2017 13 June 9th, Long Lake, Warwick Wold Fishery nr Redhill Surrey

Today I thought I would try a different venue. I had seen Warwick Wold Fishery from the M25 several times and quite liked the look of it.

As the fishery didn't open until 7am it wasn't a problem for me to be there dead on opening time. The gate was open and two other anglers were there however the bailiff wasn't!

When the bailiff eventually turned up I paid my money and told him I was new to the venue. He explained the rules and pointed me in the direction of Long Lake.

As it was a new venue I decided to only use my match rod today. Also the lake was quite narrow so I could easily fish close to the reeds on the far bank.

I was set up and ready to make my first cast at 7:46. It wasn't good as I put the float straight into the reeds. The second attempt was much better though. I started with corn as the hook bait.

The fish were on the feed straight away, The first hour yielded 2 roach, a tench and 4 small carp. A good start. Alas I also lost a float in the reeds so when I set up again I took the opportunity to change the bait to pellets.

An hour later the combination of pellets and better casting brought 7 small carp to the virtual net. My total for the day was now 12.

A mix of pellets and corn for the next hour in attempt to lure a bigger fish. Alas, this didn't work. Nine more small carp made the net though bringing my total to 21.

For the next hour I tried strawberry pellet and was rewarded with a further 7 fish, two tench and 5 small carp. My total for the day was now 28 and it was still a few minutes before noon.

The next hour was the best so far, numerically speaking anyway, one tench and eleven small carp made the total now 40.

Just before one in the afternoon I switched back to halibut pellets and in the next hour I was rewarded with my first 2 chub of the day, another tench and nine small carp. My total was now 52.

Never change a winning hand they say but I did, halibut out crab in. The result was my slowest hour to date. One roach and one carp improved my total but only to 54.

Is this the smallest carp I've ever caught?

A change was needed so it was back to strawberry flavoured pellets for the next hour. It did get better but not by much as I only caught four carp. My total for the day was now 58.

Here's one.

In the next hour the swim came alive ago as fourteen fish made the virtual net, 2 rudd, 4 carp, 3 tench and 5 roach. Total for the day was now 72!

By the time I packed up at 18:00 my total for the day was 86, bolstered by a combination of tench, chub, rudd, roach and carp. These were all caught on the near bank close by my feet.

So that was it for my first visit to this venue, I will return.

2017 12 June 2nd, Nursery Fields, Edenbridge

Today it was back to the club's mixed fishery at Nursery Fields near Edenbridge in Kent.

Another early start saw me arrive at the fishery around 6:15. There was no one in the car park so I could afford to take a leisurely stroll around the lake whilst I made my swim selection.

After a bit of a think I chose peg 15 which is about midway on the back stretch of the lake.

As you can see from the photo above I intended to spend the day fishing down the margin.

As my primary target was the non carp species I decided to set up the float rod first and then if the fishing was slow I would use the feeder rod as well.

I started at 7:15 with corn as the hook bait and was rewarded with a roach and tench in the first hour. At least the fish were feeding today.

Two hours later, and back on the corn after a fruitless change to meat, I'd added another 4 fish to the virtual net, 1 roach, 2 crucians and a bream. The total for the day was now six.

I tried meat again for the next hour and was rewarded with a tench and another crucian.

I was back on the corn for the lunchtime session and managed to get another of the lake's crucian carp, not massive but nice looking.

At 13:15 the feeder rod, which I'd set up about 10 o'clock, sprang into life and produced a nice tench.
I had also decided at that point in the session to switch to pellets.

By 14:30 the pellets had attracted one roach and a tench. The feeder rod had also chipped in with a tench.

The next hour was very slow, only one roach made the net.

My last fish of the day turned up at 17:20 and was predictably a tench with a liking for meat.

So that was it for the day, 15 fish split between four species. Not really a sensational day.