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.