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Today or to be accurate this afternoon I decided to have another crack at getting peg 3 at the club's premier fishery, Nursery Fields.
I took a leisurely drive through the Kent/Surrey countryside before arriving at the fishery around 14:30. The car park had cars in but wasn't busy. At first glance the bottom of the lake where peg 3 is looked full but I decided to check it out anyway.
After the short walk to the lake I could plainly see that peg 3 was free. My luck was in, albeit at the third attempt. I had anglers either side of me but hey you can't have everything in this life.
Usual set up for Nursery Fields today, one waggler rod and another feeder rod. This time with a small feeder rather than a small leger.
I mixed a healthy amount of ground bait containing brown crumb, sweetcorn, maggots, meat and some small halibut pellets. I threw a couple of large balls in by the pads where I intended to fish. Almost immediately I saw signs of fish activity. A positive sign indeed.
I made my first casts at 15:30 and then retreated to my comfy chair to await the start of the action. Well, I waited and waited but despite all the obvious fish activity in the swim I could only land a solitary tench. The feeder rod also chipped in with one small tench.
I switched to meat for the next hour but didn't fare any better. It was getting very frustrating. Only one tench made the virtual net! Two bream was the contribution from the feeder rod this time.
Another change of hook bait followed, this time I went for bread. It was successful in the sense that it doubled the take of the previous hour (2) and it did attract another species, bream. The feeder rod was quiet for the entire hour.
I was well into the evening session now and things were not looking too great. I switched back to meat and was rewarded with another tench. The feeder rod had got into a tangle so taking the time into consideration I decided to retire it for the session.
On peg three there is a tree on the left hand side which has it's roots partially overhanging the water. I took the decision to place a few pieces of meat there and then gently lower my float on top of them. Less than a minute later the float shot away and I was in. This was no tench. Eventually it came to the surface and then my net where it revealed itself to be a 3lb common!
I fished without success for another 20 minutes or so in my original swim before I decided to have another go under the tree. Sure enough the same thing happened only this time this fish ploughed off towards the lilys on the far bank. I couldn't let it get there so I started to tighten the clutch. It still kept going until finally it broke the hook length. I was gutted.
That was it for me, the final straw as they say. As I packed up I reflected on the fact that I had thought the swim looked very fishy but in reality it was a bit of a letdown. Was it a bad swim, an off day or my skills that were to blame. I don't know but I will try it again.
This season I'd decided to try a few of the club's lesser known ponds. This Sunday afternoon I decided to visit Leppards Pond.
Now I don't live in Edenbridge so for directions I had to rely on the handbook and the club's forum. Surprisingly these got me to the main gates on the first attempt.
And that's where the trouble started.
According to the handbook your supposed to enter the normal number preceded by a zero. I did that and ............. nothing.
I checked and double-checked the number, still nothing. I decided that my next course of action would be to ring a committee member for advice. As I was heading back to the car another vehicle turned up and parked behind me.
He wasn't a member however he did know that the owner had reversed the zero! After entering the correct number and opening the gate, despite the best efforts of the tricky lock mechanism I was in. Now to find the pond.
The next set of gates were open (lucky me). I then set off down the track. After 100 yards or so I thought I had changed sports. I was now in the World Rally Championship! The track was awful. If you value your car please drive extremely carefully down the track.
After what seemed like an age but in actual fact could have only have been a few minutes the track brought me to a locked gate. I unlocked the gate, confirming I was heading in the right direction and carried on.
Further on down I arrived at a large field. By this point I was worried about the car and if i'd ever find the pond. I decided to get out of the car and have a walk. At the bottom of the field I looked right and saw a parked SUV. I'd found it! I returned to my car and drove to the pond. As my car was facing the opposite way to the other one I realised I must have gone wrong somehow.
There were two other members fishing the small pond. I must admit that on first impression it did look rather fishy.
The two anglers already present had two of the sides of the pond covered so I chose to go down the right hand side. There was plenty of clear water in a sort of bay area. I chose to fish midway between the near and far banks.
I had gained some prior knowledge of the pond from Bill's forum entry. Based on this knowledge I decided to initially target the roach and hope that with correct feeding the carp will move into the swim in the evening.
I placed a healthy amount of ground bait in the swim along with some maggots and corn. For rod set up I decided to use my match rod as I didn't expect the pond to hold any monsters.
With corn as my chosen hook bait I made my first cast at around 2:30. The action started almost immediately with 7 roach with a liking for corn coming to the net. They were all around 2 or 3 ounces.
I stayed on corn for the next hour but could only manage one rudd. I kept getting bites but couldn't connect with any. I think the fish were just very small.
The next hour followed a similar pattern to the previous one, plenty of knocks on the corn but only 2 roach caught. It was beginning to get a bit frustrating.
I gave it another hour on the corn. Sadly for me it only produced another roach. Due to the fact that I was worried about the car and that deadly track I decided to pack up at 5:30 and head off home.
I went out the way the other two had came in and to be fair it was a lot easier on the car. The middle gate this time was locked so I had to open it. The gate at the front was of course locked and yet again it proved difficult to open but I managed to get out and head home.
So a short session full of small roach. I did see carp jumping so I think I will go back at some point and try again.
A Friday afternoon carping session at Nursery Fields was the planned session for today.
As I left work dead on noon the sun was out and for once laying down some serious heat. The plan was to rush home, have a sandwich, load the car and head off to Edenbridge and fish until the light gave out.
I arrived at the fishery about two thirty or so. It wasn't too crowded so I knew I stood a good chance of getting my favourite carping swim at the top of the lake.
As usual it was a 2 rod set up today. Two 2.5tc carp rods, 6lb main line, size 14 hooks with 15mm pineapple and tutti fruitti boillies.
It took about 45 minutes or so to set up. I made my casts at 15:15 and then settled back in the sunshine awaiting the action to begin.
As it happened I didn't have to wait too long as 15 minutes after the first cast the buzzer on the pineapple rod went off and I was in. A short tussle followed, which I won. The result a common carp of around 4lb.
Thirty minutes later the same rod went off. This time I could tell it wasn't a carp. I was proved right when one of the lake's small tench broke the surface.
Forty minutes later the same rod went off again. Another carp this time, unusually a mirror, this one weighted in at 2.5lb.
Things went quiet for about 75 minutes before yet again the pineapple rod's buzzer went off. The result was another carp with a taste for pineapple. This one was about 3lb, a tad bigger than the previous one.
It was just over three hours into the session when the buzzer on the tutti fruitti rod went off. It was not only a carp but as is so often the case it was also the biggest of the day so far, a mirror of 4.5lb.
Strangely as the evening wore on the runs became less frequent, the opposite to what I would have expected. It was another hour before the pineapple rod's buzzer went. A carp, but not a massive one came to the net. A 4lb common in fact.
Just as I was beginning to think of packing up the pineapple buzzer went off for the final time. The result another 4lb common.
So, my 5 hour carping session came to a close. The pineapple rod won six to one, with all the fish bar one being carp. I was a bit disappointed with the overall size of the carp (biggest being 4.5lb) but hey that's fishing!
Today was going to be my third visit of the season to the club's carp water at Chittenden.
Unusually for me, today was a Monday, a day I traditionally never go fishing. Therefore I wasn't sure how busy the lake would be. I arrived at about 7:00am to discover only three other cars in the car park.
This lake is bigger than Nursery Fields but is in my opinion not as waggler fishing friendly. There are less than 5 good float fishable swims.
My plan for today was to fish the swim at the bottom of the lake where I could place the float tight against the reed bed. I'd fished this peg on my previous visit and had been fairly successful.
I unloaded the car and made my way down the lake. Aside from one angler fishing by the disabled pegs I couldn't see another soul! As I neared the far end I could see that I had it to myself, lovely.
Two rod set up again today, the only difference from last time was that I started with a heavier set up. The float rod (my Shimano carp float rod), 5lb main line to a size 16 hook. The feeder rod was 6lb main line to a size 14 hook.
I fed the float line with a generous helping of ground bait containing corn, meat and very small halibut pellets. I also threw in a generous helping of maggots. For the feeder rod I was going to use 15mm tutti fruitti boillies so I threw in some freebies in the area I was going to fish.
I made my first casts at 8am and then settled back to let battle royal commence.
The fish were onto the bait from the off. I'd decided to start with corn and was rewarded with 5 very nice bream, most of which were between one and two pounds . A 3lb carp was a bonus for the start of the session. The feeder rod remained silent. See pictures below.
As the corn had been successful I stayed on it for the second hour. Three more bream made the virtual net however I didn't have everything my own way as I lost a decent carp. The feeder rod decided the time was right to join in and in came a carp of 5lb and a small catfish!
Three hours in and still on corn. The bream must have been getting full as I only caught one. I did manage another 3lb common though.
The feeder rod went quiet again.
As the swim appeared to be going quiet I switched to halibut hooker pellets, the small ones (sorry don't know the size). Total disaster, not a sniff for an entire hour. The feeder rod stayed quiet as well.
Trying something different again I changed hook bait to bread. It was a good decision as it transpired because aside from the mandatory bream I landed a 5lb common carp.
This hour though will always be remembered for the jaws incident. I'd been lucky enough to land a 7lb common on the feeder rod and had just cast back in and turned to watch my float when I heard a thud and upon turning around saw my rod heading for the lake. I tried to grab it but failed.
To be honest I panicked when I saw the rod being pulled up the lake like a scene from Jaws! I did however manage to pull myself together enough to walk up the lake to the next set of anglers to warn them that my rod was coming.
The two anglers attempted to cast their rigs over my rod trying to hook the line but all initial efforts failed. I started to panic again when the fish turned and headed towards the island on the other bank.
One of the guys and I went around to the far side to try from there only to find that the fish had stalled in front of the island. Just as I was beginning to lose hope there was a cry from the first chap. He'd hooked my rod and got it back!
I made my way back to their swim as fast as I could. When I got there we separated the lines (easily) and I reeled the fish in. It was a common of about 5lb.
So everything turned out well, extremely lucky for me. I must take this opportunity to thank Alan Armitage and Jimmy Thompson for their help because without them I would have been dead when I got home.
Almost as soon as I re-cast the feeder rod out the tip went round and I was into another carp. This time a 4.5lb mirror.
It was now 1pm and to quote Genesis "It's one o'clock and time for lunch" so I reeled in both rods (stable door and horses spring to mind) and sat back for a sandwich and a cuppa.
After lunch I got back to the matter in hand, fishing. I stayed with bread as the hook bait. I managed three carp, one of 4lb, one of 5.5lb and one of 3lb. The bream were back as well, two of them to be exact.
Between two and three pm I thought I would give meat a try. Sure enough it was a success, 2 bream , another 2lb'er and three more carp (two of them 3lb and the other 3.5lb) were all landed during this period. The feeder rod stayed quiet.
I stayed on the meat for the last two hours which turned out to be extremely quiet. One bream and a carp of about 3lb came in via the float rod and a 4.5lb carp, the last fish of the day came in on the feeder rod.
So a very eventful day comes to an end. Thirty one fish and one rod caught. Lesson learnt today!
Another Sunday afternoon session, this time on the Private Lake owned by Holland A.S near Oxted in Surrey.
I set off around 2:30 to make the relatively short trip to the fishery. It was dry but humid, so I braced myself for rain.
When I arrived the place was filled with anglers, I expected some but not as many as this! Undeterred I got out of the car and went in search of a free swim. I hadn't walked very far when a loud hooter went off, it was the end of a match!
Peg 6 was free and as I had never fished it before I decided to set up there while the match boys weighed in and cleared off home.
With lily pads in front and to the right of me one rod was all I could use today. I set up my match rod with a small waggler and set about plumbing the depth. The swim was very shallow which said to me that this could be the reason why the swim wasn't used for the match.
I chose to fish the lilies on my right as these were nearest to the open water and it was slightly deeper water. Before casting in I fed the swim with ground bait and a lot of maggots and corn. Straight away there were signs of fish activity. By this time the match men had all gone home.
Using sweetcorn as hook bait I made my first cast at around 15:40. Despite the obvious presence of fish and the knocks I was getting it proved pretty difficult actually hook many. This was borne out by the first hours' poor showing. Three small carp and an even smaller rudd to be exact.
For the next hour I switched hook bait to meat to see if I could not only tempt the bigger stuff but also help me hook more than I had with the corn. Numerically and size wise it wasn't a great success as I only caught 4 small carp.
I stayed on the meat for the next hour as I thought that now I was into the evening some of the bigger specimens must surely make an appearance. Alas I was to be disappointed again. Three small carp and a roach made the virtual net this time.
Between 18:40 and when I packed up at 20:00 I could only add a further three fish, two more of the small carp and my one and only tench of the session.
And so I came to the end of a very disappointing session. Fifteen fish in a 4 and a half hour session on this lake was not what I expected. Was it the match beforehand, the shallowness of the water or my dodgy angling skills? Probably all of the above.
Today was my first true carping session of the season. For me a good session is arriving at the lake at about 3pm and sitting behind some buzzers soaking in the sunshine and generally chillin' until the light gives out.
The temperature was a good 27 degrees as I left my house at 3pm to make the drive to Edenbridge.
On arrival I saw there were a few cars in the car park but nowhere near what I was expecting. I loaded the trolley and made my way up the lake to the top end where the casting distance to the island is the shortest.
The vegetation on my favourite peg at the top is too high by the fishing platform so I parked myself in the next one along.
My set up today was 2 rods, both with 6lb main line to size 14 hooks and 15mm boillies. One had pineapple flavour and the other had tutti fruitti.
I made my first casts at 16:40 and then settled back and waited for the action to begin.
I had to wait just under 2 hours for the first take. When it arrived it was a good one. Because of the island the fish can only run right or left so the only snag to keep it out off was the lilies on my right. Minutes after the bite I had a lovely 7lb common on the bank. On this occasion it was the pineapple boillie that tempted it.
I only had to wait 35 minutes for the next bite. When it came I knew straight away that it wasn't a carp and sure enough when it broke the surface I discovered that I'd hooked one of the lake's small tench. This one fell to the tutti fruitti boillie.
Just over an hour later the same rod went off again and just like the previous run I knew straight away it wasn't a carp. Sure enough when it too broke the surface I was proved right when I saw it was a small barbel.
Less then ten minutes after returning the barbel to the water I was back in again on the pineapple rod. This was not a small fish. After struggling for what seemed an age I managed to land it and after a quick weight in discovered that it was an 8lb common.
The swims then went quiet for just over an hour before the silence was broken by the buzzer on the pineapple rod going off again. This was another carp but no monster as it only weighed in at a couple of pounds.
My last fish of the session came at 20:50 and yes it too fell to the pineapple boillie. Alas it was not a carp but another of the lake's small tench.
That spelled the end of my first carping session of the season. Six fish caught but only 3 of them carp. Pineapple won four against two so I shall be using that again.
For once a day trip to Nursery Fields on a Sunday.
Peg 3 was my target for today having been thwarted on my previous visit. As usual I arrived at the fishery just after 7am to find that there were quite a few cars already present. This did not bode well for my plan as most people tend to keep their walking short and peg 3 is one of the near ones.
I unloaded the car and made my way to the lake. As soon as I reached it I could see that the peg was taken. Second choice was one of the top swims on the far bank. On the way to the swim I passed peg 3 and discovered it was Peter the bailiff who had nicked it.
Anyway I carried on up the far bank until I reached one of the few pegs where you can fish to the lilies right handed as can be seen from the photo below.
Big tactical change for today was that I was only going to use maggots as loose feed. Hook bait today was going to be onlycorn, bread and meat. I was going for quality not quantity.
I mixed the usual ground bait and set up my two rods. The first, a standard 3bb waggler with size 16 hook and 5lb main line. The second a feeder rod with a small feeder on 6lb line with a size 14 hook.
Using corn on the waggler rod and monster crab 10mm boillies on the feeder rod I made my first casts at 8:10am.
My master plan seemed to stall in the first hour as I never got a tickle on the corn. The feeder rod though was alive producing a bream and a tench.
Roles were reversed in the second hour as I switched hook bait to bread. The waggler rod yielded a bream and a tench and the feeder rod, nothing!
Another switch of bait and the waggler productivity went down again. Just a solitary tench with a taste for meat came to the net. Another tench and a roach came in via the feeder rod.
With none of today's baits setting the world alight I went back to corn. The change was a success if only to bring the lake's barbel into play, two of them in fact. The feeder rod stayed silent and still.
As I was going through a quiet period(!) I decided to have an early lunch so in came the rods, out came the flask of tea and the food. I then took advantage of the sunshine to enjoy a very pleasant 10 minute break before resuming battle.
Another change of hook bait, this time to bread started the afternoon session. As it turned out it was the best of the day as far as numbers and variety of species were concerned. In no particular order there were 2 crucians, 2 roach, 2 tench, 1 bream and 1 barbel. The feeder rod joined in as well producing 2 further barbel. The bream was a good size, see below:
I realise now that I should have stayed with the bread however I didn't and opted to go for another session on the meat. This produced only two fish, a barbel and a tench. The feeder rod was active but only just with the capture of another tench.
The next hour was my best on the corn although to be fair it only resulted in 4 fish. One each of bream, barbel, roach and tench. The feeder rod produced yet another solitary tench.
Back to the bread and yet again the fish responded. This time primarily tench, 3 of them to be exact and a lone bream. The feeder rod chipped in with a single crucian carp.
From 16:30 to packing up time at 18:00 I went back on the meat. The result was a slow finish to a slow day. Just the two barbel made the net. The feeder rod producing nothing, apparently it had shot its bolt for the day.
So was the day a success? I did go for quality which meant a drop in the numbers of fish caught would be expected however I couldn't tempt any of lakes carp to come out to play. Bottom line, I did enjoy the day so that is all that really matters.
Another first of the season, a session at the club's beautiful Xmas Mill lake.
With only five swims available on the four acre lake, I had to make sure I was up and out early to ensure that I got one of them.
When I arrived at the very small car park there were no other cars there so my plan had clearly worked. I unloaded the car, and started to make my way through the dense swampy woodland to the lake.
I selected Botany Bay as my swim for today as it is the only swim where you can fish alongside the lily pads. Casting wasn't going to be far today and with the knowledge that I was only likely to catch small roach I chose my match rod and a very small waggler and size 18 hook.
Today's assault was going to be spearheaded by maggots and sweetcorn. Of course ground bait would come into it as an attracter, especially for any passing bream.
With a single maggot on the hook I made my first cast at 8:20 and true enough I discovered that the swim was full of small roach. Twenty two of them made the net in the first hour alone.
Buoyed by this success I switched hook bait to corn. Only three roach but they were of a better quality.
I switched back to maggot for the next hour. The roach hadn't moved or lost their appetite as it proved when my haul read 26 roach, 1 rudd and a bream!
Another hour on corn followed, the roach had no taste for it but two bream did. The time was around 11:30 and the weather had turned for the worse. Rain was falling quite heavy now so I had to put up the umbrella.
Just before lunch I went back to the maggot and normal service was resumed, 16 roach and a solitary rudd.
After lunch, I went back on the corn but they were still not having it with just two roach making the virtual net. Every hour I was topping up the swim with ground bait and every cast I was either feeding a few maggots or a couple of grains of corn.
A return to maggots brought 16 roach and another bream. A definite pattern was emerging here!
The next hour, which brought the time to 15:20 was the most successful for the corn. It yielded 4 roach and a bream. The roach on corn were generally bigger than those caught on the maggot.
I had another throw of the dice left, bread. Could a passing tench take a fancy to it? The short answer was no but in the sixty minutes that followed two bream did.
Here's one of them:
From 16:30 until I packed up at 18:00 I returned to maggots. Eight more roach made the net but sadly for me nothing of any quality.
So with 106 fish in the net I cannot say I had a bad day. It would have been nice to have got one of the lakes larger inhabitants or even a day without rain but hey that's fishing!
For this week's outing I decided to pay a return visit to the club's premier water, Nursery Fields.
When I arose from bed and looked out of the window I saw that yet again there was rain in the air. It was the fine stuff but rain all the same.
Undeterred I set off for the fishery around 6:30am. The car park was empty was I arrived so my plan to fish the first swim on the back stretch (peg 3 I think) was a go. I unloaded my gear, and started to make my way to the peg. As I got to the club noticeboard I happened to notice that swims 1 to 12 were booked for a juniors match! Drat foiled again. If juniors were at the bottom pegs I'd go for the top ones then.
It was still raining when I arrived at the swim so setting up was interesting to say the least. Normal tactics today for this swim, waggler rod about 1.5 lengths out and a small leger set up, fished by the island slightly to the left of centre.
Using single red maggot on the waggler rod and 15mm pineapple boillies on the leger rod I made my first casts at 7:55.
I had a cracking start on the waggler rod - the first hour seemed to be non stop fish, 8 roach, 1 perch, 1 crucian carp, 1 tench and a gudgeon all made it safely out of the water and back in again. The leger set up produced a tench as well.
Feeling optimistic I switched hook bait to sweetcorn for the next hour. I cast out and watched the float and continued to watch it not, except for the occasional re-cast move an inch! Total failure.
So I returned to the maggot. It seems to me that the lake always stalls mid to late morning and this was borne out by the fact that I only caught a couple of bream.
Back on the corn for the last hour of the morning resulted in a further 3 bream and a roach. The feeder rod also sprang into life, yielding one of the lakes barbel.
After I had my lunch I gave some meat a try. Sadly this only attracted a lonesome barbel. There was some decent action on the feeder rod though, a tench and a very nice 7lb common carp.
By 2pm I had chalked up another hour on the corn with the result that another bream and tench had made the virtual net. The feeder rod had also produced another carp, this time one of 2lb. By now the junior match had finished and there was only a handful left on the lake. The rain hadn't gone though.
Not much change in the next hour, corn for meat, that was just about it. The fish kept coming albeit at a trickle. One bream and another barbel. The feeder rod obliged with a tench and another carp of around 5lb.
The period between 3pm and 4pm we could call carp hour as both lines produced a carp. The waggler, a 2.5lb specimen on corn and the feeder another common, this one about 4lb.
Between 4pm and 5:30 when I packed up I thought I would try something different, bread. I really had no idea what would occur. As it happens I got a bream, a barbel and my one and only crucian carp of the day. The feeder rod went bananas too, four tench and a barbel.
So another rain filled day of the early summer comes to an end. In truth not a bad day, 41 fish of varying quality despite the weather.
Today was going to be yet another first for the season. My first visit to Holland Angling Society's lake in Holland near Oxted in Surrey.
I arrived at the pond around 6:20 to find that I had as usual got there first so would have choice of swims again. When I first started going to this pond about 4 years ago I always fished peg 1 in the corner but recently I'd left it alone in favour of peg 8. Today Imy intention was to revisit my old favourite.
Peg one is near enough to the gate that I didn't need the trolley so I unloaded the car and set off to the peg. It's quite tight in the corner so tactics today would be just the float rod with a small waggler.
It was about 7:20 when I made my first cast. I know from previous experience that this pond is full of small carp with a liking for maggots so today it was a single maggot on a size 18 hook as the starting line up!
The ground bait and loose feed I had thrown in prior to casting seemed to have done the trick as the fish were immediately onto the hook bait. Roach led the way initially, 6 of them to be exact, along with 3 rudd, 1 perch and one of the pond's small carp.
Buoyed by the success of the first hour I decided to up the ante by switching hook bait to corn to see if anything of quality had been attracted into the swim. The short answer was no. I did get six carp but they were all in the range 0.5lb to a 1lb. Good fighters on a match rod but not really quality.
I didn't really want to revert back to catching the small roach so I switched hook bait again for the next hour, this time to meat. Five carp followed, again the same stamp as before. I did capture the first tench of the day though.
Back on the corn for the next hour and back on the roach. Just the two plus another of the carp. It was at this time that the temperature picked up and I started to notice the larger carp begin to come and bask on the top.
For the hour before lunch I changed back to meat. Same as before, almost. Four carp and another tench. No change in the quality but I was having fun.
Had a cuppa and my lunch before switching back to corn. The pace slowed somewhat as only two carp made the virtual net. The next hour on meat was exactly the same except that the catch was halved. This time only 1 carp.
Mid-afternoon came and with a switch to corn so did the fish. One roach and six carp. I wonder where they had disappeared to? Still things were looking good for the late afternoon session.
The time was now 16:20 and a change of hook bait hadn't brought out the big stuff that I was anticipating. I did bag another 3 carp and a rudd with a liking for meat but they were still in the aforementioned weight range.
The next hour wasn't any better, 4 more carp on the meat but still no change in the quality.
I had one throw of the dice left for the last hour, bread. I opened my box and took out a slice. The 'heat' of the day had caused it to harden somewhat however I did find enough to use. The result another small carp and another small tench. I decided at 18:20 that enough was enough and packed up for the day.
All in all not a bad day. The small carp have obviously grown from the average of 3 or 4 ounces of a few seasons ago so that was pleasing as was the haul of 49 fish for the day.
For my second outing of the club season I thought I would try my hand at Chittenden, the club's premier carp water.
For once the early morning weather seemed to suggest a good day ahead as I headed towards Edenbridge. On the way I began to think of where to fish this particular water.
The reason why I had to give it so much thought was because there are very few features to fish to if you are intending to fish the waggler rather than the standard carp methods os cast it into the middle etc.
I arrived at the fishery just after 7am to find the car park empty. I was totally surprised. I loaded up the trolley and headed down to the bottom of the lake.
On the way down I noticed all the new fishing platforms. It certainly shows that the committee are serious about improving the look of the lake.
When I arrived at my intended swim I discovered that the nearest platform was 20 yards away! Now the dilemma I had was this, is it a club rule that you must fish from a platform or in this instance could I set up on the grass and fish next to the reed bed. Not knowing the answer I moved round to the first swim on the way back up the lake on the far bank.
The wind was blowing down the lake so in theory I had made the correct choice. The one downside was how to set up so that I could fish facing the reed bed. The water at the edge of the platform is too deep to use a standard rod rest so for today I would have to lay the rod on the platform.
As my days usually start off with a flurry of small roach or other silver fish I set my Shimano float rod with a 3bb waggler and a size 18 hook to 4lb main line. I intended to fish the reed bed about 2 rod lengths away from the platform. The leger rod I set up with a size 14 hook to 6lb main line and fished about mid way between my side and the far bank.
After feeding both swims with ground bait and boillies respectively I made first casts at 8am. True to form the first fish in was a small roach however a flood of these in the first hour didn't happen, all I got was one other roach and a small carp of about 4 ounces. I did however lose 3 carp, the last breaking the hook length. At this point I decided that an 18 was too small and moved up to a size 16. The feeder rod on size 15mm pineapple boillies remained quiet.
I also switched hook bait from maggot to corn. It appeared that I had made two good decisions as by 10am I'd had a further two carp, one common of 6lb and one mirror of 5lb plus a solitary bream.
For the next hour I changed hook bait again, this time to small cubes of meat. I was rewarded with 2 more bream and a carp of 3lb.
The period of non activity on the feeder rod was broken just before noon when the tip swung round and I was into what turned out to be a common of 7.5lb. The float road yielded a bream which took a single piece of corn.
Just as the Genesis lyric "It's one o'clock and time for lunch um de dum dee dum" went through my head the float shot away and I was into what turned out to be my biggest fish of the day. It took me all round the bay which was no surprise as I was only on 4lb main line! Eventually it succumbed and came into the net. A lovely 9lb mirror with a taste for meat.
The hour after lunch proved to be my most productive and scary part of the session. The feeder line yielded two mirrors, one of 6lb and one of 4lb. The float rod with corn on the hook gave a bream and three mirrors, one of 8lb, one of 4lb and a three pounder just for good measure. The scary bit was when the tip went round on the feeder rod, and as I went to bring in the float rod, the float shot away and I was into a good fish on that line too. I made the decision to play the larger of the two first which was the one on the float rod. Seeming like an eternity I fought the fish. I did get it in, after which I turned my attention to the other rod and miraculously I managed to get that one in as well! The first was the aforementioned 8lb mirror and the second the 4lb mirror. I awarded myself a cup of tea for my efforts!
For the next hour I thought I would try something different - bread. To be honest they didn't coming rushing in. In fact for the whole hour I only got one fish, a 2lb bream.
More serious battling on 4lb line started up again at 15:36 when an 8.5lb common took my meat bait. These devils can really pull however I displayed a lot of patience as I waited for the fish to wear itself out before gently slipping it into the net.
I went back on the corn for the next 90 minutes, which I shall now call bream time as I caught five of them in that period. The carp were still about because at 17:50 I had another 7.5lb common on a cube of meat.
I called time on the day at 18:45 but not before adding another bream and a 3lb carp on the last of the meat.
In conclusion I had a really good day, 28 fish, half of them carp. I lost 5 or 6 in the struggles but hey that's fishing.
Finally after a 31 day wait, the first two club waters were officially open. I'd already chosen Nursery Fields as today's venue as it being a Saturday I didn't fancy being mowed down by all the carp boys with their massive trolleys containing all their worldly possessions at Chittenden!
Being a Saturday for first day's opening I thought there would be a mad rush of members new and old eager to getting the season going. So to this end I decided to get out of bed early and be on the road by 4:30 in the morning. As it turns out miracles do happen as I was indeed on the road at this ungodly hour!
When I arrived at the fishery I wasn't too shocked to discover that I was the third one in the car park. It would seem that my initial fears of millions turning up might just be proving to be correct.
I loaded up my trolley and headed to the far side of the lake where in my opinion the best summer time swims are. After a good look (no one else had opted for this area as yet) I selected peg number 12.
My plan was to fish by the side of lily pads to my right with a waggler set up on my match rod and straight across the lake to the island on a feeder set up with my feeder rod.
I mixed a healthy amount of ground bait and then put the rods together. Size 18 hook to 4lb mainline on the waggler and size 14 hook to 6lb mainline on the feeder. I intended to switch to a size 16 sometime during the late afternoon as I knew that was when the carp were likely come out to play.
I made my first casts at 6:15. I initially used single maggot on the hook for the float rod and 15mm pineapple boillie on the leger rod. It wasn't long before the action started with the first of the day's small roach.
At the end of the first hour I had accumulated 10 fish all of them roach plus a 2lb carp on the feeder rod. I then made the decision to switch the feeder rod from the island to the reed bed on my left because to be honest it just looked very fishy!
The roach to be honest were small even by my standards so for the next hour I decided to swap to corn to see if anything of any size was lurking around. To my dismay only a solitary bream took the bait. The time was now 8:15 so the benefit of the early morning start was now over. I was into 'normal' time.
Back to the maggots then for the next hour and back to the usual suspects, roach (5) and rudd (2), none of them netbusters.
With maggots only attracting small roach and rudd and corn just the one bream I decided to try meat. Usually I go on meat late in the day when the carp show however today I thought I would try something different. I was rewarded with my first tench and perch of the day. Still only two fish in an hour though.
Another hour another throw of the dice, this time I was back on the corn. This change achieved slightly better results, 2 bream and a roach. Still not the first day stampede that I was expecting. Still it wasn't lunchtime yet.
Just before lunch I had another hour on the maggot which proved to be the most productive of the day so far. Nine roach and for the first time three perch, one of which was quite a few ounces.
While I was having lunch I went back on the meat. I only caught one fish but what a fish. A personal best Barbel of 2.5lb which I initially mistook for a carp because of the intensity of the fight! Very satisfactory indeed.
The next hour was a barren one on the corn. I began to hope that the afternoon and evening sessions might be the ones.
Back to the maggots for the hour which brought me up to 15:15. It was relatively fruitful, 4 roach and one each of barbel and perch.
For the evening session I decided to stop changing hook baits and stick with meat until the bitter end. A tench and a barbel started the ball rolling but what made it a good decision was this 9.5lb carp!
The meat kept attracting the fish until I packed up at 17:30. A perch, 2 tench and another barbel was joined in the net by an 8lb carp. Not a bad end to a very strange first day.
I managed to get two bites on the feeder rod late on in the day but unfortunately I lost both. The first spat the hook and the second buried itself on a snag on the far bank. Here is the swim:
So at the end of the day my tally was 50 fish exactly, not bad for a day that I thought wasn't going too well.
It is often said that football is a game of 2 halves, well after this visit to Hare Lake at Gabriels Farm I could say the same about fishing. More about that later.
Today was to be my third visit of the year to this lovely fishery in Kent. I don't specialise in carp so I tend to fish the three non specimen lakes, Silver, Swallow and Hare. The latter being the only one I haven't fished this year. Today I intended to put that right.
On the way to the fishery the temperature gauge at one point read 2.5 degrees, not a good omen for the day ahead.
The car park was empty when I arrived so I knew I had first choice of swims. I unloaded the car and made my way to the lake. It is in two sections, the nearest is in a wooded area and the farthest is in open ground. I decided on three possible swims in the wooded area as if it rains I would have some sort of protection.
The first two were in the bay area fishing to either side of the not quite developed lily pads. The third and in the end my choice of the day was the narrow section at the end of the bay where you can fish just in front of some reeds. (See picture below).
Only one rod today so setting up didn't take me too long. Once the swim had been fed I settled back and made my first cast at about 7:55. I decided to feed maggots every cast regardless of what the hook bait was. Initially single maggot was my weapon of choice.
The first hour was like rush hour on the M25 as the float barely had time to settle before it disappeared from view. By 9am I'd caught 13 roach, 4 bream, 1 carp (not big), 1 rudd and a gudgeon. I was feeling confident of the day's prospects.
For the next hour I switched to corn and the fish although not as many but definitely better quality kept coming, 3 roach, 3 bream and a smallish carp kept the day's tally mounting.
Back on the maggot for the next hour and still the fish kept coming, 4 roach, 3 bream and another small carp. I was a bit concerned that the pace had dropped since the early morning. Perhaps it was the amount of food that went in early and the lesser amount I topped it up with?
The next corn hour produced much the same as before, 2 roach, 2 small carp and a bream. What began to change was the weather. Initially the precipitation had been light and with my waterproofs on, manageable, however from the early afternoon onwards it really began to come down hard.
Learning from the last time I fished in a heavy rainstorm, I packed away all non essential items (including my notebook), put the brolly up (lucky not much wind through the trees) and settled down and hoped it would stop soon. I decided to have lunch at this point before it to took a soaking.
It was also very cold and I began to get the shivers. The rain was so hard I couldn't even begin to think about packing up. I still caught some fish although not too many. By 5pm when the rain abated somewhat I'd had 5 roach, 2 bream and a gudgeon. Scant reward for 5 hours fishing!
Due to the fact that there was no sun to speak of the meat hadn't hardened enough to put on the hook. There were though one or two pieces I could use. I gently cast in and was rewarded with three roach of about 0.5lb. A pleasant conclusion to a damp and miserable day.
In conclusion, I caught 51 fish consisting of 30 roach, 13 bream, 5 carp, 1 rudd and 2 gudgeon. Not bad, but how good could it have been? To find out I will have to go back when the weather improves.
The two halves? Well the morning session in bearable conditions when I caught plenty and the absolute deluge in the afternoon when I caught very little.
Today was going to be my first visit of the season to Morehouse Farm fishery on the outskirts of Haywards Heath in East Sussex. I've been there before so I knew the potential was there to have a good day.
The fishery gates open at 7am however due to roadworks at the end of the M23 I actually arrived at 7:15. It didn't seem to matter though as I was the first person in the fishery.
After I'd paid my money in the honesty box, I unloaded the car and walked to the lake. First thing I noticed was the fish activity on the top, the second, was that for my favourite swim the platform had been moved a couple of yards to the left which made the bay more accessible but which made fishing along the reed bed impossible.
Undeterred I set up my match rod to fish about 3/4s of the way across where the fish seemed to be and my new feeder rod (as I broke the last one) to fish as close to the far bank as I could about 15 metres to my left.
I mixed up a generous amount of ground bait with the usual brown crumb plus meat, hemp, maggots and corn. Next I threw in three large balls directly over the area where I saw the fish movement. On the leger set up I decided today to use 15mm pineapple boillies so I threw in several free offerings of those and the smaller 10mm variety.
I made my first casts at 8:36. I was using maggot initially on the float rod. Although I caught a carp of about a pound on the first cast it does take me a while to get myself sorted and in some kind of a rhythm which goes some way to explaining why I only caught three carp in the first hour when it should have been more.
For the second hour I switched to corn however although I was getting bites I just couldn't hook them. It wasn't a completely barren hour though as I got a carp on the feeder rod. Not a large one, around 2lb I would say.
I changed back to single maggot and immediately started to hit the bites. I caught 3 carp and a solitary bream in that hour however it could have been more but for the buzzer going off 3 times and me having to move to land three nice carp.
The hour before my lunch was just as quiet as I switched back to corn. I netted three more carp plus another nice one on the leger rod.
I decided it was time for a break so I poured myself a cup of tea to go with a few small sausage rolls, savoury eggs and some cocktail sausages. As luck would have it I dropped a cocktail sausage and was about to bin it when I thought "would carp like this?" So I took a bit off the end, threaded the hook through it and cast out. Less than 2 minutes later the float went and in came another carp.
In the afternoon I decided to retire the maggots and concentrate on the larger hook baits. As before I started on the corn. Four more carp came in on the con plus one on the leger rig.
The photo below shows a typical carp that I was catching, it wasn't the biggest nor the smallest.
The time was now 14:30 and so I decided the time was right to give the meat a go. Instead of loose feeding corn I began to feed the meat. Three carp in the next hour fell to these tactics plus another on the pineapple leger rig.
The next hour didn't produce the mad rush on meat that I had expected, it only yielded a further three carp. However all the action came on the leger rig, 5 carp with a taste for pineapple all made the virtual net.
I always take a slice or two of bread with me just in case everything else fails. I'm not keen on using it when the swim is full of small roach as the real bites are hard to see. Anyway for the last 90 minutes of the day I thought I would give it a go. It turned out to be an amazing decision as with just one slice of bread I caught 18 carp! Oh, and I still had time to land another one on the feeder rod.
As I packed up I had a quick count of the day's catch, 51 fish, consisting of 50 carp between 0.5lb and 4lb (13 of them on the pineapple boillie) and a lone bream. The previous week I'd caught 113 fish at Gabriels but weight wise this haul had that well beaten.
On the downside the field of llamas had been replaced by horses!
Just before I left I went over to Canal Lake, the fishery's premier match lake. With pegs on just one side it is designed definitely for the pole man but peg 1 as you enter has a lot of water to the right of it that contains some lillies. I didn't see any fish movement but it still made me decide to try it next time I visit.
Due to work commitments I had to forego a Friday session in favour of a Saturday one. I was going to go to Morehouse Farm fishery in Haywards Heath but decided against it as I thought it would be too crowded on a weekend. Instead I decided to return to Gabriels Farm and try Swallow Lake.
At the crack or dawn the dog decided to get up and play and so, as the fishery opens at 7am, after loading up the car I found I had enough time to watch an episode of Coronation Street before I left.
Even though I drove as slowly as possible I still managed to get to the fishery 10 minutes early. Luckily for me I was let straight in and so I made my way to the car park directly below Swallow Lake.
As no one else was about I took the opportunity to have a good look at the pond before selecting my swim as I'd only ever fished it once before. With the swim selected, I returned to the car for my gear. I didn't need the trolley today as the car park is very close to the water.
Having had a glance at my report from the last time I was here, I discovered that the pond contained a lot of small carp, from 2 ounces to maybe a pound and a half. With this knowledge in mind my set up remained light and unchanged. That is to say, match rod and 4lb main line to a size 18 hook.
I fed the swim with the usual mix of ground bait with a good helping of my proposed hook baits for the day, maggots, corn and meat. I also added about half a pint of hemp. I had some maggots left over from my previous outing which although I had kept them in the fridge had turned to castors. I added some of these as well.
The castors turned out to be floaters but the effect on the swim was obvious as fish after fish came to the surface for a free meal. Buoyed by the sight of this I finished setting up and made my first cast about 7:35. At this stage the weather was chilly with a bright blue sky.
I started on single maggot and straight away I was into a small carp. Although small they do make the rod bend. I fed 3 or 4 maggots every cast. Eight carp and two gudgeon came in the first hour.
For the next hour I switched to corn to see if anything bigger would take an interest. Although I did get one about a 1lb the rest were all in the range stated above. No gudgeon this hour though but I did get 17 carp.
Back on the maggot for the third hour saw a reduction in the number caught but an increase in the number of species. Eight carp, 2 gudgeon and 1 roach. I began to think that I may reach the magic ton of fish (100 I mean not the weight!).
The last hour before lunch saw me switch back to corn, the result 11 more carp. It was about now that I was hit with the first rain shower. Nothing to worry about at this stage though.
The re-introduction of the maggot sparked the gudgeon into life and for a while it was carp then gudgeon however by the end of the hour I had 12 carp and 8 gudgeon.
After lunch I was back on the corn which if nothing else it gave the gudgeon a rest. Ten more carp came into the virtual net.
The showers had now increased in intensity to the point where I had to put the umbrella up. It didn't seem to put the fish off though as 13 carp and 2 gudgeon with a liking for maggot came in.
This carp was my best of the day and came in about 2:15.
It was now that the rain started to come down so hard I couldn't see the far bank. I packed as much stuff away as I could but still lost all my remaining maggots as they managed to crawl out of the bait box. Each time I got up I had to tip accumulated water off my chair before sitting down again. Even the umbrella took flight at one stage forcing me to put it away and sit in just my waterproof jacket and trousers.
My notebook was soaked so I had to resort to keeping count in my head. Also my mobile stopped due to the wet conditions so I had no idea what the time was. I was also fishing into a strong wind which gave me several problems involving tangled line!
Eventually even I had to say enough was enough. The white flag was shown and I decided to pack up. When I got back to the car I discovered it was 5:15. By the time I got home and had a shower I managed to catch the second half of the cup final.
With the 17 carp I caught in the afternoon added to the total in my notebook I had caught 113 fish. My first +100 fish of the season!
With the Club closed down for the month of May I had to find an alternate venue for my fishing adventures. Gabriels Farm Fishery in Edenbridge was my choice today. It is one of the most attractive fisheries that I have come across and can offer some good fishing to boot.
Somewhat surprisingly the temperature read 0.5 degrees as I headed through the countryside on the way down to Edenbridge. The fishery opens at 7am and I reached the barrier about 6:55, perfect timing. There was one angler in front of me so I knew that with 5 lakes to choose from I would get a good swim today.
I unloaded the car and made my off to peg 1 on Silver Lake. I've had some really good sessions on this peg before so it was really an easy decision to make for my first visit of the year.
I mixed up the usual ground bait concoction and then set up my one and only rod of the day. My Shakespeare 12' match rod. I was still using pretty light tackle. Four pound main line to a size 18 hook. I then attempted to plumb the depth. I soon discovered that my original chosen line contained a submerged lily pad bed which had yet to rise to the surface. I had to move my projected line 2 metres or so to the left to find a snag free bottom.
I made my first cast just before 8am. For hook bait I started on single maggot. The float barely touched the surface before it disappeared and I was into my first roach of the day.
Another roach and a skimmer bream accompanied the roach into the virtual net by the end of the first hour, however the highlight of that hour was a 1.5lb common carp with a taste for maggots.
A good start and with the carp around I decided to change hook bait and go for the sweetcorn. Disaster, not a sniff for an entire hour so it was back to the maggots.
At 10am I went back on the maggot and the action resumed. It was almost a fish a chuck but not quite as 8 roach, 1 perch, 2 gudgeon and another skimmer made the net.
At this stage of the day I made the decision to alternate on an hourly basis between maggot and corn. So on went a piece of corn. I sat back and waited. Imagine my surprise when the float went and in came a perch of about 3/4lb! To complete the hour a 3lb common carp also with a liking for corn came in.
Another hour another change of bait, this time back to the maggot. Yet again it seemed like a fish a chuck although they were a lot smaller than the ones on corn. I managed 12 roach, 4 perch and a solitary gudgeon.
Lunchtime arrived, sadly only for me as just 2 roach fell to my corn bait. As well as changing bait every hour I was also throwing in a large ball of ground bait to keep whatever was about interested.
Business as usual for the next hour when I switched back to maggot although this time the perch really made it onto the scene, 7 roach, 6 perch and a gudgeon all fell victim to the little grub. It was now 3pm and so I decided to retire the maggots for the day.
I had one last go on the corn before I started using meat. The result was 1 roach and a 2lb carp.
For the next 90 minutes I used meat as the hook bait. I loose fed the swim corn and maggots in an attempt to draw the larger fish in. I was only fishing about a rod lengths distance from the bank. In that time I had 9 carp between 2 and 3 pounds. They went absolutely wild. Each one was a fight as I was only using 4lb line and my match rod.
A great finish to a brilliant day. I ended up with a total of 62 fish. I shall be back at some point in the season.
Man v Fish
One of the carp decided at the last minute to get itself snagged up on an underwater lily pad weed bed. For the life of me I could not get it out. Right side pressure, left side pressure and straight up pressure could not shift it. I was thinking it was all over when it occurred to me that if I slackened of the line it might come out. So I put the rod on the rest and watched the float. Sure enough less than a minute later the float moved and out it came. A short time later it was in the net. Man wins battle of wits with fish.
Today was going to be my last visit to NF before the Club's May break. Due a large overdose of alcohol the previous Thursday evening I had to break with tradition and go fishing on a Monday.
The sun was shining for once as I loaded up the car. I had a feeling that today was going to be a good one - mind you I always feel like that!
Surprisingly there was no one in car park as I entered the fishery just before 7am. As I have done three times already this season I unloaded the car and made my way up the lake to my swim. As I left the car park a second car turned up. Today I was not going to be alone.
As I did at Chittenden last week I started setting up by mixing some ground bait. This consisted of brown crumb, some red attracter, corn, meat, maggots and about half a pint of hemp. I then left it for 20 minutes to settle. In the meantime I began to set up my waggler rod.
For the waggler set up I used my new Shakespeare 12' match rod, 4lb main line tied to a size 18 hook with a 2lb hook length. After plumbing the depth I fed the swim with three handfuls of ground bait and then while it settled I turned my attention to the leger set up.
The leger rod due to my 'accident' at Chittenden was now my Shimano float rod. For this set up I used 6lb main line, 1/4 ounce leger, size 16 hook to a 4lb hook length. For bait it was the trusty old 10mm Monster Crab flavoured boillie.
I made my first casts at 7:50 and then settled back for the action to begin. Up until today I'd always got off to a slow start but this was not the case on this occasion. By the end of the first hour the float rod had yielded 4 roach, 1 chub, 2 gudgeon and a crucian. Not to be out done the leger rod swim gave up 3 tench! At this rate I felt I was going to empty the pond!
I got a bit over confident in the second hour as I switched from single maggot to corn. The result was a barren net. The leger rod gave me another tench to stop it being a complete disaster.
For the next hour I switched back to single maggot although I did catch some fish, 2 roach, 1 rudd and a perch the action had slowed dramatically. Had I missed the boat? Even the leger rod had a barren hour.
Here's a visitor to my swim.
I rang the changes again for the last hour before noon. The swim appeared to have died so really I had nothing to lose. Yet again the float swim produced nothing however the leger rod sprang back into action with 2 tench and a very nice crucian of about 1.5lb.
The first hour of the lunch period was no better, 1 gudgeon and a perch to maggot on the float rod and 2 more tench on the leger rod.
Those tench seemed to be loving the monster crab boillies.
Perhaps these fish were just early morning and afternoon fish. This was seemed to be the case because by 3pm the float road had added 2 roach, 2 rudd, 2 perch and for the first time today 2 bream. Not to be out done the leger rod yielded three more tench.
Another quiet hour followed, just one other tench with a taste for crab came to the net.
As the evening session started I switched the hook bait to meat. This proved to be a successful tactic as I got the day's first tench on the float rod and the first carp! Strangely I also caught a rudd on meat! Three more tench came in on the leger rod.
I started to pack up at 6:30 but not before I'd added 2 more tench and a carp on the float road and 3 tench on the leger rod. My decision to end the session was for two reasons, I lost the only carp that fancied monster crab and my face was burnt to a frazzle. Where's that sunscreen when you need it!
In conclusion I think I had a fantastic day. I caught 18 tench on monster crab boillies which I truly did not expect and a further 29 other fish making a grand total of 47 fish!
I can't wait for June to arrive.
