bream, 4 tench and a roach. On the feeder I had a tench of about a 1lb.

The last hour was as nearly always the best, 2 bream (one around the 2lb mark) and the only barbel and crucian of the session. I also had a 3.75 mirror on the float line.

Not to be outdone the feeder rod produced a 4lb'er and another skimmer.

So another good session. I'm beginning to get the hang of this fishery (or so it would seem!)

2011 25 July 24th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

Another Sunday, another afternoon/evening session at Nursery Fields.

I arrived at the fishery around 3pm with a plan. This time if possible I was going to fish one of the swims at the top of the lake.

Fortune was on my side once again as there was only one angler at the top of the lake and after a quick exchange I established that he was fishing the margins and therefore I had the end of the island to myself. See photo below:

I set up both carp rods with a small bomb and a size 14 hook with a hair to 6lb main line. One rod had  a 10ml tuttti fruitti boillie on it and the other a similar sized halibut boillie. Prior to casting I had fed the swim with a few free offerings.

My first cast hit the water at 16:11! I then settled back in my chair, opened my Kindle and started on Dean Koontz's Frankenstein 4.

I'd hardly got to the bottom of the page when the buzzer went off on the tutti fruitti rod and after a brief struggle in came a 5lb common.

That carp must have been an early feeder because I had to wait until 18:46 before the buzzer went off again. Once more it was the tutti fruitti one that went off. This carp was not as big as the previous one coming in around the 4lb mark.

Forty five minutes of Frankenstien later and the buzzer on the tutti fruitti rod went off again and the biggest carp so far - a mighty 6lb mirror was in the net.

Less than 20 minutes later and the halibut rod's buzzer sounded. A nice scrap followed but this time it was with one of lake's barbel - a 0.5lb specimen.

Just 15 minutes later and I was into my best fish of the day. A 7lb common, the first carp of the session on halibut pellet.

The session ended 15 minutes later at 20:30 when I caught a 4lb'er again on halibut.

In summary a successful session in an unknown swim by my standards so I think I can be pleased with myself.

Oh and I can recommend the Frankenstein book!

2011 24 July 15th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

I'd made up my mind earlier in the season to return to Chittenden and fish the narrow channel between the island and the bank using convential float tackle and tactics. Today was going to be that day.

I'd been reading an article on potatos on the forum and thought this would be a good time to give them a go. The night before I prepared them by part boiling them, flavouring them strawberry and colouring them red.

By the time I had setup and groundbaited the swim it was about 7:30. The weather for a change was glorious as can be seen from the photo below.

I didn't have to wait long for the action to start. The float moved sideways across the water and when I struck I knew that I  was into a good fish. It must have been about 5 minutes or so before I managed to land the fish - a 5lb mirror. Strawberry flavoured corn was the weapon of choice today. See photo below:

The next fish set the tone for the remainder of the day - a skimmer bream.

By 9:30am I had added another 6 skimmers to the virtual net. I fed a few grains of corn every fish to keep them interested and it seemed to be working.

However I was mistaken big time as the swim died for 2.5 hours! I couldn't fathom why, initially I thought they had been bullied away by carp but I hadn't seen any signs of carp at all once the sun came fully up. I therefore put it down to bad angling on my part.

Dead on noon the fish reappearred in the shape of a small roach.

Another skimmer at 12:40 was followed at 1pm by my first bite using the mighty potato. Sadly on this occasion I couldn't connect with the fish. It did give me some encouragement though.

Twenty minutes later just after I'd landed another skimmer the buzzer went off again on the potato rod and yet again I failed to land the fish. Very frustrating.

For the rest of the afternoon I attacked the float line on corn in a big way. I was rewarded with a further 7 skimmers and another solitary roach.

This is a good example of the quality of the skimmers caught:

For the early evening part of the session I decided to switch my hook bait to meat in the hope of snaring another carp.

I didn't have to wait long for the float to disappear. Unfortunately it was yet another skimmer not the carp I expected. Forty minutes later the float goes again but this time I missed it. I couldn't tell what it was from the few micro seconds that it was on the hook.

Then finally at 16:52 I landed a 1lb common not on the meat but on the potato rod! My first success using this bait! Yippee.

Unfortunately that was my one and only fish on the regal spud. The last two fish of the session, caught at 17:40 and 18:30 respectively were commons of about 2lb and fell to meat.

A good session.

2011 23 July 10th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

Today was my first Sunday afternoon/evening session at the club's Nursery Fields fishery.

I'd fished peg 1 on my two previous visits so this time I made my mind up to try a different swim where maybe I could catch one of the carp that had so far eluded me.

I arrived around 15:30 and after gathering half my stuff up I made the first of two journeys to my swim. I started at peg 1 and made my way around and up the far bank. I was searching for a swim with some lily pads that I could fish to without the need to cast 100 miles. Peg 13 seemed to fill my requirements so I dropped my gear and went back for the other half.

I mixed up the usual groundbait mix and fed the swim accordingly. I also set up and cast out the feeder rod with a small bomb and a 10ml tutti fruitti pellet attached. This would be my sleeper for the session.

I made my first cast at 16:25. I cast over the lillies and drew the float in as close I could. I loose fed some grains of corn and sat back and waited for the action to begin.

I didn't have to wait long for the float to disappear. However as soon as I put some strain on it the line above the float snapped. On inspection I discovered that the next few yards of line had disintegrated. Considering the line was only a few weeks old I wasn't very happy. Anyway rant over.

It was over an hour later when I got my second bite of the session - this time on the feeder rod. There were no problems getting this one to the net - a tench of about 0.5lb.

At 18:00 the float disappeared and the moment I had been waiting for arrived - I was into my first Nursery Fields carp! Strangely and lucky for me it shot away from the lily pads and into the middle of the lake. I could feel it was a good fish (by my standards) however at the back of my mind was the fragility of the line. As it turned out everything was ok and I managed to land a 5lb common. 

Apart from 3 small roach that was the last fish I caught on the float rod set up. Perhaps the fight with the carp had spooked the remaining fish - who knows.

At 19:30 the tip went round and I was into my first Nursery Fields carp on the feeder rod. A few minutes later a nice 3lb common was on the bank.

Eight minutes later and the tip went round again and in came another 3lb'er. Things were looking good.

I was on a roll now - another 8 minutes (strange I know but that's how it went) later the tip shot round again and this time it was a nice 5lb'er. See photo below.

It was 20:20 when I caught the next one - a 4lber.

All in all a good session apart from the line incident.

2011 22 July 8th Boulthurst Farm, Oxted, Surrey

Today was going to be my second visit of the year to Boulthurst Farm. The first had been way back in early March.

The weather conditions should have been completely different - it was warmer that's for sure.

I arrived at the pond a little after 6 to find the car park empty. Having the choice of swims (there are only 5) I chose my favourite, the one under the big tree to the right as you go in.

I set up one rod to fish under the overhanging tree with halibut 10ml boillies and the other I setup to fish the open water about 15 yards to my left

My first cast was at 6:50. Normally it takes about an hour for the carp to find the bait and so it proved today when the buzzer sounded for the first time at  7:42. A five pound common. Good start.

The first carp fell to the halibet boillie rod as did the second and third. The aforementioned second carp arrived 40 minutes after the first. This one was a lot smaller - a one pounder in fact but hey they all count. 

Strangely for this venue the hour between 9am and 10am was completely devoid of any action. I harboured thoughts of a possible slow day but at 10:05 a 4lb common with a liking for halibut turned up.

For the next 30 minutes or so the tutti fruitti boilies took over. Two carp of around a pound came in along with a roach of about 0.5lb.

Forty minutes of inactivity was followed by at 11:21 a crucian of about 0.5lb on the halibut rod. My first one on boillies.

The two hour lunch time period saw the halibut line go quiet but lucky for me the tutti fruitti one came alive again, three fish - 2 commons of around 2lb and one about 4.5lb.

At 14:30 I caught another roach, this time on the halibut boillie. My penultimate roach of the session.

From three pm until six I caught about 2 fish an hour. One of them was a mirror, all the rest were commons. All but one were on tutti fruitti. 

The last hour produced three fish, 2 commons of around 3lb on halibut and 1 roach on tutti fruitti.

So in the end quite a satisfying session. It was a bit of a shame that the larger carp didn't show though. 

I can't go without mentioning the weather, it rained heavily most of the day. For this summer not surprising though.  

2011 21 July 3rd Private Pond, Hurst Green, Surrey

I decided to have a Sunday afternoon/evening session on this pond as a change from the afternoon carping that I had been doing recently.

The weather for once was really good as I made my way to the fishery. My biggest fear was that there would be loads of people there and swims would be scarce. On arrival I could see only 4 other anglers! Result.

I fished peg 1 on my previous visit so I made up my mind that if possible I would go on peg 11. Unfortunately that swim was one of the few occupied so I had to settle for my favourite, peg 8!

As can be seen from the photo below I was armed with a variety of baits - all of which had been successful at this venue before. I groundbaited the swim with a genourous helping of brown crumb with pieces of corn and meat in as well as about 0.5 pint of hemp.

Previous experience of this swim tells me that I usually have to wait maybe 30 minutes or so before the fish come around and so it proved today. When it did arrive it was a carp of about 0.5lb.

After the first hour the two guys opposite and to the left of me departed leaving me the whole of the top half of the pond. Unbelieveable for a Sunday afternoon in my opinion.

Once the fish started to feed there was no stopping them. The corn (normal and flavoured) proved a very effective bait so much so that I didn't feel the need to switch.

By the time I packed up around 8pm I had amassed 34 fish which broken down by species were 1 crucian, 1 tench, 8 roach and 24 small (a pound and under) carp.

A good session by my standards the only minor disappointment was that I couldn't get one of the larger carp to make an appearance. Still when all said and done it's the perfect way to spend a summers afternoon and evening.

2011 20 June 27th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

Unusually for me I had a day off on a Monday so I thought I would head down to Nursery Fields lake with the intention of catching a 'normal' sized barbel (see previous NF post).

I left home just before 6 arriving at the fishery just before 6:30. I wasn't totally happy with the way I fished peg 1 last time so decided to return there in the hope of having a better day.

As usual there was no one there when I arrived so peg 1 was mine. (See below)

I set up the float rod with the smallest float that would still enable me to reach the tip of the lily pads. I groundbaited the swim in the usual way before casting in with a piece of strawberry flavoured corn on the hook.

The first cast went at 7:17, by 8:20 I had 2 small tench in the net. I began to feel that this could be my day.

Not having tried maggot on the hook in any big way I decided to give that a go for the next hour and was rewarded with 2 gudgeon (mighty beasts), 2 crucians, 1 perch, 1 tench and 8 roach most of them on the smaller side of small.

For the third hour I switched back to corn in the hope that I may get into a bigger stamp of fish. Although they were only small I did manage 3 tench, 2 crucians, 1 gudgeon, 3 roach and a bream.

At 10:30 after a morning cuppa (never as good from a flask but hey needs must) I decided to give meat a whirl. As I knew my targets so to speak I had cut the cubes smaller than usual - In the next hour I was rewarded with 3 tench and a very small barbel. 

As usual for a summers day the fishing began to slow down as I entered the lunchtime period. By 12:20 all I had was one bream and another small tench.

Due to the fishing slowing down I thought I would try maggot on the hook for the next hour. Although none of them were any great size I did manage 3 gudgeon, 4 roach, 1 bream and 2 perch.

The next hour was my final one on corn before switching to meat for the rest of the session. Just the two fish this time, one roach and one tench.

The mid afternoon period on meat was slow, producing a tench and this barbel which is a personal best for me!

As the swim wasn't responding well to meat I switched back to strawberry corn for the remainder of the session. Four roach and a further three tench came in.

I called it quits about 7:15. I had I think achieved my goal of having a better day than the first one. It was a shame the larger carp didn't show but a personal best Barbel is nothing to be scoffed at.

A good day - I'll be back.

2011 19 June 24th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

I managed to slip away from work with the intention of going to Chittenden for another afternoon and evening session hunting the mighty carp that inhabit this water.

I was full of enthusiasm as my two previous visits had been (by my standards) highly successful.

It was the same game plan as before, one rod between the lillies and the other close to the island. The weather was a lot better this time as can be seen from the photo below:

My first cast was at 14:00. The wait for a bite then started. As the weather was bordering on the brilliant this was not so much of a chore as it could have been.

Here's my view looking down the lake:

Two hours into the session and the halibut pellet drew first blood again. The prize, a 3lb mirror. One of the few mirrors that I've seen from this lake so far.

Forty minutes later and the first fish from the lily pad swim arrived, a skimmer bream with a liking for tutti fruitti. My first bream from this venue.

Almost 3 hours later I was into my last fish of the day - a 1.5lb common on tutti fruitti.

So in conclusion, my third trip to Chittenden was not as productive as the first 2. Could the weather be the difference? This was my first trip there where I didn't return looking like a drowned rat so maybe it was. Maybe this swim isn't as good as I first thought.

Next time I go there I'm going to try this swim with conventional float gear.

2011 18 June 20th Private Pond, Hurst Green, Surrey

It was time for my second visit to Holland AS's Private Pond today.

The plan was if possible to fish peg 1, my old favouite in the corner if it was free. I had fished peg 8 at the far end the time before.

I arrived just before 7 to find no one there again so peg 1 was mine for the taking. I unloaded the car and made the short trip from the entrance to the peg.

My plan was two fold, the first was to fish as close to the lily pads in the corner as possible and the second, later in the day to fish the margins swim to my left.

As you can see from the photo below the weather for once was good. There was also very little wind.

In went the usual mix of groundbait, some corn, meat and hemp plus a generous helping of maggots. Then it was corn on the hook, a small cast and then a wait for the fish to turn up.

The first cast went in at 7:40 and after the first hour I'd managed three roach all with a liking for corn.

After each fish I fed the margins swim with a few grains of corn. This would I hoped be looked on as a random act by the fish.

By the end of the second hour additions to the 'net were 5 roach, 1 tench and 2 small carp. One of the roach was a netter and came from the margins swim.

I had a slightly slower third hour, 2 roach, a crucian and a small carp. The crucian came from the margins.

For the fourth hour I switched to bread and caught 4 roach and another 2 small carp, one of the roach was from the margins swim. I felt like it was one of those days where I was going to catch no matter what bait I used. I also felt that as the time was 11:40 I had missed the boat for the larger carp and that I would have to wait until the evening for them to show.

For the ealy lunchtime period I switched back to strawberry flavoured corn and had my most productive hour so far: 5 roach, 3 carp and a solitary crucian. One of the carp came from the margins swim.

The end of the lunchtime period brought 2 more roach and carp plus another tench, the first for several hours. Again it was the strawberry corn that was doing the damage.

The swim wasn't being as prolific as I would have expected , 3 or 4 fish an hour (especially of that size) is a bit depressing based on previous visits.

The trend continued in the afternoon, by 14:40 I had another 2 roach, 3 carp and a tench which came from the margins swim.

For the rest of the afternoon/evening I continued to catch well. The highlight of the day came at last knockings when I landed a 2lb tench my best of the season so far.

All in all a good day, 50 fish in 12 hours. I will definitely be heading back there later on in the season.

 

2011 17 June 12th Chittenden, Edenbridge, Kent

It was Sunday afternoon again, Le Mans had finished so I decided to load the car up with my carp gear and head out to Chittenden for another afternoon and evening session.

The drive was much more relaxed as I now knew my way.

The rain had stopped for about an hour as I drove into the carpark so that was good.

On the way down I had decided to fish the opposite side of the island than I had done on my previous visit. This was assuming of course that the swim was free.

No rain was falling on my head as I unloaded the car and made my down to the lake. There were a few people scattered about but it was nowhere near full. The signs were favourable that my hoped for swim was free. As I made my way around the bank I could see that it was indeed free.

I set up roughly in the middle of the island. One rod I cast close to the island on the right hand side and the other I cast in the channel between a bed of lillies and the island.

As you can see from the photo below there was a fairly strong wind blowing down the lake which I hoped the fish would follow:

Thirty minutes after my cast the heavens opened however this tiime I came prepared! Up went the brolly and 5 minutes later I was snug as a bug.

I didn't have my notebook with me but I can remember the highlights so you'll have to bear with me.

It was around 4pm when I made my first cast. So the session lasted about 4 hours.

I didn't have to wait long for the first bite, it was on the halibut pellet and it turned out to be a 5lb common. A good promising start.

The hallibut boillies seemed to be the ones to be on as the buzzer went off a second time and in came a ******* of about 0.5lb. I'm not allowed to reveal what it was as the club wants to keep their presence a secret even though there is a picture of one on the website's front page!

The next bite proved to be the highlight of the day. Despite being quiet for over an hour I had a lot of faith in the bait that was sitting just outside of the lillies. This faith was rewarded when the buzzer went off and I found myself into a good fish. The fight lasted what seemed like an age and I was ok until it broke the surface. When I saw how big it was I began to panic big time. Nevertheless I managed eventually to land it. A 12.5lb common. A new personal best by 1.5lb! I was chuffed. My 3rd double of the year.

The rain continued as did my good fortune, the 12lb'er was followed by 1 more carp of 5lb, 2 of 6, 2 of 7 and 1 of 8 all caught on the lily pads swim.

The final hour gave me a further three carp but they were all under 3lb.

I packed up at 8pm, soaking wet but extremely happy.

Can't wait to get back there.

Some of the carp caught:

2011 16 June 10th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge, Kent

This was my long anticipated first trip to Edenbridge and District Anglers Society's pride and joy, Nursery Fields in Edenbridge, Kent.

I was up at 5am and on the road at 5:45 for the 20 mile journey. It's not that far from Chittenden, the society's other lake and I found it really easily which is a relief because I do get a bit worried when I drive into the unknown.

As I pulled into the empty car park I felt a sense of relief that there was no one there. I could take my time walking round the lake and choosing my swim. After the first lap round there was only one winner, peg 1 (didn't know it was peg 1 at first). It is a corner peg with plenty of lily pads which are quite close to fish too.

Apologies for the quality.

Here is a view of the swim from the opposite bank.

For a change the weather was fine and sunny as I set up. I intended to fish close to the pads with the float well shotted down for easier bite detection. Obviously I knew what to expect species wise but not size wise so to be safe I used 5lb main line with a 4lb hook length.

Next up was the groundbait. I like to initially lay what I consider to be a good amount of feed at the beginning of a session and then spent the rest of the day topping it up. To this end I mixed a generous helping of brown crumb and red tench/carp attractor (about 90/10 split). Into the mix I added some meat and corn. When ready I put in two large balls. I had some hemp with me so in went about half a pint. I also had some maggots/casters left over from a previous session so in went some of them.

So off I went with the eagerly awaited first cast. There was some initial float movement which told me that there was something alive in this lake but no instant take. Thirty minutes or so into the session and the float dived under, I struck, the rod bent and I was into a good sized skimmer. Just as I was about to celebrate a non blank day the fish came off! Undettered I re-cast and a few minutes later it's brother made the net. I now knew there was at least 2 bream in the lake!

Now that I had caught I settled down into the job. Feeding regularly with free offerings and with strawberry sweetcorn on the hook I started to attack the swim. After the first hour I began to catch quite regulaly. Roach, Skimmer Bream and small Tench mainly.

During the day a few other anglers came and as each passed me they stopped for a word. We discussed how things were going and they all agreed that what I was catching was about as good as it gets apart from the carp which normally make an appearance in the late afternoon.

Around 11am I set up my feeder rod with a small cage feeder which I loaded with some of my groundbait mix. For bait I attached a 10mm strawberry boillie to a size 14 hair-rigged hook. I cast in, put the rod in it's 'sleeper' position and carried on float fishing.

I didn't have too long for the tip to go round. A nice skimmer of around the pound mark. The next one was a small tench. It appearred that my tactics were working. I didn't think it would be long before a carp came a knockin'.

The early afternoon period followed the morning's pattern. I was consistently catching fish however they were all on the small side. My fist personal best from Nursery Field came around 15:30 when I tried using maggots on the hook. After one unsuccessful attempt to land a 2 ounce roach the float and bait landed just in front of me. Before I had a chance to retrieve it the float went under and I was into the smallest barbel you'd ever likely to see. Half an ounce if it was a day! A personal best all the same though!

As the afternoon progressed the carp began to show on the surface. I made the decision to switch to meat to see if I could tempt a few out.

For the first time ever since my return to fishing I never got a sniff using the meat. To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

I did get a take by a carp on the boillies late on in the day but unfortunately it managed to get into the lily pads and that is where it stayed. Shame as it would have completed a good days fishing.

In conclusion I think this could be a very good lake for me once I have learnt a bit more about it. There are some good looking swims which I need to explore further. The carp will not elude me forever!

On the downside I  got into a bit of a tangle that took me at least 10 minutes to unravel. Once I managed it I promptly stood back on my rod breaking the middle section.

So the history of the rod is this - Bought it new 2 seasons ago, broke the top section last season, broke the middle section this season - any guesses for next season?