2011 7 April 9th Hare Lake, Gabriels Fishery, Edenbridge Kent

Second visit to Gabriel's fishery today.

As I fished Silver Lake last time I thought today I would try Hare Lake.

This lake is fairly long with an island about a third of the way up. Also the first third is in woodland and the remainder is in open ground. As this day was reportedly going to be a sorcher I chose to fish at the end in the woods purely for the benefit of the shade.

The pond is quite narrow at the end so I was hoping that I would have the end area to myself. After setting up with the usual tackle I fed the swim with groundbait, hemp and a few grains of corn.

Just before I cast in another angler turned up. Although not in my immediate vicinity he was on the narrow channel between the island and myself. From where I was I could easily see what he was doing and what, if anything he was catching.

I had fished this swim a couple of seasons previous when I first visited Gabriels. I seemed to remember that the lake was full of small roach, rudd and bream. I had been told that there were carp in there but I had never caught or seen any.

I decided for once not to use maggots on the hook and go straight for the corn. I know numerically that I wouldn't get so many fish but hopefully what I did get would be of a better quality.

I settled down for the wait. After about 10 minutes I heard the other fella curse and having seen me look up said "I've just been broken, on 5lb line too". A good omen for the day I thought.

For the next hour I kept hearing the splashing of fish as he was catching however they looked like small roach to me. I later found out that he was on maggots. He couldn't catch anything on pellet or corn.

Eventually my float went under and in came a roach of around 3 ounces! I re-cast and the same thing happened - the bed of bait had obviously drawn them in.

Sadly to say that was the pattern for the rest of the day. There were a few skimmer bream caught but they were all of the very small variety.

There was a reed bed to the left of me at the very end of the lake. As the day progressed I could see the reeds moving in such a way as to tell me that there was life in there - what is was I had no idea. To this end I began to feed the edge of the reeds with bread. On the hour throughtout the session I would drop the float next to the reed bed with a large piece of flake on the hook.

Every time the bait was taken but I was having one of those days where the fish seemingly were always on top. The bites were either missed or when I did hook them I couldn't get them out of the reed bed before they spat the hook.

All day long this game of cat and mouse continued between me and my watery foe.

Towards the end of the day I was given a large lump of luncheon meat by a Holland AS member that I had spoken to on my previous visit who was also fishing the lake. Straight away I caught a gudgeon, a skimmer, a rudd and a small perch.

For the last cast of the day I thought I would try the reed bed again this time with a lump of meat. Sure enough almost immediately the float disappearred and battle was rejoined. This time the fish came out and was landed. A nice three pound common.

I decided at that point to call it a day and go home.

2011 6 April 2nd Silver Lake, Gabriels Fishery, Edenbridge Kent

This trip was my first visit to the fishery of the season.

Our club has a concession here, £2 instead of the usual £8. This was my first chance to use it.

I arrived at the fishery at 7:05 to find 3 cars in the car park. No fighting over swims today then. As I entered the lake area from the car park I saw that they were all bivvy boys on the specimen lake so I had the pick of the swims on Silver Lake.

I knew the deeper water was at the end by the car park and as I thought it was too early in the year to try the shallow area I chose peg 1. This swim faces straight up the lake, with the island to the left and a set of rushes to the right in the corner. All bases covered.

The contre line straight down the lake about two rod lengths out was my preferred starting point. I groundbaited the swim in the normal way. For setup I used 4lb line, 3BB waggler and a size 18 hook. Initial hook bait was maggot.

Surprisingly nothing showed an interest. I fed a few each cast and I did get the feeling that there were some roach albeit small ones to be had. I gave it 30 minutes or so but couldn't get a decent bite. I switched to corn on the hook to see if that would change my fortune.

I didn't have to wait long for a bite though. The float shot away, the rod bent over and in came a skimmer bream of about a pound. Corn was to be the bait of choice today so I relegated the maggots to feed status. An hour or so later a second bream arrived.

"I'm in here" I thought as the float disappearred for the third time, However it wasn't a bream but a carp of about 2 or 3 ounces.

For the rest of the morning sport was slow. Derek the bailiff came round and said that everyone was saying that the fishing was slow. At least I thought it wasn't just me. I manage in that time 3 gudgeon and 2 roach  (on maggot) and 2 3lb carp on bread. The second of which came from the reed bed about 2 feet out!

After I finished my gourmet lunch (mini savoury eggs and a sausage roll) the fishing began to pick up.

The sweetcorn started to work as at 13:38 I had one of 3lb followed an hour later by one of 5lb.

The sweetcorn was working in my original however I did not ignore the reed bed. I was steadily feeding small pieces of bread and then having a look every hour or so. I was rewarded at 15:15 with a 3lb common.

Another hour of relative quiet followed before I got a good bend in the rod which I took to be a small carp only to discover that it was a fair size perch with a liking for corn.

The margins produced again half an hour later when a 3lb mirror was tempted by a large piece of bread flake.

Proving that bread isn't just for carp I then landed another skimmer of about a pound.

It was nearing 5pm so began to think about packing up for the day. Although the fishing had been slow I had enjoyed the day which is the point of it all.

So I began the process of packing when a dad and his son came round and we started to chat about the fishing. When he mentioned that he was a member of Holland AS I remembered speaking to him at Boulthurst Farm last season! Anyway as we chatting the float disappearred and his little boy saw me land a 2lb carp.

That was it for the day.

Time	Fish	Bait	Weight
8:39	Bream	Sweetcorn	1lb
9:33	Bream	Sweetcorn	1lb
9:43	Carp	Sweetcorn	2oz!
13:00	3 Gudgeon 2 Roach 2 Carp	Roach and Gudgeon on maggot, Carp on bread	3lb
13:38	Carp	Sweetcorn	3lb
14:44	Carp	Sweetcorn	5lb
13:42	3 Carp Gudgeon 7 Roach/Rudd	2 of the carp on strawberry boillies, the other on corn. The remainder on maggot.	4lb and 4.5lb
16:45	10 Carp	All on strawberry boillies	6lb 5.5lb 5lb 4lb

Here are some of the fish:

Common Carp

Common Carp - The biggest of the day



2011 5 March 30th Mill Lake, Stubpond, Felbridge Surrey

The penultimate day of my annual leave period saw me tackling this lake once more.

The weather although a bit nippy looked ok. The forecast was for some showers in the afternoon.

I was a bit earlier than normal when I arrived at the fishery but was pleasantly surprised to see that the gates were open even though it was only 7:15.

Though the gates were open the car park was deserted. I quickly unloaded my gear and made my way to my swim.

I'd decided in the car coming down to fish the same swim as before but a yard or so to the left in the hope that I would avoid the problem I had with weed on my previous visit. If that failed I would switch to the feeder rod and fish down the middle of the channel.

My setup was still on the light side - 4lb mainline to a size 18 hook. Bait was all the usual suspects for the time of year, maggots, bread and corn on the hook and brown crumb and hemp as the groundbait.

The water was flat calm as I cast in for the first time. The groundbait had worked it's magic as roach after roach fell to the maggot on the hook. A bright start and no problems with the weed.

Everything seemed to be going well, the virtual net had a healthy head of fish and my choice of swim was seemingly weed free until the wind started to pick up and the lake started to produce waves! Next came the first spots of rain which got steadily worse and never let off for the remainder of the day.

I was freezing but the action keep me alive (barely). Around lunchtime the waves made bite detection very hard so I decided to set up the feeder rod.

The set up I chose catered for the carp which as of yet hadn't shown in my swim. I had 6lb mainline to a size 14 hair rig. The boillies were strawberry flavoured 10mm I think, anyway small they were.

I only had to wait about 30 minutes or so before the tip shot round and I was into my first carp of the day. Turned out to be a nice one of about 4 pounds. Ten minutes later a second was in the net.

Time	Fish	Bait	Weight
8:15	10 Roach/Rudd	Maggot
8:44	10 Roach/Rudd	Maggot
9:10	2 Skimmer Bream 7 Roach/Rudd Carp	Maggot for the bream and roach Bread for the carp	1.5lb
9:49	8 Roach Skimmer Bream Crucian Carp	Maggot Bread for the crucian, bream and 1 of the roach
10:31	2 Crucian 1 Skimmer 7 Roach	One of the roach, the crucians and the skimmer on corn the rest on maggot.
11:19	4 Crucian 6 Roach	2 crucian and 1 roach on bread the remainder on maggot
12:17	2 Carp 8 Roach/Rudd 1 Crucian	The carp on corn, the remainder on maggot
13:42	3 Carp Gudgeon 7 Roach/Rudd	2 of the carp on strawberry boillies, the other on corn. The remainder on maggot.	4lb and 4.5lb
16:45	10 Carp	All on strawberry boillies	6lb 5.5lb 5lb 4lb

Here are some of the day's catch:

Crucian Hybrid

Mirror Carp

A Nice Common - The Largest Of The Day

2011 4 March 23rd Mill Lake, Stubpond, Felbridge Surrey

After the rain last time I was out I was hoping for better weather today. The forecast was for 18 degrees, almost summer specials!

I awoke to find a slightly misty start to the day. After the success of my previous trip I was eager to get down to the fishery and get started.

I suppose it must have been about 7:25 when I arrived at the fishery to find the gates open and cars in the car park! I was not alone.

Lucky for me they had all made thier way to either Plantation or Forge, the match and specimen lakes. I was left to fish Mill Lake all on my lonesome.

The lake was dead calm and looking around I definitely had a 'feel good' factor.

I quickly set up, 12' float rod, 4lb main line to a 3lb hooklength on a size 18 hook. Bait today was the same as my previous visit: Maggots, Hemp, Groundbait, Corn and Bread. I had no castors as the previous maggots hadn't tuned yet!

Out went the float and within a few minutes in came the first roach of the day. Things were looking good.

For those who have never fished Mill Lake I feel I must mention the weed problem. In a few weeks time the lake will be covered in lily pads however that is not the real problem. Pond weed is, you know the stuff that grows in strands beneath the surface. Well today was one of those days that was ruined by the weed. Whenever the float went under I was never sure whether it was a bite or the weed. Lucky for me the weed came straight out so I didn't actually lose any tackle. However it did make the day somewhat frustrating.

So much so that around lunchtime I decided to switch to a straight bomb and use my new feeder rod. Mainline was 6lb with a size 14 hook on a 4lb hooklength. I used small strawberry boillies.

I decided to fish down the middle channel to see if I could avoid the week. I put in about a half dozen boillies with the view to feeding each hour or whenever I caught a fish.

Forty Five minutes later the tip went round for the first time ever and in came the first carp of the day.

Here's how the day broke down:

Time	Fish	Bait	Weight
8:29	7 Roach 3 Skimmers	Maggot
8:57	5 Roach 5 Skimmers	Maggot
11:15	7 Roach Skimmer Perch Carp	Maggot Strawberry boillie for the carp	4lb
11:46	8 Roach Carp Crucian Carp	Maggot Strawberry boillie Bread
12:44	10 Roach	Maggot
13:29	Carp	Strawberry boillie	2lb
14:50	Tench Perch Skimmers Roach Carp	All on maggots except the carp which was on corn	2lb
15:22	Carp	Strawberry boillie	4lb
16:11	Carp	Strawberry boillie	5lb

Upwards of 60 fish so not a bad day at all. I was to be honest expecting better things but then if it always went to plan it would get very boring!

Here are some examples of the fish caught.

Mirror Carp

Another Mirror

Crucian Carp Hybrid