2013 05 April 19th Chittenden, Edenbridge

After four successive trips to Nursery Fields I decided today to visit the club's carp lake at Chittenden. 

I do have some trepidation about going there mainly due to the fact that it seems to attract the fishing commentators. From the angling point of view though it's a great fishery. 

Anyway, I arose from my bed at the usual time and was loaded and on the road just before 6:30. The car seems to run on auto-pilot at times and this was borne out by the fact that I went the wrong way at the crossroads and ended up shooting past the bottom of Roodlands Lane! I quickly reversed the car and headed back in the right direction. This in fact worked out well for me as another angler arrived at the gate a few seconds before me meaning that I only had to get out of the car to lock it. 

I drove slowly down the lane until I arrived at the car park. I knew, obviously I wasn't the first there but on arrival I discovered that I was actually the third!

I unloaded the car and made my way to my chosen swim which was  on the far side of the lake behind the first island. 

I chose this swim because since the island's vegetation had been cut back which means that you can easily cast tight into the far bank with a waggler or a small leger. 

As the weather had been improving over the week I'd decided to use some ground bait on this session. I kept it pretty basic, brown crumb, some carp attractor, a few pellets, about a pint of hemp and a generous helping of corn. Once mixed I let it stand for 20 minutes or so before throwing 3 big balls in about 2 thirds of the way across. Next I set up my waggler rod. I normally use a 3bb waggler but today I chose to go up a weight for the extra casting distance so it was a 2aa that went on. I also went for a bigger hook (size 16) as a precaution. 

The leger set up was the same as normal, size 16 hook to 6lb main line on my feeder rod.

As I was setting up one of the anglers who had arrived before me saw my match rod and remarked that "I was to be careful as there are some monsters in here, you can get them in but they will take you all round the lake first". I should have listened. 

I made my first casts just before 8am. The leger rod was cast close to the island on my left hand side, the waggler was cast directly in front of me just past where I had fed the ground bait. For bait I used  a monster crab and shellfish 10mm boillie and single maggot respectively. 

I didn't have to wait long for my first bite. As the float disappeared I struck and in came my first skimmer of the day.

Buoyed by my instant success I re-cast and yet again the float went however this time it was a small roach that was responsible. I stayed on single maggot for the first few hours. Another roach and a  few more skimmers made the virtual net before I decided to switch hook baits to corn.

The gamble paid off as soon after changing I was into another skimmer, this time it was one of the larger ones (see below).

At 9:15 the buzzer went off on the feeder rod and I was into my first carp of the day. There's a lot of room at Chittenden so I was able to walk down the bank to play the fish away from the other swim. A few minutes later this 7lb mirror was in the net.

A mere 15 minutes later, the buzzer went off again and I was into another fish. I could tell that this one was bigger than the previous one so I played it very carefully. Soon the fish, which I still hadn't seen was swimming directly beneath my feet in about 2 feet of water. Despite the pressure I was applying it still refused to come to the surface. Suddenly there was a loud crack and my feeder rod broke! With the broken rod in one hand I grabbed the line with the other and managed somehow to get the fish in the net! The culprit was a 9lb common (see below).

After returning the fish to the water I set up my Shimano rod as the leger rod and re-cast.

Back on the float rod the skimmers kept coming. I continued to feed the swim with ground bait every hour and loose fed corn every cast or so. 

Around 2pm the float slid away and I struck. I knew straight away that this wasn't a skimmer. Round and round the fish went, I was playing the fish very carefully as I was only using my match rod and was a rod down on the day as it was! My patience was rewarded when this 7lb mirror was on the bank (see below).

The skimmers kept coming through the afternoon. The leger rod was quiet. This all changed at 5:30 when the buzzer went and I was into another carp. A small fight followed in which I came out victorious again. The victim this time was another 7lb mirror (see below).

I called it a day at 6:30 having had 16 bream, 4 roach and 4 carp at a cost of one Maver Abyss feeder rod! Still had an enjoyable day though especially as the commentators didn't show.

2013 04 April 12th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

The good news for this week was that the temperature was forecast to be around 10 or 11 today. I wasn't worried too much about the expected rain.

It was indeed raining as I loaded car up and headed up the road towards Edenbridge. The car's digital display showed 6.5 degrees, a lot warmer the previous week.

An uneventful drive through the Surrey/Kent countryside saw me arrive at the fishery a little before 7am. Once again the car park was empty.

With the trolley fully loaded I set off for the swim. On the way I noticed from the water movement that the wind was coming from the opposite direction than it had the last few weeks. Another good sign.

The rain was still falling as I set up my two rods. I used the same set up as before, waggler on one rod and a small leger on the other. For bait I had brought maggots, castors, corn and bread. After a brief flirtation with strawberry boillies last week I was back on my original choice, monster crab.

I fed the swim with hemp, maggots and a few pieces of corn as I was setting up. I was ready and casting by 7:48. The rain was still falling so for the first time this season, up went the umbrella. I was now set for a days fishing.

For three hours the float never moved. I began to suspect that today wasn't going to be my day again. All that changed though when the float slid under and I was into a small roach of about an ounce. No blanking for me today.

I loose fed a few more maggots and soon the float went again. As the fish came in I thought it was another larger roach however it turned out to be my first NF chub!

The small roach kept coming, until I struck into something that was a bit more substantial. After a brief fight I had my first tench of the day in the virtual net.

A few more roach followed and then the first crucian of the day made an appearance. At this stage I was still loose feeding maggots and apart from the occasional castor I was still using single maggot on the hook.

After my lunch break, another lovely tin of oxtail soup, I decided to ring the changes. Initially I started to loose feed a few pieces of corn and then after an hour or so I began to use corn on the hook. It was quiet at first but then the float went and in came a small skimmer bream. This was followed in quick succession by another crucian and my second tench.

By this stage of the day (aound 2pm) the leger rod had been silent then in what I can only describe as a mad hour the swim went berserk.

First to take the bait was a 4.5lb common (see below). It fought very hard before I was able to slip it into the net. A few minutes later a tench followed it. Fifteen minutes or so further on the rod went again, this time the culprit was a 6lb common.

It wasn't all plain sailing though because when the buzzer went for the fourth time I was playing another skimmer on the float rod. By the time I'd unhooked it the fish on the leger had gone.

Strangely, that was it for the action on the leger rod. About an hours worth I would say.

I went back on the maggots when the swim appeared to die and was  rewarded with a perch and four mighty gudgeon. The roach were also more inclined to take maggots than the corn.

I had brought some bread so as the afternoon wore on I decided to give it a go. After a bit of a wait the float went away and I was into my final crucian of the day.

I kept the bread on and waited to see what would happen. After ten minutes or so I noticed that the float moved slightly against the direction of the wind so I struck and immediately I knew I was into a good fish. The match rod was bent right over and the drag on the reel was doing its job. I was a bit worried because I was using the match rod and this was a good fish. I needn't have been though as after 5 minutes or so I landed a mirror of 6lb. With that fish in the net I decided to call it a day.

As I packed up I did a quick tally of the day's catch:
14 roach
4 crucian carp
4 gudgeon
3 carp
3 tench
2 bream
1 perch
1 chub.
A haul of 32 fish. A better result than the previous week that's for sure. Have we turned the corner weather wise? Let's hope so.

Aside from one angler who turned up lunchtime and was gone before I left I hadn't seen another person all day. That will change over the coming weeks I'm sure.

2013 03 April 5th Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today was episode 3 of what I now call Ken's winter series!

I knew I was in for trouble when I had to battle through a snow storm to get to the tackle shop for my maggots the night before.

First mistake of the day was that I forgot that the clocks had gone forward on the previous Sunday and so when I went to load the car up at the normal time I found I struggled to see the garage padlock numbers!

Anyhow I managed to get in and load up with no further trouble.

A positive 1.5 degrees showed on the dashboard as I left my courtyard and headed towards Edenbridge. This proved to be somewhat of a false dawn as on the way down I noticed that the fields were all covered in snow.

Seemingly like clockwork, I again arrived at the fishery at 7am. Unlike my previous visit, there was no one else parked up. I wasn't a bit surprised.

With the sound of a woodpecker building his house in my ears, I unloaded my gear, packed it on the trolley and headed up the lake.

There was not much wind at this point in the day so the lake was fairly calm as you can see from the photo of my swim below:

I set up my gear in the same way as the previous two outings, the only difference being the flavor of boillie. I'd run out of monster crab so had to use strawberry instead.

After feeding my swims with maggots and boillies respectively I made my first casts at 8am on the dot. I sat back in my chair and pondered what the day had in store for me.

Well nothing as it turned out. Just like the week before, after an hour or so the early sunshine(!) was replaced by a layer of thick grey cloud which was accompanied by a very cold wind.

Undeterred by the weather and with only a few ducks for company I continued fishing throughout the morning and the lunch period. It was during this time when my day truly hit rock bottom. Believe it or not, snow began to settle on my waterproof jacket and trousers!

As the afternoon wore on even the ducks had the sense to disappear. I didn't have one indication that the fish were going to bite. The only time I had a bleep from the leger rod was because of a strong gust of wind.

I'm nothing if not stubborn so I continued to fish with the hope that maybe a small gudgeon might fancy a free maggot, however it was not to be. Reluctantly I had to admit defeat and so at 4:30 I decided to jack it in for the day. My first (and let's hope only) blank of the season.

They said it was going to be 8 degrees today.... THEY LIED!